via seattlepi

Nintendo of America Inc. plans to move about 80 people, in three divisions, off its Redmond campus to either New York or San Francisco, a Redmond city official said Tuesday afternoon.

The game maker plans to move its sales, marketing and advertising divisions away from its campus at 4820 150th Ave. N.E. in Redmond, said Jim Roberts, deputy planning director for the city of Redmond.

He said Nintendo real estate executive Bruce Meyer confirmed the moves, adding that Meyer said the company plans to keep its corporate headquarters in Redmond.

Rumors of Nintendo's plans to move some or all of its employees out of Redmond have been appearing for four days on several gaming Web sites and blogs.

Nintendo owns about 8 million square feet in several buildings on the west side of state Route 520, adjacent to numerous Microsoft Corp. buildings. In March 2005 it had 756 employees on the Redmond campus.