Who Made the Nintendo DS? (Nintendo – Obviously)

Nintendo. The Nintendo DS was conceived, designed, manufactured (contracted), marketed, and published by Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Kyoto, Japan).

Key Facts

• Developer: Nintendo Research & Engineering (RED) / Integrated Research & Development (IRD)
• Key Figures: Satoru Iwata (President, greenlit dual-screen), Masato Kuwahara (Hardware Lead), Shigeru Miyamoto (Software vision)
• Launch: Nov 21, 2004 (JP) / Nov 21, 2004 (NA) / Mar 11, 2005 (EU)
• Manufacturing Partners: Foxconn, Mitsumi, Sharp (screens), Samsung (memory) – contract fabricators, not designers
• Successors: DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL, 3DS, 2DS, New 3DS – all Nintendo

Common Confusion

People sometimes think "Game Freak" or "Creatures Inc." made the hardware because they make Pokémon games. They are second-party developers. Nintendo builds the platform; partners make software.

TL;DR: Nintendo made the Nintendo DS. Full stop.