Nintendo signals end for Wii U
Nintendo stated that it will discontinue its Wii U platform that it had released in 2012. Nintendo America president Reggie Fils-Aime said the last game for the console would be Zelda: Breath of the Wild. He said the game will be launched on the Wii U and Nintendo Switch simultaneously. However, the company will continue to provide online services for Wii U users.
What is Nintendo?
Nintendo Co. Ltd. is a Japanese multinational company and also the world's largest video game company by revenue. It was founded on 23 September 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi as a card company producing handmade cards for the game Hanafuda. The company has had only five presidents in over 100 years of operations; a replacement is being searched for, after its fifth president's sudden death.
Nintendo's early ventures
When Hiroshi Yamauchi took over the company from his grandfather Fusajiro Yamauchi in 1956, he started experimenting with new ventures apart from their traditional card playing games. During 1963-1968, Nintendo started a taxi company called Daiya, a love hotel chain, a food company selling instant rice and a TV network. All these ventures eventually failed and Nintendo shifted its focus to the gaming industry.
Super Mario Bros. is launched
After several average video game attempts, Nintendo launched the platform video game Super Mario Bros in 1985 in Japan and in 1987 in North America, Europe and Australia. It went on to become one of the best-selling video games in history. The game sold over 40 million units in three decades and IGN's 2005 poll named it "The Greatest Game of all Time".
Nintendo's worst-selling console!
Virtual Boy which was launched in 1995 is considered as Nintendo's worst-selling gaming consoles of all time. Only 770,000 units were sold due to the high price of $180 and an average red monochrome system.
Major controversies caused by Nintendo games
Nintendo's Mario Party 8 was recalled from UK because one of the quotes in the game used the word 'spastic' which is considered as highly offensive. Mario Party1's mini-games required users to rotate the stick due to which many people injured their hands. A lawsuit was filed against Nintendo and they had to pay $ 80 million to the people who hurt themselves.
Nintendo's President Satoru Iwata dies at 55
Japanese video game making company - Nintendo's President, Satoru Iwata died on 11 July battling cancer. Iwata was considered to be a revolutionary figure in the Japanese gaming scene and had a big hand in the company's highly successful Wii and Nintendo DS consoles. As the news of his death came, fans started mourning and his name was trending within minutes on Twitter.
