What Is Nintendo? Consoles, Games, and Characters Explained

Nintendo is a Japanese video game company that both makes game hardware and publishes the games that run on it. If you are trying to make sense of Nintendo terms — Switch, eShop, Mii, Mario — the short version is: Nintendo is the company behind the console in your hands and most of the games you play on it. This explainer covers what Nintendo makes, how its hardware lines differ, which characters and franchises matter, and how accounts, the eShop, and online services fit together.

Nintendo as a company and brand

Nintendo is based in Japan and operates as both a hardware manufacturer and a software publisher. That combination shapes almost everything about the brand:

• As a console maker, Nintendo designs and sells the machines people play on.
• As a publisher, Nintendo develops and releases its own games, usually starring characters it owns.
• As a brand, Nintendo is known for family-friendly, character-driven games rather than raw technical power.

Because Nintendo controls both sides, its biggest games are typically only available on Nintendo hardware. That is why "Nintendo" often means the whole ecosystem — the console, the games, and the characters together — rather than just one product.

Nintendo's hardware lines

Nintendo's consoles fall into a few broad categories. Each exists for a different kind of play.

The Nintendo Switch is the current flagship line and the clearest example of Nintendo's hybrid approach: the same device can be docked to a TV or played as a handheld. Older lines are mostly of interest now for retro gaming, collecting, or revisiting specific titles.

The franchises and characters people recognize

Nintendo's characters are a big part of why the brand is familiar even to people who don't play games. The best-known franchises include:

• Super Mario — Nintendo's mascot and its most widely recognized series, spanning platformers, kart racing, sports, and more.
• The Legend of Zelda — an adventure series built around exploration and puzzle-solving.
• Pokémon — a creature-collecting and battling franchise with games, trading cards, and animation.
• Animal Crossing — a slower-paced life-simulation series where you build and decorate a town or island.
• Other recurring series — Splatoon, Kirby, Metroid, Fire Emblem, and Pikmin, among others.

These franchises matter because they are usually system-sellers: many people choose a Nintendo console specifically to play them, and they are rarely available on non-Nintendo platforms.

Accounts, eShop, and online services

Buying and playing modern Nintendo games usually involves three connected pieces:

1. A Nintendo Account — the profile that ties your purchases, friends, and save data together across devices.
2. The eShop — Nintendo's digital storefront, where you buy and download games and add-ons.
3. Online services — the subscription that enables online play and additional features on current hardware.

The practical takeaway: to buy digital games or play online with a modern Nintendo system, you generally need an account and, for online play, an active subscription. Older systems used different, now-retired store and account systems, which is why retro purchases don't carry forward the way you might expect.

Where Mii characters and fan communities fit

A Mii is a customizable avatar that Nintendo introduced with the Wii and carried into later systems. You create a Mii by adjusting facial features, hair, and body proportions, then use it in games that support it.

Some games built entire experiences around Miis — Tomodachi Life is the clearest example, a life-simulation game where your Miis live on an island and interact with each other. That game's popularity is why fan communities exist around creating and sharing Mii designs.

Sites like TomodachiShare are fan-run: they help players discover and share Mii residents for a Tomodachi Life island. It's worth being clear about the distinction:

• Official Nintendo products — the consoles, the games, the eShop, and Nintendo's own online services.
• Fan communities and sharing sites — independent projects built by players around Nintendo games, not operated or endorsed by Nintendo.

If you're looking for a specific Mii or want to share one you made, a fan site is the right place. If you want to buy a game or manage your account, you need Nintendo's own services.

Where to start

• If you want to play current Nintendo games, start with the Nintendo Switch line and a Nintendo Account.
• If you're curious about Nintendo history, the classic/mini consoles and older handhelds are the entry points.
• If you came here from a Mii or Tomodachi Life interest, the games themselves are official Nintendo titles, while Mii-sharing communities like TomodachiShare are fan-run resources that sit alongside them.