The secret to Nintendo's success

任天堂成功的秘诀

The Indicator from Planet Money

2025-06-16

9 分钟
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Nintendo has been a titan in the video game industry for decades, but that wasn't always the case. At its very core, Nintendo sees itself as a toy company which is evident in its products from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to the Nintendo Switch 2. Today on the show, we explore Nintendo's history and examine how a small playing card company in Japan became a multimedia giant. Related episodes:Forever games: the economics of the live service modelDesigning for disability: how video games become more accessibleThe boom and bust of esportsWork. Crunch. Repeat: Why gaming demands so much of its employeesVideo Game Industry Week: The Final Level For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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  • In the world of consumer electronics,

  • being number one is usually an advantage.

  • Like, if your product has the newest tech,

  • the most features,

  • the fastest processors,

  • chances are people will line up to buy it.

  • Sometimes, though, it pays not to be number one.

  • Take Nintendo.

  • Earlier this month,

  • it released its latest console, the Switch 2.

  • Now, as a piece of video game machinery,

  • the new Switch is nowhere near as powerful as its competitors,

  • like the Sony PlayStation or the Microsoft Xbox.

  • And yet,

  • when the Switch 2 was released a little over a week ago...

  • Gamers in New York camped out on the sidewalk outside a Nintendo store for hours just to snag one.

  • She's been here since 1230.

  • Oh my god.

  • So much longer than I thought.

  • I've been here for now 18 days and me and my buddy Chris and or Chicken Dog have been planning this for two years.