Gingerbread Man
Paratroopa
After FDC and Dread, I wouldn't rule out new sequels/remakes of Card Hero and Kaeru no Tame from EPD7 and external partner companies, with EPD4 co-developing Tomodachi and Rhythm Paradise with Indies Zero.
IIRC decreasing reliance on external devs was one of the stated reasons for their big hiring announcement and the new building.If all external development is being moved under EPD Group 2, I imagine its because Takahashi and Co. recognized the lack of internally generated EPD titles throughout the Switch era. Group 4 so far had been EPD's most productive studio in terms of internal development, and I think Nintendo wants to use that as a model for its next system, streamlining EPD so that everything not from Group 2 is internally developed.
I think Co-development partnerships ala Star Fox Zero and Metorid are still on the table. But I think EPD wants to scale back its dependency on external development going forward, especially since the Switch turned out to be a smash hit, allowing Nintendo to pump more money into EPD.
Then that would line up with Fire Emblem/Xenoblade/Pokemon now suddenly being under Group 2 instead of Group 1. I think EPD Group 1 has some big internal project that they've been working on since 2019. We may see it this year, or next year with the Switch 2 reveal.IIRC decreasing reliance on external devs was one of the stated reasons for their big hiring announcement and the new building.
EAD Ninja didn't have it linked in his old version of the thread, since the subsequent ones were always just adapted versions of that one, it's probably just a holdover from that but yea, good point - should be there imo.I'm happy to see more people being into the nitty & gritty of how EPD is set up nowadays.
I remember like 10 years ago it was literally only @EAD Ninja and @MetalLord regularily posting and being really knowledgable about EAD. And before that it was only @EAD Ninja.
Also glad to see that http://kyoto-report.wikidot.com/ is still being updated, though search doesn't seem to be working. Shouldn't that site be linked in the OP by the way? It should be.
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.
(quoting two example posts, how many more are there, N75?)Updated the HAL Producers/Project Managers and their last known projects based on Forgotten Land and Dream Buffet.
HAL Producers:
HAL Project Managers:
- Tadashi Kamitake - Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022), Kirby’s Dream Buffet (2022)
- Hiroyuki Hayashi - Kirby Battle Royale (2017)
- Yasuhiro Mukae - BOXBOY + BOXGIRL! (2019)
- Yoshiya Taniguchi - Part Time UFO (Switch) (2020)
- Nobuyuki Okada - Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Fest. (2022)
- Yoshihiro Nagata - Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022), Kirby’s Dream Buffet (2022, credited as “Line Producer”)
- Ayaka Seno - Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022)
- Tetsuya Mochizuki - Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022)
- Atsuko Yamashita - Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022)
- Yoshiki Suzuki - Kirby Fighters 2 (2020)
- Isao Takahashi - Kirby Fighters 2 (2020) (also Assistant Producer on BOXBOY! series)
- Kazuyuki Nakamura - BOXYBOY + BOXGIRL! (2019), Kirby’s Dream Buffet (2022)
- Kaori Ishizaka - Kirby’s Dream Buffet (2022)
- Kojiro Ooki - Part Time UFO (Switch) (2020)
- Eitaro Nakamura (?) - Part Time UFO (Mobile) (2018)
- Teruyuki Gunji (?) - Picross 3D (2015), Pasocom Mini (2017)
There's a key staff list of external groups (EPD 1/2/6), but it's incomplete and as of now obviously outdated. The updated composers list was the one you quoted a few days ago.(quoting two example posts, how many more are there, N75?)
speaking of "should be in the OP" - since @N75 is compiling and updating lists like this, wouldn't it be cool if we had the posts threadmarked (cc @astrogamer ) so we could easily look them up, maybe even with a reference in the OP itself? otherwise probably nobody besides N75 knows where they are
it's worse when you have veteran games press folks still talking like "nintendo makes pokémon" or "wild that monolith is making nintendo exclusives" or "nintendo makes smash". like, I don't expect people to know or have all the EPD groups in their head or know who exactly makes what, but the rough outline of the org chart has been on wikipedia for like a decade too, so fairly easily accessible to casually interested folks. stuff like that always rubs me the wrong way when they then talk about western devs by name because they know them from their twitter feed or had a beer with them at GDC the year before. can't be arsed to look up a basic overview of how the most storied and important development houses in the industry is operating lol.Nintendo's development teams are so interesting but a bit confusing, it's a shame not too many people seem to fully understand this since I see all the time people who don't understand why are there so many Kirby or Fire Emblem games instead of [insert Nintendo IP that doesn't get as many games as those 2], which I guess means they think "Nintendo" makes all the games.
