Nintendo used a security chip in official cartridges as a way to prevent unauthorized developers from making games for the NES.

The third-party Teleplay modem would’ve offered online gaming and cross-platform play between Nintendo and Sega systems, but it was ultimately canceled. But it did allow users to trade stocks, bet on horse races, and more.

Nintendo’s official Famicom Modem was released in Japan and didn’t offer online gaming.

There were actually two modem add-ons for the NES.

The company released the Famicom 3D System in Japan as an add-on for the NES back in 1987, but it was a commercial flop.

Believe it or not, the Virtual Boy wasn’t Nintendo’s first stab at headset-based 3D gaming.

Simply bring your disk to the machine and it could copy a new game onto it. This format was actually rewritable, which meant you could save games directly on the disk or buy entirely new games via a vending machine. It used the obscure Quick Disk format akin to floppy disks, giving a total of 128KB of storage space.

Nintendo released a disk-based add-on for the NES in Japan dubbed the Famicom Disk System.

Nintendo released new Game and Watch models in 20, offering games like Super Mario Bros.

Yokoi would leave Nintendo in 1996 to work on what became the Bandai Wonder Swan handheld, before passing away in a car accident in 1997. These include the cross-shaped D-pad and the Game Boy.

Gunpei Yokoi was the creator of the Game and Watch, but he was also responsible for a host of other beloved innovations.

This game performed poorly in the US, with Nintendo then creating Donkey Kong as a way to essentially repurpose unsold Radar Scope arcade cabinets.

Donkey Kong wasn’t Nintendo’s first arcade game, as that distinction belonged to 1980s Radar Scope.

Mario was named after Nintendo of America landlord Mario Segale.

Jumpman would later be renamed Mario - yes, that Mario.

It’s believed that Nintendo made $280 million from Donkey Kong arcade machines by the end of 1982, giving it a solid foundation for the future. The game arguably popularized the platformer genre as players controlled Jumpman, leaping over obstacles and more in order to save the princess from the clutches of Donkey Kong. Nintendo’s second breakthrough was the Donkey Kong arcade machine.

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