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

[Apopheniac]

Studio S is supposed to be "Studio Special," which would directly connect it to Smash in that the Switch game is "Super Smash Bros. Special" in Japanese.

Studio 2/Studio S | バンダイナムコスタジオ

バンダイナムコスタジオ内で受託開発案件に特化した「バンダイナムコスタジオ 第2スタジオ/Sスタジオ」公式サイトです。『大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ SPECIAL』『マリオカート8 デラックス』『マリオカート ツアー』 等手がけたタイトルの紹介や社員インタビューなどを掲載し、志高いクリエイター達の参戦を待っています！

www.bandainamcostudios.com

February 2022

バンダイナムコスタジオが「オープンワールドも作れる」内製ゲームエンジンを本気で制作中、開発者募集。開発経緯や求める人材について訊いた - AUTOMATON

バンダイナムコスタジオは現在、内製ゲームエンジンを開発中だ。同社が開発を進めるのが、「オープンワールドのような大規模ゲーム開発に耐えうるような設計のエンジン」。また、同エンジンに携わる技術者を募集中だという。詳しく話を訊いた。

automaton-media.com

I believe these are the two guys from the Automaton interview. From their bios, both seem to have been engineering leads on Smash Bros.

Katsumasa Horiuchi - MobyGames

Game credits, biography, portraits and other game industry information for Katsumasa Horiuchi - MobyGames

www.mobygames.com

Sangbae Nam - MobyGames

Game credits, biography, portraits and other game industry information for Sangbae Nam - MobyGames

www.mobygames.com

They're also listed on the current recruitment page for game engine development.

ゲームエンジン開発エンジニア 特設ページ | バンダイナムコスタジオ公式サイト

ゲームエンジン開発メンバー募集求人一覧 ※各求人をクリックいただくと詳細をご覧いただけます。 ●リードグラフィ

www.bandainamcostudios.com

Couldn't this also mean that Studio S won't be working solely on Nintendo games, contrary to our assumption? I mean, the link posted about their new engine explicitly talks about open worlds which doesn't seem to fit with Smash.

Studio 2 seems to have something else in the works aside from Smash Bros and Mario Kart, as we know someone in the department is directing a game.

Straight from the Director — How Did Game Development Change Your Work Style? | Bandai Namco Studios Inc.

This episode features a talk with Director Munehiro Koyanagi. One of a Director’s duties is to lead the development team. How does someone in Munehiro’s position communicate to get his ideas across to his team members? We asked him what he goes through his mind as a game Director, as well as how...

www.bandainamcostudios.com

 

[Nemesis24]

Their technical studio has 296 people and their corporate HQ has 60 people, which is about 60 short of 1.2k. The development enhancement studio and sound team don't have numbers, but they should account for the rest.

yeah its only this technical studio that is remaining to reveal info

 

[N75]

Studio 2 seems to have something else in the works aside from Smash Bros and Mario Kart, as we know someone in the department is directing a game.

Straight from the Director — How Did Game Development Change Your Work Style? | Bandai Namco Studios Inc.

This episode features a talk with Director Munehiro Koyanagi. One of a Director’s duties is to lead the development team. How does someone in Munehiro’s position communicate to get his ideas across to his team members? We asked him what he goes through his mind as a game Director, as well as how...

www.bandainamcostudios.com

This project could be something like Mario Sports Superstars, which I believe Namco pitched to Nintendo instead of the other way around. The 3D remaster/remake would likely have someone from EPD as director. Not that I think it's a new sports title, just talking in terms of development.

There's also a chance of it being unrelated to Nintendo, but looking through Namco's list of games, they rarely if ever do contract work for an external party. It's usually the opposite.

 

[Hero of Legend]

Studio S is supposed to be "Studio Special," which would directly connect it to Smash in that the Switch game is "Super Smash Bros. Special" in Japanese.

Studio 2/Studio S | バンダイナムコスタジオ

バンダイナムコスタジオ内で受託開発案件に特化した「バンダイナムコスタジオ 第2スタジオ/Sスタジオ」公式サイトです。『大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ SPECIAL』『マリオカート8 デラックス』『マリオカート ツアー』 等手がけたタイトルの紹介や社員インタビューなどを掲載し、志高いクリエイター達の参戦を待っています！

www.bandainamcostudios.com

I believe these are the two guys from the Automaton interview. From their bios, both seem to have been engineering leads on Smash Bros.

