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

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Skipper93653 said:
Seems like Next Level Games hired someone who specializes in VR/AR (and adjacent) development?
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Luigi Mansion 4 as a VR game? Switch sucessor is a AR/VR console?
 
It would seem better to at least anonymize the information from linkedin, this kind of sharing can harm people.

Moreover, as mentioned above, just because someone has already worked on a specific subject does not mean that it is their only professional competence or the only thing for which that person can be hired.

This is simply a competent person who has worked in Canada and is hired by a Canadian studio looking for competent people.
 
He also specializes in spatial audio. And a million other things. This is where the "not really understanding what we're talking about and just latching onto buzzwords we've heard elsewhere" gets dangerous quick.
 
Did we ever figure out whether the Mario Kart BCP DLC was done entirely in-house? Do we think the next Mario Kart game for the next console started development before, during, or after development on the BCP wrapped up?
 
TheMoon said:
Them designing a few handful new courses and slightly tweaking old ones is not gonna affect the next console Mario Kart's release date.
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Especially since even the new courses were probably already planned to feed Mario Kart Tour even before the decision to release this DLC.
 
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Gingerbread Man said:
Tour was probably a resource hog, but BCP itself was basically a Switch port of Tour.
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I always wondered why Tour was not managed by a specific team, since Nintendo entrusted Hideki Konno with the direction of an EPD group dedicated to mobile games. In general, this division seems to have only a coordinating role, including for other mobile games.
 
Regarding the LinkedIn hire - we interacted a couple times, indirectly, when he was at Mozilla, and I was volunteering. At the time, Mozilla had a (smart) initiative to rebuild the Firefox renderer to work like a game engine, and hired a bunch of game engineers to get it there. Kip worked on the VR component, but a lot of that getting frame rates up on the renderer, and implementing a standard API for interacting with a motion controller.

While it would be neat if Nintendo were working on VR tech - and I could certainly see them doing more with VR mario kart, another arcade style project, or something else at the parks - the most likely assumption is the simplest. NLG, who has their own engine, hired a guy who works on engines to improve their engine while heading into the ramp up to their next big game, which is almost definitely an exclusive for a new piece of hardware.
 
oldpuck said:
Regarding the LinkedIn hire - we interacted a couple times, indirectly, when he was at Mozilla, and I was volunteering. At the time, Mozilla had a (smart) initiative to rebuild the Firefox renderer to work like a game engine, and hired a bunch of game engineers to get it there. Kip worked on the VR component, but a lot of that getting frame rates up on the renderer, and implementing a standard API for interacting with a motion controller.

While it would be neat if Nintendo were working on VR tech - and I could certainly see them doing more with VR mario kart, another arcade style project, or something else at the parks - the most likely assumption is the simplest. NLG, who has their own engine, hired a guy who works on engines to improve their engine while heading into the ramp up to their next big game, which is almost definitely an exclusive for a new piece of hardware.
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This comment sort of makes it clear NLG isn't working on the LM2 remake/remaster. Probably in a supervision role but it seems they're all hands on deck for the next big project, whatever that may be. Thanks for the info!
 
BabyDontHurtMe said:
This comment sort of makes it clear NLG isn't working on the LM2 remake/remaster. Probably in a supervision role but it seems they're all hands on deck for the next big project, whatever that may be. Thanks for the info!
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I don't see how working on LM4, for example, which is obvious to everyone, would rule out the idea of having also worked on LM2HD?
 
boodream said:
I don't see how working on LM4, for example, which is obvious to everyone, would rule out the idea of having also worked on LM2HD?
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Yeah that's a good point. It really depends on how they organize the team and everything. They did get Mario Strikers Battle League less than 3 years after LM3 though so they're a productive team.
 
boodream said:
I always wondered why Tour was not managed by a specific team, since Nintendo entrusted Hideki Konno with the direction of an EPD group dedicated to mobile games. In general, this division seems to have only a coordinating role, including for other mobile games.
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The EPD Smart Device Production Group (Hideki Konno) was essentially a production team that coordinated between the Nintendo Mobile/System side (Nintendo PTD and DeNA and later Nintendo Systems) and the Nintendo Game Creation side (respective teams) that were responsible for each IP / game:

EPD 7 handled Miitomo and Dr. Mario.
EPD 10 handled Super Mario Run.
EPD 9 handled Mario Kart Tour.
EPD 5 handled Animal Crossing.
IS handled Fire Emblem.

