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

Reader mode
In terms of external directors/coordinators, we might see Kaori Ando and Makoto Okazaki's next projects soon. They both co-directed Astral Chain with Takahisa Taura from Platinum. Ando also recently directed Sushi Striker and the Tokyo Mirage Sessions port. Okazaki has been involved with Style Savvy since the second game and co-directed the last two.

Raccoon said:
whoaaaaa

Nintendo is a mess now huh
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It was essentially the same team as Brain Training, well going by the dev leads anyway. Looking at that interview, it seems like Kawamoto asked Kubo if he would make a BBA game afterwards. I guess EPD 10/Kimura had no interest lol.
 
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I feel Big Brain Academy is a fair next step after Brain Age, even if it wasn’t the same leads when the games were made before. Plus, if EPD 10 are busy with both the next 2D Mario and Pikmin 4, the leads may not have had the bandwidth to get it done when it was wanted.
 
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I wonder if we'll see Astral Chain 2 or another Platinum collab release in 2023 for Switch Dane

Also, honestly I don't like the whole "EPD 1, 2, 3, etc" because there's so much cross over between teams. It feels like people can just make whatever they want which makes it almost pointless to speculate what each "group" is doing.
 
Procheno said:
Also, honestly I don't like the whole "EPD 1, 2, 3, etc" because there's so much cross over between teams. It feels like people can just make whatever they want which makes it almost pointless to speculate what each "group" is doing.
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The EPD production group is ostensibly a pretty fluid construct. The only exception, in my opinion, is EPD 8, which is located in Tokyo instead of Kyoto. As far as I know. Even that may be a hazier delineation than I realize.
 
Procheno said:
I wonder if we'll see Astral Chain 2 or another Platinum collab release in 2023 for Switch Dane

Also, honestly I don't like the whole "EPD 1, 2, 3, etc" because there's so much cross over between teams. It feels like people can just make whatever they want which makes it almost pointless to speculate what each "group" is doing.
Click to expand...
It's easier to look at the directors/project leads. It's still a common misconception online that Animal Crossing and Splatoon are developed by the same team, where in reality that's not the case outside of Nogami producing both series.

Lead​
Animal Crossing​
Splatoon​
Director​
Aya Kyoguku​
Yusuke Amano​
Sub-Director​
Kotaro Hiromatsu​
N/A​
Art Director​
Koji Takahashi​
Seita Inoue​
Programming Director​
Yoshitaka Takeshita​
Shintaro Sato​
Sound Director​
Kazumi Totaka​
Toru Minegishi​

Amano was credited in New Horizons under "Planning Supervisor", but someone mentioned a while back that it's possible he's just getting more managerial experience for the future.
 
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Nabbit said:
Thanks for that amazing post @MondoMega! Do y'all think Good-Feel's next contract game could be an Epic Yarn sequel for 2023?
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The thought has crossed my mind, not specifically for it to be Good Feel's next contract game, but more the possibility it could come into existence at all.
I'm going to say it could be, though there's no real certainty either way. It'd be neat, though.

It could be interesting to see what direction such a project would go, whether it retain its general style, move more toward amigurumi, or feature Kirby as the muiltiverse's most terrifying ball of yarn.
 
Yeah, New Horizons had a lot of overlap with Splatoon 2 but, that might be more related to the limits of Nintendo's staff and their need to expand than strictly the teams being the same.

Also, on a somewhat interesting note, former Nintendo partner and one of the studios related to Skip, Asobism is the developer behind a game Nintendo showed in the Japanese Indie World Showcase, Vivid Knight. It's coming out next month (already out in Japan and Korea), I think it's their first console title since Freakyforms.
 
astrogamer said:
Yeah, New Horizons had a lot of overlap with Splatoon 2 but, that might be more related to the limits of Nintendo's staff and their need to expand than strictly the teams being the same.

Also, on a somewhat interesting note, former Nintendo partner and one of the studios related to Skip, Asobism is the developer behind a game Nintendo showed in the Japanese Indie World Showcase, Vivid Knight. It's coming out next month (already out in Japan and Korea), I think it's their first console title since Freakyforms.
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Yepper. I made a thread at Era to boot. Freaky (heh) as I only just discovered it after on a whim went to find Asobism's whereabouts after so long just a week or so prior.
 
