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

So what does Pikmin 4 mean for new 2D Mario by EPD10? We know from rumors that development of Pikmin 4 was rebooted in 2019 which happens to be the same year when Maker 2 shipped but there was hiring for 2D game for Kyoto in 2019 and in 2020 with mention of both Kyoto and Tokyo offices (that was probably also for that DK game by Tokyo). So then, is EPD10 working on 2 projects at the same time? Could also new 2D Mario ship in 2023?
 
Man I hate to see this kind of thing. Monolith is just one of like 10 companies working as support and the fans always frame as if they don't exist. 1up studio exists but you dont ever see them getting mentioned like this
yep. it really irks me the wrong way. line they are saving and rescuing every single franchise out there
 
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So what does Pikmin 4 mean for new 2D Mario by EPD10? We know from rumors that development of Pikmin 4 was rebooted in 2019 which happens to be the same year when Maker 2 shipped but there was hiring for 2D game for Kyoto in 2019 and in 2020 with mention of both Kyoto and Tokyo offices (that was probably also for that DK game by Tokyo). So then, is EPD10 working on 2 projects at the same time? Could also new 2D Mario ship in 2023?
I mean they worked on NSMB U and Pikmin 3 back then. A Mario game near the movies release is a given imo.
 
yeah, but seems weird they didn't mentioned it today and went for Pikmin 4 which probably will be Summer game, meaning releasing later than the 2D Mario game.
Pikmin 4 was announced 7 years ago or so. Guess they thought it was time.
 
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If a 2D Mario was coming in the first half of the year they would have announced it today. It could still happen for holiday 2023 but I think Pikmin 4 will definitely release before that.
 
If a 2D Mario was coming in the first half of the year they would have announced it today. It could still happen for holiday 2023 but I think Pikmin 4 will definitely release before that.
Nintendo announced Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Animal Crossing before Super Mario Maker 2, Astral Chain, and Link’s Awakening, all of which released before it in 2019. It wouldn’t be unheard of for multiple games to release before Pikmin 4.

With that being said, that would mean that Pikmin 4 is likely a year off, Q3 at the absolute earliest.
 
Nintendo announced Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Animal Crossing before Super Mario Maker 2, Astral Chain, and Link’s Awakening, all of which released before it in 2019. It wouldn’t be unheard of for multiple games to release before Pikmin 4.

With that being said, that would mean that Pikmin 4 is likely a year off, Q3 at the absolute earliest.
It can still come H1. They announced Mario Maker 2 in February and it released June.
I get that other games have had short release cycles, but a brand new 2D Mario sounds like something that would have a cycle longer than 4 months. It’s bigger than Mario Maker or Link’s Awakening, plus they probably wouldn’t put it and BOTW2 in consecutive spring months.

I hope I’m wrong lol, would love to see a new mainline Mario in June but it just doesn’t seem likely.
 
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So what does Pikmin 4 mean for new 2D Mario by EPD10? We know from rumors that development of Pikmin 4 was rebooted in 2019 which happens to be the same year when Maker 2 shipped but there was hiring for 2D game for Kyoto in 2019 and in 2020 with mention of both Kyoto and Tokyo offices (that was probably also for that DK game by Tokyo). So then, is EPD10 working on 2 projects at the same time? Could also new 2D Mario ship in 2023?
Always important to remember the biggest limit on what EPD can do is the overall size of the division and not the size of individual groups. A production group can work on two games simultaneously using different members of staff, and that has happened before. Look at how many EPD 4 titles are on Switch.

It also will be the case that some degree of outsourcing comes into play. Perhaps Eighting are supporting EPD 10 with Pikmin 4 after their work on Pikmin 3 Deluxe. 1-Up and perhaps NST are likely supporting EPD Tokyo right now, for example, on 3D Mario. Somebody else might be helping with 2D Mario.

That being said, I'm not sure Nintendo load 2D, 3D Mario and new Zelda into a single calendar or fiscal year. I do expect one mainline Mario at the end of next year, though.
Do we now discount that rumor that
it's Kid Icarus Uprisng?
I certainly wouldn't assume that the remaster definitely is that; but the description of the project is pretty apt for that game. People here speculated it could be the case before the rumour broke.
 
Yeah Return to Dream Land is almost definitely Vanpool.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Pikmin 4 is being co-developed by another company too.

I guess we’ll have to wait for the Australian ratings lol.
 
yeah, but seems weird they didn't mentioned it today and went for Pikmin 4 which probably will be Summer game, meaning releasing later than the 2D Mario game.
The Pikmin 4 announcement wasn’t planned Miyamoto just went public to secure dev resources /j
 
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Remember Corey Bunnell the american programmer that worked on BOTW ?? Dairi Hayakawa,an artist that worked with him on their graduation project at their university joined nintendo too after working on Resident Evil 7 and Devil May Cry 5




Theres also an mexican girl who worked on splatoon 3 as an programmer
original_cross_hal_library_game_220323.jpg
 
Has it been confirmed that the Fire Emblem Engage is being co develop by KT specifically Gust or is that still just a rumor
I have not seen any press release or website info on it. Maybe in future info dumps or we will have to wait till release.

