*Note: This article will mention several Nintendo consoles, including FC, SFC and their corresponding American versions of NES and SNES. FC stands for Family Computer, NES stands for Nintendo Entertainment System, and the corresponding S's are super. Since mixing the names of various versions can easily cause confusion, when referring to these game consoles, if the Japanese version is specifically referred to, the Japanese version name FC/SFC is used; when referring to the US version specifically, the US version name NES/SNES is used; If it is a collective name or a general name, the common names used in the country are used, and they are called Famicom and Super Nintendo respectively. If you find it easy to get confused, you can automatically filter FC and NES to "Famicom", and both SFC and SNES to "Super Nintendo", which will have little impact on your understanding.

To ordinary players, Hiroshi Yamauchi may be an unfamiliar name, but to the gaming industry, this name is definitely well-known. Not only is his personal deeds destined to go down in history in the gaming industry, but many of his remarks are also famous aphorisms that influence the entire gaming industry.

He is the third generation head of Nintendo. It was he who led Nintendo from an unknown small workshop to a globally renowned brand today. Many senior gamers may talk about the peerless talents of Yokoi Gunpei and Miyamoto Shigeru, or they may be familiar with the console war in which Nintendo made mistakes and was defeated by the fledgling Sony from N64 to NGC; but many people may not know that behind this They all have the figure of Hiroshi Yamauchi who sticks to his word and acts decisively.

It can be said that without Hiroshi Yamauchi, there would be no Nintendo empire that laid the foundation of today's video game ecology; if it weren't for Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo, which was once at its peak, would not be so easily defeated by the fledgling Sony; more importantly, Without Hiroshi Yamauchi, video games might be different today.

So, the legendary life of Hiroshi Yamauchi begins when he becomes the third generation of Nintendo.

To understand what kind of Nintendo Hiroshi Yamauchi took over, we must first briefly introduce the early history of Nintendo.

The Nintendo Dominoes Company, founded in the late 19th century (specifically, the 15th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), was originally a small workshop producing Huafuda tiles. This is a traditional Japanese domino game. Hanafuda tiles produced by Nintendo can still be purchased on Amazon. Hanafuda tiles can also be played in some Japanese games such as "Taiko Roshiden".

Nintendo means company, and Nintendo has the meaning of doing everything one can and succeeding or failing Nintendo. The head of Nintendo at the time was called Fusajiro Yamauchi. Due to the rigorous production and excellent workmanship, the Hanafuda cards produced by Nintendo quickly opened up the market and were very popular in Japan for a while. Fusajiro Yamauchi expanded the company and production lines, and Nintendo began to prosper.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. When Fusajiro Yamauchi handed over the Nintendo that he had been running for his whole life to his son-in-law, Seira Yamauchi, it coincided with the outbreak of World War II. While Japan's ambitious Kwantung Army was wreaking havoc on other lands, it paid little attention to the suffering of its own people. The massive war consumption, forced conscription, forced conscription of comfort women, etc. became a big burden on the shoulders of the Japanese people at that time. Even life is hopeless, and people naturally have no intention of entertainment. The sales of Hanafuda cards are getting worse and worse. Therefore, although Yamauchi Seira also thought about doing a good job in the company, it still cannot change the fact that the war destroyed the economy. Later, Japan was defeated and the domestic situation became more tense. Nintendo was not operating well for a time and was even on the verge of bankruptcy.

It was under such circumstances that Hiroshi Yamauchi was given the task of being in danger. Through his series of innovative innovations and attempts with a very revolutionary spirit, he turned the tide when it was falling, helped the building that was about to collapse, and finally brought Nintendo to its knees. It has been promoted to the list of world-famous brands.

Yamauchi Pu, whose real name is Shanuchi Bo, later changed his name to Shanuchi Pu, so we call him Shanuchi Pu.

He is the grandson of Seira Yamauchi and graduated from Waseda University. At that time, he was a daring and enterprising young man.

