Support NeoGAF

[Shikamaru Ninja]

The company has issued a press release notifying outsiders that alongside naming a new president in Tatsumi Kimishima, the company is undergoing a "large scale revision of the organizational structure" that would take effect on September 16th, 2015.

Previously, at the commencement of 2014, Satoru Iwata began the initial wave of the second major restructuring during his reign, which created the "Business Development Division" and "Development Administration & Support Division". Iwata also officially unified the Integrated Research & Development Division (console designers) with the Research & Engineering Department (hand held designers). Additionally, there was an unofficial unification of the Entertainment Analysis & Development Division and Software Planning & Development Division, who for the first time ever began developing internal games together. Lastly, Iwata continued strengthening the System Development Division, with his protege Shinya Takahashi.

With Iwata unable to see the final reorganization through, here is the end result with Kimishima, Takeda, and Miyamoto finalizing the new internal structure.

President Iwata, Restructure, Phase 1, 2013-2015

• System Development Division est. 2013 (OS development, app development, network development, casual game development)
• Business Development Division est. 2014 (Development and coordination of QoL Products)
• Integrated Research & Development Division and Research & Engineering Department merged in 2014. Console and hand held engineers working together for first time.
• Kyoto Development Center constructed. Houses over 1500 personnel, third Kyoto building.
• Nintendo Network Service Database Inc. est. Network services.
• Nintendo European Research & Development est. Technology development.
• Entertainment Analysis & Development Division and Software Planning & Development Division, separate entities, but sharing staff for several internal projects.
• Development Administration & Support Division est. 2013. The parent of “General Support Group” which coordinates a network of small developers that provide assistance in specific departments of large scale production groups. (debugging, programming, art assets, animation, cg movies, etc.)

President Kimishima, Restructure, Phase 2, 2015

President Iwata, Restructure, Phase 1 2013-2015

• Entertainment Analysis & Development Division and Software Planning & Development Division merger under Entertainment Planning & Development Division
• Integreated Research & Development Division and System Development Division merge under Platform Technology Development Division
• Miyamoto vacating position as EAD manager, Takeda vacating position as IRD manager, taking bigger roles in the company direction. Also probably preparing for retirement.
• Business Development Division is very much intact. Absorbed some staff from other hardware and non-gaming divisions.
• More information to come

---------- New Development Structure ------------

Entertainment Planning & Development Division - Development of software for dedicated game machines and mobile.
General Manager: Shinya Takahashi
Deputy Manager: Katsuya Eguchi (Kyoto)
Deputy Manager: Yoshiaki Koizumi (Tokyo)

Platform Technology Development Division - Development of hardware, OS, network, and technology tools.
General Manager: Ko Shiota
Deputy Manager: Takeshi Shimeda

Development Administration & Support Division - Management of external contract employees? Management of external first-party games?
General Manager: Shinya Takahashi
Deputy Manager: Keizo Kato

Business Development Division - IP Management, Development of QoL and non-gaming consumer products.
General Manager: Yusuke Beppu

---------- Speculated Game Development Structure ------------

EPD Production Group No. 1 - Hideki Konno
Mario Kart / Nintendogs series

EPD Production Group No. 2 - Hisashi Nogami
Splatoon / Wii Sports / Animal Crossing

EPD Production Group No. 3 - Eiji Aonuma
The Legend of Zelda

EPD Production Group No. 4 - Hiroyuki Kimura
Super Mario Maker / New Super Mario Bros. / Big Brain Academy / Pikmin

EPD Production Group No. 5 - Tadashi Sugiyama
Wii Fit / Star Fox / Steel Diver

EPD Production Group No. 6 - Ryutaro Takahashi
Tomodachi Collection / 2D Metroid / Rhythm Heaven

EPD Production Group No. 7 - Goro Abe
WarioWare

EPD Production Group No. 8 / 1 (Tokyo) - Takao Shimizu
Super Mario 3D? Flipnote Studio?

EPD Production Group No. 9 / 2 (Tokyo) - Koichi Hayashida
Super Mario 3D? NES Remix 3?

-----

Lastly I would guess the other SPD Producers like Yamagami and Tanabe maybe have a more External Group as a denomination? Also probably Tezuka and Sakamoto are new executive officers that oversee all general things like the Deputy Managers.

