Nintendo as we know it began on September 23, 1989 in Kyoto, Japan. Their headquarters are still in Kyoto, but they have offices worldwide. Nintendo is a Japanese word which means, "Leave luck to Heaven." Nintendo originally began in 1889 an Nintendo Koppai. It was founded by a man named Fusajiro Yamauchi. They sold a card game called Hanafuda.
In 1983, Nintendo made their first attempt and a cartridge-based console, the Famicon. The system was a total failure until they release Super Mario Bros. At first, the Famicon was released only in Japan. But in 1985, Nintendo announced that they were going to release it worldwide. But this time, it would have a different name, the Nintendo Entertainment System.
The last blockbuster game made for the NES was Super Mario Bros. 3. After that, the Super Nintendo came along. November 21, 1990, the Super Famicon was released. It was very successful, selling out in Japan in only 3 days. In August of 1991, it was release to America as the Super Nintendo Entertainment system.
With the release of the Sega Genesis and Game Gear, then the release of the Sony Playstation, a console war began. When titles such as Street Fighter II, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, and the Final Fantasy series, the SNES had sold more consoles than the Genesis worldwide.
Most everyone knows what then happens. The wars continue into today, but Sega fades out and Microsoft joins the war. Nintendo continues to make amazing systems with great, family friendly games now. Below is a list of all their consoles and hand helds starting with the NES (the ones previous to the NES are very insignificant and not well known).
NES
SNES
Virtual Boy
Gameboy
Super Gameboy
Gameboy Color
Nintendo 64
Gameboy Advance
Gameboy Advance SP
Gamecube
Nintendo DS
Gameboy Micro
Wii
