Go offline with the Player FM app!
Nintendo's Origins
Manage episode 359278428 series 2483609
You may think you know the Nintendo story: a plumber named Mario, a princess named Zelda… and didn’t they buy the Seattle Mariners at some point? We thought we knew it too. And then we started researching and were blown away.
The lovable Disney-like Nintendo that we know today is a 130 year-old a playing card company (i.e. gambling), forged in the shadowy world of the Yakuza and shaped by a four-generation cycle of bitter family betrayal. And its unlikely transformation into a global multi-billion dollar media monopoly was led by an iron-fisted patriarch who — amazingly — never played a video game in his life! Get ready for one of our favorite stories Acquired has ever told — we couldn’t make this one up if we tried!
ACQ2 Show:
Links:
- Our Atari episode with Nolan Bushnell
- Video of id Software’s legendary PC “port” of Super Mario Brothers 3
- Episode sources
Carve Outs:
- Everything Everywhere All At Once
- Michael Lewis on Tim Ferriss and on CSPAN
Sponsors:
ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn
Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta
Modern Treasury: https://bit.ly/acqtransfer
More Acquired!:
- Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
- Join the Slack
- Subscribe to ACQ2
- Merch Store!
229 episodes
Manage episode 359278428 series 2483609
You may think you know the Nintendo story: a plumber named Mario, a princess named Zelda… and didn’t they buy the Seattle Mariners at some point? We thought we knew it too. And then we started researching and were blown away.
The lovable Disney-like Nintendo that we know today is a 130 year-old a playing card company (i.e. gambling), forged in the shadowy world of the Yakuza and shaped by a four-generation cycle of bitter family betrayal. And its unlikely transformation into a global multi-billion dollar media monopoly was led by an iron-fisted patriarch who — amazingly — never played a video game in his life! Get ready for one of our favorite stories Acquired has ever told — we couldn’t make this one up if we tried!
ACQ2 Show:
Links:
- Our Atari episode with Nolan Bushnell
- Video of id Software’s legendary PC “port” of Super Mario Brothers 3
- Episode sources
Carve Outs:
- Everything Everywhere All At Once
- Michael Lewis on Tim Ferriss and on CSPAN
Sponsors:
ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn
Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta
Modern Treasury: https://bit.ly/acqtransfer
More Acquired!:
- Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
- Join the Slack
- Subscribe to ACQ2
- Merch Store!
229 episodes
All episodes
×Welcome to Player FM!
Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.