Nintendo’s journey began in 1889 in Kyoto, Japan, as a small company producing handmade hanafuda playing cards, founded by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi. The company continued its business for decades, and fast forward to the 1970s, Nintendo became a public company entering the electronic gaming world, a move that changed the industry forever and established Nintendo as one of the biggest players in the video game industry.
The 1985 release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was a game‑changer, introducing beloved games like Super Mario Bros., while The Legend of Zelda followed in 1986, and cementing Nintendo’s place in gaming history. Through the years, Nintendo has established itself as an innovator, releasing hardware and games alike that are now part of pop culture, from the portable Game Boy to the motion-sensing Wii, and now the versatile Switch.
Gaming and Graphic Design: The Evolution of Nintendo Logo over the Years
Nintendo’s branding has played a crucial role in its global recognition and success. The company’s logo has undergone several transformations, each reflecting its evolving identity.
In this article, we will explore how Nintendo has used its logo over the years, examining the changes and the impact each iteration has had on the brand’s image. From its early days to its current iconic status, Nintendo’s logo shows how the company has never stopped innovating while staying true to its roots.
1889: The First Nintendo Logo
The first Nintendo logo represents the company’s origins as a traditional game card producer in Japan. This early design features traditional kanji characters that spell the name Nintendo: 任 (Nin) 天 (Ten) 堂 (Dō). The first logo in the history of what would become a worldwide entertainment giant uses the colors blue and red, which in Japan symbolize joy and trust, respectively.
A perfect fit for a maker of hanafuda playing cards. The bold, blue characters are set against a solid background with a red accent, reflecting a strong and straightforward visual identity that would appeal to customers interested in purchasing the traditional card game.
1950-1963: A Drastic Change
After sticking to the same brand identity for more than 60 years, the Japanese company decided it was time for a change—this would be the first in a long series of logo redesigns. That’s why, in 1951, they changed the name of the company to Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd. and together with the name change, they introduced the ‘Ace of Spades’ logo. On top of the new shape and graphic symbol, it is interesting to note that Nintendo dropped the traditional Kanji and opted for the Latin alphabet—a move that shows how Japanese companies were opening up toward the USA and Western Europe as new potential markets for their goods.
1960-1964: A Handwritten Font
In the early Sixties, the whole Japanese economy was modernizing, and the push toward new international markets was stronger than ever. This is why, in accordance with the spirit of the time, Nintendo adopted a version of its logo that used a handwritten cursive style for an international audience. This logo was used on early board games, playing cards, and the first toys. The distinctive features are a large initial curl on the letter ‘N’ and a star as the dot on the ‘i’, although there are some slightly different variants across toys and board games of that period.
1964-67: Logo Variations
With the same spirit and willingness to reach an international audience, Nintendo created another version of its cursive logo in 1964. This time, the font was clearer and sleeker, featuring a simpler version of the curly ‘N’ that opens the logo and dropping the star on top of the ‘i’. This logo had another important feature: it reintroduced the color red, which had been present in the very first logo and would remain an important aspect of Nintendo’s corporate identity for years to come.
If you are starting to feel dizzy by the number of logo changes Nintendo made during the ’60s, you are not alone. For the beloved Japanese company, this was clearly a time of experimentation, during which they tried quite a few designs across their range of products. In 1964, in parallel with the red logo mentioned above, Nintendo introduced two logos designed in a minimal sans-serif font, one simple and one italic, both in all caps. These were used for a wide range of games, cards, and toys. During those years, one more sleek sans-serif logo was used on toys, and this one included two words, “Nintendo Company.” These logos all fell out of use by the end of the Sixties.
1963-1971: The NG Logo Appears on Board Games
In the second half of the 1960s, Nintendo began to sell a growing range of toys, including some licensed from the American company MB (Milton Bradley). This is when a new, stylized logo appeared, consisting of a circle containing the letters ‘NG’. Examples of games that featured this branding include Ultra Hand, Captain Ultra Coaster, Picture Cutter, and various board games. The letters ‘NG’ originally stood for Nippon Game, a brand used by Nintendo to publish board games with characters licensed from Disney and other American companies. After some years of circulating this logo, Nintendo started using the ‘NG’ logo on its own.
1967-75: The Logo as we Know it Today
If you thought that the ’60s were a time of wide experimentation for Nintendo, brace yourself – there is more to come. Unlike other companies, like Coca-Cola, which kept the same logo with minimal variation through the decades, Nintendo has built its success by doing the opposite: continually experimenting and adapting to the spirit and trends of the time.
This iteration is important because, for the first time, we see the appearance of the Nintendo logo as we know and love it today. The logo was first seen in 1967 with the launch of Ultramachine, a machine that launched soft balls that could be hit with a bat and was a huge commercial success. The logo featured bold letters with thin horizontal spaces and the square dot on the ‘i’—a design that has remained practically unchanged, even though it is now over 45 years old.
1970-75: A new logo for Board Games
You remember the NG logo we saw above, which was used mainly on board games. At the beginning of the ’70s, Nintendo decided it was time for a facelift and replaced the NG design with a new one, which was shortly followed by a variation in 1972. In this logo, the NG letters are replaced by a curvy N, with a stripe at the bottom where the Nintendo lettering is placed. This logo was used for board games destined for the US and European markets only. During these years, the brand experimented with a katakana version of the logo for the Japanese market—‘ニンテンドー’, but this was in use only for two years, between 1973 and 1975.
1982: the Racetrack Logo
The racetrack logo, briefly introduced in 1972 for one year, only to be reintroduced 10 years later, features a rounded rectangle that looks like a racetrack, enclosing the word ‘Nintendo’ in a bold sans-serif custom font. This design symbolizes speed and modernity, aligning with the innovative spirit of the company. It is a cornerstone of Nintendo’s branding strategy, and aside from the introduction of the colors blue and grey, and some minimal tweaks, it has remained the same over the years.
In contrast to previous logos, the racetrack logo demonstrated Nintendo’s commitment to a strong, unified brand image while still allowing for subtle updates to stay relevant with contemporary design trends. Even though it has been decades since its introduction, the racetrack logo remains a beloved and iconic symbol of Nintendo’s legacy and future.
The racetrack logo is surely the most important iteration in Nintendo’s logo history. It was developed at a time when Nintendo was emerging as a major provider of game consoles and games, acquiring worldwide success thanks to their NES, Nintendo Entertainment System, launched in 1985. This console was accompanied by some of the most famous video games ever, which paved the way for Nintendo to become one of the giants in software and hardware production of video games, releasing one success after another to this day.
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We hope you enjoyed the history of the Nintendo logo. It was a blast to research the history of one of the most famous logos ever and learn that experimenting is the only way to find the best graphic solution!
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