Katsumasa Horiuchi - MobyGames

Game credits, biography, portraits and other game industry information for Katsumasa Horiuchi - MobyGames

www.mobygames.com

Sangbae Nam - MobyGames

Game credits, biography, portraits and other game industry information for Sangbae Nam - MobyGames

www.mobygames.com

They're also listed on the current recruitment page for game engine development.

ゲームエンジン開発エンジニア 特設ページ | バンダイナムコスタジオ公式サイト

ゲームエンジン開発メンバー募集求人一覧 ※各求人をクリックいただくと詳細をご覧いただけます。 ●リードグラフィ

www.bandainamcostudios.com

Studio 2 seems to have something else in the works aside from Smash Bros and Mario Kart, as we know someone in the department is directing a game.

Straight from the Director — How Did Game Development Change Your Work Style? | Bandai Namco Studios Inc.

This episode features a talk with Director Munehiro Koyanagi. One of a Director’s duties is to lead the development team. How does someone in Munehiro’s position communicate to get his ideas across to his team members? We asked him what he goes through his mind as a game Director, as well as how...

www.bandainamcostudios.com

Could legit be Ridge Racer 8 as an apparent insider over a year ago claimed it's back in development for Switch. Plus a number of folks at Studio 2 worked on Go Vacation, which IIRC alongside the prior We Ski games were indeed by none other than the Ridge Racer team.

 

[TheMoon]

arent they co-developers for Mario Kart 8?

no, they got a special thanks credit on MK8 and ARMS. They're asset support for EPD9. They're not a co-developer and especially do not dictate what engine is being used.

You can look up what they did here: https://www.bandainamcostudios.com/en/products

 

[Apopheniac]

My guess is that the engineers are working under Studio S because they want Smash Bros. to be the first game developed with the new engine. Smash is a huge production that pulls staff from all the studios, so it makes some sense from that perspective to be the game to trial an engine that will be used throughout the company. Moving the engineers to work with Studio S means they can get feedback more directly and make modifications as needed. Probably helps that Smash is a known formula and that Sakurai/EPD will largely dictate the scope, which makes the production simpler on Bandai Namco's end. The contracted games also seem to be the only major titles from BNS that don't use Unreal, which might play into it, as I'd assume the technology group wants to support the old tooling as little as possible while they focus on the new engine.

The status of Studio 2's other projects is difficult to ascertain. Koyanagi is under Production 1 while Noto and Otsuka are under Group 2 (now Studio S?) on Productions 3 and 5, though I'd be surprised if that refers to five different games in development even across both Studios 2 and S. An original project and a remaster would be two, though I imagine we'd need to see them soon if these groups are gearing up for Mario Kart 10 and Smash 7. None of these guys have been credited on anything since Scarlet Nexus, so they're probably due. My previous guess was that Smash staff were rolled onto Tekken 8 to get that out the door while Sakurai is YouTubing, as that game's dev cycle would line up with Smash Ultimate development winding down, though I don't know how much room that would leave for the rest of Studio 2/S to do something else, since the Mario Kart crew still would have had their hands full with both Tour and the BCP.

I still think the real wild card is Haruki Suzaki and another Pokémon collab, since Pokken and New Snap weren't listed under any of the groups and don't have a consistent team beyond the leads. 2024 feels too early for a release from them, but we might at least get a trailer. Seeing Tekken 8's credits on Mobygames might shed some light on that as well as the staff from Smash Ultimate. They could just as easily be on something like the next Soulcalibur, though. Don't know if the timelines align for them to work with Studio 2/S. Maybe they're on the Taiko no Tatsujin x Pokémon crossover they originally pitched to Ishihara? Semi-relatedly, it's been almost a year since it was announced that Masaaki Hoshino stopped producing Pokémon Unite, maybe he's cooking up something new with another studio.

