1948
In 1948 Sekiro Yamauchi had a stroke, and his grandson Hiroshi Yamauchi was called back from law school to run Nintendo at age 21.
“a couple years later in 1948, Sekiro suddenly has a massive stroke and is completely incapacitated.”
Topic
Nintendo
37 facts from 6 episodes, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
1959
In 1959 The Walt Disney Company sought to enter Japan, and Nintendo licensed Disney characters for playing cards and later toys.
“finally, in 1959, the perfect opportunity arises. The Walt Disney Company is looking to enter Japan.”
1970
The Ultra Hand, a telescoping toy hand that Gunpei Yokoi made as an office gag in 1970, sold about 1.2 million units for Nintendo.
“I mean, truly, he made it as like a gag around the office. They sell 1.2 million products of this Ultra Hand.”
1976
Nintendo licensed the Magnavox Odyssey in 1975 and released its own Color TV Game 6 console in 1976.
“So in 1975 is when they licensed the Odyssey. The next year in 1976, they take a bunch of that tech and they make their own Nintendo home video game console.”
1980s
The Famicom sold almost 20 million units in Japan over its first few years, roughly half of Japanese households according to the hosts.
“So over the next few years, the Famicom would go on to sell almost 20 million units in Japan.”
1980s
Gunpei Yokoi invented the D-pad on Nintendo's Game & Watch handhelds, according to the hosts.
“on the game and watch where Gunpei invented the D-pad that is, you know, on like every single controller.”
1981
Donkey Kong earned about $180 million in its first year and $100 million in its second year in arcades, according to the hosts.
“Earns $180 million the first year. Another $100 million the second year in arcades.”
1983
Nintendo launched the Famicom in Japan on July 15, 1983.
“So on July 15th, 1983, after years of work, Nintendo finally launches the Famicom, the family computer, Famicom for short, in Japan.”
1983
Nintendo placed a 3 million unit order with Ricoh to manufacture the Famicom's CPU and picture processing unit chips.
“They had placed a 3 million unit order with Ricoh, the Japanese semiconductor manufacturer.”
1985
Nintendo sold about 50,000 NES units in the New York test market during the 1985 Christmas season.
“So they managed to sell 50,000 units during the Christmas season in New York.”
1985
Nintendo revived the console business in 1985, which Mitch Lasky says was only five to seven years old when he began his career.
“Obviously, Nintendo had brought the console business back in 85, but we were really only five, seven years into that, right?”
1988
In 1988 Nintendo sold 7 million NES units and 33 million game packs in the United States.
“They sell 7 million NES units in 1988, which is way more than Japan. And 33 million game packs in America in 1988.”
1989
Nintendo released the Game Boy in Japan in April 1989 and soon after in the US at $89.95.
“And in April 1989, they released this device in Japan, followed shortly in the U.S. for $89.95.”
1989
According to the hosts, Nintendo named the Game Boy as a jab at Sony, which would have used a name like Game Man after the Walkman.
“They called it the Game Boy to dig at Sony, who, if they made it, would have called it the Game Man.”
1991
Sony announced a Sony-Nintendo PlayStation partnership at CES in 1991, and Nintendo revealed a Philips partnership the next day.
“In 1991 at CES, this is before E3.”
1991
Sega of America planned to cut the Sega Genesis price to $150 before the Super Nintendo launched, to pressure Nintendo's hardware margins.
“Now we're going to preemptively cut that to $150. And this is perfect counter positioning.”
1991
Nintendo estimated that making the Super NES play NES games would add about $75 to the cost of materials, and it dropped the feature.
“So Nintendo estimated that including backwards compatibility in the Super NES would add about $75 to the bill of materials.”
1994
Around the PlayStation's 1994 launch, Sony had about $38 billion in revenue while Nintendo had about $4 billion.
“They were doing $38 billion in revenue. And at that point in time, Nintendo was a $4 billion revenue company.”
2003-2007
Nintendo's market capitalization rose from about $9 billion to about $70 billion between October 2003 and October 2007, according to the hosts.
“In the four years from October of 2003 to October of 2007, Nintendo's market cap nearly 8xed from 9 billion to 70 billion.”