Then you had that last wave of projects where Nintendo was collaborating with mobile developers for Pikmin Bloom and Dragalia Lost.

But all those titles were under EPD Smart Device Group. Which I would also bet might have recently been restructured if the lack of new mobile development holds true.
 
Has there been any news about anything happening with Ganbarion? I know they haven't worked with Nintendo since 2013, but they still list the company as one of their clients on their website. Last month they announced a recruitment drive through the end of April to hire new grads in 2025. That, and the fact that they haven't released a game since 2021, makes me hope that they'll have a new, larger game in the works. It could just as easily be a Bandai Namco game, but since 2025 is the rumored year of [REDACTED], I'm on copium that there may be a Pandora's Tower remake or some other collaboration.
 
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So no citation, but Centro Leaks seems to know who is involved with Pokemon Works.



UPDATE: Our speculation has been confirmed.

The full list of directors of Pokémon Works has been revealed.

  • Takuya Iwasaki (Representative Director of ILCA)
  • Takanori Sowa (Director of The Pokémon Company)
  • Masao Iuchi (Supervisor of the local subsidiary 'Pokémon (Shanghai) Toys Co., Ltd.')
  • Hirohisa Iijima (Unknown)
  • Satoshi Takamori (Director of ILCA)

The company main bussiness is "contracted development of games related to Pokémon".

This confirms this is a joint venture between ILCA and The Pokémon Company.
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Golden Darkness said:
So no citation, but Centro Leaks seems to know who is involved with Pokemon Works.

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This is where Centro got their information from. There is still no source in the original tweet so it not a confirmation of anything.

I will add that "games related to Pokémon " is how Creatures Inc describes their Pokémon games so if it is accurate, Pokémon Works is a spin-off studio.
 
ILikeFeet said:
here is the document in question

www.resetera.com

Pokémon Main Series and Spinoff Rumors, Leaks, Speculation and Discussion Thread (SPOILERS) News - Rumor - Spoiler

The source is the legal entity registration document of Pokemon Works, which can be retrieved by some search services in Japan. The link to the document: https://we.tl/t-eAWbLtnYmU
www.resetera.com www.resetera.com
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Must be where Papen got their information from. Going by the LinkedIn profile with the same name, Hirohisa Iijima is likely from the Pokémon Company given the profile picture, though the LinkedIn profile doesn't have any workplace history.
 
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TheMoon said:
This is the thing with Nintendo: successful or not, when they tell you they'll make a new one if they happen to think of a cool idea for it it's not just marketing fluff. Backseat business school brain would tell you "oh obviously this was very successful so there will be a sequel" but that doesn't mean much when it comes to Nintendo. Conversely, as we've seen time and time again, they bring back something seemingly extremely dead and niche. This is also why so much industry analysis of Nintendo's moves is often so comically off the mark.

So who knows. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe not for another 10 years.
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i think fire emblem awakening changed the way nintendo views ip’s entierlt.

I’m imaging all these ip remakes (Detective club, f zero, that ocean one, another code, advance wars) all probably came from fe’s success.

Regardless I think the Nintendo understands that a series dying is often due to poor circumstance rather than non interest in it.
Which is why we get these old ips coming back from the dead. Though Nintendo really lets them speak for themselves kind of trial by fire.
I don’t know if any have been successful aside from F-zero 99 (that series is 100% getting a new game on the next Gen)

I think golden sun will be another (didnt Emily say something about that?)

I think custom robo, chibi robo and starfy would be good candidates (nitnendo owns starfy right) as having their developer shut down doesn’t seems to mean much
 
Smash Kirby said:
Camelot needs a break from the sports games. One could argue the quality has been slipping with each new entry.
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Mario tennis aces is the best traditional Mario tennis.

Power tennis being the best is complete nostalgia.

Golf was undercooked though yeah.

I have a tough time imagining they were 100% working on Mario tennis for 4 years though.

I doubt it’s golden sun, but maybe support for something maybe?
 