Game | Group | Nintendo Representative | Co-Developer | |
AskTheDeveloper#1 | Game Builder Garage | EPD#4 | Naoki Masuda (Director) Kosuke Teshima (subdirector) | - |
AskTheDeveloper#2 | Nintendo Switch OLED | Technology Division | Ko Shiota (Director) Toru Yamashita (Deputy General Manager) | - |
AskTheDeveloper#3 | Big Brain Academy | EPD#4 | Kenta Kubo (Director) | - |
AskTheDeveloper#4 | Kirby and the Forgotten Land | EPD#2 | Kei Ninomiya (Associate Producer) | HAL Laboratory |
AskTheDeveloper#5 | Nintendo Switch Sports | EPD#4 | Takayuki Shimamura (Producer) Yoshikazu Yamashita (Director) Shinji Okane (Program Director) Junji Morii (Art Director) Natsuko Yokoyama (Sound Director) | - |
AskTheDeveloper#6 | Xenoblade Chronicles 3 | EPD#2 | Genki Yokota (Producer & Director) | MONOLITH SOFT. |
AskTheDeveloper#7 | Splatoon 3 | EPD#5 & EPD#7 | Hisashi Nogami (Producer) Seita Inoue (Director & Art Director) EPD#5 Shintaro Sato (Director) EPD#5 Toru Minegishi (Sound Director) EPD#7 | - |
AskTheDeveloper#8 | Fire Emblem Engage | EPD#2 | Genki Yokota (Producer) Kenta Nakanishi (Director) | INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS |
EPD isn't nearly as straight forward of a first party developer structure as something like PlayStation Studios, largely because of its focus on internal development. That, and Nintendo doesn't really market its divisions a whole lot, focusing instead on just the "Nintendo" brand.Nintendo's development teams are so interesting but a bit confusing, it's a shame not too many people seem to fully understand this since I see all the time people who don't understand why are there so many Kirby or Fire Emblem games instead of [insert Nintendo IP that doesn't get as many games as those 2], which I guess means they think "Nintendo" makes all the games.
I mean sooner or later they HAVE to make these sorts of moves, they were talking about this during the Garage days that gave us Splatoon in the first place where they were trying to foster The New Guard and giving them the room and carte blanche to make stuff certainly seems like a good way to achieve that while also maybe using that opportunity to spice up previously "stale" franchises (flashback to Tezuka roughly saying the next 2D Mario needed something fresh - I can't find the interview, I think it was the 2019 SMM2 PR cycle).Here's a prediction based on flimsy evidence: Toshiharu Izuno moved from EPD 2 to EPD 5 sometime and is the producer on a new project.
Izuno was last credited as a producer for Bowser's Inside Story DX in late 2018. After this, he has been listed under "Special Thanks" for both New Horizons and Splatoon 3, two series that he had no involvement in beforehand.
We know that by E3 2019, Nogami had been promoted to a Deputy General Manager and Aya Kyoguku took his place as the manager for EPD 5. But why isn't she credited in Splatoon 3? Maybe because EPD 5 is also broadening out like EPD 2 and having certain producers attached to certain titles, with Nogami possibly overseeing them all. Sort of like Toyakazu Nonaka does for EPD 2.
Then we have Yusuke Amano. Despite being a director on the first two titles, he was involved in the development of Splatoon 3. There has been speculation that he and a number of other Splatoon planners are working on the next 2D Mario, which is very possible. However, I think Amano's absence mirrors what happened to Tsubasa Sakaguchi and there was confidence within Nintendo for him to create a new franchise.
If only I could make convoluted stories for the other missing EPD 2 leads....
