Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development
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| Type | R&D Branch and Subsidiary of Nintendo |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | September 30, 1983 |
| Headquarters | Kyoto, Japan |
| Key people | Shigeru Miyamoto (General manager) Takashi Tezuka (Deputy manager) |
| Products | Various video game titles |
| Employees | 500~ |
| Website | Nintendo.co.jp |
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development (任天堂 情報開発本部 Nintendō Jōhō Kaihatsu Honbu, lit. "Nintendo Information and Development Headquarters"), commonly abbreviated as EAD, is the largest division inside Nintendo. It was preceded by the Creative Department (クリエイティブ課 Kurieitibu Ka), a team of designers with an art background responsible for many different tasks, to which Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka originally belonged.[1][2] Both developers currently serve as managers of the EAD studios and are credited in each game developed by the division, with varying degrees of involvement. EAD is best known for its work on games in the Mario, Animal Crossing, The Legend of Zelda, F-Zero, Star Fox, and Pikmin franchises.
In 1997, Miyamoto explained that twenty to thirty employees were devoted to each EAD title during the course of its development.[3] He also disclosed the existence of a programming group within the company called SRD (formally Nintendo IRD's software unit), a group of about two-hundred employees with proficiency in software development.[3]
In 2004, Nintendo underwent a corporate restructuring, in which several members of the Nintendo Research & Development 1 and Nintendo Research & Development 2 were reassigned under the EAD banner.[4] Nintendo EAD is itself split into five separate teams in Kyoto who work concurrently on different projects in addition to a sister group in Tokyo.[5]
Contents |
Kyoto Software Development Department[edit]
Comprehensive Development Group[edit]
Manager/Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, Takao Sawano
Not necessarily responsible for a specific franchise or genre
Games developed:
| Title | Platform | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Super Mario 64 DS | NDS | November 21, 2004 (NA) |
Software Development Group No. 1[edit]
Manager/Producer: Hideki Konno
Responsible for Nintendogs and new Mario Kart games
Games developed:
| Title | Platform | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendogs | NDS | April 21, 2005 (JP) |
| Mario Kart DS | NDS | November 14, 2005 (NA) |
| Mario Kart Wii | Wii | April 10, 2008 (JP) |
| Nintendogs + Cats | 3DS | February 26, 2011 (JP) |
| Mario Kart 7 | 3DS | December 1, 2011 (JP) |
| Mario Kart 8 | Wii U | Spring 2014 |
Software Development Group No. 2[edit]
Manager/Producer: Katsuya Eguchi
Responsible for most Wii branded games and the Animal Crossing series
Games developed:
| Title | Platform | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Animal Crossing: Wild World | NDS | November 23, 2005 (JP) |
| Star Fox Command1 | NDS | July 14, 2006 (JP) |
| Wii Sports | Wii | November 19, 2006 (NA) |
| Wii Play | Wii | December 2, 2006 (JP) |
| Wii Music | Wii | October 16, 2008 (JP) |
| Animal Crossing: City Folk | Wii | November 16, 2008 (JP) |
| Wii Sports Resort | Wii | June 25, 2009 (JP) |
| Animal Crossing: New Leaf | 3DS | November 8, 2012 (JP) |
| Nintendo Land | Wii U | November 18, 2012 (NA) |
- 1 Co-produced with Q-Games.
