 | |
Number of locations | 5 (Japan, United States, France, China, Canada) |
|---|---|
| Services | Nintendo Switch Online |
| Parent | Nintendo |
| Divisions |
|
| Subsidiaries | List of subsidiaries
|
Nintendo is one of the world's biggest video game development companies, having created several successful franchises. Because of its storied history, the developer employs a methodical system of software and hardware development that is mainly centralized within its offices inKyoto andTokyo, in cooperation with its divisionNintendo of America inRedmond, Washington. The company also owns several worldwide subsidiaries and funds partner affiliates that contribute technology and software for the Nintendo brand.[1][2]
Nintendo (NCL) has a central office located inMinami-ku, Kyoto,Kyoto Prefecture, Japan (34°58′11.89″N135°45′22.33″E / 34.9699694°N 135.7562028°E /34.9699694; 135.7562028) and a nearby building, its pre-2000 headquarters, now serving as a research and development building, located inHigashiyama-ku, Kyoto,Kyoto Prefecture, Japan (34°58′29.00″N135°46′10.48″E / 34.9747222°N 135.7695778°E /34.9747222; 135.7695778). Its original Kyoto headquarters can still be found at (34°59′30.03″N135°45′58.66″E / 34.9916750°N 135.7662944°E /34.9916750; 135.7662944). Additionally, Nintendo has a third operation in Tokyo, Japan, whereresearch and development and manufacturing are conducted. All three offices are interconnected and have video conferences, often for communication and presentation purposes.
In 2009, it was revealed that Nintendo was expanding both its Redmond and Kyoto offices. The new office building complex of Nintendo of America in Redmond is 275,250 square feet (25,572 m2) and would expand its localization, development, debugging, production, and clerical teams. Nintendo announced the purchase of a 40,000 square-meter lot that would house an all-new research and development (R&D) office that would make it easier for the company's two other Kyoto R&D offices to collaborate as well as expand the total workforce on new upcoming console development and new software for current and future hardware. Additionally, Nintendo has various subsidiaries and offices worldwide that contribute to the company's global operations.[3][4]
Nintendo owns several buildings throughout Kyoto and Tokyo, housing subsidiary and affiliated companies. One of the more famous buildings was theNihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo building – previously known as the Nintendo Tokyo Prefecture Building – was jokingly calledThe Pokémon Building, formerly accommodated the complete Pokémon family which includedThe Pokémon Company,Creatures Inc., andGenius Sonority.[5] It was also to home toHAL Laboratory's Tokyo R&D Center and Warpstar's Tokyo office until 2003, where they moved into HAL's office in the Nintendo Kanda Building inSudachō in 2003, which housed Creatures Inc. until 2001. Genius Sonority would move out of the building to a new building inKanda in 2005, while Nintendo would fully move out of the building when The Pokémon Company and Creatures relocated their offices toKaigan andGobanchō, respectively in 2007. TheAsakusabashi building used to be the headquarters of NDcube until 2004, when they moved out to a nearby building.
In 2020, Nintendo revealed that they were going to unify all four of their buildings in Tokyo into just one. With this, several divisions and affiliated companies came to be together in the same building, includingGame Freak, Nintendo's subsidiary1-Up Studio and after 13 years,HAL Laboratory with its Tokyo studio and headquarters.[6]
In 2021,The Nikkei reported that Nintendo was planning to expand internal development by renting an office facility adjacent to their headquarters and building a new development office around the site of their former headquarters.[7] The latter plan was later revealed in April 2022, as Nintendo acquired land next to their headquarters to be used as another development office, which was slated to open in 2027,[8] but was later moved to 2028.[9]
| Name | Location | Developer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Asia | ||
| Nintendo Central Office | Hokotate-cho, Kamitoba,Minami-ku, Kyoto, Japan | formerlyNintendo EAD,SPD (and formerlyR&D1 andR&D2),IRD,RED,SDD,Systems Research & Development (SRD) |
| Nintendo Kyoto Research Institute | Kamitakamatsu-cho, Fukuine,Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan | formerlyNintendo EAD,R&D1,R&D2,R&D3,RED,SPD,Intelligent Systems (moved into a new building next near Nintendo Central Offices in 2013),[10] currently Mario Club |
| Nintendo Kyoto Development Complex | Minamimatsuda-cho, Higashikujo, Minami-ku, Kyoto, Japan | Was originally scheduled to open at the end of December 2013,[11] but did not until June 2014.[12] Currently houses theEntertainment Planning & Development (EPD),Platform Technology Development (PTD), and Business Development divisions, and the Kyoto office of Nintendo Systems. An additional office for SRD is also located here. Formerly Mario Club's Kyoto Minami office. |
| Nintendo "Corporate Headquarters Development Center, Building No. 2" (tentative) | Hokotate-cho, Kamitoba, Minami-ku, Kyoto, Japan | Located next to their headquarters, the building was originally scheduled to open in 2027,[13] but has since been delayed to 2028.[14] It will be used as another development office. |
| Kyoto City Water Supply and Sewerage Bureau | Hokotate-cho, Kamitoba Minami-ku, Kyoto, Japan | Office building finished in May 2022. The building currently has its 6th office for Monolith Soft Kyoto and the 7th office for Mario Club.[15] |
| Nintendo Tokyo Office | Nishikichō,Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan | Located in a new office building named Kanda Square,[16] that now contains divisions from Nintendo and different companies from four different locations in Tokyo, now reunited in one place to boost efficiency, with Nintendo themselves occupying the 8th, 20th and 21st floors, with the 8th floor housing their main office and their sales department.[17] Replaced the former Nintendo Tokyo Office. Currently home toNintendo EPD Tokyo,1-Up Studio (20th floor), Nintendo Stars (5th floor) and the main office ofNintendo Pictures. The building also housesHAL Laboratory's Head Office and Tokyo R&D Center on the 5th floor andGame Freak on the 7th floor.[5][18][19][20][21] |
| America | ||
| Nintendo of America Headquarters | Redmond, Washington, US | Nintendo Software Technology (NST) andNintendo Technology Development (NTD) |
| Europe | ||
| Nintendo European Research & Development | Paris,France | Nintendo European Research & Development (NERD) |
The Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development division was created on 16 September 2015, as part of a company-wide organizational restructure that took place under Nintendo's then newly appointed president,Tatsumi Kimishima. The division was created after the merger of two of its largest divisions,Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD) andSoftware Planning & Development (SPD).[22]
The division assumed both of its predecessors' roles, focusing on thedevelopment of games and software for Nintendo platforms andmobile devices; it also manages and licenses the company's variousintellectual properties. Shinya Takahashi, formerly general manager of the SPD division, serves as general manager of the new division, as well as supervisor for both the Business Development and Development Administration & Support divisions.Katsuya Eguchi andYoshiaki Koizumi maintained their positions as Deputy General Managers of EPD, which they previously held under EAD.[22]
The Nintendo Technology Development division was created on 16 September 2015, as part of a company-wide organizational restructure that took place under Nintendo's then newly appointed president,Tatsumi Kimishima. The division was created after the merger of two of Nintendo's divisions, theIntegrated Research & Development (IRD), which specialized in hardware development, andSystem Development (SDD), which specialized operating system development and its development environment and network services.[22]
The new division assumed both of its predecessors' roles. Ko Shiota, formerly Deputy general manager of the IRD division, serves as the general manager, while Takeshi Shimada, formerly Deputy general manager of the Software Environment Development Department of the SDD division, serves the same role.[22]
The Nintendo Business Development division was formed following Nintendo's foray into software development forsmart devices, such asmobile phones andtablets, in March 2014.[23] They are responsible for refining Nintendo's business model for dedicated game system business, and for furthering Nintendo's venture into development for smart devices.
While most externalfirst-party software development is done in Japan, Nintendo owns several overseas development subsidiaries, those beingNintendo Software Technology, Nintendo Technology DevelopmentRetro Studios, and Shiver Entertainment in the United States,Nintendo European Research & Development in France, andNext Level Games in Canada.
Although these studios are all subsidiaries of Nintendo, they are often referred to as external resources when being involved in joint development processes with Nintendo's internal developers by theNintendo Entertainment Planning & Development division, while the division itself oversees and is involved in the production of the games developed under the studios that lead their own games.
| Name | Location | Works |
|---|---|---|
| 1-Up Studio | Tokyo, Japan | Magical Vacation series,Mother 3 andA Kappa's Trail. Currently, a development support studio forNintendo EPD in titles such asSuper Mario 3D World,Super Mario Odyssey,Ring Fit Adventure andMario Kart World.[24] |
| iQue | Suzhou, China | Previously, a manufacturer of Chinese versions of Nintendo consoles. Since 2016 it has handledSimplified Chinese translation/localization, and – since 2019 – has moved from console manufacture to become a QA support studio, hiring programmers and testers to support Nintendo games. DevelopedNES,Game Boy, andN64emulators for use inVirtual Console andNintendo Switch Online. |
| Mario Club | Kyoto, Japan | Debugging, quality control and testing. |
| Monolith Soft | Tokyo, Japan | Xenoblade Chronicles series,Baten Kaitos series andDisaster: Day of Crisis.[25] Development support forThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild andThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. |
| Kyoto, Japan | Development support studio for Monolith Soft Tokyo andNintendo EPD. Development support with art and designs forSplatoon,Splatoon 2,Pikmin 3,Animal Crossing: New Horizons,Splatoon 3,Mario Kart World and other Nintendo EPD titles, alongside support for Monolith Soft Tokyo games such as theXenoblade Chronicles series.[26] | |
| Next Level Games | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | Luigi's Mansion series,Super Mario Strikers series,Punch-Out!! andMetroid Prime: Federation Force. |
| Nintendo Cube | Tokyo, Japan | Wii Party series,Mario Party series andClubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics. |
| Sapporo, Japan | ||
| Nintendo European Research & Development | Paris,France | Formerly known asMobiclip, doing various software technologies such as console emulation,video compression, andmiddleware, including the emulators forNintendo Switch Online and the video player of theWii U Internet Browser.[27] |
| Nintendo Pictures | Tokyo, Japan | Animation studio specialized in animation, design, and cinematic work forNintendo EPD. |
| Nintendo Software Technology | Redmond, Washington, US | Mario vs. Donkey Kong series,F-Zero 99,Wii Street U and other games and apps, helped withWebKit'sJavaScriptJIT[27] |
| Nintendo Systems | Tokyo, Japan | Joint venture between Nintendo and DeNA. Works on multiple services for Nintendo systems, includingNintendo eShop,Nintendo Accounts and GameChat. Head Office in Tokyo and Development teams in Kyoto. |
| Kyoto, Japan | ||
| Nintendo Technology Development | Redmond, Washington, US | Video game console development and software technology. |
| Retro Studios | Austin, Texas, US | Metroid Prime andDonkey Kong Country series. |
| Shiver Entertainment | Miami, Florida, US | Porting video games to Nintendo platforms. |
| SRD | Kyoto, Japan | Development support forNintendo EPD, focusing mainly on programming. |
1-Up Studio Co., Ltd. (１‐UPスタジオ株式会社), formerlyBrownie Brown Inc. (ブラウニーブラウン,Buraunī Buraun), is a JapaneseNintendo-funded and ownedvideo game development studio opened on 30 June 2000 and based in Tokyo, Japan. On 1 February 2013, Brownie Brown announced on their official website that due to their recent co-development efforts with Nintendo, Brownie Brown are undergoing a change in internal structure, which includes changing the name of their company to 1-Up Studio.[28]
The studio is known for the development of theMagical Vacation series,Mother 3 andA Kappa's Trail. Since 2013, it stands as a development support studio forNintendo EPD.
