Nintendo Co., Ltd.

1902:

• Fusajiro Yamauchi (Great-Grandfather of long standing Nintendo President, Hiroshi Yamauchi) distributes "Hanafuda", a Japanese playing card he created in 1889, in Japan.

1933:

• Yamauchi Nintendo & Co. established.

1950:

• Hiroshi Yamauchi becomes President, absorbing the manufacturing operation of Yamauchi Nintendo & Co., with distribution company Marufuku Co. Ltd. the primary company.

1951:

• Marufuku Co. Ltd. changes its name to Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd.

1959:

• Sold playing cards with Walt Disney characters on the face, opening a new market in children's playing cards

1963:

• Changed name to Nintendo Co. Ltd, and began developing games as well as cards.

1975:

• With the help of Mitsubishi Electric, Nintendo developed a video game system using electronic video recording (EVR) player.

1978:

• Created and started selling coin-operated video games using microcomputers.

1980:

• The GAME & WATCH series of video games were released. Also, Nintendo America was created in New York.

1981:

• Nintendo introduced to the arcade world Donkey Kong, which soon become a worldwide hit.

Jul, 1983:

• Developed and released the home video games console "Family Computer" (aka the Famicom) to Japanese stores.

1984:

• When the company encountered problems to manufacture games at the same pace they were selling them, the employees were divided into three groups: Nintendo R&D1, Nintendo R&D2 and Nintendo R&D3.

1986:

• The Famicom was re-designed and released as the "Nintendo Entertainment System" in the US and Europe, along with Duck Hunt and the Super Mario Brothers.

1987:

• The NES achieves the status of the No.1 selling toy in the US. The Legend of Zelda becomes the first NES title to sell more then 1 million units.

1989:

• The Game Boy, one of the first portable gaming systems, is released in Japan and the US

Nov 21, 1990:

• The Super Famicom, a 16-bit update to the Famicom, is released in Japan.

Aug, 1991:

• The Super Famicom is released as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the US, along with Super Mario World.

1992:

• The SNES is released in Europe.

Aug 23, 1993:

• Nintendo and Silicon Graphics announce an worldwide Joint Development and License Agreement for developing a truly three-dimensional, 64-bit Nintendo machine for home use. "Project Reality" will be unveiled in arcades in 1994, and will be available for home use (target price below $250) by late 1995.

1994:

• Nintendo helps to develop and implement an industry-wide rating system for video games.

1995:

• Nintendo releases two new hardware components: a 32-bit Virtual Reality machine, the Virtual Boy and the Ultra 64 hardware chip-set, for which two arcade titles, Killer Instinct and Cruis'n USA, use.
• The company acquires 25% of Rareware.

Jun 23, 1996:

• The Ultra 64 hardware becomes the Nintendo 64 console system, and is released in Japan.

Sep, 1996:

• The Game Boy Pocket, a smaller version of the Game Boy, is released.

Sep 29, 1996:

• Nintendo 64 console is released in the United States at the MSRP of $199.95.

Aug 01, 1997:

• The Nintendo 64 is released in Europe.

1998:

• The Game Boy Color, Camera and Printer are released, along with Pokemon (a conversion of the hit Japanese RPG, Pocket Monsters).

2000:

• The Game Boy sells its one hundred millionth unit worldwide.

2001:

• The Game Boy Advance and Nintendo Gamecube are released. Meanwhile Mario and Donkey Kong celebrate 20 years in the video games industry.

Mar 21, 2001:

• The next iteration of the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, is released in Japan

Jun 11, 2001:

• The GBA debuts in the US, selling 1 million units in six weeks.

Sep 14, 2001:

• The GameCube is released in Japan.

Nov 18, 2001:

• The GameCube is released in North America.

2002:

• Hiroshi Yamauchi steps down after 52 years at the helm of Nintendo, naming Satoru Iwata as his successor

May 03, 2002:

• The GameCube is released in Europe with 20 launch titles.

Jan 20, 2004:

• Nintendo DS (Dual Screens) is announced.

Nov 21, 2004:

• Nintendo DS is released in USA.

Dec 02, 2004:

• Nintendo DS is released in Japan.

Mar 11, 2005:

• Nintendo DS is released in Europe.

Nov 19, 2006:

• The Wii is released in the United States.

Dec 02, 2006:

• The Wii is released in Japan.

Dec 08, 2006:

• The Wii is released in Europe.

Apr 28, 2007:

• The company acquires 80% of the shares of Monolith Software, Inc. and thus takes over the company.