Some of the most popular video games ever released, from Super Mario to The Legend of Zelda, as well as some of the most famous game consoles of all time, are creations of the same company.
This is none other than Nintendo, which did not start as a video game company. Nintendo's original founder in 1889 is considered to be Fusajiro Yamauchi, who manufactured and sold handmade Japanese playing cards in Kyoto, Japan.
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However, in 1951, when the reins of the company passed to his grandson, Hiroshi Yamauchi, the company's name was changed to Nintendo Playing Card Co. and its business began to change. The biggest change came in 1963, when the company began to shift from playing cards to games and was renamed NintendoCo.
Since the beginning of its video game production, Nintendo has proven to be very successful in the areas of marketing, production and sales of its products, as well as franchises, with consumers having loved many of its products.
Nintendo's first video game consoles were the TV Game 15 and 6, which were released in 1977.
The console only played a Pong-style game called Light Tennis. Players moved a paddle up and down to hit a ball on the screen.
Within a few years, Nintendo released a new home video game system, called the Family Computer System / Famicom (in Japan) in 1983. In 1985, some of the company's iconic games were released, such as Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda.
In 1989, the first version of the Nintendo Game Boy was released, allowing consumers to play their video games wherever they wanted. The Nintendo Game Boy was one of the first portable video game consoles. It used game cartridges and grayscale dot-matrix graphics. The Nintendo Game Boy was paired with a game called Tetris, a tile-based puzzle game, which made the Nintendo Game Boy a success.
In 1996, Nintendo released the N64 console, which was the first in history to feature an analog stick as the primary control scheme for interfacing with video games. A few years later, in 2001, the Game Boy Advance was released. The console was an immediate success, with games taking a huge leap in visual and audio capabilities over their predecessors.
The Nintendo DS was a game console introduced and released by Nintendo in late 2004. DS stands for both “Developer System” and “Dual Screen”. It introduced a whole new way of playing games to millions of players worldwide. It had two LCD screens, one of which was a touchscreen. The console was released in two more models, the DS lite in 2006 and the DSi in 2008. In 2010, Nintendo turned to 3D, announcing the Nintendo 3DS. The main feature of the Nintendo 3DS was its ability to play games in 3D.
On March 3, 2017, Nintendo released a much-anticipated product, the Nintendo Switch. The console created a completely new and improved user experience, with a variety of new features and additions.
See also: Nintendo: Switch may experience shortages later this year
The Switch offers a 6.2-inch LCD screen that could be used on the go for gaming. It also offers the ability to be placed in a special dock that allows the Switch to act as a gaming console that could compete with the Xbox and PS.
The console has 32GB of storage, expandable via microSDXC or microSDHC memory card. The USB ports on the Nintendo Switch dock can be used to charge accessories such as the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and Joy-Con.
At the heart of the Nintendo Switch is a custom Tegra processor from NVIDIA.
The console's battery lasts approximately 2.5 to 6 hours, depending on the game you are playing.
The Switch's screen is touch-sensitive, with an image sensor for gesture recognition, while the maximum number of Joy-Con controllers that can be connected is 8.
The Nintendo Switch's functions are divided into TV Mode, Tabletop Mode and Handheld Mode. TV mode allows you to enjoy your games on your TV by connecting the tablet to the dock. In Tabletop Mode, you prop the tablet on a surface and use the Joy-Cons to play. Finally, with Handheld Mode, you can play portable games from anywhere with a battery that will depend on the games themselves.
Among the most popular titles for the Nintendo Switch are Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Pokémon Sword and Shield, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Luigi's Mansion, Tetris 99, and more.
See also: 'Switch Pro' reveals Nvidia's big plans for gaming
The price of the Nintendo Switch is 300 euros, while if you want to buy additional Joy-Cons separately you will need to spend around 89 euros.
Of course, the console also has some negative points.
- To begin with, peripherals for the Nintendo Switch are a bit expensive compared to other similar devices.
- In addition, the Online services offered for the console are paid.
- Also, the free games of the month with the online subscription are only available for that specific month.
Of course, each consumer's gaming needs are unique and it remains up to the consumer to decide whether it is worth acquiring the console in question.
