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![]() Exterior of the Nintendo Central Office in Kyoto, where the division was housed for most of its existence | |
Native name | 任天堂情報開発本部 |
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Romanized name | Nintendō Jōhō Kaihatsu Honbu |
Formerly | Nintendo Research & Development No.4 Department |
Company type | Division |
Industry | Video games |
Predecessors | |
Founded | September 30, 1983 |
Founder | Hiroshi Yamauchi |
Defunct | September 16, 2015 |
Fate | Merged with Nintendo Software Planning & Development |
Successor | Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development |
Headquarters | , Japan |
Number of locations | 2 (Kyoto and Tokyo) |
Key people | |
Services | Video game development |
Parent | Nintendo |
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development Division, [lower-alpha 5] commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EAD and formerly known as Nintendo Research & Development No.4 Department [lower-alpha 6] (abbreviated as Nintendo R&D4), was the largest software development division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. It was preceded by the Creative Department, a team of designers with backgrounds in art responsible for many different tasks, to which Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka originally belonged. [1] [2] Both served as managers of the EARD studios and were credited in every game developed by the division, with varying degrees of involvement. Nintendo EAD was best known for its work on games in the Donkey Kong , Mario , The Legend of Zelda , F-Zero , Star Fox , Animal Crossing , Pikmin , and Wii series.
Following a large company restructuring after the death of company president Satoru Iwata, the division merged with Nintendo's Software Planning & Development division in September 2015, becoming Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development.
During the 1970s, when Nintendo was still predominantly a toy company, it decided to expand into interactive entertainment and the video game industry. Several designers were hired to work under the Creative Department, which, at the time, was the only game development department within Nintendo. Among these new designers were Makoto Kano, who went on to design various Game & Watch games, and Shigeru Miyamoto, who would create various Nintendo franchises. In 1972, the department was renamed to Research & Development Department; it had about 20 employees. The department was later consolidated into a division and separated into three groups, Nintendo R&D1, R&D2 and R&D3.
Circa 1984, Hiroshi Imanishi oversaw the creation of Research & Development No. 4 Department (commonly abbreviated to Nintendo R&D4), as a new development department dedicated to developing video games for dedicated consoles, complementing the other three existing departments in the Nintendo Manufacturing Division. [3] [4] [5] Imanishi appointed Hiroshi Ikeda, a former anime director at Toei Animation, as general manager of the newly created department, and Miyamoto as its chief producer, who would later become one of the most recognized video game developers in the world. [6] Nintendo also drafted a couple of key graphic designers to the department including Takashi Tezuka and Kenji Miki. With the arcade market dwindling, Nintendo R&D1's former focus, the department concentrated most of their software development resources on the emerging handheld video game console market, primarily thanks to the worldwide success of Nintendo's Game Boy. This catapulted the R&D4 department to become the lead software developer for Nintendo home video game consoles, developing a myriad of games for the Family Computer home console (abbreviated to Famicom, known as the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, Europe, and Australia).
Hiroshi Ikeda's creative team had many video game design ideas but was lacking the necessary programming power to make it all happen. Toshihiko Nakago, and his small company Systems Research & Development (SRD), had its expertise in computer-aided design (CAD) tools and was very familiar with the Famicom chipset, and was originally hired to work with Masayuki Uemura's Nintendo R&D2 to internally develop software development kits. When Nintendo R&D2 and SRD jointly began porting over R&D1 arcade games to the Famicom, Shigeru Miyamoto took the opportunity to lure Nakago away from R&D2, to help Miyamoto create his first Nintendo R&D4 video game, Excitebike . And so the original R&D4 department became composed of Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, Kenji Miki, and Minoru Maeda handling design; Koji Kondo, Akito Nakatsuka, and Hirokazu Tanaka handling sound design; and Toshihiko Nakago and SRD became the technology and programming core.
The same Miyamoto-led team that developed Excitebike went on to develop a 1985 NES port of the scrolling beat 'em up arcade game Kung-Fu Master (1984) called Kung Fu. Miyamoto's team used the technical knowledge they had gained from working on both side-scrollers to further advance the platforming "athletic game" genre they had created with Donkey Kong and were key steps towards Miyamoto's vision of an expansive side-scrolling platformer. [7] [8]
One of the first games developed by the R&D4 department was Mario Bros. in 1983, designed and directed by Miyamoto. The department was, however, unable to program the game with such an inexperienced team, and so counted on programming assistance from Gunpei Yokoi and the R&D1 department. One of the first completely self-developed games was Super Mario Bros. , the sequel to Mario Bros. The game set standards for the platform genre, and went on to be both a critical and commercial success. In 1986, R&D4 developed The Legend of Zelda , for which Miyamoto again served as a director. The phenomenal sales of Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda fueled the expansion of the department with young game designers such as Hideki Konno, Katsuya Eguchi, Kensuke Tanabe, Takao Shimizu, who would later become producers themselves.
