Recommended Free Tools
Nintendo began by making Hanafuda playing cards in Kyoto in 1889. It later expanded into other cards, games, toys and electronic entertainment before developing its first home-use video game systems in 1977.
Nintendo started with Hanafuda playing cards
In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi began manufacturing and selling Hanafuda—Japanese “flower cards”—in Kyoto, according to Nintendo’s official corporate timeline. The company’s early business was playing cards, not video game consoles.
How Nintendo expanded beyond its original cards
Western-style and plastic playing cards
Nintendo’s official timeline says it began manufacturing and selling western-style playing cards in Japan in 1902. In 1953, it became, by its own account, the first company in Japan to mass-produce plastic playing cards.
Disney-character cards
In 1959, Nintendo began selling playing cards featuring Walt Disney characters. The cards connected its established card business with popular entertainment characters.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →#1 Best Overall
- Official Nintendo product.
- These are standard size playing cards.
- It comes with 52 playing cards (hearts, spades, clubs, diamonds) plus 2 jokers. The cards can be used to play poker or any other card games.
- Nintendo Mario Trump
- Mario and his friends who are represented by dots. Still characters who are loved, fresh and nostalgic.
Games joined the card business
In 1963, the company changed its name to Nintendo Co., Ltd. and began manufacturing games as well as playing cards. That marked a broader move into play products, rather than an immediate shift to consoles.
From toys and electronic entertainment to home video games
Beam Gun and Laser Clay Shooting
Nintendo’s UK history dates the sale of its opto-electronic Beam Gun series to 1970. In 1973, the company developed the Laser Clay Shooting System for leisure facilities. These products brought electronic technology into entertainment, but they were not home video game consoles.
Rank #2
- Nintendo
- Japanese Playing Cards Game
- Body size (approximately): [per sheet] vertical 5.3 ~ 3.2 ~ horizontal thickness 0.1cm
- Quantity: 48 cards, one empty card
- Color: Black
The 1977 home-use systems
Nintendo’s UK timeline identifies the TV Game 15 and TV Game 6, developed with Mitsubishi Electric in 1977, as home-use video game systems. They are the clearest milestone in the company’s official chronology for its move toward home consoles.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Did Nintendo make instant rice and run a taxi company?
Video-game historian Steven L. Kent’s published account describes Nintendo’s mid-century experiments beyond cards and games, including instant rice, a taxi company and hourly rental hotels. These are diversification anecdotes from Kent’s secondary history, not entries in Nintendo’s concise official timeline; they are context for the company’s experimentation, not the main story of what it made before consoles.
Rank #3
- Official Nintendo product.
- These are standard size playing cards.
- Body size: Bridge size 58mm ~ 89mm
- It comes with 52 playing cards (hearts, spades, clubs, diamonds) plus 2 jokers. The cards can be used to play poker or any other card games.
- Note: Special Return Policy applies on this product.
The reliable through-line is a progression from Hanafuda and other playing cards to games, toys and electronic entertainment, followed by the TV Game 15 and TV Game 6 in 1977.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Nintendo Japanese Playing Cards Game Set Hanafuda Marufuku TENGU Black
- full-fledged Japanese playing cards.
- Color: Black
- Package size (approximately): width 32 ~ back 6 ~ height 65mm
- Quality is high
Rank #4
- Only available in Japan
- Created to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series
- Official Nintendo product
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