2004
The Nintendo DS sold about 154 million units, making it the second best-selling console of all time according to the hosts.
“And the DS is the second best-selling console of all time. It sold 154 million units.”
2006
The Nintendo Wii sold over 100 million consoles, after the GameCube sold barely 20 million.
“It sells over 100 million consoles coming back from barely 20 that the GameCube sold.”
2009
Nintendo's revenue rose from roughly $5 billion to just under $20 billion by 2009 on the Wii's success.
“So with the Wii and its success, Nintendo's revenue almost quadruples from the $5 billion-ish range to just under $20 billion in 2009.”
2012
Nintendo reported its first-ever annual loss in fiscal year 2012.
“So in Nintendo's fiscal year 2012, they report their first ever annual loss.”
2012
The Wii U sold only about 13 million units over its lifetime.
“It only sells 13 million units in its entire lifetime.”
2015
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata died of cancer in 2015 at age 55.
“he dies way, way, way too young and unexpectedly of cancer in 2015. Age 55.”
2016
Within two weeks of Pokemon Go's release, Nintendo's market value roughly doubled from about $15 billion to about $30 billion.
“within two weeks of Pokemon Go's release, the Nintendo stock price doubles from, call it a $15 billion-ish to a $30 billion market cap.”
2016
Super Mario Run, released in 2016, passed 700 million installs, per a Matthew Ball piece cited by the hosts, but earned only about $75 million in revenue.
“2016 Super Mario Run is one of the 10 most downloaded mobile games of all time with over 700 million installs.”
2018-2020
Nintendo Switch Online had 8 million subscribers three months after its December 2018 launch and 26 million by January 2020.
“Three months after launch, it had 8 million subscribers. By January of 2020, it had 26 million.”
Undated
Ken Kutaragi and Sony designed the audio chip for the Super Nintendo, which sold just under 50 million units.
“The Super Nintendo had super great audio, like really good stuff.”
Undated
Nintendo made the light gun peripheral for the Magnavox Odyssey, the first American home video game console.
“And who made the light gun for the Magnavox Odyssey? Nintendo.”
Undated
Nintendo of America sold only about 1,000 of the 3,000 Radarscope arcade cabinets it had ordered.
“They only managed to sell about 1,000 of the 3,000 cabinets.”
Undated
Nintendo defeated Universal's King Kong lawsuit over Donkey Kong after discovering that Universal did not hold the King Kong trademark.
“And it hinges on they discover that Universal doesn't actually have the trademark for King Kong.”
Undated
Including Mario Kart and Mario Party, Mario games had sold about 826 million copies, according to the hosts.
“Mario, if you sort of pop up a level and include Mario Kart and Mario Party, that's 826 million copies of Mario games sold”
Undated
David Rosenthal said Nintendo originally made playing cards whose primary customers were Japanese organized crime groups, before moving into video game consoles.
“Nintendo made playing cards with the Japanese organized crime as their primary customer.”
Undated
Nintendo owns 32% of The Pokemon Company, with the rest held by Game Freak and Creatures.
“the Pokemon Company, which is sort of the licensing body that is 32% owned by Nintendo and the other thirds are owned by Game Freak and Creatures.”
Undated
Ben Gilbert says Nintendo began by making Hanafuda playing cards, whose main customers were the Yakuza, after gambling was made illegal in Japan following the Meiji Restoration.
“And so they made Hanafuda cards, which are cards in Japan. And the Yakuza was the main customer.”
Undated
Nintendo follows a design philosophy called 'lateral thinking with withered technology', using older, cheaper technology in inventive ways.
“lateral thinking with withered technology, which is, if you look at Nintendo systems, even going way, way, way back, it's not bleeding edge technology.”
Episodes
- 15 Dec 202510 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)2h 47m
- 26 Apr 2023Benchmark’s Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins on The Art of Business in Gaming2h 17m
- 11 Apr 2023Nintendo: The Console Wars3h 18m
- 4 Apr 2023Interview: Hamilton Helmer & Chenyi Shi on How to Build an AWS-Like Second Business1h 31m
- 16 Mar 2023Nintendo's Origins3h 26m
- 7 Mar 2022SONY3h 3m