In 1989, one year before the Super Famicom was released in Japan, the R&D4 department was spun-off and made its own division named Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development (commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EAD). [9] The division was comprised into two departments: the Software Development Department, which focused on video game development and was led by Miyamoto, and the Technology Development Department, which focused on programming and developing tools and was led by Takao Sawano. [10] The technology department was born out of several R&D2 engineers that were assisting SRD with software libraries. After that, the same department later collaborated with Argonaut Software to develop the Super FX chip technology for the SNES, first used in Star Fox in 1993. This venture allowed the Technology Development Department to become more prominent in the 3D era, where they programmed several of Nintendo EAD's 3D games with SRD.
F-Zero, released in 1990, was the first video game fully programmed at the division. Prior to that, most programming was outsourced to SRD Co. Ltd. [11]
In 1997, Miyamoto explained that about twenty to thirty employees were devoted to each Nintendo EAD title during the course of its development. [12] It was then that he also disclosed the existence of the SRD programming company within the division, formally Nintendo R&D2's software unit, which was composed of about 200 employees with proficiency in software programming. [12]
In the advent of launching both the GameCube and Game Boy Advance, Nintendo sought to change the structure of its corporate management. In June 2000, in an attempt to include both software and hardware experts in the board of directors, EAD and Integrated Research & Development general managers, Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda respectively, entered the body. In addition, former HAL Laboratory president and future Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, also entered the board. With Miyamoto being promoted to the board of directors, he was now in charge of overseeing all of Nintendo's software development. To fill Miyamoto's void as a producer, there were a series of promotions in the division: starting with long-time Miyamoto colleague Takashi Tezuka, as deputy general manager, as well as promoting several senior directors like Eiji Aonuma, Hideki Konno, Takao Shimizu, Tadashi Sugiyama and Katsuya Eguchi to producers overseeing their own development teams in the division. Nevertheless, after the promotion, Miyamoto still went on to produce some games.
In 2002, Nintendo opened a Nintendo EAD studio in Tokyo, appointing Takao Shimizu as manager of the branch. The studio was created with the goal of bringing in fresh new talent from the capital of Japan who wouldn't be willing or able to travel to Kyoto. Their first project was Donkey Kong Jungle Beat for the GameCube which made use of the DK Bongos, initially created for Donkey Konga .
On September 30, 2003, as a result of a corporate restructure Nintendo was undergoing, in which several members of the Nintendo R&D1 and R&D2 were reassigned under Nintendo EAD, the department was consolidated into a division and began welcoming a new class of managers and producers. [13] [ unreliable source ] Hideki Konno, Katsuya Eguchi, Eiji Aonuma, Hiroyuki Kimura, and Tadashi Sugiyama were appointed project managers of their own groups within the Software Development Department; Shimizu was appointed project manager of the Tokyo Software Development Department, and Keizo Ota and Yasunari Nishida were appointed project managers of their own groups in the Technology Development Department.
In 2013, Katsuya Eguchi was promoted Department Manager of both Software Development Departments in Kyoto and Tokyo. As such, he left his role as Group Manager of Software Development Group No. 2, and was replaced by Hisashi Nogami. On June 18, 2014, the EAD Kyoto branch was moved from the Nintendo Central Office to the Nintendo Development Center in Kyoto. The building housed more than 1100 developers from all of Nintendo's internal research and development divisions, which included the Nintendo EAD, SPD, IRD and SDD divisions. On September 16, 2015, EAD merged with Nintendo Software Planning & Development to establish Entertainment Planning & Development (EPD). The move followed an internal restructuring of Nintendo executives and departments after the death of president Satoru Iwata in July 2015. [14]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(May 2021) |
The Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development division was headed by Nintendo-veteran Takashi Tezuka who acted as general manager. The division was divided in two development departments: one in Kyoto, with Katsuya Eguchi acting as its deputy general manager; and one in Tokyo, with Yoshiaki Koizumi acting as its deputy general manager.
The Nintendo EAD Kyoto Software Development Department was the largest and one of the oldest research and development departments within Nintendo, housing more than 700 video game developers. It was located in Kyoto, Japan, formerly in the Nintendo Central Office, but on June 28, 2014, it was relocated to the new Nintendo Development Center, which housed all of Nintendo's internal research and development divisions.
The development department integrated Nintendo's most notable producers: Hideki Konno, producer of the Nintendogs and Mario Kart series; Katsuya Eguchi, producer of the Wii and Animal Crossing series; Eiji Aonuma, producer of The Legend of Zelda series; Hiroyuki Kimura, producer Big Brain Academy , Super Mario Bros. , and Pikmin series; and Tadashi Sugiyama, producer of the Wii Fit , Steel Diver and Star Fox series.
