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Nintendo was world-famous by the 1980s but the origins of the company go back a century earlier - to September 23rd, 1889, when Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai, a maker of brightly-coloured \u2018Hanafuda\u2019 cards.\nThe hand-painted playing cards, made of mulberry bark, were produced for decades and were a favourite of Yakuza gangsters for use in illegal gambling.\xa0\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look into the bizarre businesses with which Nintendo experimented before their pivot into video games; explain how a plastic concertina hand changed the fortunes of the company\u2019s toy division; and reveal how the inventor of the Game Boy, Gunpei Yokoi, was on a quest for love\u2026\xa0\xa0\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u201823 September 1889: Nintendo starts making playing cards\u2019 (MoneyWeek, 2020): https://moneyweek.com/349214/23-september-1889-nintendo-starts-making-playing-cards\n\u2022 \u2018Nintendo's erotic playing cards\u2019 (CNET, 2012): https://www.cnet.com/culture/nintendos-erotic-playing-cards/\n\u2022 \u2018Nintendo Hanafuda Playing Cards Deck Review - Let's open some packs\u2019 (Diggo Decks, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI7u0_sVxTU\nWe'll be back on Monday - unless you join \U0001f334 CLUB RETROSPECTORS \U0001f334 , where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! \nPlus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.\nJoin now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!\nFollow us wherever you get your podcasts:\xa0podfollow.com/Retrospectors\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.\xa0\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices