Nintendo Cards, Consoles, and Castles
By Kelli Luu | 07 Oct, 2025

In 130 years Nintendo evolved from making playing cards in Kyoto to building a gaming empire for the entire world.

Long before anyone had ever heard of the iconic Mario character, Nintendo was just another trading card company in Japan called Nintendo Koppai. Let’s rewind back 130 years and see how these cards evolved into a modern gaming powerhouse. 

Fusajiro Yamauchi is the mastermind behind the Nintendo name. He began creating hanafuda playing cards in 1889 which he hand painted himself and because most forms of gambling was banned in Japan at the time, Yamauchi’s cards became very desirable. This led Yamauchi to open his very first store in Kyoto called Marufuku Nintendo Card Co. 

With the business taking off, Yamauchi was able to hire a team to mass produce the hanafuda cards allowing Nintendo to dominate the playing card industry for decades. Unfortunately, due to slow manufacturing and high product costs, sales were negatively impacted and it wasn’t until Yamauchi’s grandson Hiroshi Yamauchi took over in 1951. 

He changed the name of the company to Nintendo Playing Card Co. and in 1959, Hiroshi signed a partnership with Walt Disney Productions to incorporate Disney characters onto their playing cards. This opened up Nintendo’s fan base to children, resulting in an increase in production and sales selling over 1.5 million card packs in 1961. 

Over time, Hiroshi began to see the playing card market decline, so he decided to take a huge risk investing in toys and games. They made their entrance into the arcade video game world with Sheriff and Radar Scope, but their first big hit was Donkey Kong in 1981. This led Hiroshi to introduce the famous mustached character, Mario, into Donkey Kong’s world, marking a moment that would change gaming forever. 

By 1983 the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, was available in North America, bringing us legendary games like Super Mario Bros. and Metroid. As the years went by, Nintendo stayed on top of the innovation game with their release of the Game Boy in 1989 and the Nintendo 64 that brought 3D worlds into gaming culture. 

The Nintendo DS and Wii took the 2000s by storm proving that gaming wasn’t just for gamers, it was for everyone. The DS had two screens fit onto a portable console that you could bring with you anywhere and the Wii’s remote control sensors turned living rooms into home arcades. 

In 2017 the Nintendo Switch was released giving users the choice to play as a handheld console or at home on your TV screen. With thousands of games available, the Switch became the third best selling console of all time, shipping over 150 million units internationally by 2024. 

Nintendo took things to the next level by bringing Super Nintendo World to life at Universal Studios Japan in 2021 and later to Universal Studios Hollywood in 2023 where fans could physically step into the Mushroom Kingdom and participate in interactive games. Visitors can walk around and meet Nintendo characters, eat at themed cafes, and use their Power-Up bands to collect coins, just like in the virtual games. 

From playing cards, to home consoles, to real-life castles. Nintendo transformed itself into a gaming empire and with their recent success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and other ongoing technological advancements, they continue to prove that they can bring joy to every generation.