On the wall of a conference room in Nintendo’s headquarters in Japan hangs a calligraphy painting with two Chinese characters: Doku-Sou. The two characters mean “unique” and “create” embodying Nintendo’s spirit of creating differently.

It’s one thing to hang up a core value on the wall, it is another to live up to it. Certainly, Nintendo has. The competition had always been focused on making video games faster and prettier, but Nintendo had a different agenda. It constrained itself to the not-so-cutting-edge technology. Nintendo uses existing technologies creatively while focusing on providing fun.

• Nintendo DS: A portable gaming device with two screens and a stylus.
• Wii Remote: A TV-remote-shaped controller that you can swing like a tennis racket or golf club.
• Ring Fit: A circular shaped controller that lets you exercise.

The list goes on.

Sure Nintendo has its stumbles, but it has always charted its own path in an unwavering manner. One has to wonder - what is Nintendo’s secret code?

The Secret Code

Companies like Sega, Sony, and Microsoft are on the mountain of video games. What do they see? Video games have to look more breathtaking. Video games have to load faster and speedier.

Nintendo knows the secret code.

Picking the right mountain to climb. Because what you see depends on it. For Nintendo, instead of choosing a mountain where everyone in the video game industry is at, they chose another mountain. Which mountain did they choose? In an interview, Nintendo’s CEO, Furukawa-san, said this.

Every year, when it comes to crunch time, the real enemy is ‘getting bored.’

In other words, you can say Nintendo’s mountain is “fighting boredom.” So their view is about designing toys and video games that entertain people forgoing chasing cutting-edge technology. They also have a different view of competition. Their competition isn’t just video games, but anything that entertains people.

And there’s a bonus here. Like sport athletes, they learn and get pushed by their rivals. Now, because the rivals of Nintendo are not limited to video games, Nintendo is more prone to inspiration from other areas. When you review Nintendo’s history, you will see hit games inspired from gardening to board games to Hollywood movies.

The power up item we can take away from Nintendo is a question we need to constantly ask ourselves.

Are we on the right mountain?