Super Nintendo: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play

MacDonald (You Died: The Dark Souls Companion) has written a compelling history of Nintendo. Known today for video games and gaming systems, the company was founded in 1889 as a producer of handmade hanafuda Japanese playing cards. In the 1960s, the company began producing toys. They first produced arcade games in the 1970s. In 1981, Donkey Kong was launched, followed by Super Mario Bros. In 1985, the nearly century-old company ushered in a new era. MacDonald details the development of all Nintendo games and gaming systems, including The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, Kirby, and the Wii gaming system, among others. MacDonald not only illuminates the creation of these games but also offers insights into the personalities of the developers behind the products. There is an appendix consisting of “Nintendo’s Fifty Best Games, as Selected by the Author.” The book is written in non-technical terms, making it accessible to a range of audiences with or without a knowledge of gaming or computing.