Nintendo
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This Nintendo trivia quiz has 98 free questions with answers, and more than half of them are Nintendo Switch trivia: the NX codename, the March 2017 launch price, Joy-Con drift and HD Rumble, the Lite and OLED models, cardboard Labo, Ring Fit, the best-selling games from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to Animal Crossing's lockdown launch, and the Switch 2's magnetic controllers and record first week. The rest runs through the whole company: hanafuda cards in 1889 Kyoto, Gunpei Yokoi's Game & Watch, the Virtual Boy flop, why Mario is called Mario and Kirby is called Kirby, Pokémon's 1996 debut, the DS becoming the best-selling handheld ever, Satoru Iwata's business-card line and the billion-dollar Mario movie. Easy questions suit any Switch owner; the later ones will test people who remember the Famicom. Every answer was checked against a reference page and shows its source once you have answered.
30 of 98 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In what year was Nintendo originally founded?
1889
Founder Fusajiro Yamauchi's first products were handmade hanafuda; the name Nintendo is often said to mean "leave luck to heaven", though even his descendants are unsure.
Q 02What was the first video game system Nintendo ever made, a series of dedicated consoles sold only in Japan from 1977?
Color TV-Game
The Color TV-Game series was five dedicated home consoles released only in Japan between 1977 and 1980, years before the Famicom and NES.
Q 03The character later known as Mario first appeared, as 'Jumpman', in which 1981 arcade game?
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong, the 1981 arcade platform game, had Mario, then called Jumpman, rescuing Pauline.
Q 04Which Nintendo designer co-created The Legend of Zelda series alongside Shigeru Miyamoto?
Takashi Tezuka
Takashi Tezuka co-designed the 1986 original with Miyamoto and then directed A Link to the Past (1991) and Link's Awakening (1993).
Q 05Which Nintendo handheld launched in 2001 with a 32-bit ARM processor?
Game Boy Advance
The Game Boy Advance launched in Japan on March 21, 2001, built around a 32-bit ARM7TDMI processor while staying backward compatible with Game Boy cartridges.
Q 06In what year did the Famicom, Nintendo's first cartridge-based home console, launch in Japan?
1983
The Famicom launched in Japan on July 15, 1983 at ¥14,800 with three launch games, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Popeye, all ports of Nintendo arcade hits.
Q 07Which Nintendo console was announced in 1999 under the codename "Dolphin"?
GameCube
The GameCube was unveiled as Project Dolphin at E3 1999 and released in 2001; the codename survives in its model number, DOL-001.
Q 08When was the original Game Boy handheld console first released in Japan?
1989
April 21, 1989 was the Japanese launch, with Alleyway, Baseball, Super Mario Land and Yakuman as the four launch titles.
Q 09In which Japanese city was Nintendo originally founded?
Kyoto
Kyoto has been home since 1889; Nintendo is still headquartered there and listed its stock on the Kyoto Stock Exchange in 1962.
Q 10The Nintendo Switch was released worldwide on 3 March of which year?
2017
March 3, 2017 was launch day; the Switch succeeded the Wii U, whose commercial failure had pushed Nintendo toward the hybrid idea in the first place.
Q 11Before its October 2016 reveal, the Switch was known publicly by which two-letter codename?
NX
NX was the placeholder name Nintendo used from Satoru Iwata's March 2015 announcement until the October 20, 2016 trailer revealed the Nintendo Switch.
Q 12Which 2018 Switch fighting game carried the slogan 'Everyone is here!'?
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launched December 7, 2018 with every fighter from the series' history, more than 70 at launch, under the tagline 'Everyone is here!'
Q 13What does Nintendo call the Switch play mode where the console is propped on its kickstand?
Tabletop mode
Tabletop mode props the screen on its kickstand so the detached controllers can be used away from a TV; Nintendo's other two modes are TV mode and handheld mode.
