(IS, pronounced like the word “is”) is a Japanese video game developer best known for developing games published by Nintendo with the Paper Mario, Fire Emblem, WarioWare, and Wars video game series.

The company is well known for almost exclusively working with Nintendo, despite not being owned by Nintendo in any capacity; some exceptions include various Dragon Quest games, which were published by Square Enix.

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, the staff had increased to 169 employees.

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.

Their third mobile game, "Pictonico!", is a free to play mobile game released on May 27th, 2026. It was developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It is a game where players can use their camera or use their pictures on their phone and turn them into WarioWare-like microgames. Each only last a few seconds and are controlled with the device's touch screen. 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 develop 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 video games developed by Intelligent Systems Title Platform(s)Note 1983 Mario Bros. Nintendo Entertainment SystemCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1 1984 Tennis Wild Gunman Duck Hunt Hogan's Alley Donkey Kong 3 Devil WorldCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1 1985 Soccer Wrecking Crew Stack-UpCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1 Gyromite 1986 Tennis Famicom Disk System Soccer MetroidCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1 1988 Famicom Wars Famicom Kaettekita Mario Bros. Famicom Disk System Wrecking Crew 1989Alleyway Game BoyCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1BaseballResponsible for porting the original game to the Game Boy.Yakuman Golf 1990 Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light FamicomCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1 Backgammon Famicom Disk System 1991SimCity Super Nintendo Entertainment SystemGame Boy Wars Game BoyCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1 1992 Super Scope 6 Super Nintendo Entertainment System Fire Emblem Gaiden Famicom Mario Paint Super Nintendo Entertainment System Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru Game BoyCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1 Battle Clash Super Nintendo Entertainment System 1993 Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge 1994 Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem Super Famicom Super Metroid Super Nintendo Entertainment SystemCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1 Wario's Woods 1995 Galactic Pinball Virtual Boy Panel de Pon Super Famicom 1996 Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War Tetris Attack Super Nintendo Entertainment SystemCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1 1998Super Famicom Wars Super Famicom 1999Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 2000Trade & Battle: Card Hero Game Boy ColorCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1Paper Mario Nintendo 64Pokémon Puzzle Challenge Game Boy Color 2001Advance Wars Game Boy AdvanceReleased as Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2 in Japan in 2004.Mario Kart: Super Circuit 2002Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest GameCubeCo-developed with Saru Brunei Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade Game Boy Advance 2003 Nintendo Puzzle Collection GameCubeCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1 Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade Game Boy Advance Advance Wars 2: Black Hole RisingReleased as Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2 in Japan in 2004. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Games! GameCubeCo-developed with Nintendo R&D1 2004 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year DoorFire Emblem: The Sacred Stones Game Boy Advance WarioWare: Twisted!Co-developed with Nintendo SPD WarioWare: Touched! Nintendo DSCo-developed with Nintendo SPD 2005 Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance GameCube Advance Wars: Dual Strike Nintendo DS Dr. Mario & Puzzle League Game Boy Advance 2006 WarioWare: Smooth Moves WiiCo-developed with Nintendo SPD 2007 Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn Super Paper Mario Planet Puzzle League Nintendo DS Face Training Kousoku Card Battle: Card HeroCo-developed with Nintendo SPD 2008 Advance Wars: Days of Ruin Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon WarioWare: Snapped! Nintendo DSiCo-developed with Nintendo SPD 2009 WarioWare D.I.Y.Nintendo DS WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase WiiCo-developed with Nintendo SPDDragon Quest Wars Nintendo DSPublished by Square EnixEco Shooter: Plant 530 WiiNintendo DSi Instrument Tuner Nintendo DSi Nintendo DSi Metronome Dictionary 6 in 1 with Camera Function Link 'n' Launch Spotto! 2010Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem Nintendo DS2011Pushmo Nintendo 3DS Wii 2012 Fire Emblem Awakening Nintendo 3DS Crashmo Paper Mario: Sticker Star 2013Game & Wario Wii UCo-developed with Nintendo SPDDaigasso! Band Brothers P Nintendo 3DSCo-developed with Nintendo SDD 2014Pushmo World Wii U 2015Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. Nintendo 3DS Stretchmo Fire Emblem Fates 2016Paper Mario: Color Splash Wii U 2017Fire Emblem Heroes iOS, AndroidCo-developed with DeNaFire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Nintendo 3DS 2018WarioWare Gold 2019Fire Emblem: Three Houses Nintendo SwitchCo-developed with Kou Shibusawa 2020Paper Mario: The Origami King 2021WarioWare: Get It Together! 2023Fire Emblem EngageWarioWare: Move It! 2024 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door 2025 Fire Emblem Shadows iOS, AndroidCo-developed with DeNa2026Pictonico! iOS, Android Co-developed with Nintendo EPDDragon HopperVirtual Boy (Nintendo Classics) Fire Emblem: Fortune's WeaveNintendo Switch 2

Cancelled Title System Fire Emblem: Maiden of Darkness Nintendo 64DD Untitled Fire Emblem game Wii Crashmo World Wii U

See also OrCAD (distributed by Intelligent Systems Japan, KK)

Notes

References

External links

Official website (English)