Two of my MBA courses this semester include cases on Nintendo, the first of which centers on Nintendo's well-documented tendency to play hardball during the 8-bit era.

As luck would have it, we'll be covering the case just before I head to Tokyo to cover TGS for Joystiq. If I'm not too slammed, I'll post a synopsis of the class discussion here. In the meantime, here's a summary of the case, to whet your appetites:

"The home video-game industry began in 1972 with the founding of Atari. After riding a dramatic boom and bust in the early 1980s, most players left the business. Nintendo of Japan then rebuilt the industry--establishing a commanding worldwide position by the end of the decade. By 1990, Nintendo game systems could be found in one out of every three households--in both Japan and the United States. The company's stock market value exceeded that of Sony or Nissan. The case describes the steps Nintendo took to achieve this success. Also covers the U.S. antitrust investigation of Nintendo."

Wharton bschool profs appear to be hip to happenings in the games industry. Last semester, I had a final exam question on the hot coffee scandal. In an operations management (OPIM) class, we discussed shortages around the launch of the PS2 and PSP. And even the Dean of the school has been touting the benefits of game-like simulations for learning.