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Nintendo plans to unite its console and handheld divisions by February 16, combining the two into a singular unit tasked with creating next-generation hardware. As reported by Nikkei, and then confirmed to Engadget by Nintendo, the combined unit will initially incorporate 150 handheld and 130 console engineers, and operate out of a new $340 million facility located just by the company's headquarters (pictured above) in Kyoto, with the facility due to be completed by the end of 2013.
The move represents Nintendo's first major organizational restructuring in around a decade. In 2002, Saturo Iwata replaced Hiroshi Yamauchi as president of Nintendo, and initiated a move which saw the company's two Research & Development teams re-assigned into the Entertainment, Analysis, and Development division.
Today's news follows speculation around Nintendo's restructuring plans which suggested Shigeru Miyamoto would retire from his position as Nintendo EAD boss, being replaced by EAD deputy manager Takashi Tezuka. In a 2011 interview, Miyamoto noted Nintendo ought to be "structured" to operate without him before he'd leave the company.