It is said that when Hiroshi Yamauchi took over Nintendo from Seira Yamauchi, he made a series of agreements with his grandfather to ensure that he could dominate Nintendo.

It is not unreasonable for Hiroshi Yamauchi to have such worries and preparations. At Nintendo at that time, there were a large number of veteran figures who regarded themselves as heroes and generals. They were more or less concerned about this young leader. There will be a bit of contempt in the heart. Therefore, they are like Changsun Wuji to Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty and Ao Bai to Emperor Kangxi. Whether it is out of the public intention to assist the emperor to benefit the country or the selfish intention of waiting for opportunities to usurp the throne, such people are the same to the new leaders. obstacle.

It was at this time that Hiroshi Yamauchi first showed his decisive and resolute style. Later, he became famous in the industry for this style. If you want to say who is particularly awesome in the gaming industry at the end of the 20th century, They would say that he "isn't even afraid of Yamauchi Pu".

As soon as Hiroshi Yamauchi took office, he forcibly dismissed most of the company's old employees. This move naturally triggered a general strike by the labor union. Faced with this situation, Yamauchi Hiroshi decisively closed the factory, then bribed the police and the underworld to suppress it, and later even directly dissolved the union. Precisely because he struck quickly and accurately, this supposed vigorous battle between the new king and the hero lasted only about a week, and the victory of Hiroshi Yamauchi was declared.

After clearing the obstacles, Hiroshi Yamauchi immediately made a major change for Nintendo. Not only did he find new employees and introduce new technologies, he also changed Nintendo's name from Domino Company to Solitaire Company. Although it is a one-word difference, it not only contains the young man Hiroshi Yamauchi's determination to reform, but also marks the first step in Nintendo's various business transformations.

Hiroshi Yamauchi’s ability is by no means limited to the company’s “internal affairs”, but also lies in its “external affairs”. Under his leadership, after Nintendo transformed into the production of Western playing cards, it took only 6 years to defeat Japan's number one playing card manufacturer, A Poker, and become the largest playing card manufacturer in Japan. It is said that it was officially because when Hiroshi Yamauchi, Japan's number one playing card manufacturer, visited the largest playing card manufacturer in the United States (All-American Playing Card Company), he found that the other company's office was small and crude. He then realized that this industry could not last long, so he thought of finding another job. Way out.

In 1964, Japan ushered in the Tokyo Olympics, and the entire country was immersed in great joy. While ordinary Japanese people are discussing the Olympic opening ceremony, venues and medals, there are also some Japanese with a keen sense of smell who have found their own opportunities, and Hiroshi Yamauchi is one of them.

This time the Olympic Games brought together Hiroshi Yamauchi and Nintendo with a huge thigh-Disney. After contact, Nintendo hoped to produce playing cards with Disney cartoon images on them. Disney was also very satisfied with Nintendo's operating conditions in Japan. Therefore, the two most powerful IP (and legal department) companies in the world later entered into the first It was under such circumstances that the collaboration was born - Disney-themed playing cards printed with the Nintendo LOGO.

This cooperation not only allowed Nintendo to accumulate capital crazily, but also allowed Nintendo to appreciate the power of IP for the first time.

After that, as mentioned above, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who felt that the card industry was not a long-term solution, began to seek new changes.

Now that he has considered starting the transformation, Hiroshi Yamauchi has begun to observe and think about Japan’s domestic market. He believes that Japan’s economy has developed rapidly after the war and people’s material needs have also increased. As a company, Nintendo can improve people’s lives. Companies that offer quality, rather than the necessities of life, have their opportunity.

The first thing he looked at was the hotel industry. At the beginning of Nintendo's transformation, it opened a love hotel brand called "Love Hotel". Yes, it is the kind of shy hotel you think of.

Of course, the couple hotel brand called Love Hotel ultimately failed, otherwise when young couples travel to Japan, they would just search for Nintendo when searching for hotels. In this regard, Yamauchi Hiroshi did not give up the idea of ??reform. He did not choose to go back and continue to produce playing cards conservatively, but continued to explore the road to change.

