Nintendo
No one name is more synonymous with video gaming than Nintendo. Headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, the Nintendo Co. was originally founded in 1889 as a card-game company. Nintendo first electronic toys in the 1970s and fully entered the video game market with the Game & Watch series in 1980. Nintendo then revolutionized the home console market with the 1983 release of the Famicom in Japan and the 1985 North American release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Nintendo has remained a powerhouse in the video-game market ever since, producing such beloved systems as the Super NES, the Nintendo 64, the Game Boy series, the Wii, the 3DS, and most recently, the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo characters like Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong have become easily recognizable by gamers worldwide, and they will soon serve as the centerpieces of Nintendo's theme parks. Super Nintendo World will become parts of Universal Studios Japan and Universal's Epic Universe in Orlando, Florida with the park in Osaka, Japan scheduled to open on February 4, 2021.