Developer · Japan
Nintendo EAD
Miyamoto's flagship studio: Mario, Zelda, Wii Sports; merged into EPD in 2015.
Corporate lineage
- Continues Nintendo R&D4 under a new name
- Part of Nintendo
Later became Nintendo EPD.
Mechanics first shipped by Nintendo EAD
Ideas this studio is credited with introducing to the medium, each with a full downstream history.
Space & Locomotion · 1990
Rotating Ground Plane
A rotating ground plane is a single texture-mapped floor that hardware can scale and spin one scanline at a time, lett…
Origin: F-Zero
Space & Locomotion · 1996
Analog Free-Roam 3D Movement
Analog free-roam 3D movement lets a third-person character run in any direction at any speed through an open volume, w…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Camera & Input · 1996
Graded Analog Input
Graded analog input reads how far a stick is pushed rather than whether a direction is pressed, so speed, angle and pr…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Space & Locomotion · 1996
Hub-and-Spoke World Access
A hub-and-spoke world is a central space connecting outward to self-contained levels, letting players choose what to a…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Camera & Input · 1996
Trailing Follow Camera
A trailing follow camera is a viewpoint that chases the player character with its own physics, collision and framing r…
Origin: Super Mario 64
Camera & Input · 1997
Haptic Force Feedback
Haptic force feedback sends information through the controller as vibration or resistance, giving games a channel that…
Origin: Star Fox 64
Camera & Input · 1998
Contextual Lock-On Targeting
Contextual lock-on targeting binds the camera and the character to a chosen enemy, keeping both facing each other so t…
Origin: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Camera & Input · 2005
Direct Touch Manipulation
Direct touch manipulation removes the cursor and the avatar and lets a finger act on the screen itself, so the interfa…
Origin: Nintendogs
Camera & Input · 2006
Spatial Motion Input
Spatial motion input measures how a controller moves through the room and uses that as the control signal, so swinging…
Origin: Wii Sports
Games developed (29)
1984
1990
F-Zero 1990 1 first
1993
1996
Super Mario 64 1996 4 firsts
1997
Star Fox 64 1997 1 first
1998
2001
2005
Nintendogs 2005 1 first
2006
Wii Sports 2006 1 first
2007