Nintendo

Nintendo Company, Limited (任天堂株式会社 Nintendō) is the company that publishes the Legend of Zelda series. The series makes many references to other Nintendo series, especially Mario.

History
Nintendo is a Japanese multinational corporation originally founded on September 23, 1889 in Kyoto, Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. In the mid-twentieth century, the company tried several small niche businesses, such as a love hotel and a taxi company. Over the years, it became a video game company, growing into one of the most powerful in the industry.

Gaming systems
Nintendo has created many gaming systems.

Consoles

 * Color TV Game (1977 – 1980)
 * Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (1983 – 2003)
 * Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) (1990 – 2003)
 * Nintendo 64 (N64) (1996 – 2002)
 * Nintendo GameCube (GCN) (2001 – Present)
 * Wii (2006 – Present)

Portables

 * Game Boy (1989 – Present)
 * Nintendo DS (2004 – Present)

References in The Legend of Zelda games
Nintendo's flagship character, Mario, has made cameo appearances in several The Legend of Zelda games, along with a few other components seen in the Mario world:


 * In The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, several enemies, such as the Mask-Mimics, are enemies from Mario games.
 * In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario's nemesis Bowser is drawn on Link's house, and paintings of Mario and his friends can be seen in a window in Hyrule Castle. Also, Malon wears an emblem featuring Bowser's head, her father Talon looks similar to Mario, and Ingo looks like Fire Luigi.
 * In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the Happy Mask Salesman has a Mario mask on the side of his pack.
 * In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Fyer has a Bullet Bill drawn on his shirt.