Supreme Overlord said:
The thought has crossed my mind, not specifically for it to be Good Feel's next contract game, but more the possibility it could come into existence at all.
I'm going to say it could be, though there's no real certainty either way. It'd be neat, though.

It could be interesting to see what direction such a project would go, whether it retain its general style, move more toward amigurumi, or feature Kirby as the muiltiverse's most terrifying ball of yarn.
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Gosh, I'd absolutely love an amigurumi style for a sequel. It'd look brilliant in HD, though I'd prefer they not use Unreal this time.
 
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I'd be really curious to see if Nintendo decides to co-develop Astral Chain 2 given they purchased the IP. I think it could be beneficial for their long term partnership with Platinum to have an internal division dedicated to helping Platinum make the games rather than just supervising them. That's assuming we see side/new teams popping up given Nintendo's commitment to increase their headcount
 
MondoMega said:
Let's actually look at where a lot of Nintendo associated studios are right now, and whether or not they're in the position to launch something in 2022:

First-party studios:

EPD Group 3The Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild... is still in development; and hopefully it actually manages to launch in 2022. Depending on if Grezzo's next project is Zelda or not, they could be overseeing that production too.
EPD Group 4A possible culprit behind the so-called 'casual stinker'. Even if that isn't their title, it's still very possible they get out something in 2022 regardless; that's just how they roll. The staff behind Brain Training / Academy have likely just begun cooking up their next game; but that certainly won't be a 2022 launch.
EPD Group 5Major post-launch support for New Horizons has been wrapped up, so now the path is clear for Splatoon 3 next year. Not much to say about this group; we know what they're working on and we know it launches next year.
EPD Group 6Certainly overseeing projects from studios like Next Level and Retro, like usual. At least one of those projects is rumored to be launching next year, so that's something.
EPD Group 7It's my personal belief that EPD 7 has transitioned to only supporting external projects. We've seen no internally developed game from them in the Switch generation and I would not be surprised if Tomodachi and Rhythm Heaven were under EPD 4 if/when they return. As for those external projects; if Nintendo decide to collaborate with MercurySteam and Mages further, this is where that'd happen.
EPD Group 8Since Odyssey they've been involved with the Captain Toad port and 3D World + Bowser's Fury, but nobody should believe that either of those have been their major focus for 4+ years now, especially since they were co-developed by NST.

Of course, in 2019 and 2020 they put out job listings for 3D and 2D Action Games (respectively). It's unclear if the former was for Bowser's Fury or something else, but we certainly haven't seen the latter take form yet. Hopefully something from them makes an appearance next year.
EPD Group 9It's been awhile since even Mario Kart Tour now; yet we've still heard absolutely nothing from them on the Nintendo hardware side since ARMS support wrapped up and the minor Labo updates for MK8DX. Probably the biggest mystery of this bunch; there aren't even any strong rumors about their next project.
EPD Group 10Pikmin 4 has to be in some state of development; likely suffering the same fate Pikmin 3 went through during production. The Kyoto side of EPD also put out recruitment for a 2D Action Game in 2019, so perhaps 2D Mario is what we see from this group next.
NSTSome ex-staff from the GameCube days rejoined them earlier this year, but i'd say they're likely still in the port/support role they've had since the Mario vs Donkey Kong series disappeared.
NERDStill supporting the NSO classic game apps; likely to put out Game Boy sometime next year. If Nintendo put out another product involving emulation they're likely to have played a role.
Retro StudiosThey've had Prime 4 in the works, but there's no chance of that launching next year. Rumors say Metroid Prime Remastered is coming next year, though, so they might actually have something to show from all the years between Tropcical Freeze and now after all.
Next Level GamesIt's been two years since Luigi's Mansion 3, a bit less than that since the DLC rollout concluded. No strong indication of what they could be working on next or if it'll even be ready for 2022.
Monolith SoftXenoblade 3 is on the way; just gotta have patience. Perhaps they have something else in production too, but for next year there's really only one likely game coming from them.
NDcubeMario Party Superstars JUST released in October; but NDcube have managed to put out a new game almost every year since 2010, so it's not unlikely that they have something in the works for next year too. Perhaps the 'casual stinker', if one of the common guesses for it is accurate.
iQueHard to say; don't have much precedence of them in their new support role. Just have to wait and see what they're involved with next.

