Nintendo Company Ltd. is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel. Eventually, Nintendo developed into a video game company, becoming one of the most influential in the industry and Japan's third most valuable listed company, with a market value of over US$85 billion. In 2007, Nintendo ranked eighth on the list of largest software companies in the world. Besides video games, Nintendo is also the... majority owner of the Seattle Mariners, a Major League Baseball team in Seattle, Washington. According to Nintendo's Touch! Generations website, the name "Nintendo" translated from Japanese to English means "Leave luck to Heaven". As of October 2, 2008, Nintendo has sold over 470 million hardware units and 2.7 billion software units. Nintendo has produced several home and portable video game consoles since 1977.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings are designed to provide consumers, especially parents, with concise, impartial guidance about the age-appropriateness and content of computer and video games so that they can make informed purchase decisions about the games they deem suitable for their children and families.
Rating Symbols suggest age appropriateness for the game, and appear on the front of virtually every game box available for retail sale or rental in the United States and Canada.