Seeing reactions on the trailer you could tell some people have not played a Gust game. From the protag design you could not tell cause Atelier games have different designers, the only similarity is their presentation. So if you look at the first stage it has that fairy tale/whimsical/colorful vibe those game have. Again we still dont know
 
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Has it been confirmed that the Fire Emblem Engage is being co develop by KT specifically Gust or is that still just a rumor
At this point it is still a rumor. We have to wait for more infos or a future Ask the Developers interview to confirm this.
Theres also an mexican girl who worked on splatoon 3 as an programmer
original_cross_hal_library_game_220323.jpg
Seeing foreign employees in a Nintendo employees jumpsuit is pretty rad ngl.
 
Green is staff returning from splatoon 2,black is those who worked at nintendo at 2017 but didnt work on splatoon 2, red is the new hires,purple is people hired after 2018 but credited in others games before

Takuro Shimizu
Atsuki Miyagi
Takahisa Ikejiri
Hito Matsudaira
Koji Sonoyama
Tsumugi Harunari
Kazumi Yamaguchi
Mari Shibata
Hiroshi Ueda

Kazuki Okamoto
Mayu Furukawa
Jun Tanaka
Maasa Sugimoto
Takeshi Koike
Aoi Aso
Kaori Mitsuzawa
Reiya Nagae

Yui Takaki
Akane Kamiya
Takeru Fukada

Kaho Sawada
Momoka Yamamoto
Shogo Shimada
Shohei Imamura
Tomoki Hirayama
Yusuke Suzuki
Taigo Hamaguchi
Nanaka Kumazawa

Shigeki Yoshida
Syo Murata
Akari Mine
Miu Morita
Haruka Tatsuta
Dairi Hayakawa
Mari Miki

Miryan Paku
Boku Kondo
Riku Takamatsu
Mei Minagawa
Kanoko Kobayashi
Yoshiki Takada

Miki Aoki
Ryoko Yamazaki
Daichi Nonaka
Ayane Fujitani
Kureha Ura
Yuri Takai
Akito Osanai


Splatoon 2 Returning Staff
Takuro Shimizu
Takahisa Ikejiri
Kazumi Yamaguchi EPD Tokyo
Mari Shibata
Hiroshi Ueda
Akane Kamiya
Takeru Fukada
Miki Aoki
Akito Osanai
9


Old Nintendo Staff
Atsushi Miyagi
Koji Sonoyama
Tsumugi Harunari
Mayu Furukawa
Jun Tanaka EPD Tokyo
Maasa Sugimoto
Takeshi Koike
Shigeki Yoshida
Sho Murata EPD Tokyo
Haruka Tatsuta
Miryan Paku
Ryoko Yamazaki
Kureha Ura
13


Staff Hired After 2018
Kazuki Okamoto
Kaho Sawada
Akari Mine
Riku Takamatsu
Kanoko Kobayashi
Yoshiki Takada
Ayane Fujitani
7

New Staff
Hito Matsudaira
Aoi Aso
Kaori Mitsuzawa
Reiya Nagae
Yui Takaki
Momoka Yamamoto
Shogo Shimada
Shohei Imamura
Tomoki Hirayama
Yusuke Suzuki
Taigo Hamaguchi
Nanaka Kumazawa
Miu Morita
Dairi Hayakawa
Mari Miki
Boku Kondo
Mei Minagawa
Daichi Nonaka
Yuri Takai
19

19% of the art team worked on splatoon 2


Old Staff 21 - New Staff 26
55.32% New
44.68% Old


Art Team Size
Splatoon 2 - 26 Nintendo Artists
Splatoon 3 - 47 Nintendo Artists


Overall Art Staff
Splatoon 2 - 59 Artists
Splatoon 3 - 130 Artists



Splatoon 2 Partners
MONOLITH SOFTWARE INC.
TOSE INC.

Splatoon 3 Partners
Bandai Namco Studios Singapore & Malaysia
LEMONSKY Studios
DIGITAL MEDIA LAB., INC.
AGNI-FLARE CO.,LTD.
MONOLITH SOFTWARE INC.
Applibot,Inc.
 
Another Tears of the Kingdom patent? Or something different? Seems to describe a system of changing sound sources when instantly warping to another location.


 
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Another Tears of the Kingdom patent? Or something different? Seems to describe a system of changing sound sources when instantly warping to another location.