Q 21Which Zelda game launched alongside the Switch and won The Game Awards' Game of the Year?
Breath of the Wild
Breath of the Wild was a Switch launch title and won Game of the Year at The Game Awards over Persona 5 and PUBG; its sequel Tears of the Kingdom followed on May 12, 2023.
Q 22Which Switch launch title is a collection of face-to-face mini-games like Quick Draw and Milk?
1-2-Switch
1-2-Switch launched alongside the console and asked players to look at each other rather than the screen in mini-games such as Quick Draw, Milk and Samurai Training.
Q 23Nintendo claimed the Joy-Con's 'HD Rumble' haptics could simulate the feel of what?
Ice cubes in a glass
Q 14The Switch's system-on-chip comes from which chipmaker's Tegra family?
Nvidia
Nvidia supplies the chip: the original Switch runs a custom Tegra X1, the same ARM-based system-on-chip family used in the Nvidia Shield TV.
Q 15What was the US launch price of the Nintendo Switch?
$299.99
$299.99 was the US launch price; the box held the console, dock, two detachable controllers and a grip but no pack-in game.
Q 16In September of which year was the handheld-only Nintendo Switch Lite released?
2019
The Switch Lite arrived on September 20, 2019 at $199.99; its controls are built in and it cannot be docked to a TV.
Q 17What did Nintendo call the Wii U's screen-equipped main controller?
GamePad
The Wii U GamePad carried a 6.2-inch resistive touchscreen and could stream the game for off-TV play.
Q 18What is the best-selling Nintendo Switch game of all time, at more than 71 million copies?
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, an enhanced Switch port of the Wii U's Mario Kart 8, passed 70 million copies in 2025, roughly 20 million ahead of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Q 19Roughly how many million copies did Animal Crossing: New Horizons sell in its first 12 days?
11.8
11.8 million copies (11.77 million) sold between its March 20, 2020 launch and March 31, as the first COVID-19 lockdowns began.
Q 20In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, who sells players the deserted-island getaway package?
Tom Nook
Tom Nook, the tanuki who runs Nook Inc., sells the getaway package and then hands you the house loan, as he has since the 2001 original.
Ice cubes in a glass: at the Switch reveal presentation Nintendo said HD Rumble could let players feel how many virtual ice cubes were clinking in a glass.
Q 24Nintendo Labo, announced in January 2018, combined Switch games with kits made from what material?
Cardboard
Cardboard: Labo's Toy-Con kits were flat-pack cardboard sheets folded into a piano, fishing rod and robot suit that the console and its controllers slotted into.
Q 25Nintendo Switch Online, the paid subscription service, launched in which month and year?
September 2018
Nintendo Switch Online launched in September 2018 (September 18 in the Americas), bundling online play, cloud saves and a library of NES games.
Q 26In July 2024 the Switch passed which home console as Nintendo's longest-running without a successor?
NES
The NES had gone about seven years; the Switch 2 finally arrived on 5 June 2025.
Q 27The Nintendo Switch 2 launched on 5 June 2025 at what US price?
$449.99
$449.99 was the standalone US price; the Switch 2's 7.9-inch 1080p console sold more than 3.5 million units in its first four days, a Nintendo launch record.
Q 28How do the Switch 2's Joy-Con 2 controllers attach to the console?
Magnetically
Magnetically: Joy-Con 2 snap onto the console with magnets and release with a button, replacing the original's rails; they can also be slid on a surface as a mouse.
Q 29Which racing game was the Switch 2's headline launch title in June 2025?
Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World was the Switch 2's flagship launch game, sold alone or in a console bundle, and introduced 24-racer open-world courses.
Q 30Which 1980 Nintendo arcade flop had its unsold cabinets converted into a 1981 hit?
Radar Scope
Radar Scope shipped about 3,000 cabinets to the US in 1980 and most went unsold, so Nintendo had Shigeru Miyamoto design a replacement game to recycle them.