Fred Chong Rutherford

Speaking / Keynotes

Nintendo, 1889–1989

Format
keynote
Runtime range
30–45 min (45–60 with Q&A) · 10-min snap lecture available

The 130-year history of Nintendo — from a Meiji-era playing card company to the video game industry’s most durable name — and the 30-year pivot (1950–1980) that made it happen, built around employee well-being rather than any single hit product.

Traces Nintendo’s detours through taxis, hotels, and home electronics, a licensing deal gone wrong that pushed one loyal engineer to build something better, and a separate licensing win that convinced the company to bet on its own characters instead of someone else’s. Nintendo is the oldest continuously operating corporation on Earth — its story is a business education in miniature.

Part of the Japan business-history suite — pairs with Kaizen and 7-Eleven Japan.

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