Rise and Fall of Video Game Markets

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The arcade video game industry became a $5 billion annual market in the US by 1980, but within just two years, in 1982, the home video game market also reached $3.2 billion. This sudden rise was due to overcrowding and excessive funding, leading to a flooded market with products of varying quality. However, by 1985, the once thriving home video game market drastically declined by 32 times, dropping to $100 million, as the entire category vanished.

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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