Originally a Chinese joint venture between its founder,Wei Yen, and Nintendo, manufactures and distributes official Nintendo consoles and games for the mainland Chinese market, under the iQue brand. The product lineup for the Chinese market is considerably different from that for other markets. For example, Nintendo's only console in China is theiQue Player, a modified version of the Nintendo 64. In 2013, the company became a fully owned subsidiary of Nintendo.[29][30]
It became a translation and localization company for simplified Chinese since 2016 for Nintendo games. In 2018, it stopped to be a manufacturer for consoles at China and in 2019 began to hire programmers and testers to transition to be a supporting development company forNintendo EPD.[31]
Originally a team within Nintendo itself,Mario Club Co., Ltd. was separated into a subsidiary in July 2009. The company handles testing, quality control and debugging for Nintendo published titles and as of September 2024, has 400 employees.[32]
Monolith Soft, Inc. (株式会社モノリスソフト,Kabushiki-Gaisha Monorisu Sofuto) is a Japanese video game development company that has created video games for thePlayStation 2,GameCube,Wii,Nintendo DS, andcell phones. The company currently has two main studios, itsTokyo Software Development Studio, which is housed in the company's headquarters, and the recently openedKyoto Software Development Studio. The company was previously owned byNamco Bandai Games, until 2007 when Namco Bandai transferred 80% of its 96% stake to Nintendo. In 2011, the remaining 16% was sold, and by late 2024, Nintendo had bought the last 4%, which had originally been left to the company's founders. A majority of Monolith Soft's staff are former employees of Square Co., who transferred to the new company shortly after the creation ofChrono Cross. They were previously involved with the creation ofXenogears, from which theXenosaga series is derived.
Monolith Soft'sTokyo Software Development Studio is usually associated with theXeno series, theBaten Kaitos series andDisaster: Day of Crisis,[25] while itsKyoto Software Development Studio is currently a development co-operation studio.[citation needed]
Next Level Games is a Canadianvideo game developer based inVancouver. The company has been working with Nintendo since 2005 withSuper Mario Strikers, while since 2014, the company began to work exclusively under contract with Nintendo. In January 2021, Nintendo revealed they had purchased Next Level Games, after over a decade working with the developer per contract basis and 6 years having them working exclusively.
Next Level Games has worked on the two most recent entries in theLuigi's Mansion series, theMario Strikers series,Punch-Out!! for the Wii, andMetroid Prime: Federation Force for the Nintendo 3DS.
Nintendo Cube Co., Ltd. (エヌディーキューブ株式会社 NintendōKyūbu Kabushiki Gaisha), formerly NDcube, is a Nintendo subsidiary and Japanesevideo game developer based in Japan with offices in Tokyo andSapporo. The company was founded on 1 March 2000, through a joint venture betweenNintendo and advertising firmDentsu, hence the Nd in the name.[33] In 2010, Nintendo decided to buy out 96% of the shares, with ad partner Dentsu stepping aside.[34] Since Nintendo Cube was founded, they have kept a low profile, working on various JapaneseGameCube andGame Boy Advance titles. Two notable games that have reached western shores areF-Zero: Maximum Velocity andTube Slider. As seen in the credits forMario Party 9, Nintendo Cube indeed houses many ex-Hudson Soft employees, some vary between folks who have focused primarily on many other entries in theMario Party series.
The company is currently best known for theWii Party series and for taking over theMario Party series, after Hudson Soft was absorbed intoKonami.
Nintendo European Research & Development SAS (orNERD), formerly known asMobiclip, is aNintendo subsidiary, located in Paris, France. The team currently focuses on developing software technologies, such asconsole emulation,video compression, andmiddleware for Nintendo platforms.[35] While an independent company, Mobiclip was responsible for licensingvideo codecs forSony Pictures Digital,Fisher-Price and Nintendo for theGame Boy Advance,Nintendo DS,Wii andNintendo 3DS.