Common collaborators:

Game FreakLegends Arceus is dated for January! The next mainline Pokemon title afterwards is definitely in production too, but obviously that isn't coming next year too.
CreaturesDefinitely the studio behind the announced Detective Pikachu title. Based on the first installment it just isn't worth guessing when this one will launch. They absorbed Ambrella last year, so perhaps a new Pokemon Rumble game is in production too.
Genius SonorityJust launched a big update/rebrand for Pokemon Cafe Mix a few months ago; still supporting that title.
HAL Laboratory3D Kirby is real and launching H1 next year. HAL probably have some smaller project(s) in production too as usual; likely digital-only.
Intelligent SystemsNext year is time for the rumored FIre Emblem remake; almost certainly being worked on by the staff that has gone uncredited since Echoes.
CamelotJust put out Mario Golf Super Rush this year, but ended free update support relatively quick. Unless a paid expansion is on the way, they certainly won't have anything ready for next year.
GrezzoA lot of their staff went uncredited on the Miitopia port, and they've been hiring for a new fantasy project. Very possible it isn't actually Zelda, since usually their recruitment ads make that explicit.
Good-FeelHave been working on their second self-funded/published title for Switch; but have also mentioned that they aren't done with contract work either. Can't really say if they're working with Nintendo anymore or not unfortunately; just have to wait and see.
indieszeroLikely to collaborate with EPD 4 again; hard to say what'll be next for them though. Hopeful thinking here, but perhaps they could put their rhythm game experience to work on a certain Nintendo series also part of the Touch Generations line...
VanpoolWas looking for outsource support for a title being ported from another system, being built in the NintendoWare Bezel Engine. Impossible to say what that specific game is, but it does exist.
Syn SophiaPut out a recruitment last year for a title that you can all but guarantee is Style Savvy. Might have a shot at launching next year, no clear indication how far along it is.
PlatinumGamesBayonetta 3 finally feels tangibly close. They've got other titles in the works too but besides the possibility of Astral Chain 2 they're putting a lot more focus into self-published works.
Spike ChunsoftPokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers DX will probably be a thing. A new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is possible too, but another remake feels a bit more likely.
Bandai NamcoProbably working on another Pokemon spin-off after Pokken and New Snap. I'm hoping for Pinball. Wouldn't expect it next year though.

The Smash staff may or may not have been absorbed back into the Tekken team for the time being; but no reason to expect that anytime soon regardless.

International publishing (not worthy of a table):
  • Daemon X Machina 2 was unceremoniously confirmed earlier this year. Going to assume it probably won't be Nintendo-published on Switch this time though, and probably isn't coming next year.
  • Triangle Strategy is set for March. It's very possible Nintendo could be publishing one or more of the upcoming Dragon Quest titles outside of Japan; no launch year for DQIII HD2D Remake yet though.
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My guess would be that, along with EPD 3 and EPD 5 launching games next year, EPD 8 and 9 are the likeliest groups to have something ready. Like you say, for EPD 8 especially, it's a long time since their last major title launched. EPD 10 should be close to completion on something, but their last major title shipped in 2019 and had support into early 2020, so I'm personally thinking they're aiming for 2023. The biggest bottleneck on the number of EPD titles in 2022 will be the limited pool of total staff available, though it's sensible to assume EPD 8 are making use of outsourcing in Tokyo as well as receiving support from NST and 1-Up for 3D Mario. Similarly, we've seen Nintendo try to flesh out the other production groups due to launch games next year - Splatoon 3 was hiring earlier this year, and EPD 3 obviously have co-development support from Monolith Soft production group 2.

I'd also assume, with the pandemic, 2022 is slightly too early for something new from Next Level or for a new Nintendo title from Good-Feel. We should get Good-Feel's next self-published game in 2022, given it was originally targeting this year. I don't see them dropping their contracted work with Nintendo, either.
 
Raccoon said:
The EPD production group is ostensibly a pretty fluid construct. The only exception, in my opinion, is EPD 8, which is located in Tokyo instead of Kyoto. As far as I know. Even that may be a hazier delineation than I realize.
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The production group personnel are essentially the producer, project director(s), and planners. It seems in a few cases a few art/program/sound leads are also assigned specific production groups - but for the most part the program, art, sound, (and network) staff are all from general groups/subgroups assigned to full production projects as needed. The art staff in general, is randomly all over the place.\

MondoMega said:
It's my personal belief that EPD 7 has transitioned to only supporting external projects. We've seen no internally developed game from them in the Switch generation and I would not be surprised if Tomodachi and Rhythm Heaven were under EPD 4 if/when they return.
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It actually looks like the usual constituents of what was the core internal staff of EPD Production Group No.07 moved on to the EPD Smart Device Production Group and worked on Miitomo and then Dr. Mario World. But then again, maybe Sakamoto and Production Group No.07 were considered the developers of both of those games.

