Nintendo Research & Development 2

Nintendo Research & Development 2
Type	Division of Nintendo
Founded	1972 (staff members reassigned in 2003)
Headquarters	Kyoto, Japan
Key people	Masayuki Uemura, manager (1972 - 2003)
Industry	Video games
Products	Video game consoles Video game hardware Video games
Number of people	undisclosed
Website	http://www.nintendo.com/

Nintendo Research & Development 2 (任天堂開発第二部, Nintendō Kaihatsu Daini Bu, R&D2) was the second video game development group within Nintendo. It was managed by Masayuki Uemura from its creation in 1972 until Nintendo's internal development groups were restructured by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata in 2003. Staff members of Nintendo Research & Development 2 were reassigned to Nintendo Software Planning & Development.

Formation of Nintendo Research & Development 2

In 1972, Masayuki Uemura joined Nintendo, after having previously worked at Sharp Corporation. He assisted Gunpei Yokoi of Nintendo Research & Development with solar cell engineering for the Beam Gun line of toys. After this, Uemura was assigned to manage a new division within Nintendo, Nintendo Research & Development 2. This division was in charge of creating hardware and peripherals, although it ported several arcade games to home systems, and it is credited with the creation of several video games as well.

Color TV-Game

In the mid-1970s, several companies sought to capitalize on the popularity of Atari's Pong, and Nintendo was among them. Thus, came the creation of the Color TV-Game series. The first two systems, Color TV-Game 6 and Color TV-Game 15, both released in 1978, were Pong clones, offering variations of tennis, hockey and volleyball, in single and doubles mode. The main difference between the two, other than the different variations of playable games, were that Color TV-Game 6 had its two controllers attached to the system itself, and Color TV-Game 15 had its two controllers attached to cables.

1978 saw the release of Color TV-Game Racing 112, which was a break from the bat and ball mold in that it was a racing game with switches on the side that allowed play of 112 variants of the game. It was playable either with the steering wheel or with two wired controllers for two player games. The final two releases were home versions of arcade games created by Nintendo R&D1. The first, released in 1979, was Color TV-Game Block Breaker, a home release of Block Fever. The final release in the Color TV-Game line was released in 1980. It was titled Computer TV-Game, and was a home release of Computer Othello.

The cases of the Color TV-Game Racing 112 and the Color TV-Game Block Breaker were designed by Shigeru Miyamoto in his first assignments at Nintendo.

Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo's second home console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, was created by Nintendo R&D2 as well. When it was released in Japan in 1983, as the Family Computer, Nintendo R&D2 created several games for the system. These games included home versions of the arcade games Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Junior as well as Mario Open Golf and NES Open Tournament Golf.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo's third home console, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, was also created by Nintendo R&D2. When it was released in Japan in 1990, as the Super Famicom, Nintendo R&D2 created some games for the system. These games included Marvelous: Another Treasure Island and Sutte Hakkun.

Satellaview

Nintendo R&D2 created a satellite add-on for the Super Famicom known as the Satellaview which broadcast games, music, and digital magazines over the Broadcast Satellite network. It was released only in Japan in 1995. Nintendo R&D2 also created a game for the Satellaview, BS Sutte Hakkun.

Arcade games by Nintendo Research and Development 2

Title	Platform	Released	Notes
VS. Baseball	VS. System	1984
VS. Mahjong	VS. System	1984
VS. Pinball	VS. System	1984

Video games by Nintendo Research and Development 2

Title	Platform	Released	Notes
Donkey Kong	NES	1983	Port of Nintendo R&D1's arcade game.
Donkey Kong Junior	NES	1983	Port of Nintendo R&D1's arcade game.
Mahjong	Famicom	1983
Donkey Kong 3	NES	1984	Port of Nintendo R&D1's arcade game.
Mario Open Golf	Famicom	1991
NES Open Tournament Golf	NES	1991
BS Marvelous: Camp Arnold	Satellaview	1996
BS Marvelous: Time Athletic	Satellaview	1996
Marvelous: Another Treasure Island	Super Famicom	1996
Sutte Hakkun Event Version	Satellaview	1997
Sutte Hakkun	Super Famicom	1998
Sutte Hakkun BS Version 2	Satellaview	1998
Sutte Hakkun '98 Winter Event Version	Satellaview	1998
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe	GBC	1999
Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble	GBC	2000
Super Mario Advance	GBA	2001
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2	GBA	2001
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords	GBA	2002
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3	GBA	2002
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3	GBA	2003

Video game consoles by Nintendo Research & Development 2

Title	Released	Notes
Color TV-Game 6	1977	Contains tennis, hockey and volleyball, in single and doubles mode. Its two controllers are connected to the unit.
Color TV-Game 15	1977	Contains two variants of tennis, hockey and volleyball, and two ping pong games, in single and doubles mode. It contains two wired controllers, rather than controllers that connected to the unit.
Color TV-Game Racing 112	1978	Contains a driving game with switches on the side that allows play of 112 variants of the game. It's playable either with the steering wheel or with two wired controllers for two player games.
Color TV-Game Block Breaker	1979	A home version of Nintendo R&D1's arcade game Block Fever, based on Breakout by Atari.
Computer TV-Game	1980	A home version of Nintendo R&D1's arcade game Computer Othello.
Family Computer	1983
Nintendo Entertainment System	1985	International version of the Family Computer.
Super Famicom	1990
Super Nintendo Entertainment System	1991	International version of the Super Famicom.

Video game peripherals by Nintendo Research & Development 2

Title	Released	Notes
Satellaview	1995	Broadcast Satellite add-on for the Super Famicom.