R&D 1

R&D1

Type: First Party Developer

Founded: 1984

Status: Defunct

Bestselling Game: Super Mario Land

Notable Members

Shigeru Miyamoto - Hirokazu Tanaka

Gunpei Yokoi

Key Franchises

Balloon Fight - Kid Icarus - Metroid

Wario Land - WarioWare

Nintendo R&D1 was one of Nintendo's first development groups. Along with the Gameboy and Virtual Boy, they developed many of the Nintendo Entertainment System's classic games such as Duck Hunt, Ice Climbers, and Kid Icarus. They are also the creators of the popular Metroid franchise.

R&D stands for Research & Development.

History

In the early days of Nintendo, president Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that their employees would do better if they competed against each other in smaller groups. The first group, R&D1, was lead by Gunpei Yokoi. In the early years, R&D1 was responsible for the Game & Watch series and arcade games. Shigeru Miyamoto also started in R&D1 as a graphic designer.

During the NES years, R&D1 was responsible for most of Nintendo's NES games. Most of their NES games never had a sequel. The exceptions include Metroid,Kid Icarus, and Balloon Fight. They also developed the Gameboy.

Though they created more games, R&D1 was eclipsed by the success of R&D4's games. R&D1 was told to develop games for the Gameboy while Nintendo EAD developed games for the Super Nintendo. They were instructed to make Mario games for the Gameboy, but they were also allowed to continue their Metroid, Kid Icarus, and Balloon Fight franchises. They were also able to convince the executives at Nintendo to let them create Wario Land series instead of continuing with Super Mario Land. They thought that Wario represented their situation.

Though they weren't allowed to make many games for the Super Nintendo, R&D1 made Super Metroid. It's considered to be one of the best, if not the best, game for the Super Nintendo.

During this time, the hardware section of R&D1 was creating the Virtual Boy. The console sold terribly. Shamed, Gunpei Yokoi left Nintendo to found Koto Laboratory. Takehiro Izushi, Gunpei's longtime assistant, took over the small group.

When the Gameboy Advance was released in 2001, R&D1 was responsible for most of the original games for it. Along with continuing the Wario Land and Metroid series, they also created WarioWare which became one of the most valuable series for the Gameboy Advance.

In 2005, R&D1 was absorbed into Nintendo EAD.