Nintendo was the pioneer of portable gaming with its popular handheld Gameboy. Its second act, in the form of Wii motion-gaming consoles, was also successful.But it seemed as if its time had come and gone as its revenue plummeted. Its dual-screen handheld devices were quickly eclipsed by smartphones.That is until last week, when its Pokémon Go game appeared in mobile app stores. It has gone ballistic — and taken Nintendo’s share price on a wild ride too.After climbing 10% on Friday, Nintendo’s shares surged 24.5% on Monday alone, the stock’s best day since 1983, adding US$7.5bn to its value.It’s also a resurgence of Pokémon — a game about catching imaginary characters that appealed only to kids, but was the most successful video game franchise after Nintendo’s own Mario franchise .Both games were initially published for Gameboy, the handheld device that launched Nintendo as a gaming powerhouse on its release in 1989.After its Mario games made Nintendo a household name — for the arde...
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