Shikamaru Ninja
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Sakamoto Interview elaborates On Iwata's secret development team at Nintendo
It seems that whenever there is reference or discussion of Nintendo's in-house development, Mr. Miyamoto and his band of 500 developers at EAD are the sole topic of discussion. But the truth is there was always a rival department, in the same building, different floor, lead by none other than Mr. Iwata himself.
While Mr. Miyamoto was General Manager of the EAD Division, Mr. Iwata became General Manager of the SPD Division.
"So, the result was that two centers of thought developed at Nintendo.The one under Mr. Miyamoto, and one outside of Mr. Miyamoto's circle. Mr. Iwata liked Mr. Miyamoto more than anyone and deeply respected him, but he thought that if everything was left to Mr. Miyamoto then Nintendo would go down only one path, so he ventured to make a team that was not under the supervision of Mr. Miyamoto. And Mr. Iwata managed the team himself."
Mr. Miyamoto lead the much bigger software division with seven production groups.
* Konno (Nintendogs, Mario Kart)
* Eguchi (Wii Sports, Wii Play, Animal Crossing)
* Aonuma (Zelda)
* Kimura (Pikmin, Big Brain Academy, New Super Mario Bros.)
* Sugiyama (Wii Fit, Steel Diver)
* Shimizu (DS Guide Series)
* Koizumi (Super Mario Galaxy, Flipnote Studio)
Mr. Iwata lead the smaller internal division, but also had a separate external production group.
* Takahashi (Brain Age, English Training, DS Dictionary, Band Brothers, Wii Channels etc)
* Sakamoto (WarioWare, Rhythm Tengoku, Tomodachi Collection, Card Hero DS, Kiki Trick, Mii etc)
* External Groups (worked with outside developers)
While Miyamoto's developers generally delved into the larger budget and longer development cycle games, Iwata's developers had a different philosophy:
"Mr. Iwata managed the team himself, and he had us make games that could be developed in half a year. And that had a direct impact on Nintendos ability to regularly release games."
Nintendo SPD's internal games were pivotal in providing innovative software in-between the release of big EAD games . Most of which became hugely successful in establishing the touch generation line and resonating with non-traditional gamers.
Sakamoto closes out, on being one of the few internal Nintendo developers from his era not to have worked under Miyamoto.
"I have never worked with Mr. Miyamoto. Yes. Yes, so all this time I was left to grow free-range."
2015 marked the end of the Iwata/Miyamoto structure with Satoru Iwata passing, and Mr. Miyamoto vacating his position as GM of EAD. The Kimishima era has done away with the multi department structure of game development, in favor of one combined and streamlined development department all under the reign of Shinya Takahashi. Takahashi-san was actually Iwata's protege and Deputy GM of SPD, and as the new GM of EPD (SPD+EAD), he is the perfect face of Nintendo development because of his time spent working for both Miyamoto, and then Iwata.
This also marks the first time Sakamoto has access to large pools of resources and 3D artists, if the project deems fit enough for Takahashi to approve of.
source: https://miitomo.com/en/talk/02.html (Miitomo Interview #2) / Shikamaru
It seems that whenever there is reference or discussion of Nintendo's in-house development, Mr. Miyamoto and his band of 500 developers at EAD are the sole topic of discussion. But the truth is there was always a rival department, in the same building, different floor, lead by none other than Mr. Iwata himself.
While Mr. Miyamoto was General Manager of the EAD Division, Mr. Iwata became General Manager of the SPD Division.
"So, the result was that two centers of thought developed at Nintendo.The one under Mr. Miyamoto, and one outside of Mr. Miyamoto's circle. Mr. Iwata liked Mr. Miyamoto more than anyone and deeply respected him, but he thought that if everything was left to Mr. Miyamoto then Nintendo would go down only one path, so he ventured to make a team that was not under the supervision of Mr. Miyamoto. And Mr. Iwata managed the team himself."
Mr. Miyamoto lead the much bigger software division with seven production groups.
* Konno (Nintendogs, Mario Kart)
* Eguchi (Wii Sports, Wii Play, Animal Crossing)
* Aonuma (Zelda)
* Kimura (Pikmin, Big Brain Academy, New Super Mario Bros.)
* Sugiyama (Wii Fit, Steel Diver)
* Shimizu (DS Guide Series)
* Koizumi (Super Mario Galaxy, Flipnote Studio)
Mr. Iwata lead the smaller internal division, but also had a separate external production group.
* Takahashi (Brain Age, English Training, DS Dictionary, Band Brothers, Wii Channels etc)
* Sakamoto (WarioWare, Rhythm Tengoku, Tomodachi Collection, Card Hero DS, Kiki Trick, Mii etc)
* External Groups (worked with outside developers)
While Miyamoto's developers generally delved into the larger budget and longer development cycle games, Iwata's developers had a different philosophy:
"Mr. Iwata managed the team himself, and he had us make games that could be developed in half a year. And that had a direct impact on Nintendos ability to regularly release games."
Nintendo SPD's internal games were pivotal in providing innovative software in-between the release of big EAD games . Most of which became hugely successful in establishing the touch generation line and resonating with non-traditional gamers.
Sakamoto closes out, on being one of the few internal Nintendo developers from his era not to have worked under Miyamoto.
"I have never worked with Mr. Miyamoto. Yes. Yes, so all this time I was left to grow free-range."
2015 marked the end of the Iwata/Miyamoto structure with Satoru Iwata passing, and Mr. Miyamoto vacating his position as GM of EAD. The Kimishima era has done away with the multi department structure of game development, in favor of one combined and streamlined development department all under the reign of Shinya Takahashi. Takahashi-san was actually Iwata's protege and Deputy GM of SPD, and as the new GM of EPD (SPD+EAD), he is the perfect face of Nintendo development because of his time spent working for both Miyamoto, and then Iwata.
This also marks the first time Sakamoto has access to large pools of resources and 3D artists, if the project deems fit enough for Takahashi to approve of.
source: https://miitomo.com/en/talk/02.html (Miitomo Interview #2) / Shikamaru