Software Development Group No. 3[edit]
Manager/Producer: Eiji Aonuma
Primarily responsible for the Zelda series
Games developed:
| Title | Platform | Released |
|---|---|---|
| The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures | GCN | March 18, 2004 (JP) |
| The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess | GCN/Wii | November 19, 2006 (NA) |
| The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass | NDS | June 23, 2007 (JP) |
| Link's Crossbow Training | Wii | November 19, 2007 (NA) |
| The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks | NDS | December 7, 2009 (NA) |
| The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword | Wii | November 18, 2011 (EU) |
| The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD | Wii U | September 26, 2013 (JP) |
| The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds | 3DS | November 2013 (NA) |
| Untitled The Legend of Zelda game | Wii U | 2014/2015 |
Software Development Group No. 4[edit]
Manager/Producer: Hiroyuki Kimura
Responsible for remakes and ports of older titles, the Pikmin series[citation needed], and the New Super Mario Bros. series
- Games developed:
| Title | Platform | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Super Mario 64 DS | NDS | November 21, 2004 (NA) |
| Yoshi Touch & Go | NDS | January 27, 2005 (JP) |
| Big Brain Academy | NDS | June 30, 2005 (JP) |
| New Super Mario Bros. | NDS | May 15, 2006 (NA) |
| Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree | Wii | April 26, 2007 (JP) |
| New Play Control! Pikmin | Wii | December 25, 2008 (JP) |
| New Play Control! Pikmin 2 | Wii | March 15, 2009 (JP) |
| New Super Mario Bros. Wii | Wii | November 12, 2009 (AUS) |
| New Super Mario Bros. 2 | 3DS | July 28, 2012 (JP) |
| New Super Mario Bros. U | Wii U | November 18, 2012 (NA) |
| Pikmin 3 | Wii U | August 4, 2013 (NA) |
Software Development Group No. 5[edit]
Manager/Producer: Tadashi Sugiyama
Responsible for developing games that attract casual gamers
Games developed:
| Title | Platform | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Wii Fit | Wii | December 1, 2007 (JP) |
| Wii Fit Plus | Wii | October 1, 2009 (JP) |
| Steel Diver 1 | 3DS | March 27, 2011 (NA) |
| Star Fox 64 3D 2 | 3DS | July 14, 2011 (JP) |
| Wii Fit U | Wii U | 2013 |
Sound Group[edit]
Manager/Producer: Koji Kondo
A separate department that helps create music and sounds for the various video games of Nintendo EAD Software Development and its many teams. It consists of some of Nintendo's most famous composers such as Koji Kondo, Kazumi Totaka and Toru Minegishi. Despite its implications that they're the only one who create sound for EAD titles, there are various other composers and sound creators who create music and sound for specific factions of EAD, such as Nintendo EAD Tokyo. Like most EAD teams, it's unclear exactly how many games the Sound Group has worked on.
Tokyo Software Development Department[edit]
Tokyo Software Development Group No. 1[edit]
Manager/Producer: Takao Shimizu
- Games developed:
| Title | Platform | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Donkey Kong Jungle Beat | GCN | December 16, 2004 (JP) |
| Super Mario Galaxy | Wii | November 1, 2007 (JP) |
| Jibun de Tsukuru Nintendo DS Guide | NDSi | November 17, 2010 (JP) |
| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D1 | 3DS | June 16, 2011 (JP) |
| The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition1 | NDSi | September 28, 2011 (NA) |
- 1 Co-produced with Grezzo.
Tokyo Software Development Group No. 2[edit]
Manager/Producer: Yoshiaki Koizumi
- Games developed:
| Title | Platform | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Flipnote Studio | NDSi | December 24, 2008 |
| New Play Control: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat | Wii | December 11, 2008 (JP) |
| Super Mario Galaxy 2 | Wii | May 23, 2010 (NA) |
| Super Mario 3D Land | 3DS | November 3, 2011 (JP) |
| Super Mario 3D World | Wii U | December, 2013 |
Technology Development Department[edit]
Manager/Producer: Takao Sawano
A separate department that provides prototype engines, tool programs, and library environments throughout the development of several EAD software projects. Programmers may also be dispensed to the EAD Software Development Departments for specific game projects. The technological forefront from Nintendo usually stems from the experimentation and research derived by this group of software engineers.
Development Environment Group[edit]
Manager/Producer: Yasunari Nishida
- Game engines developed:
| Title | Platform | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Mario Artist: Polygon Studio | 64DD | 2000 |
| Mario Artist: Talent Studio | 64DD | 2000 |
| Super Mario 128 Demonstration | GC | 2000 |
| Super Mario Sunshine | GC | 2002 |
| Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat | GC | 2004 |
| Super Mario Galaxy | Wii | 2007 |
| Super Hint Guide | Wii | 2008 |
| Wii Motion Plus | Wii | 2008 |
| Jibun de Tsukuru Nintendo DS Guide | DSiWare | 2010 (JP) |
| AR Games | 3DS | 2011 |
Technology Design Group[edit]
Manager/Producer: Keizo Ota
Responsible for developing Software Development Kits (SDK's) and their respective development tools for Nintendo home and handheld consoles.
Developer hierarchy[edit]
| Chief Production Officer |
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| General Managers |
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| Development Group Managers |
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Hiroyuki Kimura - Takao Shimizu |
List of games developed[edit]
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (December 2008) |
References[edit]
- ^ "Using the D-pad to Jump". Iwata Asks: Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary Vol. 5: Original Super Mario Developers. Nintendo. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ^ "I'd Never Heard Of Pac-Man". Iwata Asks: New Super Mario Bros. Wii Vol. 2. Nintendo. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
- ^ a b Takao Imamura, Shigeru Miyamoto (1997). Nintendo Power August, 1997 - Pak Watch E3 Report "The Game Masters". Nintendo. pp. 104–105.
- ^ N-Sider. Nintendo Revolution FAQ
- ^ Cassidy, Kevin. NCL Team Structure work in progress. June 7, 2006. Retrieved October 26, 2007.
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