Imagine an ability that lets you warp from one side of an enemy to another, and you’ve got surround sound going. Suddenly all the sounds are coming from the opposite direction. It’s disorienting for the player. This patent basically cross-fades the sounds before and after the warp so the player doesn’t get disoriented/wanna throw up. It wouldn’t apply to fast travel or any situation where the old sounds aren’t still audible, or where you have a a loading screen to cover the transition

This could be for any action game.
 
Imagine an ability that lets you warp from one side of an enemy to another, and you’ve got surround sound going. Suddenly all the sounds are coming from the opposite direction. It’s disorienting for the player. This patent basically cross-fades the sounds before and after the warp so the player doesn’t get disoriented/wanna throw up. It wouldn’t apply to fast travel or any situation where the old sounds aren’t still audible, or where you have a a loading screen to cover the transition

This could be for any action game.
Is this really something you could patent and then enforce? Seems a bit broad.
 
Known unannounced projects after the direct:

The Grezzo and Syn Sophia games are not confirmed to be Nintendo-funded. Vanpool's remaster/remake is likely Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Also, I think it's safe to say that indieszero is working on the new Theatryhthm game, but those games are usually co-developed with another company called sAs and indieszero seems to currently have two teams despite the company's size.
 
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Known unannounced projects after the direct:

The Grezzo and Syn Sophia games are not confirmed to be Nintendo-funded. Vanpool's remaster/remake is likely Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Also, I think it's safe to say that the indieszero is working on the new Theatryhthm game, but those games are usually co-developed with another company called sAs and indieszero seems to currently have two teams despite the company's size.
I Assumed the Bandai Namco remaster was Tales of Symphonia, is that not the case?

Or was this something explicitly said to be commissioned by Nintendo?
 
Known unannounced projects after the direct:

The Grezzo and Syn Sophia games are not confirmed to be Nintendo-funded. Vanpool's remaster/remake is likely Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Also, I think it's safe to say that the indieszero is working on the new Theatryhthm game, but those games are usually co-developed with another company called sAs and indieszero seems to currently have two teams despite the company's size.
We can guess at 2D Mario, 3D Mario, 2D Donkey Kong making the most sense for EPD, though there's the possibility EPD 8 and 10 co-develop a new 2D Mario - but I'd think that goes against the desire for Nintendo to maximise EPD output. I can't see Yoshi being handled internally, even if the two Good-Feel games did fairly well, it just doesn't have the reach a big DK title could have. Plus, there's all that theme park activity and movie rumours around the ape.

Grezzo trademarked "Jet Dragon", so their next game - perhaps the one in that hiring call - could be self-published. I'd be surprised if they weren't working with Nintendo on something, though; more Zelda content or, as an outside bet, development support for a new Tomodachi game (after their Miitopia work). I've been predicting Syn Sophia as working on Style Savvy for Switch for years so I'll just assume that's what they're doing in the hopes my prediction is eventually correct.
Cant the namco remaster be Mario Kart Booster Pass? theorically its a remaster of Mario Kart Tour content.
I don't think it would be classed as "action game", would it? Unless they want to keep the description deliberately vague (platformers from EPD hire as "action game", after all).
 
I Assumed the Bandai Namco remaster was Tales of Symphonia, is that not the case?

Or was this something explicitly said to be commissioned by Nintendo?
Yeah, the posting says that it's commissioned by Nintendo. Tales is multiplatform and is published by Namco. Doesn't really add up.

Cant the namco remaster be Mario Kart Booster Pass? theorically its a remaster of Mario Kart Tour content.
It's possible, but the BCP was already revealed at that point and Namco hasn't exactly kept their role in Mario Kart a secret. We just saw their Singapore/Malaysian studios have quite a significant role when it comes to Splatoon 3's art.
 
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Man I hate to see this kind of thing. Monolith is just one of like 10 companies working as support and the fans always frame as if they don't exist. 1up studio exists but you dont ever see them getting mentioned like this
For real. I love Monolith, but man, some of the laurels for games should definitely go to other contract companies.
 
I think the "Monolith Soft are so helpful" discourse is down to how simplistic coverage of Nintendo can be; you see plenty of discourse that certain things "aren't really a Nintendo game" even though EPD are producing, or the IP is co-owned, and so on. We still see something like Pokemon discussed as 'not really a Nintendo game', for example, yet Kirby and Fire Emblem have similar IP sharing arrangements but are discussed as Nintendo games. EPD only counts if they make the whole game, as opposed to co-developing or producing titles. The other extreme seems to happen with Monolith Soft where, even when they have the most minor role, they're credited as if they were essential to the game. It's true of professional coverage as much as it's true of forum and website comments, and of YouTube videos.