The team has been involved in the development of the Wii U Chat application, in co-operation withVidyo, and has since contributed to developing emulators for prior Nintendo consoles, such as those forNintendo Switch Online.
The company was founded by Hiroshi Hirokawa on March 18, 2011, inTokyo, Japan under the name of Dynamo Pictures.Nintendo announced their intent to acquire Dynamo Pictures and change its name to Nintendo Pictures on July 14, 2022, citing the focus of the company to strengthen the planning and production structure of visual content. The deal closed on October 3, with the company becoming a full subsidiary of Nintendo, as well as adopting its new name. Since being acquired by Nintendo in 2022, they have functioned as a support studio specializing in animation, design, and cinematic work for video games developed byNintendo Entertainment Planning & Development.
Nintendo Software Technology Corp. (orNST) is an Americanvideo game developer located inside of Nintendo of America's headquarters inRedmond, Washington. The studio was created by Nintendo as afirst-party developer to create games for the North American market, though their games have also been released in other territories such as Europe and Japan, exclusively for Nintendo consoles.
The studio's best known projects include theMario vs. Donkey Kong series,F-Zero 99,Crosswords series,Wii Street U and other video games and applications.
Nintendo Systems Co., Ltd. is a joint venture company between Nintendo and DeNA with the first owning 80% of shares, therefore making it a subsidiary, and the second owning 20%. The company works on multiple services for Nintendo systems, including theNintendo eShop andNintendo Accounts. The company was established in 2023 with Nintendo's Tetsuya Sasaki as its representative director and president.[36]
Nintendo Technology Development Inc. (orNTD) is aWashington-based hardware focusedResearch & Development group forNintendo. The group focuses on the creation of various software technologies, hardware tools, andSDKs forfirst-party use andthird-party licensing acrossNintendo platforms, in collaboration with theNintendo Platform Technology Development division. Several side projects and unreleased prototypes are commonly linked to this Washington based subsidiary. NTD is also responsible for somelow-level coding. Howard Cheng serves as the division's president.
Retro Studios, Inc. is an Americanvideo game developer based inAustin, Texas. The company was founded in October 1998 byNintendo and the video game veteranJeff Spangenberg after leavingAcclaim Entertainment, as an independent studio making games exclusively for Nintendo. The studio started with fourGameCube projects which had a chaotic and unproductive development, and did not impress Nintendo producerShigeru Miyamoto, but he suggested they create a new game in theMetroid series. Eventually the four games in development were cancelled so Retro could focus only onMetroid Prime, which was released for the GameCube in 2002, the same year Nintendo acquired the studio completely by purchasing the majority of Spangenberg's holding stock.
Retro Studios would develop sequels toMetroid Prime, which had expanded to a successful sub-series of theMetroid series. Outside ofMetroid, they had assisted inMario Kart 7 and revived theDonkey Kong Country series after original developerRare's purchase byMicrosoft.
Shiver Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer based inMiami,Florida. It was founded in 2012 by John Schappert, previously ofZynga. In its earliest years, the company developed mobile games withNexon;State Of Chaos andBeasts vs Bots were released under this deal.[37][38] The studio would form a working relationship withWarner Bros. Games, developing the Nintendo Switch ports forHogwarts Legacy,Mortal Kombat 11 andMortal Kombat 1. They also succeeded5th Cell in theScribblenauts series, developingScribblenauts Showdown andScribblenauts Mega Pack.
