Nintendo Research & Development 2 Explained

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.

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

! scope="col"

Name
1977	Color TV-Game 6 <	-- June 1, 1977 -->	[6]
	Color TV-Game 15 <	-- June 8, 1977 -->
1978	Color TV-Game Racing 112 <	-- June 8, 1978 -->
1979	Color TV-Game Block Breaker <	-- April 23, 1979 -->
1980	Computer TV-Game

Video game consoles

! scope="col"

Name
1983	Family Computer <	-- July 15, 1983 (JP) -->
1985	Nintendo Entertainment System <	-- October 18, 1985 (NA) -->
1990	Super Famicom <	-- November 21, 1990 (JP) -->
1991	Super Nintendo Entertainment System <	-- August 23, 1991 (NA) -->
1995	Satellaview <	-- April 23, 1995 (JP) -->

Video games

List of video games developed by the Nintendo Research & Development No. 2 department!!Title!Genre(s)!Platform(s)!

1980	Radar Scope		Arcade	[7]
1983	Donkey Kong		Nintendo Entertainment System	[8]
	Donkey Kong Jr.		Nintendo Entertainment System
	Mahjong		Nintendo Entertainment System
	Donkey Kong Jr. Math		Nintendo Entertainment System
1991	NES Open Tournament Golf		Nintendo Entertainment System	[9]
1996			Super Famicom	[10]
1997	BS Zelda no Densetsu: Inishie no Sekiban		Satellaview	[11]
	Sutte Hakkun		Satellaview	[12]
1998			Super Famicom
1999	Super Mario Bros. Deluxe		Game Boy Color
2000	Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble		Game Boy Color
2001	Super Mario Advance		Game Boy Advance
	Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2		Game Boy Advance
2002			Game Boy Advance
	Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3		Game Boy Advance
2003			Game Boy Advance

External links

• IGN Listing for R&D2

Notes and References

1. Web site: Iwata Asks: New Super Mario Bros. Wii . . 2011-02-18 . 2018-03-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110218022536/http://us.wii.com/iwata_asks/punchout/vol1_page2.jsp . February 18, 2011 .
2. Web site: Iwata Asks: Game & Watch: 1. When Developers Did Everything. Nintendo of Europe GmbH. en-GB. 2019-01-23.
3. Web site: Nintendo has always been like that, we are like indies. GamesIndustry.biz. en. 2019-01-24.
4. Web site: UEMURA Masayuki Special Achievement Award 2015 [19th]]. Archive. Japan Media Arts Festival. Japan Media Arts Festival Archive. en. 2019-01-24.
5. Web site: Iwata Asks: Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary: The Super Mario Preservation Society. iwataasks.nintendo.com. 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. 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. Web site: Nintendo Archive - Works｜Sporadic Vacuum. Works｜Sporadic. Vacuum. Hirokazutanaka.com. September 16, 2017. August 8, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140808171105/http://www.hirokazutanaka.com/works/nintendo/. dead.
8. Web site: Iwata Asks: New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Volume 2: It All Began In 1984. iwataasks.nintendo.com. 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. Web site: GameSpy: Nintendo R&D2.
10. Web site: Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima . Mobygames . 2019-02-25.
11. Web site: BS Zelda no Densetsu: Inishie no Sekiban . Mobygames . 2019-03-28.
12. Web site: Sutte Hakkun . Mobygames . 2019-03-28. Co-developed together with indieszero.