The department was managed by veteran Nintendo game designer Katsuya Eguchi. As such, Hisashi Nogami later succeeded him as the producer of the Animal Crossing franchise and was responsible for the creation of the Splatoon series.
Year | Title | Genre(s) | Platform(s) |
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1999 | Mario Artist: Paint Studio [codeveloped 8] | Graphics software | 64DD |
2000 | Mario Artist: Talent Studio | ||
Mario Artist: Polygon Studio | |||
Mario Artist: Communication Kit |
The Nintendo EAD Tokyo Software Development Department was created in 2002 with the goal of bringing in fresh new talent from the capital of Japan who wouldn't be willing to travel hundreds of miles away to Kyoto. It is located in Tokyo, Japan, in the Nintendo Tokyo Office.
In 2003, twenty members of the Entertainment Analysis & Development Division in Kyoto volunteered to relocate to Nintendo's Tokyo Office to expand development resources. These twenty volunteers were primarily from the Super Mario Sunshine team. Management saw it as a good opportunity to expand and recruit several developers who were more comfortable living in Tokyo than relocating to Kyoto.
Takao Shimizu (original manager and producer) and Yoshiaki Koizumi (director) began hiring several recruits in Tokyo coming from several established companies like SEGA, Koei, and Square-Enix. Shimizu and Koizumi jointly spearheaded their first project, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. This was followed in 2007 by the release of the critically and commercially acclaimed Super Mario Galaxy. After the release of Super Mario Galaxy, Koizumi was promoted to manager and producer and officially opened Tokyo Software Development Group No. 2.
The Tokyo group had veteran game developer Katsuya Eguchi as its general manager, who also oversaw development operations for the Kyoto Software Development Department.
Year | Title | Genre(s) | Platform(s) | Producer(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | New Play Control: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat | Platform | Wii | Yoshiaki Koizumi |
Flipnote Studio | Animation | Nintendo DSi (DSiWare) | Yoshiaki Koizumi | |
2010 | Super Mario Galaxy 2 | Platform | Wii | Yoshiaki Koizumi Takashi Tezuka |
2011 | Super Mario 3D Land | Platform | Nintendo 3DS | Yoshiaki Koizumi |
2013 | Flipnote Studio 3D | Animation | Nintendo 3DS | Yoshiaki Koizumi |
Super Mario 3D World | Platform | Wii U | Yoshiaki Koizumi | |
NES Remix [codeveloped 11] | Compilation | Wii U | Yoshiaki Koizumi Masanobu Suzui (Indieszero) | |
2014 | NES Remix 2 [codeveloped 11] | Compilation | Wii U | Yoshiaki Koizumi Masanobu Suzui (Indieszero) |
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker | Platform, puzzle | Wii U | Koichi Hayashida |
Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes and releases both video games and video game consoles.
Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors as an executive since 2002. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in video games, he is the creator of some of the most acclaimed and best-selling game franchises of all time, including Mario,The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Star Fox and Pikmin. More than 1 billion copies of games featuring franchises created by Miyamoto have been sold.
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is a 2004 platform and score-attack game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It follows the gorilla Donkey Kong as he sets out to defeat a series of evil kings to conquer the jungle. Jungle Beat is designed for use with the DK Bongos, a bongo drum-style GameCube controller created for the Donkey Konga (2003) rhythm game. The player controls Donkey Kong through various side-scrolling levels as he collects bananas, swings on vines, chains combos, rides animals, and defeats enemies and bosses.
Super Mario 128 was a codename for two different development projects at Nintendo. The name was first used in 1997 for a sequel to Super Mario 64 for the 64DD, which was canceled. The name was reused for a GameCube tech demo at the Nintendo Space World trade show in 2000. Nintendo gradually incorporated the demonstrated graphics and physics concepts into the rapid object generation of Pikmin (2001), the physics of Metroid Prime (2002), and the sphere walking technology of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006) and Super Mario Galaxy (2007). The Super Mario 128 demo led to widespread analysis, rumors, and anticipation in the media throughout the 2000s.
Mario Artist is an interoperable suite of three games and one Internet application for Nintendo 64: Paint Studio, Talent Studio, Polygon Studio, and Communication Kit. These flagship disks for the 64DD peripheral were developed to turn the game console into an Internet multimedia workstation. A bundle of the 64DD unit, software disks, hardware accessories, and the Randnet online service subscription package was released in Japan starting in December 1999.
Nintendo Research & Development No. 1 Department was a division of Nintendo, and is its oldest development team. Its creation coincided with Nintendo's entry into the video game industry, and the original R&D1 was headed by Gunpei Yokoi. The developer has created several notable Nintendo series such as Metroid, Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong.
