, or
Nintendo EAD, formerly
Nintendo Research & Development 4, or
Nintendo R&D4, was the largest division inside
Nintendo until it merged with
Nintendo Software Planning & Development in September 2015, becoming
Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development. It was preceded by the , a team of designers with backgrounds in art responsible for many different tasks, to which
Shigeru Miyamoto and
Takashi Tezuka originally belonged. Both served as managers of the EAD studios and were credited in every game developed by the division, with varying degrees of involvement. Nintendo EAD was best known for its work on games in the
Donkey Kong,
Mario,
The Legend of Zelda,
F-Zero,
Star Fox,
Pikmin, and
Animal Crossing series.