After that, Nintendo also tried taxis, instant rice and other industries, and suffered repeated failures. Looking at these industries now, the scope of cross-industry is very large, there is almost no connection between them, and they are not related to Nintendo's old industry. When placed in business textbooks, this is a typical wrong attempt, from which we can also learn It can be seen that Nintendo and many Japanese companies were confused during that period.

However, perhaps because of the principle of "gold always shines", or because Hiroshi Yamauchi himself has a really vicious vision, Nintendo, which has experienced several failed transformations, has not declined since then. Instead, I found a bright and prosperous road, and it all started from a young man who was recruited by chance.

The enterprising Hiroshi Yamauchi knows the importance of talents and has always been focusing on them. However, how can talented people who are already well-known in various industries condescend to work in such a small workshop? I had to send people to various universities to recruit people.

But will recruiting people at university be successful? Of course not. You must know that Nintendo was listed as a playing card manufacturer at the time. For highly educated and high-quality college students, whether they are management talents in liberal arts, technical talents in science and engineering, or even art students and sports students, , it seems that it is difficult to find any opportunities to display talents in such a company. Fortunately, Nintendo's human resources department was quite capable at the time. In the end, they recruited a group of people through coaxing and deception, including Gunpei Yokoi, who graduated from Doshisha University.

Some friends may not know much about Doshisha University, and may even think that the name of the school smells like soap, but in fact it is one of the most prestigious universities in Asia and even the world. In addition to Gunpei Yokoi, "Father of Resident Evil" Shinji Yamama also graduated here. Other famous alumni include Katsuhisa Ikase, who starred as "Lawyer Miki" in "Legal High". It is said that Gunpei Yokoi was an inventive genius in the eyes of his classmates when he was in college. Although his grades in school were not ideal, no one ever doubted his ability. Before joining Nintendo, Gunpei Yokoi worked in large companies such as Sharp. However, due to his personality, he really couldn't stand the pedantic rules and regulations of large companies, so he finally chose to join a small business and wanted to let go. , have a big fight.

As for the reason why Yokoi Gunpei chose Nintendo, there has always been an interesting theory. It is believed that the reason why Yokoi Gunpei chose Nintendo is the same as the reason why Rukawa Kaede chose Shohoku in "Slam Dunk": to leave home. close. In fact, the address of Nintendo's factory at the time was indeed very close to Gunpei Yokoi's home address, and he could ride a bicycle to work every day. However, other than that, as a small business, Nintendo was able to offer very generous benefits and the courtesy of the HR department. The lotus flower must also be very attractive.

If you only listen to the characteristics of "unwilling to be bound by rules and regulations", you may think that Gunpei Yokoi is an impetuous person, but the fact is exactly the opposite. After joining Nintendo, Gunpei Yokoi is very down-to-earth and serious in his work. I am strict about attendance, and I often work overtime alone until the end.

So, for such a serious and responsible young man, his efforts were silently noticed by his boss. After many trials, whether intentionally or unintentionally, he finally decided to hand over the big responsibility to him.

This was a script that seemed unrealistic. Before I could follow the script, a more dramatic coincidence happened.

As mentioned before, Gunpei Yokoi was an inventive genius when he was in college. He liked to invent all kinds of weird gadgets to amuse the people around him since he was a child. After joining Nintendo, he still often pulled out his various gadgets like magic tricks, and his colleagues were often amused by his whimsical ideas.

On one occasion, Yokoi Gunpei brought the "Super Monster" he invented to the company. This was a trick device that fired a fist through a spring. Yokoi Gunpei liked to use it to bully his colleagues. When you are not paying attention, you can launch it for a sneak attack, which can activate the atmosphere every time. Only this time, there was a slight problem with this simple gadget - it went wrong. When Gunpei Yokoi took out the "Super Monster" this time, before he could target his colleagues who wanted to prank him, the small device flew out on its own, drew a beautiful arc, and then landed impartially. It fell on the boss Hiroshi Yamauchi.

