Nintendo increasing spend on new R&D HQ - Report

Back in 2009 when the Wii and DS were still minting yen hand over fist, Nintendo announced plans to begin construction on a new research and development facility near its Kyoto, Japan, headquarters. Today, Nikkei provided an update on that construction, saying that Nintendo has increased the amount of resources it will be spending on the facility.

As relayed by Andria Sang, Nikkei's new report indicates Nintendo will now spend ¥16.5 billion ($204 million) on the compound, up from the ¥12 billion ($148 million) that the Japanese financial paper reported in March. Nintendo purchased the land on which the new building will be constructed in December 2008 for ¥12.8 billion ($158 million).

Construction on the project is expected to commence in January 2012, and Nintendo plans to have the facility up and running by the end of 2013. The seven-story structure is being built on a 40,000-square-meter lot in Kyoto's Minami Ward, the same district as Nintendo's headquarters building. The company's current main R&D facility is located in the more distant Higashiyama Ward.

The new building's closer proximity to its headquarters will improve efficiency because it will allow its 1,500 employees to be much closer to Nintendo's headquarters. When complete, the new building will become Nintendo's flagship R&D facility and will focus on product development.