 

[Maneauleau]

Entertainment Analysis & Development Division and Software Planning & Development Division merger under Entertainment Planning & Development Division (?)

This one definitely needs an official confirmation

 

[Shang]

Miyamoto vacating position as EAD manager, Takeda vacating position as IRD manager, taking bigger roles in the company direction. Also probably preparing for retirement.

Man, I know we've all been expecting Miyamoto's retirement for years now, but this sentence terrifies me.

Glad it seems like Nintendo is honoring Iwata's vision for the restructuring of Nintendo, if I'm reading this correctly.

 

[Zalman]

Man, I know we've all been expecting Miyamoto's retirement for years now, but this sentence terrifies me.

This makes you realize how old the Nintendo heads are. Eventually Miyamoto and the other faces of Nintendo will retire. An end of an era.

 

[KojiKnight]

This makes you realize how old the Nintendo heads are. Eventually Miyamoto and the other faces of Nintendo will retire. An end of an era.

Sad we saw this after Iwata passing and not before... Too soon.

 

[CHC]

From an outside perspective this seems very necessary. Nintendo needs a much more united structure, and a more modern system of handling regions. Each region right now seems like it's own franchise that makes its own arbitrary decisions, and that needs to be done away with - it's 2015 now, c'mon. Things like region locking consoles and only importing certain sizes / colors / combos / etc is very antiquated and has long been a sore spot with fans.

They need more simplicity in their buying choices and options. The 3DS has been a branding nightmare, so I hope that whatever structural changes occur attempt to address these kinds of issues.

 

[SaintMadeOfPlaster]

Man, I know we've all been expecting Miyamoto's retirement for years now, but this sentence terrifies me.

Glad it seems like Nintendo is honoring Iwata's vision for the restructuring of Nintendo, if I'm reading this correctly.

I personally hope he retires soon. He's got an insane pedigree, and has done more for gaming than anyone, but I think he's lost his touch. They need someone younger calling the shots.

 

[ArchedThunder]

This makes you realize how old the Nintendo heads are. Eventually Miyamoto and the other faces of Nintendo will retire. An end of an era.

Hopefully they are smart and start putting more of their young creators in the light more often.

 

[Dryk]

It makes sense both from a structural and semantic point of view but I'm going to miss EAD and SPD

 

[Zalman]

Hopefully they are smart and start putting more of their young creators in the light more often.

I think that's what they're doing with Takahashi right now. They also had Sakaguchi do Splatoon interviews this summer, which was nice to see.

 

[Fou-Lu]

Hopefully they are smart and start putting more of their young creators in the light more often.

Yeah, Nintendo needs to build some new personalities before all the old ones are gone.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Hopefully they are smart and start putting more of their young creators in the light more often.

maybe they can crowdsource talent from Mario Maker

 

[ec0ec0]

oh... and thanks for making the thread

 

[StevieP]

I personally hope he retires soon. He's got an insane pedigree, and has done more for gaming than anyone, but I think he's lost his touch. They need someone younger calling the shots.

A generic "lost his touch" post...? I've been pretty happy with their software output in the past decade. Then again, consoles have always been my go-to for platformers and local multiplayer games like Mario kart.

 

[foxuzamaki]

From an outside perspective this seems very necessary. Nintendo needs a much more united structure, and a more modern system of handling regions. Each region right now seems like it's own franchise that makes its own arbitrary decisions, and that needs to be done away with - it's 2015 now, c'mon. Things like region locking consoles and only importing certain sizes / colors / combos / etc is very antiquated and has long been a sore spot with fans.

They need more simplicity in their buying choices and options. The 3DS has been a branding nightmare, so I hope that whatever structural changes occur attempt to address these kinds of issues.

This is apparently just completing the restructuring iwata started, probably didnt plan to start it this early but obviously change of plans.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

It makes sense both from a structural and semantic point of view but I'm going to miss EAD and SPD

They might have another section now that strictly deals with managing external IPs that don't require internal developers. But EAD and SPD started blurring their development lines anyway.