 

[MondoMega]

With the release of Part 2 there are now credits for the Scarlet and Violet DLC. Hopefully DLC credits become a more standard thing between this and Mario Kart. Putting the video behind spoiler tags since it contains the final cutscene of the story:

Spoiler

 

[astrogamer]

The DLC's directors are these two
Katsuhiko Ichiraku - Base game's Game Programming & UI Section Director

Katsuhiko Ichiraku

Katsuhiko Ichiraku is a programmer for Game Freak. He has worked on the Pokémon franchise since Pokémon Black and White. He has mostly worked on network programming. Pokémon Black and White Pokémon Black and White 2 - Programming Pokémon X and Y - Network Programming Pokémon Sun and Moon -...

nintendo.fandom.com

Rei Murayama - Base game's Field Map Planning Lead, planner on Let's Go and Sword/Shield

 

[N75]

With the release of Part 2 there are now credits for the Scarlet and Violet DLC. Hopefully DLC credits become a more standard thing between this and Mario Kart. Putting the video behind spoiler tags since it contains the final cutscene of the story:

Spoiler

Lines up with the Canadian Copyright filing.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero - Kyoto Report

kyoto-report.wikidot.com

Directors are Rei Murayama and Katsuhiko Ichiraku.

ILCA credited for planning and cutscene assistance again like SV.

Takao Unno listed under Project Management. Could be a new role for him or just because the DLC is naturally a smaller-scale project.

Two new composers: Rei Murayama (Also Director/Planning Lead) and Haruka Soeda (could be new GF hire or from Connect+Echo/Supersweep).

Masuda listed with under General Producer with the usual three.

 

[N75]

Copying my post on Kyoto Report from October as it still stands:

Most interesting thing here is that Hiroyuki Tani isn’t listed. He was the Planning Director for the base game and also directed the Sword/Shield Expansion Pass. That leaves both him and Kazumasa Iwao (Arceus director) unaccounted for, though I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the Arceus leads were moved on Project Bloom.

Shigeru Ohmori is likely working on Gen 10 pre-production as well as producing/overseeing all other Pokémon projects within Game Freak.

 

[goldrogerii]

Copying my post on Kyoto Report from October as it still stands:

Most interesting thing here is that Hiroyuki Tani isn’t listed. He was the Planning Director for the base game and also directed the Sword/Shield Expansion Pass. That leaves both him and Kazumasa Iwao (Arceus director) unaccounted for, though I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the Arceus leads were moved on Project Bloom.

Shigeru Ohmori is likely working on Gen 10 pre-production as well as producing/overseeing all other Pokémon projects within Game Freak.

Kazumasa Iwao, alongside Toshinobu Matsumiya who was also missing from the base game's credits is actually credited here under World, Pokémon and Human Planning. Hiroyuki Tani being absent is really interesting, though I'd say he is more likely to be working on another Pokémon project.
For Unno, I think this is just a case of him wearing many hats since he still contributed to concept art.

 

[N75]

Kazumasa Iwao, alongside Toshinobu Matsumiya who was also missing from the base game's credits is actually credited here under World, Pokémon and Human Planning. Hiroyuki Tani being absent is really interesting, though I'd say he is more likely to be working on another Pokémon project.
For Unno, I think this is just a case of him wearing many hats since he still contributed to concept art.

Oh, I missed Iwao thanks. I might look through the credits later on to see if any other Arceus/SV leads are missing.

 

[MondoMega]

 

[BlackthornOrion]

So, unless I'm missing something, this means it's developed by an internal Nintendo team and not outsourced to a 3rd party, right?

Assuming that's case, who are we thinking? I feel like EPD 7 would kinda make sense for this.

 

[MagiCarbo]

It's also the fourth first party Switch game to be developed in Unity.

 

[NineTailSage]

Monolithsoft and Intelligent Systems are some of Nintendo's more versatile external studios, looking at the lineup of games over the Switch's lifetime.

 

[MondoMega]

Searching through thousands of files, not knowing whether or not the credits were scrubbed in the first place, sounds like searching for a needle in a haystack; but we at least have this:

 

[MagiCarbo]

Searching through thousands of files, not knowing whether or not the credits were scrubbed in the first place, sounds like searching for a needle in a haystack; but we at least have this:

So Arc Sys is the dev behind this game?

 

[EAD Ninja]

Monolithsoft and Intelligent Systems are some of Nintendo's more versatile external studios, looking at the lineup of games over the Switch's lifetime.

