1-Up Studio

History

1-Up was founded on June 30, 2000 as Brownie Brown, and consisted of many 2D artists formerly of Square. Founders Shinichi Kameoka and Kouji Tsuda had previously worked on the Mana series on the Game Boy and Super NES platforms. They left Square due to "differing ideals." The studio's name came from the Brownies, fairies of Scottish folklore said to be hardworking and friendly, which Kameoka believed fit the team's style (a Brownie is featured in the studio's logo). He elaborated that he wanted to make Game Boy Advance games, leading to the creation of Brownie Brown.

The company's first original creation was the Japan-only Magical Vacation for the Game Boy Advance, which was released in 2001. Another popular title developed by Brownie Brown was Sword of Mana, which was created for and published by Square Enix. Thought to be a new title in the Seiken Densetsu series, it was actually an enhanced remake of the first game in the series, Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (known as Mystic Quest in Europe and Final Fantasy Adventure in North America).

The company has also been credited with the development of Mother 3 in a collaborative effort with Shigesato Itoi and HAL Laboratory for the Game Boy Advance, and Magical Starsign (Magical Vacation: When the Five Stars Align in Japan) for the Nintendo DS. Brownie Brown expressed interest in a Nintendo DS port of Mother 3 if Nintendo asked them to make it, and that they would like it to be enjoyed by fans abroad.

While the company only developed games for Nintendo's handheld consoles up to this point, the company had previously announced a title for the GameCube, named Gofuku, which was scheduled for release in 2005 and announced alongside Magical Starsign.

The company later released Blue Dragon Plus for the Nintendo DS, developed alongside Mistwalker, and entered into the downloadable games market in 2009 with A Kappa's Trail, a DSiWare game. Brownie Brown also worked on the DS title Livly Garden, based on a browser game from So-net Entertainment, released in Japan on January 28, 2010, and aided in the development of two Level-5 titles, Professor Layton's London Life, a bonus game included with Professor Layton and the Last Specter, and Fantasy Life, for the DS and 3DS respectively.

On February 1, 2013, the company announced on their original official website that, as a result of their recent development cooperation efforts with Nintendo, Brownie Brown had undergone changes in internal structure, which included officially changing its name to 1-Up Studio and becoming a support studio for Nintendo. Upon the changes, Kameoka left 1-Up Studio to found Brownies, seeking to make original games. In the same year, Yoshiaki Koizumi became part of the board of directors of the company as one of its directors.

In 2020, the company moved its headquarters to the new Nintendo Tokyo Office building at Kanda Square, Tokyo with Nintendo EPD Tokyo, Nintendo PTD Tokyo, HAL Laboratory Head Office and Tokyo R&D Center, and Game Freak.

Games developed or co-developed

As Brownie Brown

As 1-Up Studio

Notes

References

References

1. "会社概要 {{!}} 1-UP Studio Inc.".
2. "会社の沿革 {{!}} 1-UP Studio Inc.".
3. "キャリア採用情報 {{!}} 1-UP Studio Inc.".
4. IGN Staff. (September 29, 2000). "Beware of Hitchhiking Brownies". [[IGN]].
5. Long, Andrew. (November 3, 2000). "Brownie Brown President Talks About Name, Game". RPGamer.com.
6. James, Paul. (February 10, 2022). "Interview: Shinichi Kameoka (Mana Franchise, Egglia: Rebirth)". Player2.
7. (January 20, 2009). "Brownie Brown "Looking Into" Wii Development". Siliconera.
8. "GAF - News - Brownie Brown reveals new DS RPG & GC game".
9. "RPGamer - News Bulletin - Brownie Brown Names Latest Project".
10. "Brownie Brown developing Blue Dragon Plus".
11. Gantayat, Anoop. (December 7, 2009). "Nintendo Teams with Brownie Brown for DSiWare". andriasang.com.
12. Gantayat, Anoop. (August 21, 2009). "Brownie Brown Returns on the DS". IGN.com.
13. Gantayat, Anoop. (August 25, 2009). "Level-5 Shares Future Vision". IGN.com.
14. Ishaan. (2013-02-01). "Nintendo Subsidiary, Brownie Brown, Changes Name To 1-Up Studio". Siliconera.
15. Romano, Sal. (February 13, 2013). "Brownie Brown founder forms new studio". Gematsu.
16. "会社概要 {{!}} 1-UP Studio Inc.".
17. (2020-07-20). "HAL Laboratory Relocates to Nintendo Building".
18. "開発協力 {{!}} 1-UP Studio Inc.".
19. Gann, Patrick. (November 26, 2006). "Magical Starsign". RPGFan.
20. (January 22, 2009). "Brownie Brown: From The Beginning To Blue Dragon Plus And Beyond". Siliconera.
21. Fletcher, JC. (September 21, 2011). "A brief look into Professor Layton's London Life". Yahoo! Finance.
22. Suszek, Mike. (February 2, 2013). "Brownie Brown changes its name to 1-Up Studio". [[Engadget]].
23. "開発協力".