Nintendo
Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game company headquartered in Kyoto. According to the company’s official history, Fusajiro Yamauchi began manufacturing and selling hanafuda Japanese playing cards in Kyoto in 1889, which is where the company started. Its official company profile describes the business as the “manufacture and sale of home entertainment products” — the development, production, and sale of game consoles and game software.
Business and main product lines
Nintendo’s business consists of game hardware and game software:
- Consoles: the company history records the 2017 launch of Nintendo Switch, a home console that also works as a handheld, and the 2025 release of Nintendo Switch 2. Current console and service information lives on Nintendo’s official site.
- Game series: Nintendo develops and publishes its own game franchises, such as The Legend of Zelda. The company profile also lists affiliated companies such as The Pokémon Company and regional subsidiaries including Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe.
The history page also records business extensions: smart-device applications (Miitomo, 2016), the online service (Nintendo Switch Online, 2018), official stores (Nintendo TOKYO, 2019), and the Nintendo Museum (2024).
Discussion in the show
In Weekly #005’s chapter “游戏反编译、Mod 与商业模式” (game decompilation, mods, and business models), Guizang uses AnyPS5 — a project that recompiles PS5 games to run on PC — to discuss game decompilation and the mod ecosystem, and says the companies hurt most “are Sony and Nintendo” (paragraph in the Chinese transcript). In his view, premium titles sold as one-off purchases and built on characters and skins are the most exposed to recreation and mods. This is the host’s own judgment about business models; Nintendo has made no statement on it.
Frequently asked questions
What year was Nintendo founded?
Nintendo was founded in September 1889, when Fusajiro Yamauchi began manufacturing and selling hanafuda playing cards in Kyoto, as recorded in the official company history.
Where is Nintendo headquartered?
Nintendo is headquartered in Minami-ku, Kyoto, Japan, per the official company profile.
What does Nintendo do?
Nintendo develops, manufactures, and sells game consoles and game software; the official profile describes the business as the “manufacture and sale of home entertainment products.” Console series such as Nintendo Switch and game series such as The Legend of Zelda have their own entries.
Where is Nintendo’s official website?
The global site is nintendo.com, the Japanese site is nintendo.co.jp, and company history and profile pages live under Corporate Information.