This dramatic scene immediately silenced the entire factory. Only Hiroshi Yamauchi bent down and picked up the small device on the ground. After playing with it silently for a few times, he looked at Yokoi Jun and said calmly: "Come to my office after get off work." Then he walked away.

After get off work that day, Gunpei Yokoi came to the president's office with an anxious mood. According to his own later recollection, after he entered the door, Yamauchi Hiroshi didn't say a word. He just sat in his seat and looked deeply at the young man in front of him across the office, as if he wanted to see through him. After being silent for an unknown amount of time, Hiroshi Yamauchi finally spoke slowly: "What you made is good. Maybe you can bring it to the production line and turn it into a product that can be sold externally."

This well-known legend in the industry The story can now be seen in various game-related textbooks, biographies, memoirs, encyclopedias, etc. This is because Gunpei Yokoi later became a legend in the entire gaming industry, and Hiroshi Yamauchi’s discerning eye was also revealed at this time. The first clues are coming.

After that, Gunpei Yokoi began to develop and design various gadgets for Nintendo, including toys similar to laser pointers, "love testers" and other strange gadgets that can still be seen today. There is a huge market demand hidden behind the small invention. It has been a popular Christmas gift for children for many years, and it also found Nintendo's initial foothold.

Among the 19 recipients of the GDC Lifetime Achievement Award so far, five are Japanese, two of whom were discovered and appointed by Hiroshi Yamauchi, one is Gunpei Yokoi mentioned above, and the other It is Shigeru Miyamoto, who is known as the "Newton of the gaming world".

Compared with the widely circulated "super weirdo" story of Gunpei Yokoi, the process of Shigeru Miyamoto's discovery and promotion is less dramatic and less well-known.

The first Shigeru Miyamoto was introduced to Nintendo as a "connected person" - at that time, Shigeru Miyamoto, who studied art, was unemployed at home, and his father was Hiroshi Yamauchi He wanted to introduce Shigeru Miyamoto to work under his old friend.

The Miyamoto Shigeru we are familiar with now is an interesting person full of childlike innocence. Although there is packaging for commercial considerations, judging from the feedback from a large number of fans, his own personality is indeed in this way. Therefore, Miyamoto Shigeru quickly became interested in this toy manufacturer and personally visited Yamauchi Shigeru.

The first meeting itself was not a pleasant one. Hiroshi Yamauchi has always been a person who values ??theory over literature. Facing this "connected person", he didn't even say a polite word. He just looked at him with a smile on his face and said lightly: "Nintendo needs engineers, not painters like you." What's rare is that although this meeting itself was not very pleasant, both parties actually gave each other the best. It left a good impression. Shigeru Miyamoto was moved by Nintendo's vibrant atmosphere, while Hiroshi Yamauchi thought that Shigeru Miyamoto "had a childlike temperament." It is difficult for us today to regard "childlike" as a compliment, but for Hiroshi Yamauchi, this temperament reflects a special kind of vitality and creativity, which is exactly what Nintendo currently wants. Wanted.

So, with the intention of both parties, the second meeting came as scheduled. This meeting was more formal and the two sides discussed a lot of practical things.

Yamauchi believed that Shigeru Miyamoto had a sharp vision and great potential, so he proposed that Shigeru Miyamoto bring some practical ideas about toys next time.

We don’t know what kind of preparation Miyamoto made when he returned, but judging from what happened later, the third meeting can be said to be quite successful. This time, Miyamoto Shigeru brought his own toys. These toys were exaggerated in shape and bright in color. Hiroshi Yamauchi felt at just one glance that these toys would be very popular with children.

Among all these toys, the most mentioned is an elephant-shaped toy. This toy is made of colorful rags. The ears and nose are exaggerated, making it weird and cute. . Shigeru Miyamoto took these toys and introduced his opinions on how to attract children to Hiroshi Yamauchi. Hiroshi Yamauchi listened carefully and became more and more fascinated. He suddenly discovered that the young people in front of him contained amazing talents.

