The Curse of Nintendo

(Author's note: Consider this my contribution for Halloween. Enjoy)

Being Nintendo a company well known for its E-rated games, it's hard to imagine the hidden stories behind the walls where beloved characters like Mario, Donkey Kong, Link and Kirby were born. These buildings located in Kyoto, Japan have witnessed how macabre events tarnish the bright colors of the Great N.

Which secrets Nintendo is hiding from us?

Let's start with a delicated theme: the deaths of the CEO's who have led Mario's company.

Fusajiro Yamauchi

Founder of Nintendo. In 1940, shortly after World War II begin, he's cruelly murdered. Nowadays his soul wanders throughout Nintendo's offices, since he was buried under Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto. The reasons and history of his death are a mystery.

Sekiryo Takeda

Husband of Tei, Fusajiro's daugter. His command is short, in 1949 he retires after suffering a severe apoplexy, ending with his life shortly after.

Hiroshi Yamauchi

His life would be long and prosper. After a long string of successes, he is forced to left the company in 2002 after the flop of Nintendo 64 and transforming Sony, his back then biggest subsidiary, into his worst enemy and crushing the company's two next consoles. He passes away in 2013 by pneumonia.

Satoru Iwata

First CEO of Nintendo who didn't belong to the Yamauchi family tree. After the successes of Nintendo DS and Wii, the next consoles bombed hardly. In 2014 he's forced to left his duties thanks to a mysterious deceased unknown back then, when he finally returns he looks exhausted. In July 2015 he passes away at the age of 55, it's confirmed that he had been hospitalized to remove a tumor in his bile duct and, although it was removed, the issue resurfaced and ended his life.

To them we have to add a special case.

Gunpei Yokoi

Creator of Game & Watch, Game Boy and the Kid Icarus and Metroid franchises. While he was going down the road he descends from his car to help some people in trouble. Unfortunately, as if it was a bad joke of fate, he is hit by a car at high speed. He dies instantly.

Now let's move on to successes and failures of the company

Through its history Nintendo has had great successes like the Hanafuda cards in the beginning, Game & Watch, NES and Game Boy in the 80's, SNES and Game Boy Color in the 90's, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and Wii in the 2000's and Nintendo 3DS in the present. But everything has its dark side.

The Hanafuda cards were originally sold to the Yakuza. The destiny probably decided that doing this was not right and, consequently, the company suffered repeated failures the next decades like hotels, taxi cabbins, instant food and even its own TV network. Hiroshi Yamauchi must do something so that, years later, came to him 2 masterminds: Gunpei Yokoi and Shigeru Miyamoto.

Pact with the Devil?

Let's analyze this better:

The Hanafuda cards were a success thanks to the Yakuza, after decades and decades of failures Nintendo becames what it is today thanks to Yokoi and Miyamoto, the Famicom line brings riches to Nintendo. But after that two failures arrived: Nintendo 64 and Gamecube. Yokoi creates the succesful Game & Watch and Game Boy, then the biggest bomb in Nintendo's history: Virtual Boy. This makes Yokoi leave the company, he passes away shortly after. After his death two new hits were born: Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS.

Was Yokoi's death an equivalent trade to being back to success?

Wii was a hit during its lifespan, but its successor became the biggest bomb in Nintendo's home console history.

It's like every success necessarily needs a blood pact. Is this a consequence of allying to one of the most powerful mafias of the world? Hiroshi Yamauchi sold his soul to the Devil?

This questions may never be solved, but there's a fact to be sure: the colorful characters of Nintendo hide behind their appearances a story of pain and tragedy.

This got me thinking: With Iwata's passing, the Switch will be a hit? Just some food for though.