Are you counting the Kyoto Art Studio’s asset work for Monolith? Because XenoBlade and cooperation on Zelda aren’t super versatile.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Searching through thousands of files, not knowing whether or not the credits were scrubbed in the first place, sounds like searching for a needle in a haystack; but we at least have this:

Makes the game being on Unity funny

 

[Nemesis24]

So, unless I'm missing something, this means it's developed by an internal Nintendo team and not outsourced to a 3rd party, right?

Assuming that's case, who are we thinking? I feel like EPD 7 would kinda make sense for this.

oh i guess thats right? anyone have the one from Pikmin? was it saying nintendo and eighting are the authors of this software?

 

[boodream]

Makes the game being on Unity funny

I don't get what you mean?

 

[ILikeFeet]

I don't get what you mean?

Arc Systems, right now, is known for their aesthetic they built using Unreal Engine. I think they have other Unity games, but stuff like Guilty Gear and DB Fighterz and how they achieved those aesthetics are what they're known for

 

[SirArthur]

In-house, ArcSystems last non-unreal game was Code Shifter in 2020, and it was in Unity. Their publishing arms does alot of unity stuff, since they work alot with WayForward. Funny enough they did the Kowloon High-School Chronicle remaster for switch with Toybox (in Unity), so its not out of the realm to be them also.

 

[boodream]

Arc Systems, right now, is known for their aesthetic they built using Unreal Engine. I think they have other Unity games, but stuff like Guilty Gear and DB Fighterz and how they achieved those aesthetics are what they're known for

This is interesting, thanks for explaining

 

[NineTailSage]

Are you counting the Kyoto Art Studio’s asset work for Monolith? Because XenoBlade and cooperation on Zelda aren’t super versatile.

It just seems like their names end up on multiple games as assisted in some manner or another.

 

[TheMoon]

It just seems like their names end up on multiple games as assisted in some manner or another.

That's why it's important to pay attention to the studio structure which then tells you all the non-Xenoblade/BotW/TotK work from MonolithSoft is "just" (not to downplay) asset-support, as EAD Ninja pointed out.

The game design part from MonolithSoft is all about massive landmasses and mostly seamless fantastical spaces/architecture. They do have their specialty niche and excel in that.

 

[NineTailSage]

That's why it's important to pay attention to the studio structure which then tells you all the non-Xenoblade/BotW/TotK work from MonolithSoft is "just" (not to downplay) asset-support, as EAD Ninja pointed out.

The game design part from MonolithSoft is all about massive landmasses and mostly seamless fantastical spaces/architecture. They do have their specialty niche and excel in that.

The conversation wasn't that deep it's just a passing conversation about videogames, no one needs a dissertation on who does what in each development house...

 

[TheMoon]

The conversation wasn't that deep it's just a passing conversation about videogames, no one needs a dissertation on who does what in each development house...

And no one's writing a dissertation, just shedding some light that a passing comment wasn't quite accurately reflecting what's happening with a sentence or three.

 

[Nemesis24]

can someone explain why eighting is seen as co-developing pikmin 4 while monolith is seen as support for totk? im trying to understand the difference between them

 

[ILikeFeet]

can someone explain why eighting is seen as co-developing pikmin 4 while monolith is seen as support for totk? im trying to understand the difference between them

People at 8ing held directorial and lead roles. Like co-director and and whatnot

Monolith had a lot of designers on Zelda, though I don't have on hand a list of any possible lead roles they might have had

 

[Nemesis24]

People at 8ing held directorial and lead roles. Like co-director and and whatnot

Monolith had a lot of designers on Zelda, though I don't have on hand a list of any possible lead roles they might have had

ah thats true i forgot about that, thank you for the response

 

[wrowa]

Searching through thousands of files, not knowing whether or not the credits were scrubbed in the first place, sounds like searching for a needle in a haystack; but we at least have this:

Taisuke Kanasaki, the original director of Another Code and Hotel Dusk, works at ArcSys these days. While being there he also already developed a spiritual successor to Hotel Dusk with Chase: Cold Case Investigations for 3DS. So, ArcSys being involved actually makes a lot of sense and even if they turn out not to be the main dev, it likely implies that Kanasaki is involved with these remakes, which is very cool.

 

[MondoMega]

Taisuke Kanasaki, the original director of Another Code and Hotel Dusk, works at ArcSys these days. While being there he also already developed a spiritual successor to Hotel Dusk with Chase: Cold Case Investigations for 3DS. So, ArcSys being involved actually makes a lot of sense and even if they turn out not to be the main dev, it likely implies that Kanasaki is involved with these remakes, which is very cool.

