Contributions
- Nintendo Development Teams Creator
- Nintendo SPD Creator
- Nintendo SDD Creator
- Nintendo NSD Creator
- Nintendo R&E Creator
- Nintendo EAD Editor
- Personal Trainer: Walking Editor
- Slide Adventure: MagKid Editor
- TNX Creator
- J.P Room Creator
Work In Progress
1977–2002
edit
- The original game development team at Nintendo. Originally created in the 1970s by Hiroshi Imanishi as the "games division" of Nintendo Co., Ltd. The ambitious and imaginitive Gunpei Yokoi was the original engineer and inventor designated to create electronic toys and arcade coin-up software. When Hiroshi Yamauchi appointed Yokoi to manage Nintendo R&D1, the team was asked to create popular arcade software to rival the booming market. While the group originally engineered electronic love testers, its first official software appeared in 1979 with Radarscope. Arcade hits like Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Mario Bros. followed shortly after. In 1980, Gunpei Yokoi was inspired to create the Game&Watch, and the team developed several games for the format including Ball, Black Jack, Chef, Climber, Crab Grab, Egg, Snoopy, Mickey Mouse and several others. With the conception of the Famicom, and Game Boy, the group was reassigned to concentrate on developing the premier software for console and portable gaming straying away from their original toys, Game & Watch, and arcade roots. Not only is this division famous for the pioneering venture of software and hardware development, but it gave birth to one of the first scenario writing teams in video game history, Team Shikamaru, made up of Makoto Kanoh, Toru Osawa, and Yoshio Sakamoto. This small club within Nintendo R&D1 was responsible for writing stories and designing characters found in several games like Metroid, Kid Icarus, Balloon Kid, Famicom Tantei Club, and others. Upon the unfortunate departure of Gunpei Yokoi, the division was run under Takehiro Izushi until 2002. With several key personnel retiring and seeking other positions within Nintendo and Nintendo-affiliates, the division began dwindling. By the end of 2002, Nintendo R&D1 ceased to exist, but several key members including Yoshio Sakamoto and most of the Metroid Fusion and Wario Land team went on to form Nintendo Software Planning & Development Group No. 1. While the team exists with a very small staff, they have been very active in introducing new franchises like Rhythm Heaven and Tomodachi Collection while still continuing the Metroid and Wario Ware franchises.
1977–2002
edit
- This group mainly concentrated on hardware technology and system operating tools. Masayuki Uemura was hired away from Sharp Corporation where he specialized in solar cell technology. The solar technology fueled the original bean gun games which Nintendo introduced to huge success. The team would go on to develop several peripherals and eventually even some video game software. The team generally assisted Nintendo R&D1 and Nintendo R&D3 with their arcade games, but they also became the first team to specialize in software ports at Nintendo with the task of porting all the original arcade titles like Donkey Kong, Mario Bros, and Popeye to the Famicom.[1]
1975–1996
edit
- Manager Genyo Takeda was described by Shigeru Miyamoto [1] as "the first game designer" at Nintendo. Although Genyo Takeda was originally hired by Nintendo as a hardware engineer, Takeda managed to moonlight and create software on the same arcade boards being designed for Gunpei Yokoi's R&D1 team. Nintendo R&D3 managed to release the first arcade game ever published by Nintendo, titled EVR Race. The group would then go on to develop several other arcade games like Sheriff, Space Firebird, Punch-Out!! and Arm Wrestling. After a short-hiatus developing Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System related technology, the team returned to game development and produced a variety of unique software for the NES that was mainly aimed at the Western market, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out and StarTropics to name a few. The team's last game developed was the 1993 sequel, Super Punch-Out, on the Super Nintendo. Around 1995, the group was officially renamed Nintendo Integrated Research & Development, and has concentrated on hardware related technology exclusively.
1983-1989
edit
- With the worldwide success of Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. in the arcades, Nintendo decided to surround it's newest software development team around star designer Shigeru Miyamoto. The relatively young team began working on a couple of new projects exclusively for the Famicom. The success of Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda propelled the sales and notoriety of the Nintendo brand into a household name. The division has evolved into the premier and biggest R&D group at Nintendo, and possibly within the game industry.
1987-1989
edit
- In the early 1980's, Nintendo planned to expand software R&D into the Tokyo manufacturing branch building to operate alongside its overcrowded Kyoto headquarters. The initial plans became delayed and shortly after the development of the original Mother, the group ceased development.
1989-1996
edit
- The first development branch at Nintendo of America. Nintendo wanted to deliver more software based at the US market following the trails of the Sega Genesis marketing blitz. Nintendo of America appointed product analysts Jeff Hutt and Don James to head the division. The group initially concentrated on sports games, which lead to the NES Play Action and Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents Major League Baseball franchises.
- New development team created by Satoru Iwata headed by former Nintendo EAD designer Shinya Takahashi. The team has internally created several new Nintendo DS franchises like Brain Age, English Training, and Band Bros.. The team is also the developer of most of the Wii Channels.
Special Development Teams
editthumb|right|200px|The new vision of Metroid.
- Project M is a collaborative development group assembled in 2006 by Nintendo for the development of Metroid: Other M. The project leader is none other than the legendary Metroid designer and Nintendo R&D1 legend Yoshio Sakamoto. The team consists of Nintendo SPD Production Group No. 1, Team Ninja, and D-Rockets. Whether the team continues to develop other software after Metroid: Other M may depend on how well the game is received.
thumb|right|200px|A new project from the Smash Bros. team.
- Project Sorais a Japanese video game developer founded by Nintendo Co., Ltd. President Satoru Iwata and former HAL Laboratory employee Masahiro Sakurai. It was formed in the year 2009 after the successful launch of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii console. This subsidiary of Nintendo, is made up of several new designers previously hired for the Super Smash Bros. Brawl project, with an additional set of new recruits hired to complete this new mysterious game. Iwata and Sakurai described the group as an experimental team developing an exciting game for the core audience.<ref name="soraownership">http://www.totalvideogames.com/Project-SoraNintendo-Game-untitled/news/Nintendo-Opens-Project-Sora-13738.html</ref