 

[Aaronrules380]

A generic "lost his touch" post...? I've been pretty happy with their software output in the past decade. Then again, consoles have always been my go-to for platformers and local multiplayer games like Mario kart.

people are just salty over sticker star, ignoring that that genre was never one he was suited for, and that the result would be the same even if it was years ago

 

[ASIS]

Hopefully they are smart and start putting more of their young creators in the light more often.

I think they started doing that since 2010.

Wasn't NSMB2 like an exercise for the young people to take a jab at Mario or something along those lines?

I personally hope he retires soon. He's got an insane pedigree, and has done more for gaming than anyone, but I think he's lost his touch. They need someone younger calling the shots.

Pikmin 3 son.

 

[massoluk]

They have plenty of younger talents judging from all the Nintendo Directs and Iwata Asks. Looked like they did a great job grooming developers, honestly.

 

[theechrisfox]

maybe they can crowdsource talent from Mario Maker

Nintendo's new department managers

 

[Vital Tundra]

I think they started doing that since 2010.

Wasn't NSMB2 like an exercise for the young people to take a jab at Mario or something along those lines?


Pikmin 3 son.

Yeah but thats a 2d Mario game. We need to see much more Splatoon type ideas.

 

[TheJoRu]

I personally hope he retires soon. He's got an insane pedigree, and has done more for gaming than anyone, but I think he's lost his touch. They need someone younger calling the shots.

In what way do you think he's lost his touch? EAD's output the last couple of years has been amazing, and Miyamoto is (or perhaps "was", from now on; that's a bit unclear) the one in charge of EAD.

Spoiler

Please don't say Sticker Star, please don't say Sticker Star.

 

[Maxim726X]

Man... I don't want to imagine Nintendo without Miyamoto.

But a restructuring is long overdue. They can make a killing on mobile and it looks like they're making steps necessary to do so.

 

[BronzeWolf]

I personally hope he retires soon. He's got an insane pedigree, and has done more for gaming than anyone, but I think he's lost his touch. They need someone younger calling the shots.

First page huh?

I don't want Miyamoto to stop producing. He has done less than Super Stellar products, but his experience and ingenuity will be sorely miss when he leaves.

 

[Dryk]

They might have another section now that strictly deals with managing external IPs that don't require internal developers. But EAD and SPD started blurring their development lines anyway.

I know I literally just meant the names, EAD and SPD have better rings to them than EPD

 

[Mr. Nice_Guy]

The old guard has done more for gaming than almost anyone. I'm okay with them stepping down and letting new talent take a shot. We only have the legends we have today because they were once young guys trying new things themselves.

 

[fred]

Still can't believe that Iwata is no longer with us (

 

[InsaneZero]

Yeah but thats a 2d Mario game. We need to see much more Splatoon type ideas.

Using an existing idea is a good place to learn about core game design fundamentals, since the emphasis is less on how to start making a game and more on how to build a good game. Jumping straight to building a new game means that you have to go through the growing pains of learning the basic to-do/not-to-do's and making mistakes that are easy to avoid in hindsight but hard to correct.

 

[ArchedThunder]

I think that's what they're doing with Takahashi right now. They also had Sakaguchi do Splatoon interviews this summer, which was nice to see.

Yeah, it was really nice to see some of the young guys who made Splatoon, I want to see more of that.

I think they started doing that since 2010.

Wasn't NSMB2 like an exercise for the young people to take a jab at Mario or something along those lines?

No, I mean putting them in front of us so we can get to know them like we have gotten to know the likes of Miyamoto and Aonuma.

 

[TheMoon]

[*]Integrated Research & Development Division and Research & Engineering Department merged in 2014. Console and hardware engineers working together for first time.

I think you meant to write "handheld" there

Thanks for this!

 

[TI82]

Miyamoto vacating position as EAD manager,

Very very okay with this. Guy had his time of greatness and is now not doing so great.

 

[JoeM86]

President Iwata, Restructure, Phase 1 2013-2015

• Miyamoto vacating position as EAD manager, Takeda vacating position as IRD manager, taking bigger roles in the company direction. Also probably preparing for retirement.
  

Why would that be in a press release???

Very very okay with this. Guy had his time of greatness and is now not doing so great.

You do realise he has taken a high position with more control, right?

