EAD Teams Assemble! Part I of EAD Development Team Details
Entertainment Analysis and Division (EAD) is widely regarded to be Nintendo's most important internal development division. With the impending release of next-generation hardware, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata initiated a major restructuring effort to better prepare the company's game development. Although the exact make-up is still a mystery, we hope to shed light on some of the new EAD teams and directors that will lead software production on Project Revolution, Nintendo DS and beyond.
Nintendo EAD - Software Production Department Konno
Producer: Hideki Konno
During the 2005 restructure, Hideki Konno was assigned the first official team from the newly-formed Nintendo EAD division (more information on the restructure available here). Hideki Konno joined Nintendo in the late 1980s. At the time, Konno was a young designer who had just graduated college. Konno's first major contribution to a game came with his role as a graphic designer on Super Mario Bros. 3. Konno would go on to work very closely under Nintendo legend Takashi Tezuka and collaborate on several Mario games like Super Mario World and Super Mario-All Stars. Konno got his first director role alongside Tadashi Sugiyama on the now famous Super Mario Kart. Konno and Sugiyama were among the second generation of up-and-coming designers at Nintendo EAD; following the footsteps of original founders Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, Koji Kondo and Toshihiko Nakago. Konno and Sugiyama would work very closely together on several additional games such as F-Zero X. During the N64 era, Konno had his first taste of being the lead director on high profile titles including Mario Kart 64 and Yoshi's Story. Hideki Konno received a lot of criticism during this time for what were considered rather lackluster sequels to highly acclaimed SNES originals. Konno's final game as a director was Luigi's Mansion.Hideki Konno's new division is currently split into two development teams. These teams for the most part are composed of staff responsible for Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Pokemon Stadium, and Luigi's Mansion. The first development team is credited for the development of Nintendogs. Directed by Kiyoshi Mizuki, it was a project that was originally intended for the Nintendo GameCube. Mizuki previously made his directorial debut on Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Konno admits that the Nintendogs project was merely a programming experiment for a long time and had no real design motif. During early Nintendo DS demonstrations, the development team was able to port the game without much trouble. The single biggest advantage of bringing Nintendogs to the DS was the interaction with the puppy through the stylus and touch screen.
Manager and producer Hideki Konno confirmed his division is now done with the Nintendo DS for the time being. What is next you ask? Well Konno admits his teams are underway with Revolution software. In fact, the Nintendogs team was apparently responsible for a cooking simulator which was used as a teaser during the Revolution controller debut video. Konno doesn't confirm the cooking simulator will turn into real software, but Nintendo's new 50/50 stance (non-gamers & gamers) development ratio seems to suggest this may end up getting the green light.
The second development team just wrapped up development on Mario Kart DS. Konno took great satisfaction in pushing his team to finally create the ultimate Mario Kart game. Until now, in the eyes of many critics, Nintendo had failed to recapture the magic of Super Mario Kart with its sequels. Producer Hideki Konno placed Makoto Wada and Yasuyuki Oyagi in charge of this project. Wada is a long-time Nintendo veteran who is most famous for his character design on classic titles like Punch-Out, Super Punch-Out, Star Tropics, and Zoda's Revenge: Star Tropics 2. Oyagi has been a long-time level designer with experience on F-Zero X and almost every Mario Kart game.
What other games may Hideki Konno's team develop for the Nintendo DS or Project Revolution? Perhaps a sequel to one of Nintendos classic franchises...
