A Corporation that got its start in 1889 as a playing card manufacturer in Koyoto, Japan, Nintendo is a company widely known around the world as a computer entertainment hardware manufacturer. Nintendo went big-time after going into the arcade gaming scene and releasing "Game and Watch" devices. Then in 1985, they created the Famicom, then released it worldwide one year later as the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The system included Super Mario Bros., one of the most well known video games in the world. The game featured two plumbers, Mario and Luigi, who ran around searching every castle they found to find and rescue Princess Toadstool. No one is quite sure why they were looking for a princess kidnapped in the middle of a "Mushroom Kingdom", but several experts point to the fact that Mario and Luigi get their powers from "Magic Mushrooms", a noted hallucinogen.

Following the success of the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom), Nintendo went on to create several other video game consoles:

• Game Boy (1989) - a handheld multiple gaming device that has spawned several upgrades including a colour edition (Game Boy Color 1998). The Game Boy is best remembered for Tetris, and the numerous headaches it has caused.
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1991) - An advanced version of the Nintendo Entertainment System that was marketed as better because of its 16-bit microprocessor.
• Virtual Boy (1995) - A portable, 6-AA-battery-devouring, eye-cancer-causing virtual reality unit that calls 4 shades of red its graphics. Regarded as a complete, stinking failure by everyone, including, surprisingly enough, the psychotic marketing executives of Nintendo of America.
• Nintendo 64 (1996) - A total upgrade to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the N64 uses three-dimensional graphics as its primary display. It has been widely criticized because of the mediocre software available. The only great games you'll find on the N64 are Nintendo's own games and Rare's games. I should note, however, that the games that Nintendo and Rare make are quite possibly some of the best in the world.