Nintendo System Development Division , commonly abbreviated as Nintendo SDD and formerly known as Nintendo Network Business & Development ( NBD ), Nintendo Network Service Development ( NSD ), and Nintendo Special Planning & Development ( SPD ), was a Japanese division located in the Nintendo Research Institute in Kyoto, Japan , until it moved to the Nintendo Development Center, also in Kyoto. The division consisted of a single development team that focused on software and peripheral development. SDD was composed of two development departments with different duties: the Network Development & Operations Department, which handled Nintendo Network service programming, in cooperation with Nintendo Network Service Database, and the Environment Development Department, which developed Software Development Kits (SDKs), among other technologies.
30-662: On September 16, 2015, SDD merged with Nintendo Integrated Research & Development (IRD), becoming the Nintendo Platform Technology Development . The Nintendo Special Planning & Development team originated from former Nintendo R&D2 staff, and was mainly responsible for ports and in-house development for low profile hardware, such as the Pokémon Mini and the Super Famicom Satellaview service. Most of
60-511: A degree with personal computers , using similar component and system design, including standardization with main computer chip architecture. Consoles remain as fixed systems, lacking the customization options that personal computer components have, and most consoles include customized components to maximize space and reduce power consumption to provide the best performance for game playing, while lowering costs with reduced storage and memory configurations. Home video game consoles typically can play
90-498: A different aspect of product design. The manager, Genyo Takeda , and most of the chief engineers originated from the Nintendo R&D3 hardware division. Home video game console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television , and an external power source as to play video games . While initial consoles were dedicated units with only
120-606: A few games fixed into the electronic circuits of the system, most consoles since support the use of swappable game media, either through game cartridges , optical discs , or through digital distribution to internal storage. There have been numerous home video game consoles since the first commercial unit, the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. Historically these consoles have been grouped into generations lasting each about six years based on common technical specifications. As of 2024, there have been nine console generations, with
150-429: A multitude of games, offered either as game cartridges (or ROM cartridges), on optical media like CD-ROM or DVD, or obtained by digital distribution . Early consoles, also considered dedicated consoles, had games that were fixed in the electronic circuitry of the hardware. Some facets may be controlled by switching external controls on the console but the games could not be changed themselves. Most home consoles require
180-501: A separate game controller, and may support multiple controllers for multiplayer games. Some console games can only be played with special, unconventional game controllers, such as light guns for rail shooters and guitar controllers for music games . Some consoles also possess the ability to connect and interface with a particular handheld game system, which certain games can leverage to provide alternate control schemes, second screen gameplay elements, exclusive unlockable content or
210-522: A series of home video game consoles begins in a generation and lasts to another generation, it is listed in the generation the series began. This list does not claim to be complete. This list does not include other types of video game consoles such as handheld game consoles , which are usually of lower computational power than home consoles due to their smaller size; microconsoles , which are usually low-cost Android-based devices that rely on downloading; retro style consoles ; or dedicated consoles past
240-510: A television screen or computer monitor, and to an external power source, to play video games on using one or more video game controllers . This differs from a handheld game console which will have a built-in screen, controller buttons/features, and a power supply like a battery or battery pack. Earlier home consoles were typically built from a selection of standard and highly customized integrated computer chips, packaged onto circuit boards and cases. Over time, home console design has converged to
270-553: The Mechanical Design Group as a small creative unit that has a hardware and a software team working jointly together to create innovative products. In 2008, Nintendo SPD was renamed to Nintendo Network Service Development. In 2011, the Nintendo NSD development team was consolidated into a division and was renamed to Nintendo Network Business & Development, appointing Masaru Shimomura as manager. Following
300-727: The Network Software Development Group and the Application Group . The Environment Development Department was responsible for developing online communication infrastructures and middleware tools . Manager/Producer: The Mechanical Design Group was responsible for developing software titles and peripherals for Nintendo video game consoles , until it was dissolved in 2013. Discography Credits Nintendo Integrated Research %26 Development Nintendo Integrated Research & Development Division , commonly abbreviated as Nintendo IRD ,
330-549: The Nintendo Research & Engineering Department (or RED ), the former hardware group specialized in all engineering and technological aspects of Nintendo's handheld development, was absorbed into Nintendo IRD Division. On September 16, 2015, IRD merged with the Nintendo System Development division, becoming the Nintendo Platform Technology Development . In December 1980, Genyo Takeda
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#1732801457170360-510: The 3D era, Takeda's group spun-off and established itself as a division into Integrated Research & Development Division , and began spending longer periods of time researching and testing the various and rapidly evolving hardware that would power Nintendo's next generation of consoles. The Nintendo IRD Division was broken up into two departments: the Integrated Research & Development Department (or IRD ), which focused on
390-650: The Network Planning Group into a department named Network Development & Operations Department which was responsible for handling Nintendo Network service programming in cooperation with Nintendo Network Service Database, and created the Environment Development Department', which developed Software Development Kits (SDKs), among experimental technologies. With the change, the Mechanical Design Group
420-399: The ability to transfer certain game data. The first commercial video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey , developed by a team led by Ralph H. Baer and released commercially in 1972. It was shortly followed by the release of the home version of Pong by Atari Inc. in 1975 based on the arcade game. A number of clones of both systems rushed to fill the nascent home console market and