After this meeting, Hiroshi Yamauchi formally invited Shigeru Miyamoto to join Nintendo and assigned him to Gunpei Yokoi's department.

Later, the "Kiki Mori" arcade game developed by Shigeru Miyamoto hit the streets in Japan. Just when everyone (even Gunpei Yokoi) doubted his ability, only Hiroshi Yamauchi stood alone and placed Shigeru Miyamoto in an important development position in an almost arbitrary manner. Afterwards, the Game&Watch version of "Popeye" developed by Shigeru Miyamoto became a hit, and "Koshigo Mori", which had previously performed poorly in Japan, also achieved major success in North America. Shigeru Miyamoto continued his efforts and used "Koshigo Mori" The image of Mr.jumpman (later the famous Mario) was used to create "Mario Brothers" (also known as "Plumbing Mario" or "Plumbing Mary"), and finally proved himself.

After Miyamoto proved himself with "Yoshigo Mori" and "Popeye", one day in 1984, Hiroshi Yamauchi called him to the office, where he announced a change. Shigeru Miyamoto's personal destiny changed the fate of the entire Nintendo, and even the decision to change the destiny of the entire history of video games - Nintendo will establish an "Entertainment Division" that will independently conduct software research and development, led by Shigeru Miyamoto.

It was hard to imagine that a young man who had just been in the company for 7 years should take such an important position. This was hard to imagine in Japanese society in the Showa era, which emphasized seniority (in fact, today’s Japanese society is like this) The problem was also quite common), but this was not the first time something similar had happened to Nintendo at the time - Gunpei Yokoi also led Nintendo's first development department when he was still junior. From these two things, we can see Hiroshi Yamauchi's pragmatic spirit and eclectic style. The two departments mentioned above have developed to this day and are already well-known in the industry. This is a story for another day.

Hiroshi Yamauchi’s decision to establish such a department was not a whim. In fact, he has already set his sights on the long-term future. Perhaps his early experience of working with Disney gave him a deep personal experience of the power of IP, and he also wanted to create a "Mickey Mouse" belonging to Nintendo in the gaming industry.

Everyone is very familiar with what happened later. Miyamoto Shigeru fulfilled his mission, and even said that he exceeded the mission. Mario, Luigi, Tsuyoshi Mori, Link, Zelda, Yoshi, Pikmin, and even Pokémon today are inseparable from this soul figure of Nintendo - the founder of the Pokémon series. When Tomo Hitatajiri and Takeru Sugimori approached Nintendo and Namco with the prototype of "Pokémon" "Karamon" (Capsule Monster), both were rejected. It was Shigeru Miyamoto who persuaded the company to invest in GAME after reading the draft of the work. FREAK, and personally put forward suggestions for game design and promotion, which led to the popularity of "Pokemon: Red/Green". In order to thank Shigeru Miyamoto, not only the green and enemy of the protagonist in the game were defaulted The name was set to "Xiao Mao". In the later "Pokémon" animation, the protagonist and rival were directly named "Xiao Zhi" and "Xiao Mao", corresponding to Tajiri Satoshi and Miyamoto Shigeru.

The above-mentioned characters quickly began to spread among players and became part of the symbols of modern electronic games. Among them, Mario and Mori soon appeared on Nintendo's first-generation home game console, the Famicom.

What kind of influence did Mario have on the Famicom, and how many classic IPs did Nintendo create from the Famicom to the Superman era? Our article will not go into details about these classic IPs and characters. , became the foundation for the future Nintendo empire to dominate the world, and was also the pillar that allowed Nintendo to stand firm when it was at its most depressed.

When we look back at the origin of all this, we have to admit that Hiroshi Yamauchi's vision of creating classic characters at the beginning can be said to be both long-term and vicious.

Although our story has already talked about the joining of two heroes, Gunpei Yokoi and Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s entry into the console market did not happen overnight.

