Nintendo Research & Development 2

Nintendo Research & Development No. 2 Department,^[a] commonly abbreviated as Nintendo R&D2, was a Japanese team within Nintendo that developed software and peripherals. While usually occupied in system operating software and technical support, the team would come back to early development in the 1990s where several new designers got their start at game development, the most famous being Eiji Aonuma who developed Marvelous: Another Treasure Island.

Nintendo Research & Development No. 2 Department

Nintendo's logotype, used during R&D2's existence
Exterior of the former Nintendo headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, which housed the department
Native name	任天堂開発第二部
Romanized name	Nintendō Kaihatsu Daini Bu
Company type	Department
Industry	Video games
Genre	Electronic game development Video game console development Video game development
Predecessor	Nintendo Research & Development
Founded	1978
Founder	Hiroshi Yamauchi
Defunct	2004 (2004)
Fate	Absorbed into Nintendo Software Planning & Development
Successor	Nintendo Software Planning & Development
Headquarters	Kyoto , Japan
Number of locations	1 (Kyoto) (2004)
Key people	Masayuki Uemura (General Manager) Eiji Aonuma (Director)
Owner	Nintendo
Parent	Nintendo Manufacturing Division

R&D2 was originally led by Masayuki Uemura, who previously worked for Sharp Corporation, using an idea of Sharp's solar technology Uemura's department went on to develop the popular Nintendo beam gun games, selling over 1 million units. Kazuhiko Taniguchi took Uemura's position in 2004. Nintendo R&D2 was later merged into Nintendo SPD.^[1]

History

In the 1970s, Nintendo created the R&D2 department.^[2]

In 2004, the department's general manager Masayuki Uemura retired from Nintendo.^[3][4] Following his retirement, he became a professor at the Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, and served as an advisor to Nintendo Research & Engineering.^[5]

Products developed

Electronic games

List of electronic games developed by the Nintendo Research & Development No. 2 department

Year	Name	Ref.
1977	Color TV-Game 6	[6]
	Color TV-Game 15	[6]
1978	Color TV-Game Racing 112	[6]
1979	Color TV-Game Block Breaker	[6]
1980	Computer TV-Game	[6]

Video game consoles

List of video game consoles developed by the Nintendo Research & Development No. 2 department

Year	Name	Ref.
1983	Family Computer	[6]
1985	Nintendo Entertainment System	[6]
1990	Super Famicom	[6]
1991	Super Nintendo Entertainment System	[6]
1995	Satellaview	[6]

Video games

List of video games developed by the Nintendo Research & Development No. 2 department

Year	Title	Genre(s)	Platform(s)	Ref.
1980	Radar Scope		Arcade	[7]
1983	Donkey Kong		Nintendo Entertainment System	[8]
	Donkey Kong Jr.		Nintendo Entertainment System	[8]
	Mahjong		Nintendo Entertainment System	[8]
	Donkey Kong Jr. Math		Nintendo Entertainment System	[8]
1991	NES Open Tournament Golf		Nintendo Entertainment System	[9][10]
1996	Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima		Super Famicom	[11]
1997	BS Zelda no Densetsu: Inishie no Sekiban		Satellaview	[12]
	Sutte Hakkun		Satellaview	[13]
1998			Super Famicom
1999	Super Mario Bros. Deluxe		Game Boy Color	[14][10]
2000	Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble		Game Boy Color	[15]
2001	Super Mario Advance		Game Boy Advance	[10]
	Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2		Game Boy Advance	[10]
2002	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords		Game Boy Advance	[10]
	Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3		Game Boy Advance	[10]
2003	Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3		Game Boy Advance	[10]

Notes

1. Japanese: 任天堂開発第二部, Hepburn: Nintendō Kaihatsu Daini Bu

References

1. "Iwata Asks: New Super Mario Bros. Wii". Nintendo. 2011-02-18. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved 2018-03-25.
2. "Iwata Asks: Game & Watch: 1. When Developers Did Everything". Nintendo of Europe GmbH. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
3. "Nintendo has always been like that, we are like indies". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
4. Archive, Japan Media Arts Festival. "UEMURA Masayuki | Special Achievement Award | 2015 [19th]". Japan Media Arts Festival Archive. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
5. "Iwata Asks: Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary: The Super Mario Preservation Society". iwataasks.nintendo.com. Retrieved 2019-01-24. Masayuki Uemura: [...] Currently, he has a seat at Nintendo as an advisor in the Research and Engineering Department, and as a professor at Ritsumeikan University he researches video games and teaches students.
6. Mago, Zdenko (April 5, 2018). "The "Father" Of the Nintendo Entertainment SystemIn Slovakia for The First Time - Interview With Masayuki Uemura" (PDF). Acta Ludogica. 1: 52–54. Due to the growing demand for development, he was in charge of the management of the Research & Development 2 Division in which they worked on the development of several hardware devices such as games for colour televisions, Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom), Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo Entertainment System or BS-X Satellaview.
7. Vacuum, Works｜Sporadic. "Nintendo Archive - Works｜Sporadic Vacuum". Hirokazutanaka.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
8. "Iwata Asks: New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Volume 2: It All Began In 1984". iwataasks.nintendo.com. Retrieved 2019-01-25. I worked on a wide variety of titles together with R&D2, including Donkey Kong, which was released at the same time as the Famicom, Donkey Kong Jr., Mahjong and Donkey Kong Jr. Math.
9. Nintendo Research & Development 2 (1991). NES Open Tournament Golf. Nintendo. Scene: Staff Credits. Producer: Masayuki Uemura{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
10. "GameSpy: Nintendo R&D2".
11. "Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima". Mobygames. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
12. "BS Zelda no Densetsu: Inishie no Sekiban". Mobygames. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
13. "Sutte Hakkun". Mobygames. Retrieved 2019-03-28. Co-developed together with indieszero.
14. Nintendo Research & Development 2 (May 1, 1999). Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. Nintendo. Scene: Staff Credits. Producer: Masayuki Uemura, Kazuhiko Taniguchi{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
15. Nintendo Research & Development 2 (August 23, 2000). Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2. Nintendo. Scene: Staff Credits. Producers: Masayuki Uemura, Kazuhiko Taniguchi{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links

• IGN Listing for R&D2