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How Nintendo Switched From Playing Cards to Video Games
In this episode of The Pivot Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how Nintendo—a company founded in 1889 making hanafuda playing cards—survived multiple existential crises by pivoting into toys, arcade games, and eventually home consoles. They focus on the critical decision in the 1960s when Nintendo faced near-bankruptcy and president Hiroshi Yamauchi bet the company on a new direction. Lucas explains the specific moment Nintendo licensed the light gun technology from the Magnavox Odyssey and created the Beam Gun series, which saved the company and set the stage for Donkey Kong, the NES, and…
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