Nintendo Video Games BEFORE the NES

Between the birth of electronic games and the release of the NES, there was much more happening behind the scenes than most people know. Nintendo had already spent over a decade juggling multiple business failures before reaching success, but the brand-new frontier of electronic toys and video games presented a challenge that almost swept Nintendo off its feet before it could even properly enter the market.

So how did Nintendo go from being a small Japanese toy-making company to an international phenomenon? And was this transition as smooth as they’d liked it to be?

To answer that, let’s go back to Kyoto Japan, half a century ago.