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The season of acquisitions rolls on, although the latest video-game-company-buys-other-video-game-company news isn’t quite a bombshell of the likes we’ve seen from Microsoft and co. recently. In fact, it’s more a solidification and strengthening of long term relationship which dates back to the early NES days. Aww.
As spotted by Games Industry Biz, Nintendo has acquired long-term development partner SRD Co., the Tokyo-based studio run by director and president Toshihiko Nakago that’s partnered with Nintendo on projects dating back nearly four decades, with the latest collaboration being last year’s Game Builder Garage. The deal is expected to close on 1st April this year, according to the official press release.
This follows on from the acquisition of Next Level Games last year, who was recently revealed to be behind the upcoming Mario Strikers game for Switch. However, the Canadian company’s close association with Nintendo began in 2005 with the first Mario Strikers game on GameCube. By comparison, SRD — which was founded in 1979 — has credits dating back to the NES port of Donkey Kong way back in 1983.
In fact, as noted by Games Industry Biz, an Iwata Asks interview featuring Nakago from the time of Super Mario Bros.’ 25th anniversary states that SRD was tasked with making a jump mechanic ‘test’ for that game at the end of 1984. As per an interview quote from Shigeru Miyamoto:
Around December of 1984, I wanted to see what it would be like with a Mario jumping around who was about twice the size of the one in Mario Bros., so I asked the programmers at Nakago-san’s company, SRD, to make a test version – something in which, when you pressed a button, Mario would jump, and if you hit it repeatedly, he would jump in the air, too. And it turned out to be pretty good.
That it did, Shigsy. That it did.
According to the official PR, the acquisition “will have only a minor effect on Nintendo’s results”.
So there we are — a happy official union for some long-term gaming partners. Someone pass a tissue, will you?
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