Edit: Oh wait, saw the poster. Nevermind, I took the bait like a salmon.

 

[entremet]

Very very okay with this. Guy had his time of greatness and is now not doing so great.

Pikmin 3 was great!

 

[InsaneZero]

Why would that be in a press release???

That's just his assessment of the situation. It's obviously not in the press release.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

They still need to open more western studios tho...

 

[Finale Fireworker]

My greatest concern is that nobody has been grooming replacements for the great, old, creators and there is nobody to step up and continue the legacy.

If they're in there, they've certainly kept them a secret.

Splatoon is a great sign. But there needs to be more IP diversification.

And for the love of God, open more western studios.

 

[Calamari41]

I personally hope he retires soon. He's got an insane pedigree, and has done more for gaming than anyone, but I think he's lost his touch. They need someone younger calling the shots.

I don't think he's lost his touch at all.

Anyway, I think it would be pretty cool if Miyamoto's retirement meant that he just spent time developing smaller eshop-level projects with his own small team. He seems like the kind of guy who wouldn't be able to just not go into work anymore.

 

[TI82]

Edit: Oh wait, saw the poster. Nevermind, I took the bait like a salmon.

It's not bait man, that's extremely rude to trash someones opinion like that.

Anyways, the less direct control he has over other Nintendo studios the better. But if I misread it and he has even MORE control then fuck.

Pikmin 3 was great!

Didn't like it. Star Fox Zero looks like garbage too.

 

[ASIS]

It's not bait man, that's extremely rude to trash someones opinion like that.

Anyways, the less direct control he has over other Nintendo studios the better. But if I misread it and he has even MORE control then fuck.



Didn't like it. Star Fox Zero looks like garbage too.

What about 3d World? Zelda Wii U?

 

[TheMoon]

Why would that be in a press release???

There is no press release, Joe

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

I actually hope they abandon NX and just develop for the PS4, One and mobile.

At least I'm out in open about it unlike some.

 

[rawk]

I personally hope he retires soon. He's got an insane pedigree, and has done more for gaming than anyone, but I think he's lost his touch. They need someone younger calling the shots.

"Someone younger," as if there are a ton of young Miyamotos just milling around at Nintendo.

 

[StevieP]

I actually hope they abandon NX and just develop for the PS4, One and mobile.

At least I'm out in open about it.

It's going to happen right after Uncharted collection PC port is released on uplay

 

[Tobor]

I actually hope they abandon NX and just develop for the PS4, One and mobile.

At least I'm out in open about it unlike some.

If NX bombs and the mobile games are huge hits, I think it's likely.

 

[TI82]

What about 3d World? Zelda Wii U?

3D World, not a fan at all. Which sucks since I love 3D Mario... it's just not a real one.

Zelda Wii U I'm excited for but thats not out yet.

 

[InsaneZero]

My greatest concern is that nobody has been grooming replacements for the great, old, creators and there is nobody to step up and continue the legacy.

If they're in there, they've certainly kept them a secret.

Splatoon is a great sign. But there needs to be more IP diversification.

And for the love of God, open more western studios.

Nintendo will be fine. Miyamoto has been a general manager for a long time now, meaning that he has not had significant involvement in actually creating and building games for quite some time. His main responsibility has been to make sure that the progress is being made, not to actually make the game itself.

 

[Oersted]

Yeah, Nintendo needs to build some new personalities before all the old ones are gone.

Last E3,the developer parts. Everyone was just busy going nuts to notice.

I actually hope they abandon NX and just develop for the PS4, One and mobile.

At least I'm out in open about it unlike some.

While openess is certainly appreciated, I have no clue whatsoever how it contributes to the actual topic at hand.

 

[StevieP]

3D World, not a fan at all. Which sucks since I love 3D Mario... it's just not a real one.

Lol, throw the fishing line out even further

 

[Neoxon]

If NX bombs and the mobile games are huge hits, I think it's likely.

But based on what little we know, the NX isn't just a home console, but rather a platform. The only way the NX will fail is if both the console & handheld versions fail. If one succeeds, it'll be enough to carry the other into the next wave of NX hardware.

 

[DSix]

Might take some time for everyone to call them EPD and not EAD / SPD anymore.