In 1983 the US home game console market collapsed, contracting around 93 percent and putting dozens of major companies out of business. The conventional wisdom was that the home game console market was finished, and would never rise again. But a century old Japanese company that was originally founded to manufacture and sell playing cards thought otherwise. Their name was Nintendo and their successful reinvigorating of the US game console market with the 1985 American release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is a fascinating tale of shrewd business practices, a willingness to defy expectations, and a company that wasn't afraid to try new things.