We’ve all come to know and love Nintendo as the console maker that gave us Mario, Metroid, and the Legend of Zelda. The history of the company is an interesting, and not so squeaky clean one, however.
Over at the gaming blog Kotaku they’ve shared an interesting history of the Nintendo corporation that covers aspects of the company’s dealings over the last 130 years. Nintendo got its start when playing cards were legalized in Japan in the latter part of the 19th century:
In the late 19th century, thirty-year-old Fusajiro Yamauchi saw an opportunity when the Meiji Government legalized hanafuda playing cards in 1886 after opening itself to the West. Those like Yamauchi who previously played cards illicitly were permitted to openly indulge in their pastime. Yamauchi set up shop in fall 1889, producing hand-made hanafuda cards. The stone building, erected in 1933, often referred to as the original Nintendo headquarters, is not where the card company was born. The first Nintendo office was in a small, two-story building next to the stone structure. It’s here that Yamauchi started crafting and selling Nintendo hanafuda.
Hit up the link below to keep reading and hear how the primary audience for Nintendo’s early years was Japanese gangsters, they operated no-tell-motels in the 1960s, and more.
The Nintendo They’ve Tried to Forget: Gambling, Gangsters, and Love Hotels [Kotaku]
Has it been a long and boring week at work? Then how about something to liven things up a bit? In this week’s game you receive orders to join a newly formed task force comprised of soldiers from allied and former enemy units at the end of World War 1. Your mission is to investigate strange sightings
Ever get a sudden, inexplicably irresistible desire for karaoke? Maybe you like the music of a song but can’t stand the lead singer? Here’s how to use remove the vocals from most music tracks in a few simple steps.
Every week we take a look at interesting trivia and events from the history of Geekdom. This week we’re taking a look at the first public offering of Microsoft stock, the birth of Albert Einstein, and the cross linking of information networks across the Atlantic.
Do Not Track Plus is a Firefox extension that combines the do-non’t-track header with protection lists for comprehensive tracking avoidance while surfing the web.
Last month Microsoft rolled out Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and, like many SP releases, quite a few people are hanging back to see what happens. If you want to update but still error on the side of caution, reader Ron Troy offers a step-by-step guide.
We’ve sent over 200 missions out into space to check out the Moon, the Sun, planets, and more. Curious where they all went? Check out this awesome infographic to trace the launches to their destination.
RetinaPad is an iPad application that actives the Retina Display resolution on iPhone applications to increase the clarity on the iPad. It’s a feature that should be built-in but is currently only available for jailbroken iPads.
Audacity novices often start with lofty project ideas, but sometimes they lack the basics. Knowing how to cut and trim tracks is basic audio editing and is a fundamental starting point for making more elaborate arrangements.
Album art used to be an inseparable part of music, back when it came in record or CD format. But there’s a way to capture some of that magic even today, using a free application. Read on to see how!
Do you have a large number of bookmarks saved in your Chromium-based browser and need a quick way to search through them? Then see how easy it is to search through those bookmarks just like Firefox users do with the AwesomeBar extension.