Nintendo EAD - Software Production Department Aonuma
Producer: Eiji Aonuma
Eiji Aonuma comes from a third generation line at EAD. In fact, Aonuma didn't join Nintendo until 1996. Aonuma originally worked under Nintendo R&D2 general manager Masayuki Uemura. Aonuma's first game as a director was an adventure game titled Marvelous. The game was released late in the Super Famicom's life and was never translated for release outside of domestic territory. Aonuma worked very closely with designer Mitsuhiro Takano on his first games. This partnership between the two continued through the next few years when they both were reassigned from R&D2 into Shigeru Miyamoto's EAD division. Aonuma's first big role in a game was as one of the many directors involved in The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. Miyamoto handpicked Eiji Aonuma and Yoshiaki Koizumi to continue on the Zelda franchise and develop a sequel for the Nintendo 64. Directors Eiji Aonuma and Yoshiaki Koizumi came up with The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Mitsuhiro Takano was also very involved in the project and came up with several of the scenario and game design objectives. Eventually Miyamoto decided to split-up his two favorite proteges to take control of the next-generation of Mario and Zelda titles; Eiji Aonuma took charge of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker while Yoshiaki Koizumi took charge of Super Mario Sunshine. As the new face behind Zelda, Eiji Aonuma has received a meteoric rise as the next superstar designer at Nintendo. Aonuma was rewarded for taking a risk with Majora's Mask and he decided to take another one with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Ironically, when Nintendo first showed The Legend of Zelda trailer for Nintendo GameCube at its Space World promotional show in 2000, the visual demonstration was not designed by Eiji Aonuma but instead by Yoshiaki Koizumi. Regardless, Nintendo fans fell in love with the epic and gorgeous visuals Nintendo unintentionally promised its Zelda fans. When Aonuma unveiled a cel-shaded Zelda at the 2001 show, the Nintendo community broke into a frenzy. Wind Waker was eventually released to overwhelmingly positive reviews but there were still several shortcomings caused by the game's rush to hit the market and conflict between Nintendo fan's dislike of the visuals.
For the time being, Aonuma's division can be labeled the Zelda division. Aonuma is in charge of his 3D Zelda team which has developed every 3D Zelda game since the N64 era. Aonuma is also in charge of director Toshiaki Suzuki's The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure team which was previously run under a separate NCL producer. Aonuma is currently producing and putting the final touches on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the GameCube. Aonuma is promising this will be the biggest and coolest Zelda game ever. Nintendo has stated that Twilight Princess will be the last Zelda game of its type, confirming the Revolution version will make several changes to the series. While Nintendo has confirmed a new Zelda game is in the works for Revolution, be assured it is not in any concrete development stage outside of the division coming up with ideas and engine mechanics. Aonuma is also producing a new DS Zelda game by the Four Swords Adventure team. One peculiar thing about the new Zelda DS title is that Aonuma is stating the game will not be a Four Swords Adventures sequel. Zelda DS will apparently make use of a new "perspective" and also utilize a lot of the DS' exclusive hardware features. It is a bit odd that Aonuma would not first port the GameCube Four Swords Adventures to the DS. It is especially odd because the GameCube version was a complete lost effort that many people missed out on due to the required accessories.
Nintendo EAD - Software Production Department Eguchi
Producer: Katsuya Eguchi
Katsuya Eguchi started with EAD during the late NES era. Eguchi was a graphic artist and a level designer. His directorial debut came with Star Fox on the SNES. Katsuya Eguchi and Yoichi Yamada came up with the game mechanics, story, and level design for the project. Eguchi went on to contribute to several EAD games but most importantly his involvement has been with Wave Race 64, Yoshi's Story, and the Animal Crossing series. Eguchi originally started the Animal Crossing series with colleagues Takashi Tezuka and Hisashi Nagano. After the early 2005 restructure, Eguchi took control of the Animal Crossing team and was named head of his own EAD division. This division is mainly comprised of the Animal Crossing team. A neat fact is that it also houses the most female designers at Nintendo.
Eguchi's division just wrapped up development on Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS. While Eguchi was the director of the original, his new role of producer and manager has relegated the directorial reigns to EAD designer Hisashi Nagano. Eguchi was not shy about confirming his development group is also working on a Nintendo Revolution version of Animal Crossing. It will be interesting to see how the franchise changes on the new hardware.
Thanks to GameKult.com and ArmchairEmpire.com for images.