Whether it’s poker, blackjack, or roulette, Minecraft, the Legend of Zelda, or Wii Sports, gambling and gaming share a common entertainment history that dates back to the earliest stirrings of human history.
Researchers have found ancient remains of lottery games from more than 4000 years ago. At first glance, a casino game and a video game may not seem to have very many similarities, as the differences on the surface can definitely be quite vast. For example, gambling can yield huge jackpots and exciting wins with online casino no deposit bonuses, while the motivation for video games is the sheer fun and thrilling challenge of playing.
When looking deeper, however, it becomes very clear that a round of blackjack and a session of Mario Golf are actually very closely related. In tracing their previous developments, what they share becomes more evident, and from there it is easy to see that they are actually very closely related.
Blackjack and Nintendo playing cards
Today, both blackjack and Nintendo are prestigious, enormously popular powerhouses of the gaming world, and both were born from a simple game of playing cards. Internationally, blackjack ranks as the number one most widely played casino gambling game. The exact origins of blackjack remain a mystery, but researchers have generally agreed that the game began in France around 1700. The card game was played at the Royal Court of King Louis XV as well as at French casinos. In French, the playing cards were called Vingt-et-Un, which translates to ‘twenty-one’ in English.
Nintendo presides as one of the most popular names in the video game industry, and by revenue, is currently the largest video game company in the world. The Nintendo video games and consoles, as well as the Super Mario character, have become so renowned that the video game is nearly synonymous with the Japanese electronics company. The Nintendo Company was founded in 1889 for the purpose of creating and marketing handmade playing cards known as hanafuda, which translates from the Japanese as ‘flower cards.’
From hanafuda to Japan’s Super Nintendo World
Parallel to blackjack’s escalation from the initial card game of Twenty-One, to the big bonuses and high stakes offered at contemporary super casinos all around the world, Nintendo’s origins as hanafuda playing cards has followed a similar path in rocketing to the world of successful modern gaming. In the late 1950s, Nintendo made a deal with Disney to have the Disney characters featured on Nintendo’s playing cards.
Over the next few decades, Nintendo developed arcade games including the original Mario Bros, consumer handheld video game consoles (like Game Boy with the accompanying game Tetris), and other consoles such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Wii and Nintendo Switch.
The most exciting new addition to the Nintendo family is the Super Nintendo World feature in Osaka, which launched its grand opening earlier this year at Universal Studios Japan. Visitors enter the park through a green warp pipe, from where they can visit Princess Peach’s Castle, along with Bowser’s Castle in the nearby Mushroom Kingdom. Construction is underway for additional Super Nintendo World theme park areas in the USA at both Universal Studios locations in Hollywood and Orlando.