There's also the fact that a lot of Nintendo fans don't really know what EPD does as a division. They only know "it makes Nintendo games". True, but that completely undersells the real extent of its operations, because it makes ALL Nintendo games worldwide. This is why I roll my eyes whenever the "EPD rarely makes games" argument comes up because when people talk about Nintendo first party as a whole, they seem to not realize that EPD IS Nintendo first party as a whole. It covers both internal development such as Mario, Zelda and Splatoon, and External IPs like Kirby, Fire Emblem, and Xenoblade.it's worse when you have veteran games press folks still talking like "nintendo makes pokémon" or "wild that monolith is making nintendo exclusives" or "nintendo makes smash". like, I don't expect people to know or have all the EPD groups in their head or know who exactly makes what, but the rough outline of the org chart has been on wikipedia for like a decade too, so fairly easily accessible to casually interested folks. stuff like that always rubs me the wrong way when they then talk about western devs by name because they know them from their twitter feed or had a beer with them at GDC the year before. can't be arsed to look up a basic overview of how the most storied and important development houses in the industry is operating lol.
micro rant over
i 100% blame nintendo for this, they want people to not know next level games is a thing and just imagine nintendo is one entity.it's worse when you have veteran games press folks still talking like "nintendo makes pokémon" or "wild that monolith is making nintendo exclusives" or "nintendo makes smash". like, I don't expect people to know or have all the EPD groups in their head or know who exactly makes what, but the rough outline of the org chart has been on wikipedia for like a decade too, so fairly easily accessible to casually interested folks. stuff like that always rubs me the wrong way when they then talk about western devs by name because they know them from their twitter feed or had a beer with them at GDC the year before. can't be arsed to look up a basic overview of how the most storied and important development houses in the industry is operating lol.
micro rant over
They do promote Next Level Games when they get a chance though. Same with other studios as well like Platinum, IS, HAL, and Game Freak. It really depends on how much marketing power and talent the studio has to Nintendo. Some obscure no-name developer is obviously not going to be as heavily marketed as someone like MonolithSoft or Intelligent Systems.i 100% blame nintendo for this, they want people to not know next level games is a thing and just imagine nintendo is one entity.
like, the only studios that escaped this are retro and monolith lol.
I think it would be tremendous for recognition to slap the studio's name on the boxart.They do promote Next Level Games when they get a chance though. Same with other studios as well like Platinum, IS, HAL, and Game Freak. It really depends on how much clout and talent the studio has to Nintendo. Some obscure no-name developer is obviously not going to be as heavily marketed as someone like MonolithSoft or Intelligent Systems.
Like I said, Nintendo prefers to market individual talent over just fancy studio names. Nintendo doesn't even put its own name on the box art of their games anymore, so I'm not sure how effective that strategy would be either.I think it would be tremendous for recognition to slap the studio's name on the boxart.
oh yeah i never noticed how they removed their name off the boxart. Pretty bizarre.Like I said, Nintendo prefers to market individual talent over just fancy studio names. Nintendo doesn't even put its own name on the box art of their games anymore, so I'm not sure how effective that strategy would be either.
A: OMMs are supported on any RTX GPU. Ada Lovelace GPUs have native hardware that accelerate the performance.
I mean, it would be interesting if they were to spin-off/rebrand EPD as "Nintendo Studios" or something similar to how Sony rebranded Worldwide Studios as PlayStation Studios. If Nintendo is expanding into a multi-media company, having a heavily marketed, branded division specifically for game development could be a benefit. That way, there would be "Nintendo Pictures", "Nintendo Systems", "Nintendo Studios", etc. all making up the united "Nintendo Group" as they call it.oh yeah i never noticed how they removed their name off the boxart. Pretty bizarre.
It would be very effective i imagine, an easy way to tell which studio was behind the game, but since nintendo themselves is not putting their name on the boxart i guess that's fine.
I mean, it would be interesting if they were to spin-off/rebrand EPD as "Nintendo Studios" or something similar to how Sony rebranded Worldwide Studios as PlayStation Studios. If Nintendo is expanding into a multi-media company, having a heavily marketed, branded division specifically for game development could be a benefit. That way, there would be "Nintendo Pictures", "Nintendo Systems", "Nintendo Studios", etc. all making up the united "Nintendo Group" as they call it.
