Nintendo European Research & Development (NERD) is a French subsidiary for

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

, located in Paris, which develops software technologies and middleware for Nintendo platforms. This includes retro console

emulator In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run sof ...

s, patented video

codec A codec is a computer hardware or software component that encodes or decodes a data stream or signal. ''Codec'' is a portmanteau of coder/decoder. In electronic communications, an endec is a device that acts as both an encoder and a decoder o ...

s, and

digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures, such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM ...

technology. The organization originated as Mobiclip and Actimagine () with notable customers including

Sony Pictures Digital Sony Pictures Digital Productions Inc. (previously known as Columbia TriStar Interactive, Sony Pictures Interactive Network, and Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment) is a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Operating under the trade name Sony ...

, and

Fisher-Price Fisher-Price, Inc. is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York, East Aurora, New York (state), New York. It was founded in 1930 during the Great Depression ...

. Nintendo licensed Mobiclip compression technology for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS video game consoles, used by popular games such as

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...

's ''

Final Fantasy III is a 1990 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Family Computer. The third installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series, it is the first numbered ''Final Fantasy'' game to feature the job-change system. The story r ...

'' and

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

's '' Contra 4''. Fisher-Price used them for its Pixter Multi-Media educational toy. Sony Pictures Digital and The Carphone Warehouse used Mobiclip software to deliver TV-like full-length movies on MicroSD memory cards for

smart phones A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

. Nintendo purchased the company, to create NERD.

History

Actimagine was established in March 2003 by a team of engineers (Eric Bécourt, Alexandre Delattre, Laurent Hiriart, Jérôme Larrieu, Sylvain Quendez) and a businessman (André Pagnac). Actimagine started out with mobile gaming consoles. The video compression technology offered by Mobiclip was an optimized response to the battery life and video quality requirements of Nintendo video gaming platforms: Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii, and Nintendo 3DS. The Mobiclip codec provides high video quality with low battery consumption and has been selected by major studios, such as Sony Pictures Digital,

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

and Gaumont Columbia TriStar Films, and by leading handset manufacturers, such as Nokia or Sony Ericsson, to deliver video on memory cards for mobile phones. In April 2006, Actimagine raised €3 million in equity financing from US venture capital firm GRP Partners. This first round of institutional fund raising enabled Actimagine to accelerate its business development in the US and Japan. The same year, Adobe acquired Actimagine's Flash rendering engine optimized for mobile devices. In 2008, Mobiclip launched the first application delivering live TV on the iPhone, a year before Apple. In October 2011, Mobiclip was bought by Nintendo and is now a subsidiary of the latter. Since then it is now known as "Nintendo European Research & Development" or "NERD". In 2017, the United States branch was merged with Nintendo Technology Development.

Mobiclip video codecs

Mobiclip was developed with a completely different algorithm from the one used for other

video codecs The following is a list of compression formats and related codecs. Audio compression formats Non-compression * Linear pulse-code modulation (LPCM, generally only described as PCM) is the format for uncompressed audio in media files and it is a ...

on the market, based on minimal use of the processor resources, allowing battery life to be increased considerably and the cost of the hardware to be reduced.

Nintendo licensing

Nintendo selected Mobiclip as its main provider of video codec technologies on the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo 3DS. Major software titles used it for in-game cinematics, including: *'' GBA Video'' series on the Game Boy Advance *'' Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies'' on Nintendo DS *''

Professor Layton ''Professor Layton'' is a puzzle adventure video game series and transmedia franchise developed by Level-5. The property consists primarily of seven main video games, a mobile spin-off, an animated theatrical film, and an anime television serie ...

'' series on Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS *''

Fire Emblem Awakening ''Fire Emblem Awakening'' is a 2012 tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is an installment of the ''Fire Emblem'' series, and the first to be developed for the Nintendo 3 ...

'' on Nintendo 3DS. * Wii no Ma and

Nintendo Channel The Wii system software is a set of updatable firmware versions and a software frontend on the Wii, a home video game console. Updates, which could be downloaded over the Internet or read from a Nintendo optical discs#Wii Optical Disc, game dis ...

on Wii. * eCrew Development Program, the extremely rare Japanese McDonald's training game for the Nintendo DS. *'' The Legendary Starfy'' on Nintendo DS. *''

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (subtitle read as "''Three-Five-Eight Days over Two''") is an Action role-playing game, action role-playing video game developed by h.a.n.d. and Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios for the Nintendo DS. It is the fifth in ...

'' on Nintendo DS.

List of technologies developed by NERD

Software Emulation

* Kachikachi: NES emulation for the

NES Classic Edition NES Classic Edition is a dedicated home video game console by Nintendo, that emulates the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Family Computer (Famicom). Originally launched on November 10, 2016, the console aesthetically is a miniature rep ...

'' * Canoe:

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...

emulation for the Super NES Classic Edition * L-CLASSICS: NES & Super NES emulation for

Nintendo Classics Nintendo Classics is a line of Video game console emulator, emulated retro games distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Nintendo Switch 2. Subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service have access to games for ...

* Hiyoko:

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

emulation for Nintendo Classics * Hovercraft:

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

emulation for Nintendo Classics and ''

Super Mario 3D All-Stars ''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' is a 2020 Video game compilation, compilation of platform games developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It commemorates the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary, 35th anniversary of Nintendo's ''S ...

'' (co-developed with iQue) * m2engage:

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

emulation for Nintendo Classics (co-developed with M2) * Sloop:

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

emulation for Nintendo Classics (co-developed with Panasonic Vietnam) * Hagi:

GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

emulation for ''

'' and other Nintendo Switch re-releases, e.g. '' Pikmin 1'' & '' 2'' * Hachihachi:

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

emulation for the

Wii U Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on past ...

Other technologies

* Mobiclip

for

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

* Media player for Wii U Internet Browser * Super-stable 3D display on New Nintendo 3DS *

Nintendo Labo is a series of toys-to-life video games developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Gameplay consists of players constructing Toy-Cons from kits that include cardboard cut-outs and other materials in combination with the consol ...

VR Kit (co-developed with

Nintendo EPD abbreviated Nintendo EPD, is the largest division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. The division focuses on developing and producing video games, mobile apps, and other related entertainment software for the company. Nintendo EPD ...

) * Deep learning middleware for '' Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch'' * Heart rate detection system in

Joy-Con Joy-Con are the primary game controllers for the Nintendo Switch, a hybrid video game console. A set of Joy-Con consists of two individual units, each containing an analog stick and an array of buttons. They can be used while attached to the mai ...

, used in ''

Ring Fit Adventure is an exercising action role-playing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. The game comes with two physical components: the Ring-Con, a Pilates ring that the user holds and which one Joy-Con slots into, and a Leg St ...

'' * Providing expertise in areas such as steering control, low-latency video capture and streaming and location tracking for '' Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit'' * Filtering and gesture tracking for '' Nintendo Switch Sports'' * Rendering,

WYSIWYG In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for what you see is what you get, refers to software that allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed document, web ...

, texture compression and animations for '' The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom'' * Downloadable Wii games on the Wii U's

eShop The is a digital distribution service for the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2, and formerly available via the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the Nintendo eShop served as t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nintendo European Research and Development Mobile content Nintendo divisions and subsidiaries Video game companies established in 2003 Companies based in Paris Video game development companies French subsidiaries of foreign companies