Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development

Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development (任天堂 情報開発本部), commonly abbreviated as EAD, is the largest division inside Nintendo. Famed developers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka serve as heads of the EAD studios and are credited in each game released from EAD, with varying degrees of involvement. EAD is best known for its work on games in the Mario, The Legend of Zelda, F-Zero, Star Fox, and Pikmin franchises.

In 1997, Miyamoto explained that twenty to thirty employees were devoted to each EAD title during the course of its development. He also disclosed the existence of a programming group within the division called SRD, a group of about two-hundred employees with proficiency in hardware development.

In 2004 Nintendo underwent a corporate restructuring, in which several members of the Nintendo Research & Development 1 and Nintendo Research & Development 2 were reassigned under the EAD banner. Nintendo EAD is itself split into five separate teams in Kyoto who work concurrently on different projects in addition to a sister group in Tokyo.

Comprehensive Software Development Group
Manager/Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, Takao Sawano

Not necessarily responsible for a specific franchise or genre

Games developed:

Software Development Group No. 1
Manager/Producer: Hideki Konno

Responsible for Nintendogs and new Mario Kart games

Games developed:

Software Development Group No. 2
Manager/Producer: Katsuya Eguchi

Responsible for all Wii branded games and the Animal Crossing series.

Games developed:

Software Development Group No. 3
Manager/Producer: Eiji Aonuma

Primarily responsible for the Zelda series

Games developed:

Software Development Group No. 4
Manager/Producer: Hiroyuki Kimura

Responsible for remakes and ports of older titles, and the Pikmin series
 * Games developed:

Software Development Group No. 5
Manager/Producer: Tadashi Sugiyama

Responsible for developing games that attract casual gamers.

Games developed:

Tokyo Development Group
Manager/Producer: Takao Shimizu, Yoshiaki Koizumi

Mainly responsible for the Mario series


 * Games developed: