In a way, yeah, actually! Nintendo first opened their love hotel in the 1960's. Love hotels in Japan were booming in the 1960's and 1970's, so it likely seemed like a lucrative business venture at the time. Even though they don't maintain their previous popularity, love hotels in Japan today are such high-end establishments that they're almost... Respectable! As for Nintendo's love hotel, it didn't last long. It certainly still doesn't exist today, and even if it did, Nintendo most certainly doesn't own it any longer! But it was very much a far cry from the vehemently kid-friendly Nintendo we know today.
Well, hanafuda aren't exactly trading cards. Curious as it may sound, hanafuda are a type of playing card that is based on poetry, of all things. They're designed in different suits representing various months and seasons, and there are a handful of games that can be played with them based on this concept! Nintendo in particular made handmade hanafuda of various designs, so in other words, Nintendo produced very high-quality hanafuda. Part of their success in selling these cards is that the Japanese mafia, or yakuza, took an interest in these cards to be used in illegal gambling rings... So these beautiful cards also have quite a dark history behind them!
Very cool to learn about haha. I got those last night and I was confused lol, I thought maybe that Redd was going for a carnival theme or something, but that's actually really awesome and a cool throwback to Nintendo's pre-videogame days. This game is so cool haha.
I'm now working on a new informative post in the same vein as this one! I may make this a weekly/bi-weekly thing, until I run out of content to cover. This is Animal Crossing, though, so that probably won't happen for a while!
Thanks for the info. All the stories I've heard or seen on TV about Nintendo have talked about their old days at making cards then just jump ahead and talk about the gaming systems they created.
also to note, the lovely phone has to be the BEST item to take away from the fire works day. for those of you that dont know, when you use it (in your house) it tells you your lucky item for the day. (sorry katrina )