The gaming industry is huge. Billions and billions of dollars huge. In fact, according to the latest statistics for 2014, the gaming industry is projected to make an astounding $82 billion in video game sales through 2017. A portion, no doubt, will be spent on products from a video game company called Nintendo. The early days of Nintendo weren’t profitable or diverse, but one man managed to change not only the trajectory of the company, but the entire gaming industry. Hiroshi Yamauchi orchestrated a gaming revolution.
Before Sony’s Playstation and Microsoft’s Xbox, there was a more dominant video game system on the market. This gaming console was the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Nintendo’s success didn’t start in video games, handheld gaming devices, or consoles. Instead, the legend of Nintendo was actually rooted in playing cards.
During a time where political, social, and economical winds were shifting, a young artist by the name of Fusajiro Yamauchi started the Nintendo Company based on the popularity of a card game called Hanafuda in 1889. The objective of Hanafuda was
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The inevitable heir to the Nintendo throne actually had no intention of being a business man. In 1945, Hiroshi Yamauchi set his sights on Waseda University to study law. Unfortunately, his pursuit of being an attorney was never realized. Hiroshi Yamauchi’s grandfather, Sekiryo Kaneda Yamauchi, suffered a stroke in 1948, unfortunately. At the request of Sekiryo, he wanted Hiroshi to take over the family business. Hiroshi did not hesitate and agreed, but not before a controversial decision was made. Hiroshi set the precondition that before he was to take over as President, his grandfather had to fire the only family member working at Nintendo. Sekiryo agreed and fired a cousin that was working with Nintendo at that time. After dropping out of Waseda University, Hiroshi became the third President of Nintendo in