Katsuya Eguchi is a Japanese game designer, director and producer, most known for being a creator of the Animal Crossing series.
Super Mario Galaxy is a 2007 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the third 3D game in the Super Mario series. As Mario, the player embarks on a quest to rescue Princess Peach, save the universe from Bowser, and collect 120 Power Stars, after which the player can play the game as Luigi for a more difficult experience. The levels consist of galaxies filled with minor planets and worlds, with different variations of gravity, the central element of gameplay. The player character is controlled using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk and completes missions, fights bosses, and reaches certain areas to collect Power Stars. Certain levels use the motion-based Wii Remote functions.
Nintendo Research & Development No. 2 Department, commonly abbreviated as Nintendo R&D2, was a Japanese team within Nintendo that developed software and peripherals. While usually occupied in system operating software and technical support, the team would come back to early development in the 1990s where several new designers got their start at game development, the most famous being Eiji Aonuma who developed Marvelous: Another Treasure Island.
Yoshiaki Koizumi is a Japanese video game designer, director, producer, and business executive. He is a senior executive officer at Nintendo and a deputy general manager at Nintendo EPD, where he is known for his work within their Mario and The Legend of Zelda series, and as the General Producer of the Nintendo Switch. In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.
Takaya Imamura is a teacher at the International Professional University of Technology in Osaka and manga artist. He was a Japanese artwork designer for Nintendo for 32 years, starting in 1989, and is known for designing the characters and story of F-Zero, including Captain Falcon, and most of the supporting characters from the Star Fox series of video games. He also played a role in designing games in the Legend of Zelda series, such as The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, invented the character Tingle, and served as supervising producer for F-Zero GX.
Nintendo Software Planning & Development Division, commonly abbreviated as Nintendo SPD, was a Japanese research, planning and development division owned by Nintendo and housed inside the Nintendo Development Center in Kyoto, Japan. The division had two departments: Software Planning & Development Department, which primarily co-produced games with external developers; and Software Development & Design Department, which primarily developed experimental and system software. The division was created during a corporate restructuring in September 2003, with the abolition of the Nintendo R&D1 and Nintendo R&D2 departments.
Hideki Konno is a video game director, game designer and producer who works for Nintendo. Since 2015, Konno works as a manager at Nintendo EPD on the Smart Device Group, the department responsible for production of smartphone games.
Nintendo System Development Division, commonly abbreviated as Nintendo SDD and formerly known as Nintendo Network Business & Development (NBD), Nintendo Network Service Development (NSD), and Nintendo Special Planning & Development (SPD), was a Japanese division located in the Nintendo Research Institute in Kyoto, Japan, until it moved to the Nintendo Development Center, also in Kyoto. The division consisted of a single development team that focused on software and peripheral development. SDD was composed of two development departments with different duties: the Network Development & Operations Department, which handled Nintendo Network service programming, in cooperation with Nintendo Network Service Database, and the Environment Development Department, which developed Software Development Kits (SDKs), among other technologies.
Nintendo Research & Engineering Department, commonly abbreviated as Nintendo RED, was a Japanese hardware development department responsible for developing all of Nintendo's major handheld game consoles, and its associated peripherals, from its inception in 1996 all the way to 2012, when it was disbanded. The department was under Nintendo's manufacturing division, and was led by Satoru Okada. The department was created in 1996 following Nintendo Research & Development 1's (R&D1) general manager and Game & Watch and Game Boy creator, Gunpei Yokoi's departure from Nintendo. Most of the department's team originate from R&D1's hardware engineers.
Hiroyuki Kimura is a Japanese video game director and producer who works for Nintendo. Kimura joined the company as a trainee in 1988, and designed the characters of Super Mario Bros. 3. After that, he was originally assigned to Gunpei Yokoi and the Nintendo R&D1 team. Kimura designed a variety of games for Nintendo including several of the NES Zapper software and the Metroid series. Shortly after working on Super Metroid, Kimura was transferred to Shigeru Miyamoto and the Nintendo EAD group.
Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Division, abbreviated Nintendo EPD, is the largest division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. The division focuses on developing and producing video games, mobile apps, and other related entertainment software for the company. Nintendo EPD was established in September 2015 after merging their Entertainment Analysis & Development and Software Planning & Development divisions.
Hisashi Nogami is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer at Nintendo. He is best known as the creator of the Animal Crossing and Splatoon franchises.
Iwata: How many years after you joined Nintendo did Ikeda-san become your boss? / Miyamoto: About 7 or 8 years, I think. About the time we were making Super Mario Bros. [...] He was the first manager of the Entertainment Analysis and Development Department.
In 1976, Miyamoto, then age twenty-four, was a recent art-college graduate, with a degree in industrial design and an enduring fascination with the Japanese comic strips called manga. [...] Yamauchi hired him to be an apprentice in the planning department.
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