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Nintendo

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Nintendo is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it first produced handmade hanafuda cards and also tried several small niche businesses such as a cab company and a love hotel. Nintendo developed into a video game company, becoming one of the most influential in the industry and Japan's third most valuable listed company. The name Nintendo translated from Japanese to English means "Leave luck to Heaven".

Nintendo at a Glance

Nintendo operates out of Kyoto, Japan and has been active since 1973. You might know them as a major publisher with nearly 1560 titles on PlayPile, though they develop about 241 of these directly. Their catalog spans five decades, starting with just 11 games in the 1970s after their early days making cards and other small businesses. Output grew significantly in the 1980s to 134 titles and peaked in the 2000s with 589 releases. The 2010s saw a dip to 348 games, while the 2020s have so far produced 116. They remain active through 2026 with upcoming releases like Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave and Zero Racers scheduled for late December 2026. Their platform reach is heavily focused on their own hardware. The Wii U leads their catalog with 245 games, followed closely by the Nintendo 3DS with 230 titles. They also have significant libraries on the Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo Switch. Adventure games are their most common genre with 377 entries, while Puzzle and Platform games follow with 302 and 273 respectively. Sports and racing titles make up a smaller portion of their work compared to these core genres. Quality varies across their long history but leans toward the positive side overall. Across 811 rated titles, the average score sits at 73.7 out of 100. There are 264 great games scoring 80 or higher, including classics like Super Metroid and Super Mario World. You will also find 462 good titles in the 60 to 79 range. A smaller number of entries fall into mixed or poor categories, with 76 scoring between 40 and 59 and only 9 rated below 40. Their highest scores include The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at a perfect 100 and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at 99.7. Recent games like Rhythm Heaven Groove continue to appear on their schedule, but the bulk of their legacy remains in the decades prior.

1612
Total Games
73.7
Avg Rating
1973
First Release
2026
Latest Release

Genre Breakdown

Adventure
19%
Puzzle
15%
Platform
14%
Arcade
12%
Role-playing (RPG)
10%

Platform Spread

Wii U
248
Nintendo 3DS
236
Wii
184
Nintendo DS
160
Nintendo Switch
158

Release Timeline

1970s
11
1980s
135
1990s
259
2000s
596
2010s
358
2020s
128

Rating Distribution

271
80-100
468
60-79
77
40-59
9
0-39
Red Alarm game cover

Red Alarm

1995·virtualboy
Mario's Tennis game cover
Rating 6.0

Mario's Tennis

1995·virtualboy
Donkey Kong Land game cover
Rating 7.0

Donkey Kong Land

1995·3DS, Game Boy
Snoopy Concert game cover

Snoopy Concert

1995·SFAM
Wario no Mori: Bakushou Version game cover

Wario no Mori: Bakushou Version

1995·Satellaview
Kirby's Dream Land 2 game cover
Rating 7.9

Kirby's Dream Land 2

1995·3DS, Game Boy
Mario's Picross game cover
Rating 7.6

Mario's Picross

1995·3DS, Game Boy
BS-X: Sore ha Namae wo Nusumareta Machi no Monogatari game cover

BS-X: Sore ha Namae wo Nusumareta Machi no Monogatari

1995·Satellaview
Undake30 SameGame Daisakusen Mario Version game cover

Undake30 SameGame Daisakusen Mario Version

1995·SFAM, Satellaview
Yoshi no Cookie: Kuruppon Oven de Cookie game cover

Yoshi no Cookie: Kuruppon Oven de Cookie

1994·SFAM
PSS-63 game cover

PSS-63

1994·SFAM
Uniracers game cover
Rating 6.3

Uniracers

1994·SNES
Nintendo PowerFest '94 game cover

Nintendo PowerFest '94

1994·SNES
Tetris game cover

Tetris

1994·SNES
Cruis'n USA game cover
Rating 6.6

Cruis'n USA

1994·Arcade
Daibakushou: Jinsei Gekijoh - Ooedo Nikki game cover

Daibakushou: Jinsei Gekijoh - Ooedo Nikki

1994·SFAM, Satellaview
Donkey Kong Country game cover
Rating 8.3

Donkey Kong Country

1994·WiiU, Wii, SNES +2
Super Punch-Out!! game cover
Rating 8.4

Super Punch-Out!!

1994·WiiU, Wii, SNES +2
Kirby's Dream Course game cover
Rating 7.4

Kirby's Dream Course

1994·WiiU, Wii, SNES +2
The Firemen game cover
Rating 6.8

The Firemen

1994·SNES, SFAM, Satellaview
EarthBound game cover
Rating 9.1

EarthBound

1994·WiiU, SNES, New 3DS +2
Tetris 2 game cover
Rating 6.6

Tetris 2

1994·SNES, SFAM
Donkey Kong game cover
Rating 8.6

Donkey Kong

1994·3DS, Game Boy
Lucle game cover

Lucle

1994·Game Boy
Super Metroid game cover
Rating 9.6

Super Metroid

1994·WiiU, Wii, SNES +2
Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball game cover
Rating 5.2

Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball

1994·SNES
Wario's Woods game cover
Rating 7.3

Wario's Woods

1994·WiiU, Wii, 3DS +2
Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo game cover
Rating 7.8

Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo

1994·Switch, Wii, SFAM
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 game cover
Rating 8.0

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3

1994·3DS, Game Boy
Hangman game cover

Hangman

1993·SNES
Noughts & Crosses game cover

Noughts & Crosses

1993·SNES
Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge game cover

Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge

1993·SNES
Illusion of Gaia game cover
Rating 8.1

Illusion of Gaia

1993·SNES, SFAM
Kirby's Pinball Land game cover
Rating 7.3

Kirby's Pinball Land

1993·3DS, Game Boy
Tetris 2 game cover
Rating 5.0

Tetris 2

1993·famicom, NES
Motoko-chan no Wonder Kitchen game cover

Motoko-chan no Wonder Kitchen

1993·SFAM
Mario & Wario game cover
Rating 5.8

Mario & Wario

1993·SFAM
Yoshi's Safari game cover
Rating 7.3

Yoshi's Safari

1993·SNES, SFAM
Super Mario Bros. game cover
Rating 9.0

Super Mario Bros.

1993·SNES, SFAM
Super Mario Bros. 3 game cover
Rating 8.0

Super Mario Bros. 3

1993·SNES, SFAM
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels game cover
Rating 6.9

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

1993·SNES, SFAM
Super Mario Bros. 2 game cover
Rating 6.6

Super Mario Bros. 2

1993·SNES, SFAM
NHL Stanley Cup game cover

NHL Stanley Cup

1993·SNES
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening game cover
Rating 8.3

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

1993·Game Boy
Battletoads / Double Dragon game cover
Rating 8.1

Battletoads / Double Dragon

1993·NES
Joy Mech Fight game cover

Joy Mech Fight

1993·WiiU, Wii, 3DS +1
Top Rank Tennis game cover
Rating 7.4

Top Rank Tennis

1993·Game Boy
Kirby's Adventure game cover
Rating 7.1

Kirby's Adventure

1993·WiiU, Wii, famicom +1