Ultimate Nintendo FAQ - May 2002

First issue hopefully clears up some misconceptions on the web regarding several matters. Got this one out before E3, so enjoy and stay tuned for future editions.

Is EAD the primary development team at Nintendo?

N-Sider: Contrary to common belief, Nintendo has six development fractions inside its Kyoto, Japan central building. Six development departments with six different General Managers to be exact.

  • Nintendo R&D1 is run by General Manager Takehiro Izushi. This is the oldest R&D division at the company and was once run by the late Gunpei Yokoi. The division is the second largest at Nintendo with about a 100 people at last count. The group has been responsible for creating Super Famicom, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and even co-developed an N64 game with Treasure for the Nintendo 64 titled Sin & Punishment. Whenever you hear classic Nintendo franchises like Excitebike, Metroid, Wario Land, Balloon Fight, Detective Club, and Kid Icarus.. think no further than the R&D1 team. Takehiro Izushi stated in a brief Nintendo Online Magazine interview that his division is gearing up for some major changes as Nintendo has lifted the restrictions once placed on certain divisions. Having just wrapped up Wario Land 4, the team is working on Metroid 4, Legendary Starfi, Game & Watch E-Card, assisting in Metroid Prime, and most probably the developer behind the mysterious Wario World GameCube title.
  • Nintendo R&D2 is run by General Manager Masayuki Kamimura. Mr. Kamimura has been employed at Nintendo since the late 70s and has been misnamed as Masayuki Uemara for some odd reason since his brief mention in the book Game Over. Oddly enough the R&D2 division was not directly involved in any game development for a decade before the group was given clearance to begin Game Boy and Super Famicom development. Now EAD directors Eiji Aonuma and Mitsuhiro Takano got their start making a Super Famicom game by the name of Marvelous for the division before being transferred to EAD to work on games like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. R&D2 who now works on games full times as well as accessories like the tilt cartridge, is responsible for developing The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, Super Mario Bros DX, Marvelous, Super Mario Advance, Super Mario World Advance, and even the upcoming GameCube Koro Koro Kirby 2.
  • Nintendo IRD ; like EAD has a custom name instead of using its generic R&D3 label. General Manager Genyo Takeda and Nintendo IRD have been heavily involved in hardware creation like the GameCube and the 64DD. Takeda and team once developed several console and arcade games like Play Action Football, Punch-Out, Arm Wrestling, Pro-Wrestling, Star Tropics, and Pilotwings. While Takeda and team have not confirmed console software development at this point, several hints have been mentioned regarding a possible Punch-Out title in the near future.
  • Nintendo EAD has become a staple name because of Shigeru Miyamoto's involvement as General Manager. Without a doubt it is the group most involved in console projects since the dawn of the N64 era. The group has developed a variety of titles like Pokemon Stadium, Super Mario 64, 1080 Snowboarding, Star Fox 64, F-Zero X, Mario Artist, Wave Race 64, Yoshi's Story, Animal Crossing, Pikmin, and Luigi's Mansion from 1996-2001.
  • Ninendo R&E is run by General Manager and former R&D1 Associate Manager Satoru Okada. Mr. Okada and team are responsible for creating most of Nintendo's miniature devices like the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Camera, Game Boy Printer, Pokemon Mini, E-Card, and several other peripherals.
  • Unfortunately we have no details on the sixth development group.

Are Intelligent Systems and Nintendo R&D1 the same team?

N-Sider: Once mistaken to be the same group, the two have a very close relationship but are definitely two very different entities. Intelligent Systems created and programmed two franchises by the name of Fire Emblem and Wars. Both titles were developed in conjunction with Nintendo's R&D1 group who was involved in the design and production of the titles. Intelligent Systems then assisted Nintendo R&D1 in several titles like Metroid 3, and Card Hero by sending over extra programmers who helped to complete the staff.

How did Intelligent Systems become involved with Nintendo?

N-Sider: Intelligent Systems was founded by a young programmer named Toru Osawa. Osawa was currently employed at Nintendo and was responsible for transferring Famicom Disk titles (Japan) to NES ROM chips which would allow the titles to be playable on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Osawa decided to start his own company titled Intelligent Systems in 1986. The company continued to convert Famicom Disk software to NES ROM and at the same time began to develop its own line of software under the wing of Nintendo R&D1 and Gunpei Yokoi.

Who created Metroid?