Mistwalker is too small for such a projectNot sure if this has been pondered before, but what if Final Fantasy IX is being remade by Mistwalker and Sakaguchi is helming the project because he wants to remake it using the diorama method they used for Fantasian.
It'd obviously be a collaboration.Mistwalker is too small for such a project
nintendo has sworn up and down that game development is and will remain their primary businessI mean, it would be interesting if they were to spin-off/rebrand EPD as "Nintendo Studios" or something similar to how Sony rebranded Worldwide Studios as PlayStation Studios. If Nintendo is expanding into a multi-media company, having a heavily marketed, branded division specifically for game development could be a benefit. That way, there would be "Nintendo Pictures", "Nintendo Systems", "Nintendo Studios", etc. all making up the united "Nintendo Group" as they call it.
Expanding? I thought that was Pikmin 4's development budget.nintendo has sworn up and down that game development is and will remain their primary business
I would love to stop reading insistence that nintendo is going to dramatically steer away from games when they're spending a billion dollars on expanding
they're building an entirely new building just for pikmin 5Expanding? I thought that was Pikmin 4's development budget.
the building is the setting for Pikmin 5, they're building it so they can bring it to life in-game in the utmost detailthey're building an entirely new building just for pikmin 5
to be honest, they might change their minds if the visual content buck is substantially above their expectations.nintendo has sworn up and down that game development is and will remain their primary business
I would love to stop reading insistence that nintendo is going to dramatically steer away from games when they're spending a billion dollars on expanding
yeahhh but I don't want to think about itto be honest, they might change their minds if the visual content buck is substantially above their expectations.
Nintendo is known for being a very conservative company, especially with how much money they make.
honestly im just shocked you acknowledged it, i was ready for the opposite.yeahhh but I don't want to think about it
why spend all day reading about how nintendo might pivot away from what I like, y'know?
I'm aware and accepting of the fact that there are a lot of directions nintendo could take, but I'd much rather focus on things a little more grounded in the way they are now and they've said they will behonestly im just shocked you acknowledged it, i was ready for the opposite.
I think if anything, breaking off EPD into a separate company could show that Nintendo wants its game development business to grow even bigger. Having a group with staff count in the thousands that can act semi-independently from NCL could lead to more games being made/released and more opprotunites for developers to present themselves to the public. And more importantly, it could lead to more characters or takes on IP that Nintendo could add to its roster and promote through other divisions.I'm aware and accepting of the fact that there are a lot of directions nintendo could take, but I'd much rather focus on things a little more grounded in the way they are now and they've said they will be
epd group/producer movement, retro's ominous expansion, the nlg chads making mario look better than anyone else, these areas of speculation and discussion interest me
nintendo going third party, becoming an "IP company" or whatever, or any restructuring in such a way that undercuts the current game-creative leadership, not so much
it's probably a bit unfair for me to react this way just because I don't want it to happen, which is why I tend to appeal to the current word of the company. for now, I try to rest easy knowing that they've expressed interest and financial investment in doubling down on their current business
Expanding? I thought that was Pikmin 4's development budget.
they're building an entirely new building just for pikmin 5
you realize that right now epd functionally is ncl, right?I think if anything, breaking off EPD into a separate company could show that Nintendo wants its game development business to grow even bigger. Having a group with staff count in the thousands that can act semi-independently from NCL could lead to more games being made/released and more opprotunites for developers to present themselves to the public. And more importantly, it could lead to more characters or takes on IP that Nintendo could add to its roster and promote through other divisions.
I strongly disagree, especially with the "don't want people to know" framing. Just because they're not hyping the studio brand up like they're Naught Dog or something doesn't mean they're trying to obscure who's making the games at all. And please note I was talking about games media folks here. There's no excuse for them not knowing this. Especially when these franchises have been running for decades under these same studios (Gamefreak, IS, HAL, Sora Ltd, NLG, Camelot, etc). That was my whole point, it's very easy to roughly look up how things are laid out (internal development vs external co-development/production).i 100% blame nintendo for this, they want people to not know next level games is a thing and just imagine nintendo is one entity.
like, the only studios that escaped this are retro and monolith lol. Sony is doing all they can to promote each individual studio while nintendo feels like they are trying to hide who actually did this and that lol.
