Nintendo began in 1889 by making hanafuda playing cards.
Fusajiro Yamauchi founded the company in Kyoto, Japan, as Nintendo Koppai. Its early products were handmade hanafuda cards, a Japanese playing-card style decorated with seasonal images. The cards became popular for games and helped establish the company before it entered many other industries.
Nintendo spent much of the twentieth century experimenting beyond traditional cards. Its businesses included toys, games, and other products before the company became a major electronic-entertainment manufacturer. The Color TV-Game systems appeared in Japan in the late 1970s, followed by the Family Computer, known internationally as the Nintendo Entertainment System in adapted form.
The company's origins are therefore much older than its best-known video-game franchises. Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Pokémon became associated with Nintendo decades after its Kyoto card-making beginning.