Yeah, to be clear, that was what I was intrigued by. That they existed for nearly 100 years before their rise as a video game power.
TIL Nintendo was founded in 1889 as a playing card company in Kyoto, Japan. They made traditional Japanese 'hanafuda' cards and didn't start making video games until the 1970s.
Aren't they also mostly genetic clones? At least the ones we eat in America are, IIRC.