NINTENDO
acters, and non-Nintendo game studios released a vast library of titles for the handheld. In 1996, Nintendo published two new Game Boy games that would go on to become one of the most successful franchises ever, but a rite of passage for kids. In 1996, Nintendo released Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version . Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, Pokémon had kids catch monsters and have them fight. While there was battling, the kid-friendly game wasn’t overly violent – none of the monsters die or bleed. The game was an unexpected smash hit and ushered in a Pokémon multi-media franchise
The Mario movie was so bad both lead actors disowned it that exists to this day, with a popular weekly anime in Japan and high grossing feature films released every summer, while Japanese kids are out of school. Since 1996, kids in Japan and beyond have been enthralled by not only the cute monsters, but also the engaging game play. Not everything Nintendo touched turned to gold. There was the 1993 Hollywood live-action Super Mario Bros., a movie so bad that lead actors Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper disowned it. But that cinematic stinker could be pawned off on Hollywood’s persistent inabilit y to ‘get’ v ideo games. The Virtual Boy could not. Released in 1995, the Virtual Boy promised ‘true 3D’ through an enormous headset. Rushed to market when its creator, Gunpei Yokoi, still viewed the product as a work in progress, the Virtual Boy was a flop. Gamers complained that it made them ill, a com98
plaint that initially dogged the Nintendo 3DS, and the whole contraption was not only uncomfortable to use but utterly ridiculous. Nintendo discontinued the Virtual Boy within a year of its release. Its creator, Gunpei Yokoi, who had been instrumental in making Nintendo a gaming powerhouse, left Nintendo shortly thereafter, going to make handheld gaming devices for a Nintendo rival. Competition in the video game world is so fierce that an urban legend says Hiroshi Yamauchi hired yakuza to take out Yokoi. This is untrue, and Yokoi died in a car accident in 1997. While Nintendo was never really ‘cool’, the Kyoto-based game maker was losing its edge by the late 1990s. Nintendo and Sony planned to work on a joint Super Nintendo console that used CD-ROM games instead of game cartridges. The deal fell through, and Sony released a CD-ROM powered console of its own, dubbed the PlayStation. The machine was a hit, and Sony dominated the video game world. The PlayStation’s successor, the PlayStation 2, which was released in 2000, would become the biggestselling video game console of all time. The PlayStation and PlayStation 2 blew pretty much everything else out of the water. The machine featured high-powered graphics and stunning games. In comparison, Nintendo and its games looked like kids’ play. After, Microsoft rolled out the Xbox in 2001, Nintendo was relegated to third place with its GameCube console, which looked more like a toy than an entertainment system. The Nintendo Era was over. Or was it? In what had to be the greatest comeback gaming has ever seen, Nintendo took a huge chance with a new handheld device. Short for the ‘Developer’s System’, the Ninten-
do DS featured dual screens. The DS didn’t pack much of a visual punch, but its innovative touch-based gameplay was a breath of fresh air when many gamers felt as though video games had become too complicated and too insular. With the DS, Nintendo didn’t only aim to please hardcore games; it also wanted to appeal to non-gamers, just as the Game Boy did. And the DS did exactly that. The machine looked more like a PDA, and it came with a touch-pen. Pet simulator Nintendogs and brain training game Brain Age attempted to redefine what exactly a video game was. The games surpassed all expectations, selling millions. While competitors were content to release sports games or military shooters, Nintendo was doing something totally different. The Kyotobased game maker was riding high, and further revisions such as the DS Lite and DSi, were hits. It became the fastest-selling handheld ever, and to date, Nintendo has shipped nearly 149 million units worldwide. But Nintendo was not nearly finished yet. The GameCube, while it saw some fantastic games, was a failure. Nintendo noticed that Sony and Microsoft were gearing up for a high-powered console showdown in living rooms across the world and decided to opt out. Released in 2006, the Wii, with its slick Apple-like minimalistic packaging that echoed Nintendo’s new corporate headquarters, was no living room entertainment hub. It wasn’t high def. It couldn’t even play DVD movies, let alone Blu-ray. The graphics were not crystal clear. It could do one thing, and one thing well: video games. As with previous Nintendo products, the key to the Wii’s succession was innovation. The console featured motion controls unlike anyone had ever