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StarTopic Nintendo First Party Software Development |ST| Nintendo Party Superstars

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N75 said:
Speaking of EPD composers, their last known game:

  • Koji Kondo - Super Mario Maker 2 (2019)
  • Kenji Yamamoto - Metroid: Samus Returns (2017) (may have composed/arranged for Dread, "Music Director" is a bit too vague and no soundtrack/sound selection has been released)
  • Minako Hamano - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014) (likely moved into a support/supervisor role)
  • Kazumi Totaka - Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)
  • Masaru Tajima - Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain (2021)
  • Masami Yone - Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain (2021) (unknown whether he composed or was just the sound director/supervisor)
  • Kenta Nagata - Mario Kart Tour (2019)
  • Hajime Wakai - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
  • Toru Minegishi - Super Mario Maker 2 (2019)
  • Shinobu Nagata - Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)
  • Mahito Yokota - Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014) (may have moved into a management/supervisor role)
  • Asuka Hayazaki - Ring Fit Adventure (2019)
  • Toshiyuki Sudo - Miitopia (Switch) (2021)
  • Ryo Nagamatsu - Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (2020)
  • Shiho Fujii - Ring Fit Adventure (2019)
  • Manaka Kataoka - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
  • Shinji Ushiroda - Ring Fit Adventure (2019)
  • Megumi Inoue - Miitopia (2016) (likely moved into a supervisor role)
  • Daisuke Matsuoka - Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)
  • Atsuko Asahi - Super Mario Maker 2 (2019) (also did the two ARMS arrangements for Smash Ultimate)
  • Yasuaki Iwata - Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)
  • Naoto Kubo - Super Mario Odyssey (2017) (also credited in the Captain Toad 3DS/Switch ports, but I don't think those have any new music)
  • Yumi Takahashi - Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)
  • Maasa Miyoshi - Ring Fit Adventure (2019)
  • Soshi Abe - Metroid Dread (2021)
  • Sayako Doi - Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain (2021)
  • Masato Ohashi - Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)
  • Haruko Torii - Nintendo Switch Sports (2022)
  • Takuhiro Honda - Nintendo Switch Sports (2022)

This should be mostly accurate, as Nintendo hasn't released a mobile game since 2019 and the only recent EPD 4 project that hasn't had credits is Game Builder Garage (wouldn't be surprised if Sudo worked on that, given that he was involved with Labo). We also don't know who's working on the arrangements for the MK8D Booster Course Pass, but there were no additional staff added to the first update, so some of the original composers returning is likely.

For upcoming games, I'm almost certain that Minegishi is returning for Splatoon 3, as he's the one that gave the series its sound identity to begin with. That story mode trailer music is also kind of a giveaway. I think Nagamatsu is back as well based on the Salmon Run trailer. Wakai and Kataoka are near-locks for BotW 2.

Going through this list, it feels like the newer composers are popping up a lot more frequently.
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EPD staff, senior staff like Eguchi at that, moving into a subsidiary is an interesting turn. I guess that's just how engrained into the internal Nintendo process SRD already was.
 
MondoMega said:
EPD staff, senior staff like Eguchi at that, moving into a subsidiary is an interesting turn. I guess that's just how engrained into the internal Nintendo process SRD already was.
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Eguchi didn't move into a subsidiary, he just is the NCL director of the company. All subsidiaries get a senior director and auditor assigned from Nintendo. Yoshiaki Koizumi has 1-UP, Keisuke Terasaki has Monolith, etc.
 
EAD Ninja said:
Eguchi didn't move into a subsidiary, he just is the NCL director of the company. All subsidiaries get a senior director and auditor assigned from Nintendo. Yoshiaki Koizumi has 1-UP, Keisuke Terasaki has Monolith, etc.
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Ah, that makes more sense, thanks.
 
MetalLord said:
No way to know,Tanabe is Retro Studios Vice president
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Oh wow, didn't know that. Guess he's just under Michael Kelbaugh at Retro then. We still don't know who's succeeded Douglas Tronsgard at NLG. My money's on James Carr, or possibly a Nintendo employee.
SirArthur said:
So in the last quarter IS added 3 and NDCUBE added 10. Since their wiki have not been updated since last quarter. Also I did not know ND has 2 studios:unsure:
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Yep. Since 2010 NDCube's had their Tokyo and Sapporo studios, just like Hudson before them IIRC.
 
