Technology
You may think you know the Nintendo story: a plumber named Mario, a princess named Zelda… and didn’t they buy the Seattle Mariners at some point? We thought we knew it too. And then we started researching and were blown away.The lovable Disney-like Nintendo that we know today is a 130 year-old a playing card company (i.e. gambling), forged in the shadowy world of the Yakuza and shaped by a four-generation cycle of bitter family betrayal. And its unlikely transformation into a global multi-billion dollar media monopoly was led by an iron-fisted patriarch who — amazingly — never played a video game in his life! Get ready for one of our favorite stories Acquired has ever told — we couldn’t make this one up if we tried!ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2! Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service Vanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit product …in touch with Tiny! (just tell them Ben & David sent you) Links: Our Atari episode with Nolan Bushnell Video of id Software’s legendary PC “port” of Super Mario Brothers 3 Episode sources Carve Outs: Everything Everywhere All At Once Michael Lewis on Tim Ferriss and on CSPAN