Oh, he already confirmed his involvement with the remakes (as Art Director; the cover art was also drawn by him) back in September; it's part of why some already assumed some level of ArcSys involvement, as the main developer or otherwise.

Embeds for twitter have been disabled. Please refer to our site rules for more information.
Original post: https://tw*tter.com/tweet/status/1702326019334815941

Nintendo and Arc System Works are the only developer name references I can see in that Unity file; but I guess we'll have to wait and see for the full release to know for certain.

 

[boodream]

I've just finished the demo, and I really like it. There seems to have been a lot of effort put into it.

 

[lemonfresh]

Well just heard eighting is making a hxh fighting game guess they won't be on any nintendo titles until that is done, I am hype tho

 

[astrogamer]

Well just heard eighting is making a hxh fighting game guess they won't be on any nintendo titles until that is done, I am hype tho

It should be a separate team. I haven't kept track of it but when I looked through DNF's credits, I didn't really see much overlap with Pikmin 3 Deluxe. It should have more overlap with DNF Duel over what they developed for Nintendo.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Well just heard eighting is making a hxh fighting game guess they won't be on any nintendo titles until that is done, I am hype tho

It's published by Bushiroad though. My expectations are low

 

[Hero of Legend]

It should be a separate team. I haven't kept track of it but when I looked through DNF's credits, I didn't really see much overlap with Pikmin 3 Deluxe. It should have more overlap with DNF Duel over what they developed for Nintendo.

That and Pikmin 4 had to have been in mid-development alongside DNF Duel as well, that and 8ing have over 200 employees so that helps as well.

 

[MetalLord]

Kazutaka Kurosaka - MobyGames

Game credits, biography, portraits and other game industry information for Kazutaka Kurosaka - MobyGames

www.mobygames.com

Kazuaki Iwasawa - MobyGames

Game credits, biography, portraits and other game industry information for Kazuaki Iwasawa - MobyGames

www.mobygames.com

two lead artists from square enix (both gave talks at graphics conventions) joined game freak recently

Spoiler

it wont matter,a lot of industry veterans credited on some of the best looking japanese games worked on scarlet and violet and it looked like shit anyway

 

[MondoMega]

For Eighting staff overlap between DNF Duel and Pikmin 4: only 28 shared names.

 

[MetalLord]

mass recruitment of contractors for a new kirby game started last month

星のカービィ開発スタッフ大募集

株式会社ハル研究所のプロジェクト採用ページです。私たちと「星のカービィ」シリーズを作りませんか？

www.hallab.co.jp

 

[Gingerbread]

I wonder if they absorbed Vanpool staff.

 

[TreeSign]

I wonder if they absorbed Vanpool staff.

Hopefully so.

 

[Charamiwa]

60fps Forgotten Land follow up on the Switch 2, the best game that doesn't exist yet.

 

[TheMoon]

mass recruitment of contractors for a new kirby game started last month

星のカービィ開発スタッフ大募集

株式会社ハル研究所のプロジェクト採用ページです。私たちと「星のカービィ」シリーズを作りませんか？

www.hallab.co.jp

HAL's hiring department be like

 

[ILikeFeet]

60fps Forgotten Land follow up on the Switch 2, the best game that doesn't exist yet.

watch HAL go 30fps again to make a Kirby game that looks on par with Last of Us Part 2

 

[ILikeFeet]

actually, looking into it, this seems to be their second studio, not the one housed with EPD Tokyo and Game Freak. so it's probably a spin-off/alternate title of sorts

 

[Hero of Legend]

actually, looking into it, this seems to be their second studio, not the one housed with EPD Tokyo and Game Freak. so it's probably a spin-off/alternate title of sorts

Yeah but how likely is it that Vanpool got moved into said studio? Where is it relative to Vanpool's (now dead) studio?

 

[Charamiwa]

watch HAL go 30fps again to make a Kirby game that looks on par with Last of Us Part 2

I was already surprised they went this hard graphically with Star Allies. Feels like it was almost unnecessary given how good they can make a 60fps game look with the Wii remaster. Forgotten Land I can understand better.