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Super Nintendo

The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play

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Super Nintendo

By: Keza MacDonald
Narrated by: Keza MacDonald
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An exuberant, behind-the-scenes look at the designers and the company that brought us Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, and so much more, illuminating Nintendo's singular ethos, its massive cultural impact, and the innovative solutions behind its creative triumphs

“Comprehensive but never too dense, informative but approachable, and packed with an unwavering passion for Nintendo that I'd wager even the company's biggest detractors would find infectious. In short, if you want to learn about Nintendo, this is the book to do it.” —Jim Norman, Nintendo Life

What magical mushroom could have turned an unassuming playing card company into one of the dominant cultural forces of the twenty-first century?

In Super Nintendo, lifelong gamer and a renowned video games journalist Keza MacDonald traces Nintendo back to its quirky beginnings in 1889. Leaping from game to game, she tells the remarkable story of the people who brought us Super Mario Bros., Zelda, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, and more—not to mention the SNES, N64, Game Boy, Wii, Switch, and a host of other wacky gizmos—and charts the delights they’ve offered over the decades.

MacDonald draws on private interviews with icons like Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, who continues to leave his stamp on the company, and takes readers on a trip to the secretive Nintendo HQ—making her one of the few Western journalists to have set foot inside the building. Along the way, she provides a close-up look at the company's willingness to take risks and place long-term success over short-term profits.

A carousel of wonders, Super Nintendo whisks you back to the couch in the den, a controller in your hands for the very first time, staring up at a screen of infinite possibilities. Biographies & Memoirs Business Popular Culture Professionals & Academics Social Sciences Video Game Game Inspiring
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I was one of those 5 million people who bought Animal Crossing: New Horizons in 2020 having never bought a video game before. The only game I've bought, which I play by myself, with my partner, or with our friends, is Mario Kart 8. I bought a Switch Lite specifically to play ACNH after months of stalking sites for restocks. I played it for about 2 years straight and I picked it up again a few weeks ago to design the new hotel. I'm in my thirties now and I played arcade games but I never played a handheld game until ACNH. I find games really fascinating from an anthropological POV and I enjoyed the structure of this book and the history, sociology, and psychology of the company and people who created these games.

Great look at a company we all know but don't know well

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Keza provides a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Nintendo and provides a great overview of their long history. It's cool to hear the book narrated by its author, and she offers a solid performance throughout. I'm glad the Friends Per Second podcast recommended this book. Well worth the time and money.

A Great History For Nintendo and Gaming Fans

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I liked this book a lot, it's structured as going through multiple Nintendo series (Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc) but in each chapter the author uses those series as springboards to also do deep dives into specific people or eras of Nintendo. like the early Mario chapter being used to tell a lot of early Nintendo history in general, or Zelda being used to dive into the second generation of Nintendo directors like Aonuma and Koizumi.

What it ends up being is a snappily-paced overview of Nintendo's greatest hits, some key insights into how their teams were built and how they function the way they do, and a storyline that neatly traces from the 1800s to the present day.

This is a great recommend for any Nintendo fan or for anyone who would be intrigued to know how a gaming juggernaut comes together.

The only note (not a negative, just a thing to mention) is that the book doesn't really contain any exceptionally new or deeper information about Nintendo. Understandable given Nintendo's secrecy, bit everything seems mostly compiled from previous interviews or recent interviews covering mostly already-known info. So if you're a diehard game history buff you won't fine wildly new things here. But even as someone in that camp myself I enjoyed this ride through their history all the same.

An excellent overview into Nintendo's games and people

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This book is a prefect follow-up to Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children that came out 30 years ago. It covers a bit of similar ground but mostly picks up where that book left off. Getting to have Keza read it to you was fun as well. If you are curious about Nintendo highly recommend this book. Even if she pronounces SNES weird 😁

Great book on the history of Nintendo

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