Hiroshi Ikeda

Hiroshi Ikeda

nintendo-nerd (guest) 08 Jul 2014 13:11

Hi,
I'm researching about Hiroshi Ikeda, R&D4's first manager. There is not much information about him available, and I'm trying to chance that. From what I found out, his career was really interesting. Originally he was employed at Toei Animation where he directed some animes. In 1984 he was (out of the blue) appointed manager of Nintendo's new R&D4 department. And later he briefly surfaced as the president of some Nintendo affiliated companies. There also seems to be a university teacher named Hiroshi Ikeda, but I'm not sure if that is indeed Nintendo's Ikeda. But I still have many, many questions on this topic that I'm not able to answer myself. Maybe you could help me out with some of these, Shikamaru?

- How and when did Ikeda get employed by Nintendo and approved manager of R&D4?
- Ikeda didn't show up in any credits. But at the time he was Miyamoto's boss. So is it right to say that he was producer on all early R&D4 games like Super Mario Bros.?
- When did Miyamoto take over R&D4? I assume it must've been around 1989, when it was renamed to EAD.
- In April 1991, Nintendo, Dentsu and Dentsu Prox founded the Joint Venture "Mario Co. Ltd." Ikeda was president of Mario Co. Ltd. They developed an unknown Balloon Kid port named Hello Kitty World (Famicom 1992) and Sanrio Carnival 2 (Famicom 1992), but I can't find more information. Do you happen to know anything further about Mario Co.?
- N-Sider.com briefly states that Ikeda has been chief of Nintendo's Manufacturing Division, but I couldn't find proof. Can you confirm that?
- In 1998, Nintendo and Hudson founded the Joint Venture "Monegi" that Ikeda was appointed president. They are said to be the team behind the Mario Party games that are usually only assosiated with Hudson. Can you confirm that? The only credits that mention Monegi are that of Mario Golf N64.
- It seems that most employees left Monegi in 2007 after Mario Party 8, so when exactly did Monegi close? Has Ikeda been the company's president all along? He is not named in any credits.
- Many former Monegi staff now work at Nd Cube. Ironically, it started as a Nintendo x Dentsu cooperation. Has Nd Cube's foundation anything to do with Monegi or even Mario Co.?? One of Nd's directors is named Atsushi Ikeda, but that seems to be mere coincidence. Today, Ikeda is 80 years old and pretty unlikely to still work in the business. ;)

Well, any information about Hiroshi Ikeda would be really helpful. After all, as a Japanese anime director and important Nintendo manager, one would imagine there must be more information available about him. So I'd be very thankful if you could contribute to my research! :)

Best regards,
Nintendo-Nerd

Re: Hiroshi Ikeda

Kyoto Ninja 08 Jul 2014 17:13

How and when did Ikeda get employed by Nintendo and approved manager of R&D4?

Hiroshi Imanishi, Yamauchi's right hand man who actually created the "games division" recruited Ikeda-san from Toei Animation. It's published in an interview somewhere.

Ikeda didn't show up in any credits. But at the time he was Miyamoto's boss. So is it right to say that he was producer on all early R&D4 games like Super Mario Bros.?

You have to remember that game credits where very crude in those days. Many games didn't even have credits, or when they did, they were incomplete or used very odd nick names.

When did Miyamoto take over R&D4? I assume it must've been around 1989, when it was renamed to EAD.

That's a tough one. There isn't an exact date mentioned. Miyamoto was always like an assistant manager though, acting as the producer on all EAD games. Soon after he was the general manager, with the same producer role.

In April 1991, Nintendo, Dentsu and Dentsu Prox founded the Joint Venture "Mario Co. Ltd." Ikeda was president of Mario Co. Ltd. They developed an unknown Balloon Kid port named Hello Kitty World (Famicom 1992) and Sanrio Carnival 2 (Famicom 1992), but I can't find more information. Do you happen to know anything further about Mario Co.?

I am not too sure. I know Hello Kitty World was programmed by Pax Soft Nica Co., Ltd, which was one of Nintendo's main programming teams on a lot of internal titles. I think Mario Co., Ltd was more of a planning and coordination company for special software, not an actual developer.

N-Sider.com briefly states that Ikeda has been chief of Nintendo's Manufacturing Division, but I couldn't find proof. Can you confirm that?

Not sure on that one.

In 1998, Nintendo and Hudson founded the Joint Venture "Monegi" that Ikeda was appointed president. They are said to be the team behind the Mario Party games that are usually only assosiated with Hudson. Can you confirm that? The only credits that mention Monegi are that of Mario Golf N64.

I specifically remember Mario Party 2 / Mario Party 3 being mentioned on their website once. But it's hard to retrieve any of that.

nintendo-nerd (guest) 09 Jul 2014 13:38

Thank you so much for answering! That was quite helpful. Do you know where the interview you talked about was published? And do you know the internet adress for Monegi? Maybe it's still available in the internet archive.