Games' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Players, Pawns, and Power-Ups

22. How Nintendo Changed the Future

175 22 How Nintendo Changed the Future Nintendo is one of the most recognizable video game companies in the world and the third most valuable listed company in Japan. By the end of 2010, the company sold more than 565 million hardware units and 3.4 billion software units. But did you know that Nintendo was actually founded in 1889 and thrived for nearly sixty years as a playing card company? Along the road to its dominance in the video game market, the company dabbled with love hotels, ran a taxi company, sold instant rice, and tried its hand as a television network. In 1966, it entered the Japanese toy and game industry and in 1975 hit the video arcade market. Donkey Kong, which debuted in the U.S. market in 1981, marked the launch of Nintendo into the American consciousness. Since its foray into the video game market, Nintendo has been a key force of change and innovation in the industry, even creating one of its biggest competitors (when Sony entered the video game world with PlayStation, following the two companies’ failed partnership). Here are just some of the innovations and changes the company has brought to the video game “table.” 1. VIDEO GAME REVIVAL Nintendo is primarily responsible for re-establishing the video game console in American homes. Debuting so quickly 176 Games’ Most Wanted™ after the 1983 crash—when the bottom fell out of the home console market due to oversaturation and declining product value—the Nintendo Famicom (for “family computer”) was initially resisted by American retailers, memories of unsold and returned cartridges clogging the shelves still fresh in their minds. Nintendo marketed the Famicom as an allencompassing entertainment system (resulting in the name change to Nintendo Entertainment System) and presented a reasonable price point. Once people experienced the better graphics and gameplay of NES games, the Famicom became an instant success. The game company was leery of repeating the crash of two years prior and determined to do business differently in the States. Their calmer and slower approach resulted in a more stable market. Video game consoles have been part of America’s entertainment fabric ever since. 2. THE RISE OF STORYTELLING Nintendo did not create the first games incorporating what many critics now call “interactive fiction.” A few prior games had a character (of sorts) and pieces of a plot, such as Atari ’s Adventure and, of course, Pac-Man. But most games that hit the market at the time were variations of Pong or Space Invaders, with the sole purpose to either beat your opponent or accumulate the highest score possible. Little was done to create an overarching story for the player to enjoy using a game’s character. Donkey Kong’s arrival in 1981 changed that. The game had a story, albeit a flimsy one: monkey steals woman, man pursues monkey, man beats monkey, man saves woman. The illusion of progression gave reason to what looked like some oddball actions—jumping barrels, swinging hammers—and made it fun to play on a visceral level. There was a goal to attain, with an obvious beginning, middle, and end. When Nintendo rolled out its NES 8-bit system, part of the popularity of its games was due to the company’s insistence that there was How Nintendo Changed the Future 177 some sort of narrative standard for players to enjoy. That simple format of storytelling rolled out in most of Nintendo’s first games and eventually applied to all the company’s releases. There is nothing wrong with blasting alien enemies into the nether, but having a context to do so creates a sense of immersion (no matter how light) that gives a game a whole new feel. 3. THE CONTROLLER COUP The NES D-pad was the benchmark for today’s modern console controllers. Before the NES’s arrival, home game consoles had a variety of operator controllers, from Atari’s stick and single button to the ColecoVision’s weird joystick that required a claw-like grip to use. With the D-pad, player hands wrapped naturally around the rectangular control pad, utilizing both hands in a comfortable manner. (Although extended use did sometimes cause numbing tingles in the thumbs from constant button and thumbpad mashing.) The D-pad was quickly patented by Nintendo. Nintendo expanded upon the NES controller with the advent of the Super Nintendo (SNES) controller. More sleek and...