Intelligent Systems

History

Intelligent Systems originated as Iwasaki Giken in 1983 to develop games for Nintendo. This original group of developers worked on titles like Mario Bros., Wild Gunman, Duck Hunt, Hogan's Alley, Donkey Kong 3, Devil World, Wrecking Crew, Metroid, and more.

When the Nintendo Research & Development team was reorganized during the production of the Game Boy, the team was officially separated. In 1986, this group was established by Tohru Narihiro as Intelligent Systems. Ryoichi Kitanishi served as company CEO.

Narihiro was tasked with porting software developed for the Famicom Disk System to ROM cartridges for the NES in West. The team became an auxiliary program unit for Nintendo that provided system tools and hired people to program, fix, or port Nintendo-developed software. Much of the team's original work was developed alongside Nintendo R&D1. During this time, Intelligent Systems was one of four companies that Nintendo used to code the majority of its games. Others included Pax Softnica, SRD, and HAL Laboratory.

In 1988, IS developed Famicom Wars. Under game designer Shouzou Kaga, Intelligent Systems and Nintendo R&D1 released Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light in 1990. It was the first time that the company took the lead on game design and graphics. Intelligent Systems began to hire graphic designers, programmers, and musicians to extend the company from an auxiliary–tool developer to a game development group. During development of the Super NES, Intelligent Systems was split into four smaller teams in order to develop games like Super Scope 6, Mario Paint, and Super Metroid. Following the success of Fire Emblem, multiple Fire Emblem titles were released under Kaga.

Intelligent Systems struggled to adjust to 3D game development during the Nintendo 64 era. Kaga left the company after Thracia 776, the fifth game in the series. After five years of development, Fire Emblem 64 was cancelled, though Paper Mario was released in 2000.

In 2001, the company released Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and Advance Wars on the Game Boy Advance. This was the first Mario Kart game to be developed outside of Nintendo. That same year, Fire Emblem characters Marth and Roy were included in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Western fans began to take interest in the franchise. In 2003, the company had 81 employees and moved to Nintendo's Kyoto Research Center in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, where it share space with Nintendo’s Software Planning & Development division. Nintendo would release Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade on the Game Boy Advance, the first game in the series to be localized for the West. Within a decade, sales of Fire Emblem games had fallen in the West. Nintendo and Intelligent Systems had decided that 2012's Fire Emblem Awakening would be the last in the series, unless it could sell 250,000 copies. The game proved to be a great success in its first year, selling 400,000 units in Japan alone. It ultimately became the best-selling game in the series in the West and the fastest-selling entry in Japan.

Toshiyuki Nakamura was named president and CEO in April 2010. In October 2013, Intelligent Systems moved to a newly constructed office near Nintendo's new headquarters. The company had 130 employees at this time. In 2019, Intelligent Systems released Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the franchise's first game on a home console in 12 years. IS partnered with Koei Tecmo, providing the main plot, game system, and mechanics, while Koei handled the bulk of the programming. By 2020, that number had increased to 169.

In 2020, Intelligent Systems finally released a localized version of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light in the West for the 30th anniversary of the game. It remained in the Nintendo eShop for four months before being delisted.

Mobile apps

In February 2017, Intelligent Systems released a free-to-play gacha mobile game, called Fire Emblem Heroes. Nintendo and DeNA assisted in development. By the end of 2018, it had grossed an estimated $452 million worldwide. To celebrate the game's third year, Intelligent Systems unveiled a subscription plan that would give players cosmetics, extra missions, and power boosts. By 2022, the game had exceeded $1 billion in lifetime revenue. It has made more money than Mario Kart Tour and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp combined, and more than 10 times as Super Mario Run.

A second mobile game, Fire Emblem Shadows, was launched by Intelligent Systems and DeNA in September 2025. This game used real-time combat and social deduction gameplay elements similar to Among Us. However, the iOS app made just $90,000 in its first week, far behind Heroes.

Development tools

Intelligent Systems has produced development support tools for most Nintendo consoles. These include emulators, debuggers, software CDs, and more.

It developed the Wide Boy development tool, which allowed developers to play Game Boy games on a television. Nintendo later released it to the public as the Super Game Boy. Intelligent Systems also created the Wide Boy 64 for the Nintendo 64 console. It created software CDs for Game Boy Advance developers.

The company helped to develope the camera app for the Nintendo 3DS, contributing to the feature that allowed users to merge the faces of two people together.

List of games developed

List of games developed

;

Cancelled

Notes

References

References

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