Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Nintendo Software Planning and Development

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Native name
  
任天堂 企画開発

Industry
  
Video games

Defunct
  
16 September 2015

Former type
  
Division

Successor
  
Nintendo EPD

Parent organization
  
Nintendo

Romanized name
  
Nintendo Planning and Development

Predecessor
  
Nintendo R&D1 Nintendo R&D2

Headquarters
  
Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Founded
  
30 September 2003, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Key people
  
Shin'ya Takahashi, Yoshio Sakamoto, Kensuke Tanabe

Video games
  
Fire Emblem Fates, Fire Emblem Awakening, Tomodachi Life, Rhythm Heaven, Xenoblade Chronicles X

The Nintendo Software Planning & Development Division (Japanese: 任天堂 企画開発本部, Hepburn: Nintendō Kikaku Kaihatsu Honbu, lit. Nintendo Planning and Development Division) (commonly abbreviated to Nintendo SPD) was a research, planning and development division housed inside the Nintendo Development Center in Kyoto, Japan. The division had two departments: Software Planning & Development Department, which primarily co-produced games with external developers; and Software Development & Design Department, which primarily developed experimental and system software. The division was created during a corporate restructuring on September 30, 2003, with the abolition of the Nintendo R&D1 and Nintendo R&D2 departments.

Contents

The group had the task of independently developing innovative games, assisting other development teams on projects, and managing overseas production of first-party franchises. Both SPD and SDD departments were divided into four separate groups, which worked concurrently on different projects.

Nintendo SPD merged with Nintendo's other software development division, Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD) in September 2015, becoming Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development.

Structural hierarchy

The General Manager of the Nintendo Software Planning & Development Division was Shinya Takahashi, assisted by both Keizo Kato, the Assistant Manager and Kensuke Tanabe, the Executive Officer. The division was split into two different departments: the Software Planning & Development Department, which was split into four separate groups, which was supervised by Deputy Manager Yoshio Sakamoto; and the Software Development & Design Department which was split into three separate groups, supervised by Deputy Manager Masaru Nishita. All of the groups worked concurrently on different projects.

Software Planning & Development Department

Deputy Manager: Yoshio Sakamoto

Production Group No. 1

Group Manager: Katsuya Yamano

Production Group No. 1's primary focus was the development and co-production of video game software and software applications for Nintendo home and handheld consoles, in cooperation with second-party developers. The Group Manager and main producer was Katsuya Yamano, assisted by Nintendo veteran developer Yoshio Sakamoto, with the directing and planning team including a collective of talented personnel. The group typically had more than one project simultaneously in production, with emphasis on maintaining the Rhythm Heaven and Friend Collection series, along with co-producing the WarioWare series with Intelligent Systems.

Notes
Notes

Production Group No. 2

Group Manager: Hitoshi Yamagami

Production Group No. 2's primary focus was the production and co-development of video game software for Nintendo home and handheld consoles, in cooperation with Japanese third-party developers. The Group Manager and main producer is Hitoshi Yamagami, with the directing and planning team including a collective of talented personnel. The group typically had more than one project simultaneously in production, with emphasis on maintaining the F-Zero series with Suzak, the The Legendary Starfy series with Tose, the Fire Emblem series with Intelligent Systems, the Dr. Mario and Endless Ocean series with Arika, the Fossil Fighters series with Red Entertainment, the Style Savvy series with Syn Sophia, and the Xenoblade Chronicles series with Monolith Soft.

Notes
Notes
Notes

Production Group No. 3

Group Manager: Kensuke Tanabe
Production Group No. 3 was responsible for overseeing the development of titles from the Metroid Prime, Battalion Wars, Super Mario Strikers, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Excite, Paper Mario, Fluidity, and Donkey Kong Country series.

  • 1 Co-produced with Retro Studios.
  • 2 Co-produced with Kuju Entertainment.
  • 3 Co-produced with Next Level Games.
  • 4 Co-produced with n-Space.
  • 5 Co-produced with Nintendo Software Technology.
  • 6 Co-produced with Monster Games.
  • 7 Co-produced with Intelligent Systems
  • 8 Co-produced with Curve Studios
  • 9 Co-produced with TT Fusion

    • Production Group No. 4

    Group Manager: Hiroshi Sato
    Production Group No. 4 was responsible for overseeing the development of titles from the Mario Party, Donkey Kong, and Wii Party series.

  • 1 Co-production with Eighting.
  • 2 Co-production with Nd Cube.
  • 3 Co-production with Cing.
  • 4 Co-production with Hudson.
  • 5 Co-production with INiS.
  • 6 Co-production with Camelot.
  • 7 Co-production with Paon.
  • 8 Co-production with AlphaDream.

    • Software Development & Design Department

    Deputy Manager: Masaru Nishita
    Nintendo Software Development & Design was an experimental software development team assembled by Nintendo Co., Ltd. president Satoru Iwata. The team was originally assembled as a System Service Task Force that would develop all the unique internal system software for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii. The team was responsible for all the additional Wii Channels, the Nintendo DSi system software and more recently, the Nintendo 3DS system software. Nintendo SDD also went on to develop several innovative retail games. The philosophy behind development was to think out of the box and create unique software in a timely manner with smaller development resources. The development staff was composed of Koichi Kawamoto, who was the original programmer of WarioWare, and Shinya Takahashi, who was a longtime designer at Nintendo EAD. The department was also responsible for developing several subsequent WiiWare and DSiWare software.

    Software Development Group

    Manager/producer: Kiyoshi Mizuki
    Software Development Group was responsible for developing software from the Jam with the Band and Brain Age series, among additional Touch! Generations titles with partner developers.

  • 1 Co-production with Namco Bandai Games.

    • UI Development Group

    Manager/producer: Kazunobu Shimizu
    UI Development Group was responsible for developing additional Wii Channels, and the Nintendo DS/DSi and Nintendo 3DS general interfaces.

    Character Design Group

    Manager/producer: Hiroji Kiyotake The Character Design Group was responsible for managing and developing characters for Nintendo SPD/SDD internal and external projects.

    Sound Department

    Group Manager: Kenji Yamamoto

    The Sound Department was responsible for managing and producing music and sound design for Nintendo SPD and SDD projects.

    List of composers
  • Kenji Yamamoto - Metroid series, Famicom Tantei Club Part II, Excite Truck, Donkey Kong Country Returns
  • Minako Hamano - Metroid series, Wario World, Daigasso! Band Brothers, Brain Age series, Donkey Kong Country Returns
  • Ryoji Yoshitomi - Metroid II: Return of Samus, Wario Land, Wario Land 4, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!
  • Masaru Tajima - F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Excite Truck, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Donkey Kong Country Returns
  • Masami Yone - Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, Super Mario Advance, Rhythm Heaven series
  • Daisuke Shiiba - Tomodachi Collection, Fossil Fighters, Kiki Trick
  • Shinobu Nagata (née Tanaka) - Mario Kart DS, Brain Age Express, Brain Age: Concentration Training, Kiki Trick
  • Daisuke Matsuoka - Donkey Kong Country Returns, Tomodachi Life

    • References

    Nintendo Software Planning & Development Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA