Few names in the gaming world carry as much weight as Nintendo. The company behind immortal franchises such as Mario and Zelda rocketed to prominence in the 1980s with the NES, dominating the video game market into the 1990s. Nintendo no longer has such a stranglehold on the industry, of course, but it’s still part of the Big Three of gaming alongside Sony and Microsoft.
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Over the years, the company has admirably stuck to its guns and never abandoned the child- and family-friendly image that won it so many loyal fans in the 1980s and 1990s. As recently as 2013, Nintendo was still targeting its consoles to children and families, despite an industry-wide shift to grim and serious video game marketing — best exemplified by the “Mad World” trailer for “Gears of War” from 2006.
Behind the family-friendly image and lovable mascots, however, lays a corporation like any other: profit-minded, prone to the occasional misstep, and fiercely protective of its rights and intellectual property. Nintendo has antagonized more than a few groups and companies over the year. Here are some times Nintendo’s behavior belied its friendly image.
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