Nintendo Snapshot
Nintendo wants everyone -- from apprentice Marios to alpha Donkey Kongs -- to play, preferably on one of its Nintendo DS handheld devices or its Wii home video game console. The market-leading game company achieved its status in part by courting users that span generations and skill levels. Among the Big Three of the videogame console makers, Nintendo's Wii (pronounced "we") is #1, battling with Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation for the hearts and dollars of devoted gamers. Also leading in handheld consoles, its DS device began in 2004, the most recent incarnation its no-glasses 3-D version launched in 2011, the 3DS. Wii successor Wii U, featuring a controller with a touch screen, is planned for 2012.