In the 1990's, Nintendo earned a reputation outside Japan as being a developer who catored its games to children. Brushing the stigma off was no easy task as competitors extrapolated the term "kiddy" into a marketing campaign against the company. That was then. The now consists of a new Nintendo in the midst of a resurgence with a new internal campaign to develop software that appeals to the 18-60 demographic, female gamers, and non-gamers.It is probable that the development spark came from the successes of Animal Crossing and Wario Ware Inc. Of course Nintendo still has divisions and teams inside its two central offices (Kyoto and Tokyo) developing traditional sequels to the Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong franchises. Meanwhile, Nintendo has dedicated several of its R&D to push concepts and ideas specifically targeting the aforementioned demographics. Hideki Konno, manager and producer of EAD Software Development Group No. 1 produced the hit Nintendogs. Katsuya Eguchi, manager and producer of EAD Software Development Group No. 2 produced Animal Crossing. However, the biggest breakthrough in software has come from Shinya Takahashi's EAD Software Development Group No. 5 in the form of Brain Age, Brain Age 2, Jam With The Band, and English Training DS. Here is a couple of demonstration videos courtesy of Shigesato Itoi's online magazine showcasing these new and valuable IPs from Nintendo.
Brain Age: Train Your Brain
2006 Nintendo
- A concept created by the original creator of Wario Ware Inc. Kouichi Kawamoto designed a game based on the popular Brain Training books published in Japan.
- Video: A video in which several Nintendo staff get together for a multiplayer session of Train Your Brain.
Jam With The Band
2004, 2005 Nintendo
- A concept Masaru Nishida and Noriko Kitamura were working on for over 4 years at Nintendo. The project originally started on the Game Boy Color.
- Video: The Jam With The Band development staff (Masaru Nishida, Noriko Kitamura, etc) get together for a live concert.
- Video: The group's encore is Jingle Bells.
English Training for DS
2006 Nintendo 2006 Plato
- A Nintendo EAD port and remake of a popular Japanese PC program. The PC English trainer was originally developed by Plato Inc. Nintendo remade the title for DS, and the Jam With The Band team decided to add Kimberly as a mascot in the game.
- Video: A small demonstration of the title.