電玩迷神隊友：任天堂

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Nintendo, now a household▼ name, began as a small playing card company.
「 任天堂」這個如今是家喻戶曉的名字，當初是從一間小型遊戲牌公司起家的。

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　Over 130 years ago in the ancient Japanese city of Kyoto, one of the leading gaming companies in the world was born. That company is Nintendo, and this is its story.

　　一百三十多年前在日本古城京都，全球電玩業的龍頭公司之一就此誕生。這間公司就是任天堂，而以下就是它的故事。

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　The Nintendo company was founded on September 23, 1889 by businessman and artist Fusajiro Yamauchi. Yamauchi designed and sold playing cards which were decorated with flowers. The cards were known as Hanafuda, which means “flower cards.” They were similar to a modern 52-card deck▼ and could be used to play different kinds of games. Mr. Yamauchi’s cards quickly became popular. Before long, they were being mass-produced▼ and sold throughout Japan.

　　任天堂這間公司是於 1889 年九月二十三日由身兼商人和工藝家的山內房治郎所創立。山內設計並銷售飾有花卉圖樣的遊戲牌。這種紙牌稱為 Hanafuda，意思為「花牌」。花牌與現代一副五十二張的撲克牌類似，而且有許多不同的玩法。山內先生的遊戲牌一炮而紅。不久之後，花牌便大量生產並在日本各地販售。

（本圖提供 NOTE OMG / Shutterstock.com）

　Until around the mid-1950s, Nintendo remained a medium-sized playing card company. In 1950, Hiroshi Yamauchi took over Nintendo. He tried—and failed—to take the business in several bold, new directions. In the 1970s, Nintendo jumped into the world of electronic▼ video games but met with little success. However, in 1980, Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto developed a revolutionary▼ new game which was called Donkey Kong. The game’s bad guy was an angry gorilla▼. Its hero was a guy in a red hat who would later become known as the Italian plumber▼ Mario.

　　直到 1950 年代中期前後，任天堂仍是一家做遊戲牌的中型企業。在 1950 年，山內溥（編按：山內房治郎的曾孫）接手了任天堂。雖其努力終告失敗，但山內溥曾嘗試帶領公司往好幾種大膽嶄新的方向前進。到了 1970 年代，任天堂一頭栽進電玩遊戲界，但其成功幅度有限。然而在 1980 年，任天堂的遊戲設計師宮本茂開發了一款劃時代的新遊戲，其名稱叫作《大金剛》。遊戲中的壞蛋是一隻暴怒的猩猩。裡頭的英雄則是一名頭戴紅帽的男子，也就是後來大家所熟知的義大利水管工瑪利歐。

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Words & Phrases

1. ancient [ ˈenʃənt ] a. 古老的，年代久遠的
   • Calligraphy is an ancient art in Chinese culture.
     書法是中國文化中一門古老的藝術。
   • calligraphy [ kəˈlɪgrəfɪ ] n. 書法
2. found [ faʊnd ] vt. 創立（組織、公司，三態為：found, founded, founded）
   • Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and two other people in 1976.
     蘋果公司是由史提夫‧賈伯斯與另兩人於 1976 年創立的。
3. decorate A with B　　用 B 裝飾 A
   • decorate [ ˈdɛkəˌret ] vt. 裝飾
   • Lily decorated her room with posters of her favorite Korean boy band.
     莉莉用她最愛的韓國男團的海報來裝飾她的房間。
4. be similar to...　　與……相似
   • similar [ ˈsɪməlɚ ] a. 相似的
   • Gina’s problem is similar to Trevor’s, so she knows just how he feels.
     吉娜的問題與崔佛類似，因此她十分了解他的感受。
5. remain [ rɪˈmen ] vi. 依然（是）
   • The library will remain open throughout the holiday weekend.
     圖書館在佳節時的週末期間依然會對外開放。
6. take over... / take...over　　接手∕接管……
   • I took Ed’s work over when he was on sick leave.
     艾德在請病假期間，由我來接手他的工作。
7. bold [ bold ] a. 大膽的
   • Cathy’s bold decision was to start a business.
     凱西的大膽決定就是自行創業。
8. meet with...　　遇到……（尤指不愉快之事）
   • Max met with an accident on his way to work.
     麥克斯上班途中遭遇事故。

 

Tips in Use

關係代名詞限定修飾 vs. 非限定修飾

本文出現了許多關係代名詞引導的形容詞子句，其中有限定修飾與非限定修飾的用法，其差異說明如下：

1.    限定修飾
普通名詞若不具特殊性，而欲加強其特殊性時，可用形容詞子句加以修飾，此時關係代名詞前不加逗點，此種用法稱作限定修飾。

• All teachers like students who study hard.
  所有老師都喜歡用功的學生。
• I know a college which is famous for its design program.
  我知道一所以其設計課程而聞名的大學。

2.    非限定修飾
專有名詞（如 John、Ed、Taipei）或獨一性名詞（如 my father、my mother）被形容詞子句修飾時，由於專有名詞或獨一性名詞本身就具有特殊性，故不需再被形容詞子句加以限定，此時關係代名詞前要加逗點，此種用法稱為非限定修飾。

• Rhonda has just come back from New York, which is a very big city in the United States.
  蘭達剛從紐約回來，那是美國的一個大城市。
• That is my only son, who is attending senior high school.
  那是我的獨生子，他正在唸高中。

 

Extra Words & Phrases

• household [ ˈhaʊsˌhold ] a. 家喻戶曉的；家庭的
• deck [ dɛk ] n.（紙牌的）一副
• mass-produce [ ˈmæsprəˈdjus ] vt. 大量生產
• electronic [ ɪˌlɛkˈtrɑnɪk ] a. 電子的
• revolutionary [ ˌrɛvəˈluʃənˌɛrɪ ] a. 創新的，突破性的
• gorilla [ gəˈrɪlə ] n. 大猩猩
• plumber [ ˈplʌmɚ ] n. 水管工人