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TLZ said:
Oh no 😯

I didn't know this. So my hopes for a chibi robo game is non-existent :(
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fwiw, Cing is also defunct, but Another Code Recollection managed to happen

iirc ownership of the Chibi-Robo IP is split between Nintendo and Bandai-Namco (and maybe Skip, when they were still around?). If the relevant parties had the urge to do something with the series, I'm sure they could find a way to make it happen even without Skip
 
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expanding on that I think they also would target ip's that arent super similair to what they already have so my starfy idea might just be dumb.

golden sun does though, nintendo does not have a traditional turn based rpg, golden sun also differentiated itself by having a bigger emphasis on puzzle solving

i can definitely see a golden sun 4 that has nothing to do with the dark dawn cliffhanger happening.
 
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BlackthornOrion said:
iirc ownership of the Chibi-Robo IP is split between Nintendo and Bandai-Namco (and maybe Skip, when they were still around?). If the relevant parties had the urge to do something with the series, I'm sure they could find a way to make it happen even without Skip
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That's really interesting. I know everyone was speculating with Bandai Namco Studio 2/S and that rumored 3D action game remake it would be something like Kid Icarus or Star Fox, but seeing Chibi-Robo make a come back due to both companies having a stake and Bamco having a studio specifically for Nintendo games would be really neat. It's a bit staggering to see how many shared games and IPs both companies have collaborated on: Smash, Mario Kart, Pokken Tournament, Star Fox Assault, Baten Kaitos II, Project X Zone, etc, etc

Djehuty said:
i think fire emblem awakening changed the way nintendo views ip’s entierlt.

I’m imaging all these ip remakes (Detective club, f zero, that ocean one, another code, advance wars) all probably came from fe’s success.
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I'd say that in addition to FE Awakening, it was the successful revival of Kid Icarus, the 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time doing well, and the general retro boom of the late 2000s, embodied for Nintendo in the success of the Virtual Console. I can't think of any big revivals or remakes (besides Metroid Zero Mission on the GBA and a couple Pokemon games), they did before that. It was the perfect storm of circumstances that helped shape that outlook.
 
SkaizoAgain said:
That's really interesting. I know everyone was speculating with Bandai Namco Studio 2/S and that rumored 3D action game remake it would be something like Kid Icarus or Star Fox, but seeing Chibi-Robo make a come back due to both companies having a stake and Bamco having a studio specifically for Nintendo games would be really neat. It's a bit staggering to see how many shared games and IPs both companies have collaborated on: Smash, Mario Kart, Pokken Tournament, Star Fox Assault, Baten Kaitos II, Project X Zone, etc, etc
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That doesn't really make sense given that Studio 2/S relationship with Nintendo has been co-developing (Smash) and supporting (MK) high-profile titles. Chibi Robo is like a D-tier Nintendo title if I'm being brutally honest. It's a game that if it ever resurfaced would probably a low budget quiet release through a small dev team.
 
EAD Ninja said:
That doesn't really make sense given that Studio 2/S relationship with Nintendo has been co-developing (Smash) and supporting (MK) high-profile titles. Chibi Robo is like a D-tier Nintendo title if I'm being brutally honest. It's a game that if it ever resurfaced would probably a low budget quiet release through a small dev team.
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Yeah, I agree it wouldn't be top priority but having a smaller team down the line take a stab at it seems like a possibility.
Giancarlo said:
Unreal Engine 4? what engine Super Smash Bros Ultimate used? did they used it own custom engine?
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It was a custom engine if I'm not mistaken.
 
majimazio said:
Smash 6 will most likely be made with the Unreal Engine? (From a previous job posting at Bamco Studio 2/Studio S)
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wonder where they are seeing it at. I don't recall UE4 being listed for Studio 2 before everything was taken down. and with their in-house engine team being moved to Studio 2, I'm kinda doubting it's unreal engine. might be asking for people with experience since their internal engine will be similar
 
as always, job listings calling out specific engines can just mean they would like their applicants to have experience with modern high end engine tools and feature-sets vs just some more limited or smaller scale engines for which experience wouldn't transfer as well to potential internal custom engines or whatever.

don't always read "this job posting says experience with UE5" as "it means this next game is made in UE5!!!".
 
This is also the case with Retro's job listings for Prime 4, which mentions Unreal for example, I don't think this means they intend to abandon their proprietary technology.
 