Shiver was acquired byEmbracer Group in 2021, who placed the studio underSaber Interactive.[39] Following Saber Interactive's sale to Beacon Interactive, the company was moved under Embracer Group until Nintendo acquired them in May 2024.[40]Bloomberg News reported that the acquisition was for bolstering Nintendo's efforts in securing games from third-party developers on their upcoming console, theNintendo Switch 2, with Shiver assisting external developers in the optimization of such games from competing platforms.[41] Following the acquisition, Shiver assisted2K Games in portingWWE 2K25 to the Switch 2.[42]
SRD Co., Ltd. (trade nameSRD Corporation),[43] also known asSystems Research and Development, is a Nintendosubsidiary located inShimogyō-ku, Kyoto, with an additional office in Nintendo's development headquarters inMinami-ku, Kyoto. The company was founded on 22 January 1979 and began working with Nintendo in 1983, programming games such asDonkey Kong (1981) andSuper Mario Bros. (1985) for theNintendo Entertainment System.[44][45] They built an early test version ofSuper Mario Bros.[46] SRD became a prolific Nintendo partner. It exclusively programmed games for Nintendo and worked on around one hundred of them.[45] SRD contributed to theMario andAnimal Crossing franchises, most ofThe Legend of Zelda,[47][48] and some of Nintendo's more experimental projects, such asNintendo Labo andGame Builder Garage.[49] On 1 April 2022, SRD became a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo.[50][51] Toshihiko Nakago is the Representative Director and President of the company.[44]
 | This sectionpossibly containsoriginal research. Unsourced, definition unclear, whitelabel contract development in common in Japan Pleaseimprove it byverifying the claims made and addinginline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.(March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Name | Active | Additional details | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Research & Development 1 (Nintendo R&D1) | 1970–2004 | The original game development team at Nintendo. Originally created in the 1970s by Hiroshi Yamauchi as the games division ofNintendo Co., Ltd.Gunpei Yokoi was the original engineer and inventor designated to create electronic toys and arcade coin-operated software. With the conception of theFamicom (known as theNintendo Entertainment System in the West), the Virtual Boy, andGame Boy, the group was reassigned to concentrate on developing the premier software for console and portable gaming straying away from its original toys,Game & Watch, and arcade roots. | Nintendo EAD Nintendo SPD Nintendo RED |
| Nintendo Research & Development 2 (Nintendo R&D2) | 1978–2004 | This group mainly concentrated on hardware technology and system operating tools.Masayuki Uemura was hired away fromSharp Corporation where he specialized in solar cell technology. The solar technology fueled the original bean gun games which Nintendo introduced to huge success. The team would go on to develop several peripherals and eventually even some video game software. The team generally assistedNintendo R&D1 and Nintendo R&D3 with their arcade games, but it also became the first team to specialize in software ports at Nintendo with the task of porting all the original arcade titles likeDonkey Kong to the Famicom.[62] | Nintendo EAD Nintendo SPD |
| Nintendo Research & Development 3 (Nintendo R&D3) | 1980–2000 | Originally created as a hardware engineering division,Genyo Takeda managed to diversify his group and create software on the same arcade boards being designed forGunpei Yokoi's R&D1 team. After developing the arcade hits likeSheriff,Punch-Out!! andArm Wrestling, the team was involved in developing a variety of unique software for theNES that was mainly aimed at the Western market,Mike Tyson's Punch-Out andStarTropics to name a few. The team also helped create bank switching and the MMC chips in the NES cartridges. | Nintendo IRD |
| Nintendo Research & Development 4 (Nintendo R&D4) | 1983–1989 | In 1984,Hiroshi Yamauchi, former president of Nintendo, rewardedShigeru Miyamoto his own development studio after proving himself his ability to consistently produce both critically acclaimed and successful video games with the originalDonkey Kong andMario Bros.. Although the team didn't have as many resources asNintendo R&D1, R&D4 also focused on developingNES games. It ended up creating Nintendo's two most enduring franchises:Mario andThe Legend of Zelda. During the development of theSuper NES, Nintendo R&D4 was renamedNintendo EAD.Takashi Tezuka joined Shigeru Miyamoto in developing R&D4 games, with music composition being handled byKoji Kondo. | Nintendo EAD |
| Nintendo Tokyo R&D Products | 1987–1989 | In the early 1980s,Nintendo planned to expand software R&D into the Tokyo manufacturing branch building to operate alongside its overcrowded Kyoto headquarters. The initial plans became delayed and shortly after the development of the originalMother, the group ceased development. | — |
| Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development (Nintendo EAD) | 1989–2015 | Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development was the premier development arm at Nintendo. The group had the largest concentration of R&D, housing more than 800 engineers and designers. The division was split into seven different subdivisions, each led by a designated producer and group manager. The overseeing managers wereShigeru Miyamoto andTakashi Tezuka. Five divisions were located in the central Kyoto R&D building under the Software Development Department, while two divisions resided in the Tokyo offices under the Tokyo Software Development Department. | Nintendo EPD |
| Nintendo of America (NOA) Special-Projects | 1990–1997 | The first development branch at Nintendo of America.Nintendo wanted to deliver more software based at the U.S. market following the trails of theSega Genesis marketing blitz. Nintendo of America appointed product analysts Jeff Hutt andDon James to head the division. The group initially concentrated on sports games, which led to theNES Play Action andKen Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball franchises. | — |
| Nintendo Research & Engineering Department (Nintendo RED) | 1996–2013 | The original hardware development team responsible for all of Nintendo's portable and hand held systems. The managerSatoru Okada and most of the chief engineers originate from the oldNintendo R&D1 hardware division that created all theGame & Watch and hand held LCD cabinets.[63] On 16 February 2013, Nintendo RED was combined with theNintendo Integrated Research & Development (or IRD) division.[64][65] | Nintendo IRD |
| Nintendo System Development (Nintendo SDD) | 1997–2015 | The Nintendo System Development Division, which used to be centered in peripheral and software development, was a hybrid development group with several distinct duties. The development team originated fromNintendo Research & Development 2 and was mainly responsible for ports and inhouse development for low profile hardware like thePokémon Mini and theSuper FamicomSatellaview service. The department handled mostNintendo Network programming and server maintenance inside Nintendo's in-house projects and throughout various other external Nintendo software, in cooperation with Nintendo Network Services. The department also cooperated in software development.[66] | Nintendo PTD |
| Mobile21 | 1999-2002 | A joint venture withKonami which concentrated on developingGame Boy Advance games with connectivity tomobile phones. | — |
| Nintendo Integrated Research & Development (Nintendo IRD) | 2000–2015 | Nintendo Integrated Research & Development was Nintendo's hardware group that specialized in all engineering and technological aspects of Nintendo's home console and handheld development. The division also housed industrial designers who design peripherals such as theWaveBird,Wii Zapper, and Wii steering wheel. The group was originally known as Research and Development Department 3 (R&D3),[67] with the same primary functions, with the exception that managerGenyo Takeda enjoyed moonlighting by developing console and arcade games. On 16 February 2013, Nintendo IRD combined withNintendo Research & Engineering Department (orRED), the former hardware group that specialized in all engineering and technological aspects of Nintendo's handheld development.[64][65] | Nintendo PTD |
| Nintendo Software Planning & Development (Nintendo SPD) | 2004–2015 | Nintendo Software Planning & Development was the development group that included several of the original development officers from the old software and hardware development sectors. The division was broken up into two departments; Software Planning & Development Department andSoftware Design & Development Department. | Nintendo EPD |
| Nintendo Network Service Database (NSD) | 2009–2018 | Nintendo Network Service Database Inc. (orNSD), formerly known asWii no Ma, was originally created byNintendo to provide digital entertainment as a service for Wii owners, with the company later renamed when its role changed.[68] After the name change, Nintendo Network Services handled allNintendo Network operations, including programming and server maintenance inside Nintendo's in-house projects through theNintendo Network Business & Development division and throughout various other external online software infrastructures. Lastly, the company also cooperated in developing third party online infrastructures compatible with Nintendo consoles and Nintendo Network. | — |
| Project Sora | 2009–2012 | The company was solely created to developKid Icarus: Uprising for theNintendo 3DS. The president and director of the team,Masahiro Sakurai later joined forces withBandai Namco Studios to createSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U withNintendo SPD.[69] | — |