Fusajiro Yamauchi, The Man Who Started $62.2 Billion Franchise With Playing Cards

Along with PlayStation and Xbox, another console that has become a staple in the gaming industry is Nintendo. This Japanese company is again gearing up with the Switch 2, according to the rumors. The company will be focusing a lot on this console to carry forward the legacy of Nintendo Switch.

However, this legacy was not built in just one day. The empire was set up by the legendary Fusajiro Yamauchi, which was just a playing-card game company and eventually went on to become a $62.2 billion gaming giant.

Nintendo: It All Started with Just Playing Cards by Fusajiro Yamauchi

Businessman and craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi was creating vibrantly colored playing cards in his new offices, which were located down a small side street in the historic Japanese city of Kyoto. The Hanafuda, or cards, were handcrafted and exquisitely ornamented. Mr. Yamauchi soon had to hire others to assist him in crafting them because they were so well-liked.

Mr. Yamauchi had no idea—and would never know—that his card shop, which opened on September 23, 1889, in the erstwhile Imperial Capital of Japan, would become one of the largest and most significant gaming firms in the world within a century.

Over the next 70 years, the Nintendo company skillfully created cards with symbols and images of nature. Each of the twelve suits of Hanafuda, or “flower cards,” represented a different month of the year.

They were inspired by both Western-style 52-deck playing cards and traditional Japanese games. However, they used images on the cards rather than numbers. Nintendo’s cards gained popularity all over Japan. Yet, the vibrant images eventually came to be associated with gambling and the Yakuza gangsters. A zero score in the card game Oicho-Kabu is represented by the numbers ya-ku-za, or 8, 9, and 3, which is actually where the name “Yakuza” originates.

The First Step of Expanding the Venture

Fusajiro Yamauchi’s great-grandson took over Nintendo in 1950 when he was just 22 years old. He gained a reputation as a passionate and occasionally frightening leader with an inventive mind. His goal was to grow the business to include toys and amusement arcades in addition to card manufacturing. Ironically, Hiroshi has only ever played one video game in his life and has never enjoyed it.

Nintendo artist Shigeru Miyamoto created a game that was revolutionary in 1981. Donkey Kong was the name of the game. The hero was a man in a red boiler suit with a small red hat, and the antagonist was a giant gorilla with an endless supply of barrels. Although he went by Jumpman, you may be more familiar with him as Mario, the Italian plumber. Donkey Kong became a global sensation and a popular arcade game.

Jumpman quickly changed his name. Mario Segale, the landlord of the warehouse where Nintendo’s American headquarters was located, served as the inspiration for his name. Nintendo developed new video games, such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong Jr., in which Donkey Kong’s son must save his father from Mario’s grasp. Super Mario Bros. was a huge success, and Mario quickly gained international recognition.

The Rise of NES

As a result of these games’ popularity, Nintendo also introduced the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES for short, a brand-new home gaming system. Two years after its initial introduction in Japan under the name Famicom, it made its way to US stores and contributed to the resurgence of the gaming industry.

Nintendo was able to create the technology necessary to launch the Game Boy, its first portable device, in 1989. Although the first handheld game console had been developed ten years prior, the Game Boy’s unique design and lengthy battery life made it popular.

It has produced numerous beloved characters and well-liked games over the last 30 years. In the 1998 game Ocarina of Time, Link from The Legend of Zelda became a cult figure. Luigi became a brother to Mario. Wario and Waluigi became their villainous alter-selves as a result.

After that, many popular consoles from the company like DS, Wii, Wii U, and last but not least Switch surfaced and made a special place amidst the console war. After that, the company never had to look back and see where they are today! The company is also gearing up for Switch 2. Let’s see if that console can take the legacy to newer heights.