EAD Ninja said:
That doesn't really make sense given that Studio 2/S relationship with Nintendo has been co-developing (Smash) and supporting (MK) high-profile titles. Chibi Robo is like a D-tier Nintendo title if I'm being brutally honest. It's a game that if it ever resurfaced would probably a low budget quiet release through a small dev team.
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well its not like advance wars, endless ocean, another code and FDC are sterling great games, remakes and sequals on a big budget seem to be what all of them get.
 
Djehuty said:
well its not like advance wars, endless ocean, another code and FDC are sterling great games, remakes and sequals on a big budget seem to be what all of them get.
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I think EAD Ninja is commenting on scale / importance to Nintendo as a business, not the quality of the game itself (if not then i'd disagree on every game brought up between these two posts; they're all great, or have great games in their series).

Even in that case though I agree Chibi-Robo can't be much worse off than Another Code. In both cases their original studio is now defunct, with their creators still active elsewhere in the industry. Difference being Taisuke Kanasaki and Takuya Miyagawa already working at ArcSys would've played a role in Recollection happening in the form it did, whereas Kenichi Nishi and a lot of former-Skip/Love-de-Lic staff are currently independent and may not have those major publisher ties to get such a project off the ground (if they'd even want to be involved).

Chibi-Robo was given a lot of chances in its original run of games, so it really wouldn't surprise me if it were given one more sometime in the future. Personally i'd be fine with just a Hagi port of the first game; it's already an incredible game as-is; but if there's a studio out there willing to give the game a full visual overhaul I wouldn't say no. A new game sounds nice on paper but there's a lot that could go wrong; if Chibi-Robo ever gets a real final chance it's better to play it safe with the game fans of the series already like.
 
Not sure if this counts, but it's technically first-party: does anyone know the rights situation for Ogre Battle 64 and Tactics Ogre: The Knights of Lodis? They were published by Nintendo in Japan, but Square Enix bought Quest Corporation. Does that mean Nintendo has the rights but would have to pay Square if they wanted to do anything with the games, or is it more legally complex?
 
SkaizoAgain said:
Not sure if this counts, but it's technically first-party: does anyone know the rights situation for Ogre Battle 64 and Tactics Ogre: The Knights of Lodis? They were published by Nintendo in Japan, but Square Enix bought Quest Corporation. Does that mean Nintendo has the rights but would have to pay Square if they wanted to do anything with the games, or is it more legally complex?
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© 1999 Nintendo Co., Ltd. © 1999 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. Ogre Battle is a registered trademark or trademark of Square Enix Co., Ltd.
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Per the legal info for past rereleases on Virtual Console; Quest's stake in Ogre Battle 64 is under Square Enix, which leaves this installment co-owned between them and Nintendo. The same should be the case for Knight of Lodis.
 
Hiya.
So I have been trying to figure out some Pokemon dev stuff, mainly PLA and SV teams since they came out the same year and I find that interesting.

docs.google.com

PLA CREDITS

docs.google.com docs.google.com

I have been comparing staff between the two games (and SwSh kinda)

So far I have 254/367 shared, and its 135/224 without the Pokemon modeling, which is mostly done by Creatures. (For PLA/SV) (Also its 155 shared with SwSh and uh 74 with PLG)

I have been trying to figure out who belongs to which studio, so I was looking for help with that and figured I would post this.

The doc is still work in progress but I thought it be best to ask before finishing.
 
Can anybody answer me how we calculate the size of the dev teams of Nintendo games?? I was entering Moby games superficially and games like Tears of the Kingdom have 1400 staff credited with 1000+ being developers, but I always see people saying around 800? The same way we have the 340 number for Wonder but there it says more than 400 with 399 being developers.

We discount special thanks and VAs?
 
Marce-chan said:
Can anybody answer me how we calculate the size of the dev teams of Nintendo games?? I was entering Moby games superficially and games like Tears of the Kingdom have 1400 staff credited with 1000+ being developers, but I always see people saying around 800? The same way we have the 340 number for Wonder but there it says more than 400 with 399 being developers.

We discount special thanks and VAs?
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voice actors, musicians, localization and things like that are usually excluded when we look at development team sizes, afaik.
it tends to be centered on design, production/management, programming, asset creation.
 
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