Nintendo

Nintendo is a Japanese video game company, one of the 'big three' game publishers, alongside Sony and Microsoft, which also make the most popular video game consoles.

The company was founded in 1889 and originally produced Japanese playing cards before switching to video games in the late 1970s. The release of the Donkey Kong arcade game in 1981 and the Famicom home console in Japan in 1983 were major milestones in video game history.

Nintendo's international popularity as a video game publisher and console maker came with the release in the West of the Nintendo Entertainment System, an adapted version of the Famicom for the US market, and the Super Mario Bros. game in 1985.

Since the mid-80s, Nintendo has been a pillar of the video game industry worldwide and a pop-culture staple, creating a number of major video game franchises and launching some of the best-selling game platforms of all time.

The company's most successful consoles include the Nintendo Switch, Game Boy and Game Boy Color, Wii and the Nintendo DS, each of which has sold more than 100 million units worldwide throughout its lifetime.

As a game developer and publisher, Nintendo has produced some of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, including Super Mario, Pokémon, The Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing. Other acclaimed video game series produced by Nintendo include Metroid, Kirby, Fire Emblem, Splatoon, Xenoblade Chronicles and more.