Further may be determined if Takahashi returns for a Tomodachi game, or Yone returns to do Rhythm Tengoku.

MondoMega said:
Let's actually look at where a lot of Nintendo associated studios are right now, and whether or not they're in the position to launch something in 2022:
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  • Casual Kawamoto EPD
  • BOTW2
  • Splatoon 3
  • 2D Mario
  • 3D Mario

I think these are your big 5 in DEEP development from EPD on Switch.
 
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@EAD Ninja, do you think it's possible Production Group No.07 could port a complete edition of Dr. Mario World to Switch? It's odd to me that the 1000+ individually designed levels were pulled offline. Seems they could still make money on it as a standalone release.

Also, do you see 2D Mario coming from EPD 8 or 10? And if 10, do you see DK as the 2D game coming from EPD 8?
 
HAL will be interesting to watch next year. Either they still have at least two unannounced games in development or some/all of the other producers and project leads have been moved over to The Forgotten Land. It's probably their biggest project yet.
 
N75 said:
HAL will be interesting to watch next year. Either they still have at least two unannounced games in development or some/all of the other producers and project leads have been moved over to The Forgotten Land. It's probably their biggest project yet.
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Forgotten Lands is definitely their biggest game, but I think they have some independent game being cooked up as we speak
 
Quoted by: N75
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Luke88 said:
I'd be really curious to see if Nintendo decides to co-develop Astral Chain 2 given they purchased the IP. I think it could be beneficial for their long term partnership with Platinum to have an internal division dedicated to helping Platinum make the games rather than just supervising them. That's assuming we see side/new teams popping up given Nintendo's commitment to increase their headcount
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It's so bizarre that Yusuke Hashimoto didn't just move right on to Nintendo after leaving PG. He was their "golden boy" as the director of Bayo 2 and Star Fox Zero from PG's side. So why he just left PG and has done zilch since I haven't the faintest idea.

Nintendo could really benefit making a PG haven team internally by recruiting him, and any other PG folks out and about who could take charge of Astral Chain and make their own new IPs. I'd love to see what Yusuke Hashimoto can create himself under Nintendo.
 
Hero of Legend said:
It's so bizarre that Yusuke Hashimoto didn't just move right on to Nintendo after leaving PG. He was their "golden boy" as the director of Bayo 2 and Star Fox Zero from PG's side. So why he just left PG and has done zilch since I haven't the faintest idea.
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probably because he wants to do something else that Nintendo wouldn't have a hand in
 
ILikeFeet said:
probably because he wants to do something else that Nintendo wouldn't have a hand in
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Perhaps, still an odd choice as his most known work is with Nintendo. Plus he's not done anything that we know of unless he's been underway with something, somewhere for the past couple of years now in secret.
 
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EAD Ninja said:
  • Casual Kawamoto EPD
  • BOTW2
  • Splatoon 3
  • 2D Mario
  • 3D Mario

I think these are your big 5 in DEEP development from EPD on Switch.
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Yeah these 5 projects make the most sense when looking at EPD as a whole. Hopefully once Splatoon 3 and BotW2 are done it frees up staff (beyond who stays for DLC) to get other big projects going like Mario Kart and hopefully Pikmin.
 
I am searching for Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure's credits, because that game does not list them in-game. Ideally, there should be a link so that it could be sourced, since I am planning to add certain information on a Wiki.

May I know where this screenshot comes from? (Please post link, not just the location)
cEfDmwy.png


And also, where does this patent come from? (Please post link, not just the location)
LCXezEb.jpg


There's one link to something related here: https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/cpyrghts/dtls.do?fileNum=1124026&type=1&lang=eng
But it doesn't seem to be any type of specific credits.

Thank you for reading.
 
winstein said:
I am searching for Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure's credits, because that game does not list them in-game. Ideally, there should be a link so that it could be sourced, since I am planning to add certain information on a Wiki.

May I know where this screenshot comes from? (Please post link, not just the location)
cEfDmwy.png


And also, where does this patent come from? (Please post link, not just the location)
LCXezEb.jpg


There's one link to something related here: https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/cpyrghts/dtls.do?fileNum=1124026&type=1&lang=eng
But it doesn't seem to be any type of specific credits.