As far as we know, Zelda is the only series where Monolith Soft have a significant development assistance role. Fair dos there - but teams like NST, iQue, 1-Up, NERD (not to mention external contractors) continually provide support on a number of first-party titles without the same kind of fuss. NdCube have had a pretty notable role in recent years with the Animal Crossing franchise (even if Amiibo Festival was panned and Pocket Camp perhaps divisive, I dunno, haven't paid attention to it), but they don't get the same kind of attention when they crop up as development support for New Horizons.
 
Known unannounced projects after the direct:

The Grezzo and Syn Sophia games are not confirmed to be Nintendo-funded. Vanpool's remaster/remake is likely Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Also, I think it's safe to say that indieszero is working on the new Theatryhthm game, but those games are usually co-developed with another company called sAs and indieszero seems to currently have two teams despite the company's size.

Is Monolith's Action Game still a possibility? Or that was confirmed to be Zelda?
 
I think the "Monolith Soft are so helpful" discourse is down to how simplistic coverage of Nintendo can be; you see plenty of discourse that certain things "aren't really a Nintendo game" even though EPD are producing, or the IP is co-owned, and so on. We still see something like Pokemon discussed as 'not really a Nintendo game', for example, yet Kirby and Fire Emblem have similar IP sharing arrangements but are discussed as Nintendo games. EPD only counts if they make the whole game, as opposed to co-developing or producing titles. The other extreme seems to happen with Monolith Soft where, even when they have the most minor role, they're credited as if they were essential to the game. It's true of professional coverage as much as it's true of forum and website comments, and of YouTube videos.

As far as we know, Zelda is the only series where Monolith Soft have a significant development assistance role. Fair dos there - but teams like NST, iQue, 1-Up, NERD (not to mention external contractors) continually provide support on a number of first-party titles without the same kind of fuss. NdCube have had a pretty notable role in recent years with the Animal Crossing franchise (even if Amiibo Festival was panned and Pocket Camp perhaps divisive, I dunno, haven't paid attention to it), but they don't get the same kind of attention when they crop up as development support for New Horizons.
Pretty sure NdCube did not work on New Horizons surprisingly.
 
To be frank,theres an difference between regular outsourcing and what nintendo support studios do, on Odyssey and Botw Monolith/1-Up artists are credited for Landscape Art, where the outsourcing companies got credits for Landscape Modeling, one is a creative position,the other not, those outsourcing firms strict follow nintendo orders,they finish assets based on concept art and art direction, Monolith and 1-UP are actively involved since the beggining phase and have creative input on the project,theres entire Splatoon stages comceptualized and made by Monolith alone, 1-UP designed a lot of Odyssey characters and worlds, heck, the chief concept artist of the game was from 1-UP,if you look the artbook most of the art presented was drawn by Asami Inoue from 1-Up,all the art bellow is by her

45361b8c803a0b717848d03435852a19.jpg

c20219df35f2990e9df12aaa74d02035.jpg


c38a1adb935e504fba5b1f39b5db4faf.jpg


Monolith also had their own ideas for furtinure and clothes for animal crossing
img04.png

img06.png

img08.png
 
To be frank,theres an difference between regular outsourcing and what nintendo support studios do, on Odyssey and Botw Monolith/1-Up artists are credited for Landscape Art, where the outsourcing companies got credits for Landscape Modeling, one is a creative position,the other not, those outsourcing firms strict follow nintendo orders,they finish assets based on concept art and art direction, Monolith and 1-UP are actively involved since the beggining phase and have creative input on the project,theres entire Splatoon stages comceptualized and made by Monolith alone, 1-UP designed a lot of Odyssey characters and worlds, heck, the chief concept artist of the game was from 1-UP,if you look the artbook most of the art presented was drawn by Asami Inoue from 1-Up,all the art bellow is by her

45361b8c803a0b717848d03435852a19.jpg

c20219df35f2990e9df12aaa74d02035.jpg


c38a1adb935e504fba5b1f39b5db4faf.jpg


Monolith also had their own ideas for furtinure and clothes for animal crossing
img04.png

img06.png

img08.png
Right. I don't mean to imply the development support from these companies is unimportant; more so that more Nintendo subsidiaries than just Monolith Soft have an important role in assisting EPD. 1-Up have been important in every 3D Mario in the last decade, for example.
 
Right. I don't mean to imply the development support from these companies is unimportant; more so that more Nintendo subsidiaries than just Monolith Soft have an important role in assisting EPD. 1-Up have been important in every 3D Mario in the last decade, for example.
1-UP deserves more credit,Monolith only works on graphics,except for BOTW where they did game design,1-UP do Art,Level Design,Programming and even Sound,for Bowser Fury they and NST basically made the game together and they made the minigames from RingFIt
PomjbgY.png
 
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Did we have any indication that Nintendo was hiring for Pikmin 4 before the announcement?

Also given the hirings, it may be that EPD10 is doing Pikmin 4 and 2D Mario simultaneously?...
 


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