Nintendo Software Technology
 | |
 The exterior of Nintendo Software Technology's headquarters in Redmond, Washington | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Founder | Minoru Arakawa Claude Comair |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Shigeki Yamashiro (President) |
| Products | List of software developed |
| Owner | Nintendo |
Number of employees | ~50 (2019)[1] |
| Parent | Nintendo of America |
Nintendo Software Technology (NST) is an American video game developer. NST was created by Nintendo as a first-party developer to create games for the North American market, though their games have also been released in other territories such as Europe and Japan. Although the development team is based in North America, there is a traditional Nintendo and Japanese-centric design applied to the development of the software. Co-founders and Claude Comair retired in 2002 and 2006, respectively. NST is currently headed by Shigeki Yamashiro, and is located inside of Nintendo of America's headquarters in Redmond, Washington.
Nintendo made the decision of transplanting several members of their development team in Japan over to America. NST also recruited several veterans from companies such as Rockstar Games, Electronic Arts, and Microsoft to further complete their development talent.
History[]
The establishment took place in 1998 through a collaboration with the private university DigiPen Institute of Technology, also located in Redmond. The offices opened with several doctorate level instructors and some recent graduates of the university working with several Nintendo of America designers and producers. Their first game, Bionic Commando: Elite Forces, was released for the Game Boy Color in 1999 and was a sequel of Capcom's Bionic Commando.
Over the years, NST has developed many games for Nintendo consoles such as the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, Wave Race: Blue Storm, and Metroid Prime Hunters.
NST started developing Project H.A.M.M.E.R. For the Nintendo Wii but several problems landed the project in 'development hell'. A large amount of funding was spent on cut-scenes early in development and so when the project started to fall behind managers didn't want to end it because of the capital already spent. The American developers suggested that the problem was the gameplay however the Japanese managers believed the problems were the environments. This dispute, among others, made the project drag on for a number of years before it was totally abandoned and a large number of staff were made redundant.[2]
DigiPen's Main Campus was based in the same building as theirs until 2010.
List of software developed[]
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Director | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Bionic Commando: Elite Forces | Game Boy Color | Josh Atkins | Andrew Hieke Minoru Arakawa |
| 2000 | Ridge Racer 64 | Nintendo 64 | Akila Redmer | Andrew Hieke Minoru Arakawa |
| Crystalis | Game Boy Color | Josh Atkins | Andrew Hieke | |
| Pokémon Puzzle League | Nintendo 64 | Yukimi Shimura | Takehiro Izushi Genyo Takeda | |
| 2001 | Wave Race: Blue Storm | GameCube | Shigeki Yamashiro | Shigeru Miyamoto Minoru Arakawa |
| 2003 | Nintendo Puzzle Collection (Panel de Pon) | Hitoshi Yamagami Yukimi Shimura |
Andrew Hieke Takehiro Izushi | |
| The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition | Shigeru Miyamoto | |||
| 1080° Avalanche | Vivek Melwani | Shigeki Yamashiro Shigeru Miyamoto | ||
| 2004 | Mario vs. Donkey Kong | Game Boy Advance | Yukimi Shimura | |
| Ridge Racer DS | Nintendo DS | Vivek Melwani | Shigeki Yamashiro | |
| 2006 | Metroid Prime Hunters | Masamichi Abe | Shigeki Yamashiro Kensuke Tanabe | |
| Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis | Yukimi Shimura | |||
| 2007 | Sin and Punishment (English translation) | Nintendo 64 (on Wii Virtual Console) |
Hideyuki Suganami | Masato Maegawa Takehiro Izushi |
