Atari 2600 Home Video Game Console

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Yamauchi says Nintendo needs to build a programmable home video game console like the Atari 2600. Yamauchi: "I want this device that we produce to be at least one year ahead of any competitors on the market, anywhere in the world" By taking a long cycle development time, they actually get the benefit of Moore's law,. They get to come out with something a few years later that is much, much better.

You may think you know the Nintendo story: a plumber named Mario, a princess named Zelda… and didn’t they buy the Seattle Mariners at some point? We thought we knew it too. And then we started researching and were blown away.

The lovable Disney-like Nintendo that we know today is a 130 year-old a playing card company (i.e. gambling), forged in the shadowy world of the Yakuza and shaped by a four-generation cycle of bitter family betrayal. And its unlikely transformation into a global multi-billion dollar media monopoly was led by an iron-fisted patriarch who — amazingly — never played a video game in his life! Get ready for one of our favorite stories Acquired has ever told — we couldn’t make this one up if we tried!

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