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Nintendo game developers?

July 12, 2005

By Jay | add to del.icio.us

A friend and collegue from RIT is currently studying abroad in Japan this summer. He has asked if I would post this request for information about any North American game developers who are currently developing, or planning to develop, for Nintendo's platforms:

"I'm thinking about companies to apply to. I really want to make games for Nintendo, I like their corporation and I like their games. Unfortunately, my Japanese isn't good enough to work for them directly yet, and I'm not sure I'd want to work in Japan anyways. So what I'm really looking for is companies based in North America that make games mostly for Nintendo. Any ideas, folks?"

If you know of any, please post a comment. Thanks!

Comments (may contain spoilers)

Try Retro Games or Rare, RG is owned by Nintendo while Rare is hiring people to make Nintendo DS games.

Good luck!

Posted by: Yaanu | July 12, 2005 10:54 PM

Thanks, Yaanu. And yes, I have seen Rare's recent job postings, though I thought they were located in the UK(?)

And then there's Factor 5, the talented guys headed by Julian Eggebrecht who created the Rogue Squadron games. Though I don't think they are developing exclusively for Nintendo's platforms any longer. They are located in San Rafael, CA.

Vicarious Visions did the Spiderman DS game. As it was well received and they pulled that game together in record time, there may be more DS games in the works from them. They are located in Troy, NY.

Silicon Knights may be worth checking out. When working closely with Nintendo, Denis Dyack was often quoted as saying the two companies shared similar attitudes toward game development. They are located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

Posted by: jay | July 13, 2005 1:53 PM

There are several (2-3) companies in Austin, TX that produce for Nintendo. Of particular mind is the company behind Metroid Prime, Retro Studios, in Austin. I have heard (through the grapevine) that they are looking to expand and hire on some more developers.

Posted by: Jarod | July 13, 2005 3:12 PM

Of course you could always head up to Redmond, Washington, the headquarters of Nintendo of America and try to get a job there (or in Austin, TX at first party 'Retro Studios'). Start here and click on jobs:

http://www.nintendo.com/corp/index.jsp

The world needs more great games, so get to work ;)

Posted by: Aaron Pulkka | July 13, 2005 3:16 PM

HAL Labs (a Nintendo second party) is in Canada. They are responsible for the Kirby and Smash Brothers series.

Posted by: dusty | July 15, 2005 3:51 PM

Hal labs is certainly not in Canada, they are an internal dev house at Nintendo of Japan. They are located in Chyioda-ku Tokyo.

Posted by: Jeff | July 16, 2005 11:22 AM

How can anybody even mention HAL without mentioning EARTHBOUND!

(Sigh)
Jarod

Posted by: Jarod | July 17, 2005 9:34 AM

Oops, you can forget about Factor 5, they just put out a press release stating that they will be developing exclusively for the PS3:

http://1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3140935&did=1

Posted by: Aaron Pulkka | July 21, 2005 4:49 PM

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