Thank you for reading.
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Hmm, so TOSE developed Miracle Cure? I read someone confirm it was Arika but Arika never mentioned it on their website but did the other console versions. Dunno if TOSE or Arika did Dr. Mario World off hand.
 
Hero of Legend said:
Hmm, so TOSE developed Miracle Cure? I read someone confirm it was Arika but Arika never mentioned it on their website but did the other console versions. Dunno if TOSE or Arika did Dr. Mario World off hand.
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Arika was only shown on Nintendo's official UK website: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Ni...r-Mario-Miracle-Cure-1022623.html#gameDetails

But given how this is omitted in every other website, I am not so sure if that's the case.

Thank you for reading.
 
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Hero of Legend said:
Hmm, so TOSE developed Miracle Cure? I read someone confirm it was Arika but Arika never mentioned it on their website but did the other console versions. Dunno if TOSE or Arika did Dr. Mario World off hand.
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EPD Miitomo team went on to develop Dr. Mario World with NHN co-developing the network/service features.
 
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ILikeFeet said:
Forgotten Lands is definitely their biggest game, but I think they have some independent game being cooked up as we speak
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A lot of the leads for Kirby Battle Royale (who in turn also worked on Mass Attack and Rainbow Curse) don't seem to have been credited on anything since. Then there's also the BOXBOY producer and those leads.

But I just found out that their mobile division HAL Egg released whatever this is back in 2019. Though based on the Part Time UFO credits, it was probably an extremely small team.
 
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EAD Ninja said:
EPD Miitomo team went on to develop Miracle Cure with NHN co-developing the network/service features.
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Do you mean that EPD Miitomo team develop Dr. Mario World, or they have a hand in both that game and Miracle Cure? Based on the NHN mention I seem to believe that it's World because NHN is credited in the loading screen. Either way, may I know what is the source that the specific team develops that game? Not that I don't believe you since you are trusted, but if there's a source I would like to know, unless the "source" is based on key staff working on the game(s).

Thank you for reading.
 
winstein said:
Do you mean that EPD Miitomo team develop Dr. Mario World, or they have a hand in both that game and Miracle Cure? Based on the NHN mention I seem to believe that it's World because NHN is credited in the loading screen. Either way, may I know what is the source that the specific team develops that game? Not that I don't believe you since you are trusted, but if there's a source I would like to know, unless the "source" is based on key staff working on the game(s).

Thank you for reading.
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Yeah I just corrected it. It was Dr. Mario World that they went on to develop after Miitomo with NHN.

Gartooth said:
Yeah these 5 projects make the most sense when looking at EPD as a whole. Hopefully once Splatoon 3 and BotW2 are done it frees up staff (beyond who stays for DLC) to get other big projects going like Mario Kart and hopefully Pikmin.
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The current expansion is definitely going to target the development of their big IPs without compromising each other. I also think they are going to fully incubate Smash Bros. as part of the plan.
 
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EAD Ninja said:
Yeah I just corrected it. It was Dr. Mario World that they went on to develop after Miitomo with NHN.



The current expansion is definitely going to target the development of their big IPs without compromising each other. I also think they are going to fully incubate Smash Bros. as part of the plan.
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The latter point is something I'd been wondering about. Smash is unusual in that it's an enormous Nintendo franchise without an affixed home. Can you imagine Super Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda, Pokemon, Animal Crossing not having a permanent, fixed development group?

I'd love Nintendo to offer an EPD group to Sakurai, but I'd guess, with him having gone freelance and his other comments on Smash, he might not be interested. But he'd be the ideal person to shepherd the production group for Smash and to mentor some younger staff for the future of the series.
 
MisterSpo said:
The latter point is something I'd been wondering about. Smash is unusual in that it's an enormous Nintendo franchise without an affixed home. Can you imagine Super Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda, Pokemon, Animal Crossing not having a permanent, fixed development group?
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Donkey Kong fans don't need much imagination on this front. 😔
 
MisterSpo said:
The latter point is something I'd been wondering about. Smash is unusual in that it's an enormous Nintendo franchise without an affixed home. Can you imagine Super Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda, Pokemon, Animal Crossing not having a permanent, fixed development group?

