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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
Dragon Warrior game cover
Rating 7.5

Dragon Warrior

1986·famicom, NES, MSX2 +1
Squish game cover

Squish

1986·G&W
The Mysterious Murasame Castle game cover
Rating 8.0

The Mysterious Murasame Castle

1986·WiiU, Wii, 3DS +1
Vs. Super Mario Bros. game cover

Vs. Super Mario Bros.

1986·Arcade
The Legend of Zelda game cover
Rating 8.0

The Legend of Zelda

1986·WiiU, Wii, 3DS +3
Mach Rider game cover
Rating 6.1

Mach Rider

1985·WiiU, Wii, 3DS +2
Gyromite game cover
Rating 5.1

Gyromite

1985·famicom, NES
Stack-up game cover

Stack-up

1985·famicom, NES
Tropical Fish game cover

Tropical Fish

1985·G&W
Spartan X game cover

Spartan X

1985·famicom
Wrecking Crew game cover
Rating 5.8

Wrecking Crew

1985·WiiU, Wii, 3DS +4
Arm Wrestling game cover

Arm Wrestling

1985·Arcade
Soccer game cover
Rating 5.7

Soccer

1985·WiiU, Wii, famicom +2
Black Jack game cover

Black Jack

1985·G&W
Vs. Clu Clu Land game cover

Vs. Clu Clu Land

1984·Arcade
Vs. Excitebike game cover
Rating 7.2

Vs. Excitebike

1984·WiiU, Arcade, fds
Clu Clu Land game cover
Rating 6.3

Clu Clu Land

1984·WiiU, Wii, 3DS +3
Excitebike game cover
Rating 7.1

Excitebike

1984·WiiU, Wii, Arcade +2
Urban Champion game cover
Rating 6.0

Urban Champion

1984·WiiU, Wii, 3DS +2
Donkey Kong Hockey game cover

Donkey Kong Hockey

1984·G&W
4-nin Uchi Mahjong game cover

4-nin Uchi Mahjong

1984·famicom
F1 Race game cover
Rating 7.4

F1 Race

1984·famicom
Devil World game cover
Rating 7.0

Devil World

1984·WiiU, Wii, 3DS +2
Vs. Ice Climber game cover

Vs. Ice Climber

1984·Arcade, fds
Donkey Kong Circus game cover

Donkey Kong Circus

1984·G&W
Vs. Balloon Fight game cover

Vs. Balloon Fight

1984·Arcade
Super Punch-Out!! game cover
Rating 6.6

Super Punch-Out!!

1984·Arcade
Boxing game cover

Boxing

1984·G&W
Vs. Wrecking Crew game cover

Vs. Wrecking Crew

1984·Arcade
Family Basic game cover

Family Basic

1984·famicom
Hogan's Alley game cover
Rating 6.0

Hogan's Alley

1984·WiiU, Arcade, famicom +1
Duck Hunt game cover
Rating 7.2

Duck Hunt

1984·WiiU, Arcade, famicom +1
Vs. Duck Hunt game cover

Vs. Duck Hunt

1984·Arcade
Crab Grab game cover

Crab Grab

1984·G&W
Wild Gunman game cover
Rating 4.4

Wild Gunman

1984·WiiU, Arcade, famicom +1
Punch-Out!! game cover
Rating 7.6

Punch-Out!!

1984·Arcade
Spitball Sparky game cover

Spitball Sparky

1984·G&W
Pinball game cover
Rating 6.7

Pinball

1984·WiiU, Wii, Arcade +3
Popeye game cover
Rating 4.0

Popeye

1983·G&W
Donkey Kong Jr. Math game cover
Rating 4.7

Donkey Kong Jr. Math

1983·WiiU, Wii, famicom +1
Baseball game cover
Rating 5.0

Baseball

1983·WiiU, Wii, Arcade +3
Pinball game cover

Pinball

1983·G&W
Popeye no Eigo Asobi game cover

Popeye no Eigo Asobi

1983·famicom
Mario's Bombs Away game cover

Mario's Bombs Away

1983·G&W
Donkey Kong 3 game cover
Rating 6.0

Donkey Kong 3

1983·Arcade
Lifeboat game cover

Lifeboat

1983·G&W
Mah Jong game cover

Mah Jong

1983·famicom, NES, fds
Gomoku Narabe Renju game cover

Gomoku Narabe Renju

1983·WiiU, Wii, famicom +1