450-576: The best-selling console to date with over 155 million units sold. Microsoft, fearing that the PlayStation 2 was threatening the competitive edge of the personal computer, entered the console space with its Xbox line in 2001. Internet connectivity had become commonplace by the mid-2000s, and nearly all home consoles supported digital distribution and online service offerings by the 2010s. With Sony and Microsoft's dominance in hardware capabilities, most other major manufacturers have since dropped out of
480-498: The change, the Nintendo Network Business department was created. The department contained two different groups: the former Mechanical Design Group, which was responsible for developing software titles and peripherals, as well the new Network Planning Group, which was responsible for developing Nintendo Network services. In 2013, the division renamed to Nintendo System Development Division. Nintendo consolidated
510-622: The company and founded Activision , becoming the first third-party developer. Activision's success led to a rush of new developers creating games without any publishing controls for these systems. The market became flooded with games, and combined with the rising popularity of the personal computer and the economic recession of the early 1980s, led to the video game crash of 1983 in the U.S. market. Nintendo , which had released its Family Computer console in Japan that year, took several cautionary steps to limit game production to only licensed games, and
540-401: The current leading manufacturers being Sony , Microsoft , and Nintendo , colloquially known as the "Big 3." Past console manufacturers have included Atari , Fairchild , Mattel , Coleco , Sega , NEC , 3DO , Fujitsu and SNK . A home video game console is a predesigned piece of electronic hardware that is meant to be placed at a fixed location at one's home, connected to a display like
570-528: The development of Nintendo home video game console hardware and associated peripherals, and the Research & Engineering Development Department (or RED ), which focused on the development of Nintendo handheld video game console hardware and associated peripherals. Both departments were split into several sub-groups. Unlike the software departments, the hardware groups generally worked together on most projects. On February 16, 2013, Nintendo announced that
600-511: The dominant console type of the era, though not all consoles of those eras are of the same type. Some eras are referred to based on how many bits a major console could process. The "128-bit era" ( sixth generation ) was the final era in which this practice was widespread. This list only counts the first iteration of each console's hardware, because several systems have had slim, enhanced or other hardware revisions, but they are not individually listed here. The list also includes unreleased systems. If
630-399: The first generation, which have games built in and do not use any form of physical media. Consoles have been redesigned from time to time to improve their market appeal. Redesigned models are not listed on their own. The list omits the more than 900 home video game consoles known to have been released in the first generation of video game consoles , those that were generally game consoles for
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#1732801457170660-552: The hardware business, but maintain a presence in the game development and licensing space. Nintendo remains the only competitor having taken a blue ocean strategy by offering more original console concepts such as motion sensing in the Wii and the hybrid design of the Nintendo Switch . Within the home video game console market, the leading consoles have often been grouped into generations, consoles that were major competitors in
690-460: The marketplace. There have been nine generations of consoles since the 1970s, with a new generation appearing about every five years. There are more than 1000 home video game consoles known to exist, the vast majority of which were released during the first generation: only 103 home video game consoles were released between the second and current generation, 15 were canceled. This list is divided into console generations which are named based on
720-468: The notion of " bits " as a major selling point for consumers. The consumer adoption of optical discs with larger storage capacity in the mid-1995 led many console manufactures to move away from cartridges to CD-ROMs and later to DVDs and other formats, with Sony's PlayStation line introducing even more features that gave it an advantage in the market; the PlayStation 2 , released in 2000, remains
750-533: The software developed by this group has remained domestic having hardly ever seen release outside Japan. The original general manager, Satoshi Yamato, produced all of the software which included in-house software for the Game Boy Advance , and the e-Reader . The group also created mechanical devices and peripherals like the Pokéwalker and Pokémotion. The last general manager, Masaru Shimomura described
780-571: The video game industry suffered a small recession in 1977 due to this. The Fairchild Channel F , released in 1976, was the first console to use game cartridges , which was then used by the Atari VCS and several other consoles of the second generation and led to a second boom in the video game industry in the United States and around the globe. During this time, Atari Inc. had been sold to Warner Communications , and several programmers left
810-550: Was a Japanese developments division that handled everything related to producing Nintendo 's console hardware and associated peripherals. Originally established in the 1970s with engineer Genyo Takeda acting as manager, Nintendo Research & Development No. 3 Department and part of the Manufacturing Division , the department was responsible for various hardware technologies and even developed several arcade and console titles. In 2000, as technology evolved into
840-575: Was able to introduce it, rebranded as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985 into the U.S. market. The NES helped to revive the console market and gave Nintendo dominance during the late 1980s. Sega took advantage of the newfound U.S. growth to market its Sega Genesis against the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the early 1990s in the so-called "console wars" and emphasized
870-503: Was dissolved. On September 16, 2015, SDD merged with Nintendo Integrated Research & Development (IRD), becoming the Nintendo Platform Technology Development . Department Manager: Kiyoshi Mizuki The Network Operations & Development Department was responsible for developing Nintendo Network services, in cooperation with the Nintendo Network Service Database. The department had two subgroups:
900-416: Was promoted to manager of the Nintendo R&D3 department. General Manager: Genyo Takeda The Integrated Research & Development Department (or IRD ) was the hardware development team responsible for all of Nintendo's home video game consoles and associated peripherals. The department was split into five different groups who worked together on most projects, with each group generally focusing on
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