Something curious in this interview, this graduate joined Intelligent Systems in 2018 and still wasnt credited in anything,he says the project he is working is made mostly of young staff, there must be something coming soon

マイナビ - 学生向け就職情報サイト

株式会社マイナビが運営する新卒学生向け就活・就職情報サイト。企業検索や無料適職診断、就活Ｑ＆Ａなど。
job.mynavi.jp

Also,more staff was assigned to the Fire Emblem Heroes Team after release
 
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MetalLord said:
Something curious in this interview, this graduate joined Intelligent Systems in 2018 and still wasnt credited in anything,he says the project he is working is made mostly of young staff, there must be something coming soon

マイナビ - 学生向け就職情報サイト

株式会社マイナビが運営する新卒学生向け就活・就職情報サイト。企業検索や無料適職診断、就活Ｑ＆Ａなど。
job.mynavi.jp
Click to expand...
Pushmo please
 
MetalLord said:
Something curious in this interview, this graduate joined Intelligent Systems in 2018 and still wasnt credited in anything,he says the project he is working is made mostly of young staff, there must be something coming soon

マイナビ - 学生向け就職情報サイト

株式会社マイナビが運営する新卒学生向け就活・就職情報サイト。企業検索や無料適職診断、就活Ｑ＆Ａなど。
job.mynavi.jp
Click to expand...
"The project I'm working on now is made up of relatively young members, so it's easy to communicate.
The enthusiasm of each team member to improve the 3D models and animations they were in charge of is tremendous,"

F-Fire Emblem? 👀 🤔
 
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I could see younger staff taking the lead on the rumored remake while a more experienced team works on the next new installment (the one rumored to be co-developed with Gust).
 
From the ND Cube article/interview, it's interesting that they express their intention to develop a game other than Mario Party.

"Our company can be involved in game development using Nintendo IP, which everyone knows. Moreover, there are users all over the world who are waiting for that game. It is exactly making games for the world. We are also preparing to take on the challenge of developing original games.
Click to expand...

In the latest job offers that they opened a couple of weeks ago they highlight that they are looking for employees to work both on Nintendo characters and IPs (Mario and Luigi as examples - clearly referring to Mario Party) as well as for original characters.

In that article, they say that they are working on developing original titles. Maybe is there something in pre-production or production, given the recruitment of staff, the statements in the article, the existence of two offices/teams, and the absence of key employees in the last Mario Party.

Another point to note is that they claim to use motion capture technology for their games, but are considering opening motion capture facilities in the office

In the future, it is also considering installing space and equipment for motion capture in the office. There is a glimpse of the attitude of actively investing in order to create the best games.
Click to expand...

---

Another topic, number of employees of some internal studios and Second Party, always according to their official website:

Camelot Software Planning: 45 employees as of April 1, 2021.
1UP: 75 employees in April 2022
Grezzo: 87 employees as of April 1, 2022
ND Cube: 132 employees in 2022
Good Feel: 138 employees as of January 2022
SRD: 143 employees as of April 2022
Game Freak: 167 employees as of August 2021
Intelligent Systems: 190 employees as of April 2022
Hal Laboratory: 205 employees as of July 1, 2021
Creatures Inc: 207 employees as of February 2022.
Monolith Soft: 273 employees as of December 2021
 
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Finally. When some of these studios around the world are turned into factories you never get to see what creativity they have. NDCube basically does the same type of genre over and over. You had Guerrilla games going from Killzone to Horizon Zero Dawn. I’ve wanted to see NDCube try creating a new IP in a genre they’ve never attempted.
 
NDCube are making beautiful looking games too. It would be cool to see their talent on something relatively different than Mario Party.
 
Do we know where Alpha Dream workers have ended up after the clousure of the studio? I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo 'poached' some of them even if not the majority. I'm especially curious about Tetsuo Mizuno I would love to see him in Monolith Soft.
 
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Quoted by: N75
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Blue Monty said:
Do we know where Alpha Dream workers have ended up after the clousure of the studio? I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo 'poached' some of them even if not the majority
Click to expand...
Some were credited on Fantasian, so that could mean Mistwalker, Arzest, or freelance (other companies are listed by name). Arzest’s site only mentions working on concept art and character modelling, whereas Shunsuke Kobayashi and Chihiro Fujioka were involved with the event/game design.

Most of them are still unknown.

