Nintendo (TPSII)
 Logo of Nintendo as of its defunct date. | |
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Native name | 任天堂株式会社 |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Nintendō kabushiki gaisha |
| Public | |
| Traded as | TYO:7974 |
| ISIN | JP3756600007 |
| Industry | |
| Fate | Bankrupted |
| Successor |
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| Founded | September 23, 1889; 334 years ago in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan |
| Founder | Fusajiro Yamauchi |
| Defunct | January 24, 2002 |
| Headquarters | 11–1 Kamitoba Hokodatecho, Minami-ku, Kyoto, Japan |
Key people |
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| Products | List of Nintendo Products |
| Brands |
Video Game series
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| Services | Nintendo Online (2001) |
| Owner |
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Number of employees | 5,237 (2002) |
| Subsidiaries |
List
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Nintendo Co., Ltd. was a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It developed, published and released both video games and video game consoles. Becoming defunct in January of 2002 due to a Legal Battle that caused their Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as Nintendo Karuta by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards. After venturing into various lines of business during the 1960s and acquiring a legal status as a public company, Nintendo distributed its first console, the Color TV-Game, in 1977. It gained international recognition with the release of Donkey Kong in 1981 and the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Mario Bros. in 1985.
Since then, Nintendo had produced some of the most successful consoles in the video game industry, such as the Game Boy, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Gamecube. It has created numerous major franchises, including Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Fire Emblem, Kirby, Star Fox, Pokémon, Super Smash Bros., Animal Crossing, and Nintendo's mascot, Mario, was internationally recognized. The company has sold more than 3.192 billion video games and over 836 million hardware units globally, as of December 2001.
Nintendo had multiple subsidiaries in Japan and abroad, in addition to business partners such as The Pokémon Company and HAL Laboratory. Nintendo and its staff have received awards including Emmy Awards for Technology & Engineering, Game Awards, Game Developers Choice Awards, and British Academy Games Awards. It was one of the wealthiest and most valuable companies in the Japanese market.