Mistwalker is making mobile games. This is what Sakaguchi and the company is and will be. It's time to let go of Sakaguchi secretly maybe making a console game for [insert current hype console here]. Those days are over. Also not sure what this has to do with Nintendo First Party development as both Mistwalker and even specifically FFIX have nothing to do with Nintendo in the slightest. The Last Story was 12 years ago.Not sure if this has been pondered before, but what if Final Fantasy IX is being remade by Mistwalker and Sakaguchi is helming the project because he wants to remake it using the diorama method they used for Fantasian.
Even when Nintendo highlights an external studio like MonolithSoft, or IS. It's always on specific, individual producers and directors in charge of specific series like Takahashi with Xenoblade, or the Fire Emblem leads at IS. This is different from Sony, who focuses more on promoting the broader studio cultures and the studio heads, and less so on the people making the specific games.I strongly disagree, especially with the "don't want people to know" framing. Just because they're not hyping the studio brand up like they're Naught Dog or something doesn't mean they're trying to obscure who's making the games at all. And please note I was talking about games media folks here. There's no excuse for them not knowing this. Especially when these franchises have been running for decades under these same studios (Gamefreak, IS, HAL, Sora Ltd, NLG, Camelot, etc). That was my whole point, it's very easy to roughly look up how things are laid out (internal development vs external co-development/production).
Nintendo is certainly unique among the big three in this regard, being closer to something like Square Enix and Capcom rather than SIE in terms of development structure. Having a focus on individual creators rather than large, branded studios tends to be much more common among Japanese developers than western ones. Nintendo has always prefered to market "Miyamoto", "Aounuma", "Nogami", "Sakurai", "Takahashi" and "Sakamoto" rather than "EPD Group 5".The thing with comparing them to other companies is that none are set up like this. If we bring up Sony again, they have geographically separated studios with distinct histories and identities. EPD is "Nintendo" and as we know they're just spread out into Production Groups that pick their lower level staff from a big EPD pool and there really are no "studios" internally other than those that, similar to the Sony situation, preexisted their acquisition and are also obviously located elsewhere. Openly branding them as EPD or something "Nintendo Studios" doesn't really change anything as they're already "Nintendo".
This is why EPD Osaka will be headed up by Hideki Kamiya, Takahisa Taura and Etsunobu Ebisu.The point being Nintendo has never particularly cared for collective groups with fancy names, rather the individual people making the games themselves. This is why they've historically been averse to studio acquisitions, because all you're really buying is a building and a name, not the actual creative talent that makes the studio.
I think that what many people in the West call "conservative" basically comes from the fact that although Nintendo is a big corporation, they are an independent player. They're all on their own. If Stadia screws up, daddy Google is there. If Xbox screws up, mom Microsoft is there. If Nintendo screws up, they screw up. That's why I find it hard to be hostile to Nintendo's diversification projects, but taking its time and being cautious is not being "conservative", it's preserving its culture and know-how, which are Nintendo's main assets.to be honest, they might change their minds if the visual content buck is substantially above their expectations.
Nintendo is known for being a very conservative company, especially with how much money they make.
by 2027When is the new building supposed to be done?
EPD Osaka with a Taura-led team is going to be on all of my bingo cards in the futureThis is why EPD Osaka will be headed up by Hideki Kamiya, Takahisa Taura and Etsunobu Ebisu.
I know they aren't directly credited for music composition, but I've heard a few Metroid/VGM fans come out and say they believe both Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano composed some of the music for Metroid Dread. Note that Hamano is the only Nintendo sound staff to be regularly credited for "Sound Coordination" in the first place. It may be a more active development position/title unlike "Sound Supervisor".It's more of an active composer list. Mahito Yokota for example was also involved with Mario Odyssey and Smash Ultimate, despite not actually composing/arranging anything.
A sound staff list might be a good idea. There are still people at Nintendo that used to compose music (Taro Bando, Ryoji Yoshitomi) but are credited for sound design/effects nowadays. I'm guessing Nintendo made a hard split at some point, separating the people specifically hired for composing from everyone else.