When Yokoi Gunpei joined Nintendo, Nintendo’s main business direction was toys; by the time Shigeru Miyamoto emerged, Nintendo was only focusing on the arcade business. In fact, Hiroshi Yamauchi has long believed that toys and arcade machines are not long-term solutions. He has been eyeing the home console market for a long time.

Nintendo was once a partner in Japan of the world-recognized first home game console "Odyssey" (not the Atari 2600 as many people believed), but was left out by the Odyssey headquarters. At this time, Mitsubishi, who was also let go, found Nintendo (at that time, Mitsubishi was responsible for the production of the Japanese version of Odyssey, and Nintendo was responsible for sales), hoping to cooperate in the development of an independent console.

Does this opportunity for Nintendo to enter the console market sound immediate? Many years later, a similar cooperation between Nintendo and Sony broke down, and Sony entered the console market and unseated Nintendo, the king at the time. This historical coincidence has always been talked about.

In short, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who was already dissatisfied with the status quo, found a perfect opportunity to finally attack the home console market that he had already taken a fancy to.

The product that Nintendo used to establish its frontline was not the red and white console that we are familiar with, but the COLOR TVGAME 6 released in 1977. This is a color home game console that cannot change the cassette and can play 6 games. , at that time it was considered to have caught up with the color TV craze. In fact, what is even more outrageous about Nintendo is that the so-called 6 games are actually the same game. Different operating modes are selected through the selection keys to change the rules. Therefore, the later domestic copycat red and white consoles not only copied Nintendo, but also " Nin1”’s ideas are all copied from Nintendo.

The price of COLOR TVGAME 6 was only 9,800 yen at the time, which was far lower than the average level of the industry during the same period. Common game consoles at that time were priced at 20,000 to 40,000 yen, which was the price of COLOR TVGAME 6. 2-4 times; at the same time, the cost of COLOR TVGAME 6 is 10,000 yen per unit. In other words, Nintendo will make a net loss of 200 yen for every COLOR TVGAME 6 sold.

This high-quality and low-priced product was well received as soon as it was released. Nintendo quickly established a brand among a large number of homogeneous competitors, and then launched COLOR TVGAME 15.

In fact, the lines of the so-called COLOR TVGAME 15 and COLOR TVGAME 6 are exactly the same, except that there are 9 less selection buttons, so the cost is of course similar. This time, COLOR TVGAME 15 is sold at a price of 15,000 yen. , the price is still far lower than the industry average. Since Nintendo has already made a name for itself, COLOR TVGAME 15 has maintained its high quality and low price, and its sales in Japan are very good.

The above two consoles have sold a total of more than 1 million units in Japan, of which more than 60% are COLOR TVGAME 15.

Let’s help Yamauchi Hiroshi do some calculations. Every time he sells a COLOR TVGAME 6, he loses 200 yen. So, almost 400,000 units a *** lose 80 million yen, and a COLOR TVGAME 15 Earning 5,000 yen, then 600,000 units per year earned 3 billion yen, 3 billion minus 80 million, Nintendo made a gross profit of 2.92 billion this time, even if labor, publicity and other costs are deducted, it is still a net profit Earned a small 3 billion.

At the same time, although Hiroshi Yamauchi had his own business strategy, the excellent quality and relatively low price of the two consoles existed objectively. In that era, Hiroshi Yamauchi's pioneering The business strategy not only earned Nintendo its first substantial revenue in the console market, it also established a very good reputation among consumers.

Nintendo became synonymous with conscience

Nintendo’s early policies inevitably used Atari as a mirror, just like the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty always mirrored the previous dynasty’s subjugation. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty took the same example. Many of the early systems, decisions and even business models of the Famicom were designed to avoid repeating the mistakes of Atari and causing another "Nintendo Shock".

Under the guidance of this idea, Nintendo first did not open licensing at all and only launched its own first-party games on FC. Later, it finally opened up third-party licensing and pioneered the review of the royalty system. and control the distribution of third-party games.

