Nintendo

Nintendo (Japanese: 任天堂; {{Template:nasdaq|NTDOF}}, {{Template:tyo|7974}}) was originally founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards, for use in a Japanese playing card game of the same name. Over the years, it became a video game company, one of the most powerful in the industry. Aside from video games, Nintendo is also the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners, a Major League Baseball team.

Handheld consoles

Game Boy

Main articles/the Nintendo handheld console lineage:

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• Game Boy
• Game Boy Pocket
• Game Boy Light
• Game Boy Color
• Game Boy Advance
• Game Boy Advance SP
• Game Boy Micro

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Introduced in 1989, and continuing strong today, were Nintendo's portable Game Boy systems. With several evolutions, including Pocket, Light, Color, Advance, Advance SP, and Micro versions, the Game Boy is the single most successful, and oldest portable video game platform still in production. The Game Boy has been known for putting over a dozen other portable systems out of business (including Nintendo's other attempts such as the Virtual Boy). Due to low battery consumption, durability, and a library of over a thousand games, the Game Boy has been on the top of the portable console food chain since its inception and made Nintendo the domineer of the handheld console market.

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Slowing sales of the Game Boy were remedied by the introduction of the Pokémon game, which started a phenomenon of top selling video games, movies, merchandise, and TV shows. The Pokémon phenomena helped and continue to help rocket Game Boy sales all around the world.

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Nintendo DS

Main article: Nintendo DS

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Nintendo released their Nintendo DS (Dual Screen or Developer's System) handheld game console first in the United States on November 21 2004, then in Japan on December 2 2004 and later on March 11 2005 in Europe. In the U.S., shipments of the DS reached 500,000 within the first week, and in Japan, the figures were even more impressive, reaching the same figure within four days of its launch. It has also proven to be the fastest-selling console in European history, having sold over 1 million units in six months (250,000 of those units in Great Britain alone).

Related Topics:
Handheld game console - November 21 - 2004 - December 2 - March 11 - 2005 - U.S. - Japan - European - Great Britain

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The Nintendo DS features two backlit LCD screens, the bottom of which is touch sensitive, which can create a unique style of gameplay (see or ). It also features a built in microphone and the ability to connect up to 16 Nintendo DS systems together wirelessly via Wi-Fi for multiplayer gaming. It can also play software designed originally for the Game Boy Advance, but without multiplayer abilities, as the Nintendo DS lacks a wired extension port.

Related Topics:
Microphone - Wi-Fi - Game Boy Advance

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Nintendo has officially stated that the DS in the name can stand for two different things; Developer's System to their developers, or Dual Screen to their consumers. The most popular usage is Dual Screen.

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At the Game Developers Conference, Nintendo announced that they would be launching an online service for the Nintendo DS, allowing multiplayer gaming over the Internet. The first online compatible games will be newer renditions of Animal Crossing and Mario Kart, followed by Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.

Related Topics:
Animal Crossing - Mario Kart - Tony Hawk's American Wasteland

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