Edit: Oh and some were also credited in BDSP, so probably ILCA as well.
 
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Dark Cloud said:
Finally. When some of these studios around the world are turned into factories you never get to see what creativity they have. NDCube basically does the same type of genre over and over. You had Guerrilla games going from Killzone to Horizon Zero Dawn. I’ve wanted to see NDCube try creating a new IP in a genre they’ve never attempted.
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It seems that studios are free to try a new ip if they have done some substantial work for nintendo. Retro made Prime trilogy and the DK duology and (apparently) got allowed to make their own ip, even if they failed. Easy bet that they will try again if mp4 is a success.
 
pachamelon said:
From the ND Cube article/interview, it's interesting that they express their intention to develop a game other than Mario Party.


Creatures Inc: 207 employees as of February 2022.
Click to expand...
Their games are mechanically sound and very nice looking. Future is bright.

It is interesting that Creatures did not work on Arceus, or BDSP. Most likely their main staff is busy with SV and the cards.
 
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DecoReturns said:
I would delay all other games to get more Fire Emblem games on switch. And NSO classic consoles.
Click to expand...
I still want the FE strategy game that was planned for the Wii. KT is already helping/making FE games why there is no Nobuga’s Ambition X FE game????
 
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Mr Doggo said:
It seems that studios are free to try a new ip if they have done some substantial work for nintendo. Retro made Prime trilogy and the DK duology and (apparently) got allowed to make their own ip, even if they failed. Easy bet that they will try again if mp4 is a success.
Click to expand...
Yeah I expect Retro will try a new IP again in their future.
 
Also
pachamelon said:
From the ND Cube article/interview, it's interesting that they express their intention to develop a game other than Mario Party.



In the latest job offers that they opened a couple of weeks ago they highlight that they are looking for employees to work both on Nintendo characters and IPs (Mario and Luigi as examples - clearly referring to Mario Party) as well as for original characters.

In that article, they say that they are working on developing original titles. Maybe is there something in pre-production or production, given the recruitment of staff, the statements in the article, the existence of two offices/teams, and the absence of key employees in the last Mario Party.

Another point to note is that they claim to use motion capture technology for their games, but are considering opening motion capture facilities in the office



---

Another topic, number of employees of some internal studios and Second Party, always according to their official website:

Camelot Software Planning: 45 employees as of April 1, 2021.
1UP: 75 employees in April 2022
Grezzo: 87 employees as of April 1, 2022
ND Cube: 132 employees in 2022
Good Feel: 138 employees as of January 2022
SRD: 143 employees as of April 2022
Game Freak: 167 employees as of August 2021
Intelligent Systems: 190 employees as of April 2022
Hal Laboratory: 205 employees as of July 1, 2021
Creatures Inc: 207 employees as of February 2022.
Monolith Soft: 273 employees as of December 2021
Click to expand...
They been trying for at least 5 years,theres even a diviion dedicated to creating new ips
 
Another important point about ND Cube is that they talk about original developments (in the article) / original characters (in the job offers).

It doesn't seem that they are focusing on making video games from other Nintendo sagas, but directly on new IPs.

Furukawa already said that they wanted to make new IPs with the level of Mario, Zelda and Splatoon. Maybe ND Cube is one of the studios for it, surprisingly
 
pachamelon said:
Another important point about ND Cube is that they talk about original developments (in the article) / original characters (in the job offers).

It doesn't seem that they are focusing on making video games from other Nintendo sagas, but directly on new IPs.

Furukawa already said that they wanted to make new IPs with the level of Mario, Zelda and Splatoon. Maybe ND Cube is one of the studios for it, surprisingly
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NDcube is chock-full of ex-Hudson folks. It'd be so wonderful to at last see them utilize that experience and legacy to make their own new franchises for Nintendo. The "next" Bomberman, or Bloody Roar, or Far East of Eden, etc.
 
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I would say NDCube would be tasked to make something that isn't broadly filled in by other IPs. the obvious one would be more mature IPs, but I don't see that out of NDCube (they could surprise us though). it'll probably be a different vibe in a similar genre to Zelda, I guess
 
MetalLord said:
Also

They been trying for at least 5 years,theres even a diviion dedicated to creating new ips
Click to expand...

