Nintendo Integrated Research & Development
Exterior of the Nintendo Central Office in Kyoto, where the IRD division was housed until 2014 | |
Native name | 任天堂総合開発本部 |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Nintendō Sōgō Kaihatsu Honbu |
| Company type | Division |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1980, as Nintendo Research & Development 3 2000, as Nintendo IRD |
| Founder | Genyo Takeda |
| Defunct | September 16, 2015 |
| Fate | Merged with Nintendo System Development |
| Successor | Nintendo Platform Technology Development |
| Headquarters | , Japan |
Key people | Genyo Takeda (General Manager) Satoru Okada (RED General Manager) |
| Products | Various Nintendo video game consoles |
| Parent | Nintendo |
| Divisions | Integrated Research & Development Research & Engineering Department |
Nintendo Integrated Research & Development Division, commonly abbreviated as Nintendo IRD, was a division of Nintendo that developed video game console hardware and associated peripherals. Originally established in 1980 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 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 Integrated Development Division comprised two coexisting departments: the Nintendo IRD, which was responsible for the development of Nintendo's home console hardware and related peripherals, and the Research & Engineering Development Department (Nintendo RED), which was responsible for the development of Nintendo's handheld game console hardware and associated peripherals. Both departments were further divided into several groups.
On February 16, 2013, Nintendo announced that the Nintendo RED was absorbed into Nintendo IRD Division. On September 16, 2015, IRD merged with the Nintendo System Development division, becoming the Nintendo Platform Technology Development.