In the early days, there were only six manufacturers that could develop games on FC, including Namco, Copcon, Konami, Hudson, Jericho and Taito, and each of them had a There is a limit of only five games per year. Later, Nintendo adopted some preferential policies and began to support some third-party manufacturers, such as the "RPG duo" Square and Enix. This is a story for another time.

Due to Nintendo’s strong development capabilities and strict control of third parties, the overall quality of the early game lineup for the Famicom was quite high, which was not easy. Later game platforms became more and more open to third parties. The attitude made it difficult for the overall level to reach the heights of the early days of the Famicom. Even from today's perspective, the game lineup in the early days of the Famicom was luxurious, which was even more shocking to people at that time.

Unfortunately, the NES was released two years later than the FC, which made players in Europe and the United States eager to wait. After Nintendo finally solved the localization problem in Europe and the United States (especially the United States) (thanks to Hiroshi Yamauchi's son-in-law Minoru Arakawa), the NES was finally released in Europe and the United States in 1985.

What is unexpected is that the NES encountered an accident shortly after its release - the first batch of NES hardware sold had an inconspicuous problem, and there was almost a one-thousandth chance of causing it. The machine freezes.

If we think about it from a business perspective, this small probability of problems not being a big deal (especially in those days), the official reminded us through various channels, and at most provided a trade-in The discount is considered very generous. But after Hiroshi Yamauchi learned about this situation, he decisively ordered the recall of all problematic NES machines.

This decision caused Nintendo to suffer heavy losses at the time. First of all, the cost of recalling the machines was huge. You must know that although Nintendo had accumulated a small amount of savings after years of hard work, it still could not afford such a large loss. The other thing is the opportunity cost of this action. The launch of the NES that year was originally intended to catch up with the Christmas business war in Europe and the United States. In an era when the Internet was underdeveloped and transactions relied entirely on stores, Christmas was the most important event in Europe and the United States. During the sales period, the consequences of missing the Christmas period are more serious than missing the Double Eleven promotion now.

We have no way of knowing what considerations Hiroshi Yamauchi went through at the time, but this extremely risky behavior not only did not damage Nintendo's vitality, but also brought two positive effects:

First, it has given Nintendo a very, very good reputation. Nintendo’s image of focusing on quality has quickly been established in the minds of consumers. To this day, Nintendo is still synonymous with conscience in Europe and the United States. The most senior core players are all Ren Chui, and even many people who don’t play games, were deeply impressed by such business behavior. Nintendo’s golden brand established its position at that time.

The second is that it accidentally contributed to a hunger marketing. After hearing about such a quality-focused game console, many people wanted to buy one out of curiosity or other complicated mentality. I wanted to go home and give it a try. As a result, the relaunched NES was hard to find in a short period of time. Many people would even buy the game first and then wait in line to buy the console.

When we look back on this period of history today, we have to admire Hiroshi Yamauchi's decisiveness and foresight. We also have to admit that the one-word management model sometimes has its benefits, that is, when the person in power can personally When a correct decision is made, there is no doubt about its execution efficiency. If it were placed in an ordinary company today, this kind of decision would definitely have to be discussed in countless meetings, and it is very likely that it would not be passed in the end. After all, it is such a risky decision. People who are not particularly charismatic cannot be controlled.

Next issue’s preview: After the NES opened the market in North America, Nintendo’s position in the gaming industry was quickly established, and it began a dominance that lasted for more than ten years. However, the good times did not last long. After the cooperation between Nintendo and Sony broke down, due to a series of wrong decisions, Sony took the lead as soon as it appeared, which eventually led to the collapse of the empire. In the next issue, we will start from the squeeze on third parties during Nintendo’s reign, to the peak of the Super Nintendo, and then to Sony’s move to slay the dragon and the empire’s sunset, and the process of Hiroshi Yamauchi’s resignation.

Author: It’s me

Please indicate the source when reprinting