Yeah read this! It's important not to take it out of context (Nintendo context). Reality is that every developer has some sort of dedicated group trying to come up with something new. Prototypes and pitches are a norm behind closed doors. Will something happen some day? Maybe? Just don't hold your breath waiting for it - especially in today's landscape where the type of game Nintendo publishes has less room for smaller niche titles.
 
ILikeFeet said:
I would say NDCube would be tasked to make something that isn't broadly filled in by other IPs. the obvious one would be more mature IPs, but I don't see that out of NDCube (they could surprise us though). it'll probably be a different vibe in a similar genre to Zelda, I guess
Click to expand...
Inb4 NDCube brings back Eternal Darkness
 
Not completely clued in on the NdCube chat, but could this be a sign of Nintendo wanting multiple production groups/franchises per first party studio as part of the effort to expand development capacity?
 
Tentacle-tropes said:
I don’t think Nintendo would want to do any of these & would rather just make something completely different.
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It's about them having shown their hability to create IPs , the 'next' IP would be totally different from these franchises just like these franchises have little in common . It would be the 'next Hudson IP' not the 'next Bomberman'
 
MisterSpo said:
Not completely clued in on the NdCube chat, but could this be a sign of Nintendo wanting multiple production groups/franchises per first party studio as part of the effort to expand development capacity?
Click to expand...
they always had 3 teams,they released games every year and in 2014,15 and 17s even released 2 games,its just that with only one console they need to avoid mario party oversaturation and will need to find new projects
 
Tentacle-tropes said:
I don’t think Nintendo would want to do any of these & would rather just make something completely different.
Click to expand...
As said above, I meant as the successors of sorts, as much as I'd ADORE an NDcube-made Bomberman (only been wanting this for a damn decade). Doesn't have to be Mighty No. 9 blatant, but something to carry on the sprit of those IPs (maybe like Xenoblade is to Xenosaga).

With Nintendo's guiding hand and NDcube's now large and comfortable expertise on Switch and such, I'd bet they could create some truly special stuff of their very own. Make a new line of legacy IPs that Hudson did before them. Hopefully they have the special spark they've been largely missing (but thankfully may be showing as Superstars is their best MP to date easily) with having the chance at making new IPs can hopefully be what they've long needed. I can only imagine that being party-exclusive could genuinely burn them out, and the team likely was even a decade ago as much of the team worked mostly on the MP games at Hudson.

Special mention to CA Production as well as they've co-developed virtually all of NDcube's games and worked with Hudson prior on a vast amount of stuff (Will Co., Ltd. too), and they got to genuinely lead on Clubhouse Games, their first lead since Wii Play Motion (both were directed by a CA Production person, same one even IIRC).
 
MetalLord said:
they always had 3 teams,they released games every year and in 2014,15 and 17s even released 2 games,its just that with only one console they need to avoid mario party oversaturation and will need to find new projects
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Was the team behind Mario Party Superstars the same as the team behind Super Mario Party? If so, that means that only 2 teams have released games on Switch: the one behind the Mario Party games and the one behind Clubhouse Games, right?
 
Hero of Legend said:
With Nintendo's guiding hand and NDcube's now large and comfortable expertise on Switch and such, I'd bet they could create some truly special stuff of their very own. Make a new line of legacy IPs that Hudson did before them. Hopefully they have the special spark they've been largely missing (but thankfully may be showing as Superstars is their best MP to date easily) with having the chance at making new IPs can hopefully be what they've long needed. I can only imagine that being party-exclusive could genuinely burn them out, and the team likely was even a decade ago as much of the team worked mostly on the MP games at Hudson.
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They gotta get greenlit first, lol
 
ILikeFeet said:
They gotta get greenlit first, lol
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Job offers show they are working on original content outside of Nintendo IPs that means Nintendo has at least greenlighted the planning of a new IP and that a new IP it's something Nintendo wants from them. I would imagine that Nintendo is the first one that wants to greenlight a new project it's just a matter of both Nintendo and NDcube agreeing on what new IP to make and how to do it.
 
Blue Monty said:
Job offers show they are working on original content outside of Nintendo IPs that means Nintendo has at least greenlighted the planning of a new IP and that a new IP it's something Nintendo wants from them. I would imagine that Nintendo is the first one that wants to greenlight a new project it's just a matter of both Nintendo and NDcube agreeing on what new IP to make and how to do it.
Click to expand...
Right. I mean this whole conversation began because of those article and job postings, which again points to SOMETHING new finally being in the works.
 
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