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Kimishima: Young Generation of Nintendo Developers to Lead Forefront of NX and Mobile

Shikamaru Ninja

任天堂 の 忍者
Thought this would be an interesting discussion piece for NX-GAF / Nintendo-GAF.

Last year, Nintendo shared details of a major restructuring that made significant changes to their corporate and R&D sectors. Besides the consolidation of of their hardware and software division, there was an official change of the guard with Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto formally vacating their General Manager positions of the hardware and software divisions, in favor of new titles that suggested their focus would narrow on new ventures for the company. NCL President Tatsumi Kimishima elaborated on one of the key focus points of the restructure during the most recent Q&A session held with its investors.

"The ideas of our young employees are also key to our ability to transition to the next generation and to continue to produce exciting ideas. It is important to structure our organization so that these young people can take active roles. We have worked to establish such an organization; one that will allow our employees to reach their full potential in many different areas. It may be difficult to see from outside of the company, but we have made major changes to our organization. For example, our game developers have not had much of a public presence in the past, but we would like to create more and more opportunities for you to get to know them in the future."

While the new heads of development aren't entirely disclosed, we do know some the new R&D managers.

Software Division
Shinya Takahashi - General Manager of all Nintendo Software
Katsuya Eguchi - Deputy Manager of all Nintendo Development Groups, Kyoto Office
Yoshiaki Koizumi - Deputy Manager of all Nintendo Development Groups, Tokyo Office

Hardware Division
Ko Shiota - General Manager of all Nintendo Hardware
Takeshi Shimada - Deputy Manager of Development Technology
Kiyoshi Mizuki - Deputy Manager of Built-in Software

When discussing the ramifications of this restructure and initiative towards software, the biggest immediate difference is that the Wii and 3DS software were primarily orchestrated by Iwata and Miyamoto. Now that responsibility will fall on Takahashi, Eguchi (Wii Sports, Animal Crossing), and Koizumi (Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, Super Mario Galaxy). They will decided what games are made for the NX and Mobile platforms.

1430709605676295572.jpg

Forner GM of EAD - Shigeru Miyamoto passing the torch to the new GM of EPD (EAD+SPD) - Shinya Takahashi.
 
YASSS. Koizumi is a game design god. I don't think anyone could have created a compelling and awesome platformer using bongos yet he somehow got it to work.

I'm liking what I'm hearing about Nintendo going into this next gen. Hope all these changes work out
 
Wasn't Splatoon made by the younger folk? This is great news! I love the old dudes, but they often get in the way with some of the franchises. A younger folk means a more modern Nintendo.
 

antonz

Member
Such a big shakeup of the status quo would normally be something to worry about but Nintendo has seemingly done a great job at forming their young staff to the Nintendo idea but also allowing them the freedom to think beyond.
 

Madao

Member
good to see that the young talent finally gets a chance to steer things. hopefully they have many good ideas stored for NX.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
I was wondering why this didn't get its own thread until now because it's very important and a shake up within the development teams. A focus on a younger generation making games and wanting to put them up into the forefront like Miyamoto was back in the day is going to lead to some interesting things.

I'm excited to see what games and creative ideas will come from them.
 

PtM

Banned
Koizumi is not the youngest either. He's been there since Zelda 3. Maybe he now gets a chance to unleash his love for storytelling.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
I guess this means that we should expect multiple NX devices since it's mentioned in the place of the Wii U & the 3DS. Of course, it could also mean that their mobile games will come at the cost of their dedicated handheld hardware, but I doubt that.

Either way, I'm glad to see the younger generation step up. Maybe this is what Iwata was trying to set into motion before he died. If so, I can't wait to see the fruits of his & the rest of Nintendo's labor.
 

zelas

Member
They're really doing a great job making me forget about all of their anti-mobile nonsense from before. Looking forward to them making the most out of the platform.
 

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Well, new blood has to take over eventually.
 

SalvaPot

Member
Nintendo NX Generation.

If this means more Splatoon and new fresh spins on classic series the future is looking bright.
 

Alebrije

Member
This is good , specially for a Mario Galaxy 3 on NX.

Hope this guys achive 3-4 new IP for Nintendo on the NX with the same pounch as Mario or Zelda,
 

Koppai

Member
Keep the old people on for ideas, or how to solve issues, you know as guidance. But don't let them make all the decisions.

We need Super Mario Galaxy 3 though. :X

I've noticed a lot of these Wii U sequels lack a lot of the creativity of the past, it's really sad when new stuff like Wonderful 101 bombs, and then we get crap like Animal Crossing Amiibo Party, Mario Party 10, Paper Mario Sticker Star, etc.
 
I've been thinking for a while that Eguchi would be taking over a much bigger role. They've been grooming him as one of the faces for Nintendo since 2008.
 

AdanVC

Member
This are great news. Young devs working at Nintendo is just what the company needs right now to bring new ideas to the table. Hope they continue pulling high quality and creative IPs such as Splatoon in the future just to wow Miyamoto and he can give them more freedom to create more unique stuff.
 
YASSS. Koizumi is a game design god. I don't think anyone could have created a compelling and awesome platformer using bongos yet he somehow got it to work.

I'm liking what I'm hearing about Nintendo going into this next gen. Hope all these changes work out
He hasn't done much lately and he seemingly doesn't like being in the public eye but the games he's responsible or had a part in are some of my all time favorites.
Was pretty sad when his only project in years was NES remix
 

TreIII

Member
Excellent!

Reading interviews for the likes of even 3D Land suggested that they were beginning the grooming phase for these younger teams. Glad to see positive confirmation that they'll be taking center stage for NX.
 

BKSmash

Member
When discussing the ramifications of this restructure and initiative towards software, the biggest immediate difference is that the Wii and 3DS software were primarily orchestrated by Iwata and Miyamoto. Now that responsibility will fall on Takahashi, Eguchi (Wii Sports, Animal Crossing), and Koizumi (Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, Super Mario Galaxy). They will decided what games are made for the NX and Mobile platforms.

Holy shit, isn't this like huge news? Really really excited about what this could bring!
 

Instro

Member
I would definitely like to see them give more billing and prominence to their studio names and developers outside of Miyamoto. That's definitely one area they fucked up over the years.

The software and hardware shakeup should be good. Miyamoto is a good team manager, but his overall direction was pretty bad, and some of the design input attributed to him over the last several years has been super questionable. Takeda moving on will also be good hopefully.
 

Peltz

Member
Yoshiaki Koizumi may be the single most talented person in video games today. I'm happy he is being recognized and given this opportunity.

Just read his bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiaki_Koizumi

Z-Targeting, spherical platforming, Koholint Island, the time system in MM, and I'm sure, many more cool things. The man is a pioneer.
 
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