Comments on: NINTENDO COMPANY JAPAN

NINTENDO COMPANY JAPAN

timshel — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 05:11:19 -0800

The beforemario blog showcases the toys and games Nintendo created in the period from the mid 1960s to the early 1980s, including: Nintendo Popeye Trump cards, Nintendo Love Tester, Nintendo Ultra Hand, Nintendo Disney Baseball Board, Nintendo Companion, Nintendo Mamaberica baby stroller, Nintendo Monster Copy, Nintendo Bee Hive Game and Nintendo Mister Magician Coin & Stick. Full list.

By: zamboni

zamboni — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 05:18:15 -0800

If you're stuck in SFO for a while, the Japanese toys exhibit is worth seeing. Everything from kokeshi wooden dolls through to Ultraman.

By: RubixsQube

RubixsQube — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 05:20:52 -0800

It's pretty fascinating to see the pre-history of Nintendo, considering how many people only know them from their video games. I highly recommend this book, which chronicles much of what the beforemario blog discusses, and even goes earlier. This is only Part 1, Part 2 covers the Game and Watch era, and I don't think that Part 3 has been released yet.

By: GenjiandProust

GenjiandProust — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 05:27:12 -0800

I am sort of sad that Monster Copy doesn't encourage you to act like a monster and that the Bee Hive Game does not involve children getting stung for the crime of pestering bees. Hammering on bee hives is not behavior we ought to encourage!

By: griphus

griphus — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 05:38:37 -0800

Those books RubixsQube mentions are pricy and a little awkwardly translated from Italian, but also beautifully laid out with a lot of interesting, original research. I am really looking forward to the Gunpei Yokoi one; they get a bit into his career in the Vol. 2 and the dude is fascinating.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 06:19:34 -0800

I have a Ten Billion that I finally got a few years ago after wanting one way back when Rubik's puzzles were having their first heyday. There are a lot of similar-looking puzzles that are much easier but that one's really nice.

By: needled

needled — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 06:30:37 -0800

The blog entry on Nintendo's logo through the years is great. (Is this where I can sneak in a link to a Korean fanboy's photo documentation of his 2007 pilgrimage to Nintendo HQ in Kyoto, and his accidental encounter with Shigeru Miyamoto?)

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 06:36:41 -0800

Last year I discovered that Nintendo not only used to make go boards, but still makes them.

By: Strange Interlude

Strange Interlude — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 07:35:28 -0800

Nintendo still flogs the old toys and analog games from time to time. I actually got an official Ultra Hand video game as a Club Nintendo bonus download a few years ago. It was ... kind of disappointing.

By: ignignokt

ignignokt — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 08:12:11 -0800

Ultra Hand is in Wario Ware! Perfect as a 3-second micro game. I wonder how much this history of analogue game and toy design helped them out when they started making video games.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 08:54:34 -0800

A Wii downloadable game called Grill Off With Ultra Hand was one of the Club Nintendo rewards from a couple of years ago. That's where I got my copy from. I love the old "Spade with an 'N'" trademark they used to use. This needs to be in the next Smash Bros. game.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 08:55:15 -0800

Ah, what Strange Interlude said.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 08:56:24 -0800

You can still get Nintendo hanafuda cards, with Mario iconography, through Club Nintendo. And you can learn to play with them with the highly underrated Clubhouse Games DS game.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 09:51:49 -0800

There are some gems that aren't directly linked in the post. Although we find these interesting because of what Nintendo would become, I think they're also interesting just for giving us a glimpse into toy-making at that time. Here: Twister talks about how risque the game was in the US, and that was hinted at in Milton Bradley's release by a young woman's sweater hanging on by a single button. Of course she's still wearing a full blouse beneath it, but still... daring! When it was brought to Japan, where physical contact is even more taboo than the US, a couple of the adult figures on the box were changed to children, to try to downplay that aspect. Here's the page on Nintendo's design genius Gunpei Yokoi, who is revered in gaming circles for designing the Gameboy and producing Metroid, despite the fact that these acts came at the end of a long and varied career in which he designed a lot of smaller, cheaper and weirder things. He created the Ultra Hand, which sold a million units, a lot for a hunk of plastic, no matter how cunningly designed. Another of his million-selling designs is the wonderful Ultra Machine, basically a ping pong ball server for batting practice. The device is depicted in one of the best boss games in GBA Wario Ware. Did you know Nintendo made Lego-like (and compatible) blocks? Introduction. Here's the overview of the Nintendo Blocks line, and some more images. There's lots more on the site. Although mostly a Lego clone, they did develop a special piece that can be attacked at a 45-degree angle. This site is a terrific find. Thanks timshel!

By: fiercecupcake

fiercecupcake — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 10:51:48 -0800

Now I know what the Ultra Hand item is in ACNL! Awesome.

By: solotoro

solotoro — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 13:45:15 -0800

Oh man. My grandfather had something very like the coin from Mister Magician Coin & Stick. He passed away over a decade ago, and we've never come across it, but I keep hoping it will turn up in a box somewhere.

By: NMcCoy

NMcCoy — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 13:53:15 -0800

Whoa. After all these years this suddenly makes a bit more sense.

By: emptythought

emptythought — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 18:36:08 -0800

ignignokt: Ultra Hand is in Wario Ware! Perfect as a 3-second micro game. Honestly, a solid and long FPP could be made about wario ware in and of itself. There's so much obscure nintendo history stuff, inside jokes/references, and just generally "blink and you'll miss it" stuff crammed in there The first one in particular has some of the best music and design i've seen in a nintendo game from the past ten years, and is just generally rich with smile-inducing greatness.

By: griphus

griphus — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 18:57:35 -0800

An FPP on WarioWare would be so awesome. Also, holy shit how did that game come out over ten years ago.

By: JHarris

JHarris — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 20:18:46 -0800

To do a WarioWare FPP justice, I think it'd have to cover every game. Maybe after I'm done with the current megapost project....