| 2008 | Super Smash Bros Brawl (Masterpiece Mode)[citation needed] | Wii | Masahiro Sakurai | Kensuke Tanabe |
| Crosswords DS (Co-developed w/ Nuevo Retro Games) | Nintendo DS | Yukimi Shimura | Shigeki Yamashiro Masao Yamamoto | |
| 2009 | Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again | DSiWare | Yukimi Shimura | Shigeki Yamashiro Kensuke Tanabe |
| 2010 | Aura-Aura Climber | Masamichi Abe | Yukimi Shimura | |
| Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! | Nintendo DS | Yukimi Shimura | Shigeki Yamashiro Kensuke Tanabe | |
| 2012 | Crosswords Plus | Nintendo 3DS | Stephen Mortimer | Yukimi Shimura |
| 2013 | Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move | Yukimi Shimura Kensuke Tanabe | ||
| 2015 | Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars | Wii U / Nintendo 3DS | Akiya Sakamoto | |
| 2016 | Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo Challenge[3] | Wii U / Nintendo 3DS[3] | Akiya Sakamoto Kensuke Tanabe | |
| Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS (port work/new content) | Nintendo 3DS | Yosuke Oshino | Takashi Tezuka Shigeki Yamashiro Hiroyuki Kimura | |
| 2017 | Snipperclips - Cut it out, together! (development support) | Nintendo Switch | Adam Vian | Takao Nakano Toyokazu Nonaka |
| 2018 | Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (port work) | Nintendo 3DS / Nintendo Switch | Kenta Motokura Shinya Hiratake |
Koichi Hayashida |
| 2019 | The Stretchers (development support) | Nintendo Switch | Viktor Lindäng Masamichi Abe |
Paul Allen Takao Nakano Toyokazu Nonaka Keisuke Terasaki Yoshiaki Koizumi Katsuya Eguchi |
| 2020 | Good Job! (development support) | Masataka Takemoto Coen Neessen |
Katsuya Eguchi Toyokazu Nonaka Fernando Rojas Braga | |
| 2021 | Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (Bowser's Fury)[4] | Kenta Motokura Koichi Hayashida |
Yoshiaki Koizumi Kaori Ando |
List of applications developed[]
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Director | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Nintendo 64 Emulator | Wii | ||
| 2009 | BBC iPlayer Channel | Wii | ||
| Mario Calculator and Clock | DSiWare | Shigeki Yamashiro | ||
| Animal Crossing Calculator and Clock | DSiWare | Shigeki Yamashiro | ||
| 2011 | Kirby TV Channel | Wii | ||
| 2012 | Wii U Chat (Co-developed w/ NERD and Vidyo)[5] | Wii U | Fumihiko Tamiya | |
| 2013 | Wii Street U[6] | Wii U | Toshiaki Suzuki | Keiichi Kawai |
Cancelled games[]
| Title | Platform(s) |
|---|---|
| Project H.A.M.M.E.R. | Wii |
References[]
- ^ https://www.redmond.gov/943/Largest-Employers
- ^ "Project H.A.M.M.E.R. [Wii – Cancelled] – Unseen64". unseen64.net. 4 April 2008.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Allen, Eric Van (13 January 2016). "Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo Challenge Announced as Pack-In with New Amiibo in Japan". ign.com.
- ^ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jamesshowecker_super-mario-3d-world-for-wii-u-nintendo-activity-6766182171586785280-mtZ9
- ^ "Iwata Asks". nintendo.com.
- ^ "Iwata Asks". nintendo.com.
- Nintendo World Report company profile. Retrieved Oct. 30, 2008.
- PALGN company information. Retrieved Feb. 9, 2005.
- N-Sider personnel view. Retrieved Feb. 9, 2005.
- N-Sider. Retrieved May 9, 2005.
External links[]
- A group interview with NST about 1080º Avalanche
- Two-part interview with Shigeki Yamashiro, producer of 1080º Avalanche, and Vivek Melwani, lead game designer and director
- IGN profile
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- American companies established in 1998
- Nintendo divisions and subsidiaries
- First-party video game developers
- Video game companies of the United States
- Video game development companies
- Companies based in Redmond, Washington
- Video game companies established in 1998
- 1998 establishments in Washington (state)
- American subsidiaries of foreign companies