I'd love Nintendo to offer an EPD group to Sakurai, but I'd guess, with him having gone freelance and his other comments on Smash, he might not be interested. But he'd be the ideal person to shepherd the production group for Smash and to mentor some younger staff for the future of the series.
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Sakurai may be the creative director and certainly the recognizable PR name here, but perhaps the EPD producer of the last 3 Smash Bros. games (Shinya Saito) would (and should) be the person in charge of putting together a permanent in-house staff for Smash. Smash's complicated production structure would be known by Saito best (maybe even better than Sakurai to some degree). Ostensibly, their first project could be a 4K remixed port of Ultimate. I could see them losing some of the third party licensees and replacing them with Nintendo IP characters.

Sakurai is an independent contractor, and thus a hot commodity to any high bidder so whether Nintendo contracts him for another project, or another big publisher bets on a pitch, I can't see him working directly on the next Smash Bros. game.

Could Nintendo technically offer him a lot of money to helm an EPD group, that is possible. But that doesn't seem likely based on a few different factors from both sides.

EAD Ninja said:
The current expansion is definitely going to target the development of their big IPs without compromising each other. I also think they are going to fully incubate Smash Bros. as part of the plan.
Click to expand...

Connecting their current R&D expansion model, you really have to look at their mega IPs this generation.

1. Mario Kart
2. Animal Crossing
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
5. Super Mario Odyssey (3D Mario)
6. Splatoon 2
7. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (2D Mario)
8. Ring Fit Adventure

These are IPs that have clearly established themselves as high priority due to their beyond remarkable sales and reception. Furukawa's response to invest BIG into R&D is first a response to make sure that these games can be developed somewhat expediently and without the reliance of heavy outsourcing. (Smash?). Technically, Nintendo skated by this generation because they got off on ports of two of their biggest IPs (MK8DX, NSMBU DX). They need to secure larger production teams so that these major IPs, plus the other internal projects that may be on the radar, can progress accordingly.
 
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I wonder if part of the rationale behind the expansion cutting down on outsourcing could be due to COVID related delays for software? (Ex: BotW2?) Like even if Nintendo has their house in order, it doesn't mean their contractors do.
 
EAD Ninja said:
Connecting their current R&D expansion model, you really have to look at their mega IPs this generation.

1. Mario Kart
2. Animal Crossing
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
5. Super Mario Odyssey (3D Mario)
6. Splatoon 2
7. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (2D Mario)
8. Ring Fit Adventure

These are IPs that have clearly established themselves as high priority due to their beyond remarkable sales and reception. Furukawa's response to invest BIG into R&D is first a response to make sure that these games can be developed somewhat expediently and without the reliance of heavy outsourcing. (Smash?). Technically, Nintendo skated by this generation because they got off on ports of two of their biggest IPs (MK8DX, NSMBU DX). They need to secure larger production teams so that these major IPs, plus the other internal projects that may be on the radar, can progress accordingly.
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I would probably replace Ring Fit with Luigi's Mansion on your list. RFA is so tied to the hardware itself I don't have confidence it will become a staple series such as the others. I'm sure Nintendo will contiue to explore and pursua similar experinces, but likely under a different IP. In my opinion it is closer to Wii Fit.
 
Peleo said:
I would probably replace Ring Fit with Luigi's Mansion on your list. RFA is so tied to the hardware itself I don't have confidence it will become a staple series such as the others. I'm sure Nintendo will contiue to explore and pursua similar experinces, but likely under a different IP. In my opinion it is closer to Wii Fit.
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I don't think motion gaming is going anywhere with Nintendo, and unlike Wii Fit, it doesn't have a naming problem. I can see Ring Fit becoming a staple franchise.
 
Gartooth said:
I wonder if part of the rationale behind the expansion cutting down on outsourcing could be due to COVID related delays for software? (Ex: BotW2?) Like even if Nintendo has their house in order, it doesn't mean their contractors do.
Click to expand...
I think we're reading the "cutting down on outsourcing" wrong. there won't be less outsourcing overall, not with how games are made these days. I think it's to reduce turnaround time because you can inspect work quickly when it's done in-house
 
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I hope the manpower expansion results in dedicated teams for some of the IP that lack consistent homes, like Donkey Kong, Star Fox, F-Zero, etc. The rumored new EPD team for DK is hopefully true. At the very least, it’d be great to see some teams get expanded enough to alternate between even more IP, or create new sub-teams to work on those series.

