A major restructure of the internal divisions of Nintendo, mooted at the announcement of the new president Tatsumi Kimishima yesterday, comes into effect this week.

The internal reshuffle will see long-established, but separate, software divisions merge into one large division, and the same for the hardware departments.

Previously, the software departments of the company were split between the studios of Nintendo EAD - responsible for the core first-party output like Zelda, Mario, and Splatoon - and the studios of Nintendo SPD, who mainly produced titles in collaboration with second and third party partners. Those two divisions are now coming under one roof and will become Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development.

Up-and-coming Nintendo Director Shinya Takahashi will become General Manager of Nintendo EPD - and will effectively be in charge of all of Nintendo's software output on consoles, handhelds, and mobile.

Similarly, a new, unified hardware division will be formed. Previously, there was the Integrated Research and Development Division - responsible for designing Nintendo's hardware - and the System Development Division, who was responsible for Nintendo Network Services, and features like Miiverse. Now, these divisions will merge into the Platform Technology Development Division. Former deputy manager of Integrated R&D Ko Shiota will be General Manager of the new hardware division.

Finally, a third division will be established. The Business Development Division is a new division which has been given the rather loose directive of "refining the business model for the dedicated video game system business, and creating and making profitable the smart device business and the new business that utilizes character IP."