AFP, TOKYO

Nintendo yesterday opened its first museum in a renovated factory in Kyoto, Japan, showcasing the long history of the video game giant from playing cards to Super Mario.

The company began life in 1889 producing Japanese playing cards called hanafuda as well as Western-style ones.

Nintendo launched its first home video-game machines in 1977.

People play the Zapper and Scope SP game during a media preview of the new Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan, on Tuesday last week.

Photo: AFP

Many exhibits at the museum in Kyoto’s Uji City are interactive — including an area where two people can play Mario and Donkey Kong games together on a giant console.

Other zones focus on Nintendo’s vintage products.

For example, there is a digital version of an ancient Japanese poetry game and a workshop for fans to create their own hanafuda cards.

Tickets, priced at ￥3,300 (US$22.60) for adults and less for children, are already sold out for this month and next month.

“Visitors can learn about Nintendo’s commitment to manufacturing that places importance on play and originality,” Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Super Mario and other games, said in a video in August.

The Super Mario games were launched in 1985, two years after the company began selling its Nintendo Entertainment System console.