NeoGAF stumbled upon a rather interesting little slice of history that may very well be Nintendo's first ever mention in North America. It's a section of the New York Times from 1955, way back when Nintendo was still making playing cards. It talks about Nintendo using a trademark for a word meaning "happiness, fortune or wealth."
The report also delves into the meaning of the name Nintendo, stating that the three characters making up its name are a "fanciful" expression roughly meaning "a company whose fortune or prosperity should be left to the mercy of Heaven." The New York Times implies that Heaven indeed seems to be smiling upon the company, and given its good fortune in this generation, Heaven is still doing so.
Quite an interesting little bit of history, in any case.
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8:00 PM on 12.05.2009
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And knowing is half the battle.
Now I never knew that.
And yeah, Nintendo literally means 'leave luck to heaven'