For a while now we’ve known that Nintendo has planned to combine its console and handheld departments into one entity for better communication between the two. They even built a massive new building in Kyoto in order to house this new department. Now it looks like Nintendo’s research and development efforts on both fronts will finally be united after E3.
In a recent investor Q&A session, an investor asked Iwata how he plans to change how his company conducts business. Iwata’s answer was pretty broad, encompassing several aspects of Nintendo’s business, but the thing that stuck out most is his discussion of the merged departments.
We know that we need to change how we manage this new division as well as how we create and manage new projects, and we are currently making progress on this. Also, the new R&D Development Center was built earlier this year, and our developers will move to their new offices in mid-June, after E3. After settling in, the developers who are now working at different buildings will be able to work together in the same building. As a result, our development of hardware and software can be done in a more unified fashion with individual developers being able to communicate directly with others more closely, and the different R&D teams that are currently working in separate rooms can work as one team in the same room.
Of course, even now, our hardware development teams and software development teams work closely with each other, but because they belong to different departments under our current organizational structure, they are not necessarily able to visit others’ rooms freely. In the Development Center, we will create a space where developers from the four different R&D divisions can get together with others. This is another concrete example of what we are doing in order to establish an environment where unique and fun hardware-software integrated entertainment can be developed more smoothly.
With Nintendo creating a space for developers to freely communicate with one another, hopefully we’ll see more Wii U/3DS crossover games, similar to what we’re seeing with Super Smash Bros. and what Capcom was able to do with Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate when it was released. What games would you like to see available on both console and handheld, in the future?
[via NeoGAF]