N-Sider: Another large area of confusion around the web. For the record neither Gunpei Yokoi nor Intelligent Systems (read above) created Metroid. R&D1's Makoto Kanoh and Hiroji Kiyotake are the true creators of the Metroid franchise. Makoto Kanoh created the story, design and scenario as well as the outline of Samus and the Metroid universe. Hiroji Kiyotake was the artist who brought Kanoh's vision to life. As the series continued, several designers have become a permanent part of the team. Most notably Yoshio Sakamato (the Section Chief aka second in command under GM of R&D1) has become the script writer and main director of the series with Kanoh producing and Kiyotake doing the art.

What is Team Shikamaru?

N-Sider: Team Shikamaru was a codename thought up by Yoshio Sakamoto, Hitoshi Yamagami, and Toru Osawa who all worked for the R&D1 department. Team Shikamaru became an inner group inside R&D1 who basically wrote scripts and developed scenarios for R&D1. The group has written scripts for Metroid 2, Metroid 3, Detective Club, Detective Club 2, Three Persons of the Galaxy, Card Hero, and the loosely translated A Bell Sounds Frog. One of the founding fathers Toru Osawa actually left R&D1 to work with the EAD group where he got to write the script for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Who is Takashi Tezuka?

N-Sider: Takashi Tezuka is the Section Chief of EAD. He came up the ranks with Shigeru Miyamoto during the early days of the EAD division. At one point in time, he was handling main director roles on big Miyamoto franchises like Super Mario World, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past. Tezuka now a Producer, has forged a split in the EAD team which creates software without Miyamoto. Tezuka has produced Yoshi's Story and Animal Crossing with his young team (surprisingly made up of a lot of femakes). Tezuka still works with Miyamoto often on the big games; not surprisingly with both belonging to the same division.

Who are the big directors in the EAD team?

N-Sider: With Miyamoto and Tezuka acting as deparment heads and producers, the development team requires new blood to fill the role of directors. With that said, some of the more notable directors include.

  • Masamichi Abe - 1080 Snowboarding ; Pikmin
  • Eiji Aonuma - The Legend of Zelda: Toot ; Marvelous
  • Katsuya Eguchi - Wave Race 64 ; Animal Crossing ; Star Fox
  • Shigefumi Hino - Yoshi's Story ; Pikmin
  • Tasuya Hishida - Stunt Race FX ; Pokemon Stadium
  • Masayuki Kamiyama - Mole Mania ; Wave Race
  • Yoshiaki Koizumi - Super Mario 64 ; The Legend of Zelda: MM
  • Hideki Konno - Luigi's Mansion ; Mario Kart 64 ; Yoshi's Story
  • Takao Shimizu - Star Fox 64 ; Pokemon Stadium ; Pokemon Stadium 3
  • Tadashi Sugiyama - F-Zero X ; Luigi's Mansion
  • Mitsuhiro Takano - Star Fox 64 ; The Legend of Zelda: MM
  • Yoichi Yamada - Super Mario 64 ; The Legend of Zelda: Toot ; The Legend of Zelda Oracle Ages

Who developed the GBC The Legend of Zelda Oracle titles?

N-Sider: The game was developed jointly by Nintendo and Capcom. Nintendo provided the R&D2 developed Zelda: DX engine with new art done by Yusuke Nakano. Capcom took the engine and created an entire new scenario with help from EAD's Yoichi Yamada and Shigeru Miyamoto. The director of the titles was Capcom's own H. Fujibashi. Better known for his work on Disney's Magical Tetris for the N64 and GBC. N-Sider also believes H. Fujibashi is behind the Nintendo/Capcom Mickey for GameCube title shown last E3.

Is R&D1 developing GameCube titles?

N-Sider: The answer is yes. The nature of the titles or when they will show up is still a mystery. Clues point out to Wario World and the rumored third person Metroid to be coming out of the R&D1 team. There have been several mentions of a resurrection of the Detective Club series as well.

How many games does Nintendo have development at a time?

N-Sider: Impossible to answer. Not only is Nintendo seeing an increase in first party R&D via allocating more resources to its Kyoto prefecture, but Nintendo has also invested heavy R&D in world wide first party R&D by creating fully owned subsidiaries and Nintendo chapter studios in Tokyo, Redmond, Austin, Seattle, and Canada. Nintendo also has exclusive agreements with several affiliates and recently has become more open to signing co-development junctures with power partners like Capcom, Namco, and SEGA.

Tune in next month for our post-E3 Ultimate Q&A blowout.

Anthony JC