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Nintendo Co., Ltd.[c] is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo has produced some of the most successful consoles in the video game industry, including the Game Boy (1989), the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1991), the Nintendo DS (2004), the Wii (2006), and the Nintendo Switch (2017). It has created or published numerous major franchises, including Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, and Pokémon. The company’s mascot, Mario, is among the most famous fictional characters, and Nintendo’s other characters—including Luigi, Donkey Kong, Samus, Link, Kirby, and Pikachu—have attained international recognition. Several films and a theme park area based on the company’s franchises have been created.
| In 1980, one of the first handheld video game systems, the Game & Watch, was created by Yokoi from the technology used in portable calculators. It became one of Nintendo’s most successful products, with over 43.4 million units sold worldwide during its production period, and for which 59 games were made in total. | On January 16, 2025, the Nintendo Switch 2 was revealed via Nintendo’s official channels, introducing its new design and magnetic Joy-Con controllers, as well as brief footage of a Mario Kart game. A Nintendo Direct centered around the console is scheduled for April 2, 2025. |
Nintendo’s central focus is the research, development, production, and distribution of entertainment products—primarily video game software and hardware and card games. Its main markets are Japan, America, and Europe, and more than 70% of its total sales come from the latter two territories. As of March 2023, Nintendo has sold over 836 million game consoles, for which more than 5.592 billion video games have been sold globally.