Before Nintendo became synonymous with iconic video games, the company dabbled in a bizarre assortment of products. Here are the 10 weird things Nintendo sold before it made video games, ranging from gambling cards to vacuum cleaners.
10 Weird Things You Won’t Expect From Nintendo
10 Supplying The Yakuza’s Illegal Gambling Rings
Nintendo’s first major customers were the yakuza: Japan’s organized crime syndicates. Long before they made video games, Nintendo specialized in making playing cards, and their biggest customers were the illegal casinos run by the yakuza.
It was an open secret. Nintendo barely even tried to hide how they were using their cards—in fact, it was right there in their name. The name “Nintendo” is an allusion to gambling that roughly translates to “in the end, it is in heaven’s hands.”
Some think the name holds an even deeper meaning. According to some yakuza members, Nintendo’s name, from the start, was a subtle reference to ninkyo, the yakuza concept of chivalry. This would mean that, from the very moment the business started, they were linked to the Japanese mob.
Nintendo made a fortune selling playing cards. They quickly became the biggest card company in Japan; they even got the contract for Disney’s officially licensed playing cards in 1959. And, believe it or not, Nintendo still sells their old playing cards today, and they’re still the biggest card manufacturer in Japan.