Histoire: A Janitor Designed Nintendo Culture
In 1889, Nintendo’s business was alive and well in Kyoto, Japan. But instead of making Duck Hunt, Donkey Kong and Super Mario, the company produced hand-painted Hanafuda playing cards. During the time playing cards evolved into Wii, the company pivoted to operate taxi cabs and manufactured packets of portioned instant rice, all in search of the next big thing.
It wasn’t until 1964 that Nintendo started developing original toys and games for children. Hiroshi Yamauchi, then President of Nintendo, visited his card factory and noticed the plant’s janitor – Gunpei Yokoi – playing with a mechanical arm he had made during his off hours. Intrigued, Yamauchi asked him to develop it further. It became Nintendo’s Ultra Hand, the first toy created by Nintendo, which also marked its entrée into the video game industry.
Yokoi, the once-plant-janitor, launched success after success for Nintendo. He designed the precursor to Game Boy after watching a businessman play with an LCD calculator on a bullet train. The company swiftly forayed into electronic games as the market in the United States blew up with Atari’s Pong and Magnavox’s Odyssey. What followed was an 80s game renaissance and the birth of iconic characters that influenced late-20th century pop culture.
One imaginative brain matched with one open mind caused the pivot that made Nintendo a global influence well after its 19th Century beginnings.
(Image is the Ultra Hand, designed by Gunpei Yokoi)