Metroid is one that seems to be more complicated. Will be curious to see what Retro comes up with for Prime 4 (and Prime Remastered), and what will happen to the Prime series after 4 comes out. Will Retro want to move on and Prime will be put on ice again for a while? Will Nintendo try outsourcing it again? Will be interesting to see. Hopefully they can also work out a long term contract with Mercury Steam, or at least snag some of their talent, to get a steady 2D Metroid release schedule, now that Dread has been a critical and commercial success.
 
Would the Mario Party series be considered a "big IP"? It's clearly a series that is a reliable seller where most games have million-selling records, only overshadowed by both Super Mario and Mario Kart (not sure about Donkey Kong), and this generation showed a much larger interest in that series. It's also a series that transitioned into being mainly handled by a first party studio (ND Cube, in this case) so there must have been a vested interest in keeping the series alive, which I guess must have paid off. Mario & Luigi didn't have that sort of interest coming into play even though AlphaDream went bankrupt (I presume, only because there does not seem to be any news on that series).

Thank you for reading.
 
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Miraj said:
I hope the manpower expansion results in dedicated teams for some of the IP that lack consistent homes, like Donkey Kong, Star Fox, F-Zero, etc. The rumored new EPD team for DK is hopefully true. At the very least, it’d be great to see some teams get expanded enough to alternate between even more IP, or create new sub-teams to work on those series.

Metroid is one that seems to be more complicated. Will be curious to see what Retro comes up with for Prime 4 (and Prime Remastered), and what will happen to the Prime series after 4 comes out. Will Retro want to move on and Prime will be put on ice again for a while? Will Nintendo try outsourcing it again? Will be interesting to see. Hopefully they can also work out a long term contract with Mercury Steam, or at least snag some of their talent, to get a steady 2D Metroid release schedule, now that Dread has been a critical and commercial success.
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I'm betting on a new prime trilogy unless 4 bombs completely
 
Does Smash really need to have an in-house EPD team, though? Brawl's ad-hoc development team and reliance on many outsource studios seemed to be troublesome, but Smash 4 and Ultimate worked out fine with Bandai Namco. It's not like Nintendo are going to stop collaborating with them anytime soon; EPD 9 have been very reliant on them for asset creation (perhaps that'll change too, who knows), we've seen two Pokemon spin-off titles (and a port) developed by the same team there now, and they'll ocassionally put together the staff for a Mario baseball title.

IPs like Donkey Kong and Metroid are the ones truly in need of a consistant home in order to guarantee their future.
 
Miraj said:
I hope the manpower expansion results in dedicated teams for some of the IP that lack consistent homes, like Donkey Kong, Star Fox, F-Zero, etc. The rumored new EPD team for DK is hopefully true. At the very least, it’d be great to see some teams get expanded enough to alternate between even more IP, or create new sub-teams to work on those series.

Metroid is one that seems to be more complicated. Will be curious to see what Retro comes up with for Prime 4 (and Prime Remastered), and what will happen to the Prime series after 4 comes out. Will Retro want to move on and Prime will be put on ice again for a while? Will Nintendo try outsourcing it again? Will be interesting to see. Hopefully they can also work out a long term contract with Mercury Steam, or at least snag some of their talent, to get a steady 2D Metroid release schedule, now that Dread has been a critical and commercial success.
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I'm not really sure we're getting dedicated teams. More like a bunch of IP projects under an enormous team, with key people getting redirected when needed.
 
Miraj said:
That would be great, but I wonder if Retro would want to be beholden to that. They reportedly burnt out on by Prime 2 back in the day.
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At this point, I think it's just a thing where they "need" some type of structure/flow, again, after being a studio that hasn't had a new release in close to a decade. They could do worse than being known (predominantly?) as the "Metroid Prime studio", again.

Plus, things are different, now. Among other things, the pressure to make Prime into some sort of "Halo-killer", while also making Metroid fans happy, should no longer be an issue.
 
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KCannon said:
I'm not really sure we're getting dedicated teams. More like a bunch of IP projects under an enormous team, with key people getting redirected when needed.
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Well this is more or less how internal EPD development works, yes, but there are small groups of staff with fixed responsibilities who head up the production groups and who act as creative and production leads for key franchises. For example, Donkey Kong doesn't really have an equivalent group of permanent lead production staff the way that Zelda does.

More staff in general will help development efficiency, but it is also an opportunity to assign more staff in senior roles to take responsibility for franchises which currently lack that structure.
 
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