Nintendo was founded in 1889 — as a maker of handmade playing cards, nearly a century before it built a single video game.

For most of its history Nintendo sold hanafuda playing cards from Kyoto, and over the decades it dabbled in everything from taxis to instant rice to a chain of love hotels before finding its footing in toys and then electronics. Its leap into video games didn't come until the 1970s, meaning the company was already about 90 years old when it started down the path it's famous for.