ND Cube now officially a subsidiary of Nintendo
Japanese ad company Dentsu steps aside to allow Nintendo 96 per cent stake in Wii Party developer
A recent episode of Iwata asks has revealed that Nintendo now own a 96 per cent share of Wii Play developer ND Cube, making the company an official subsidiary.
The company was founded in 2000 as a joint venture between Nintendo and Japanese advertising company Dentsu, with Nintendo taking 78 per cent of the stock and Dentsu 13.3 per cent, with the remaining 8.7 per cent taken by other investors.
During the Iwata asks session, in which the Nintendo president interviews development staff about the projects they're working on, it is revealed that Dentsu has now relinquished control of nearly all of the company's shares.
ND Cube has kept a relatively low development profile since its formation, with much of its work being for Gamecube and Game Boy Advance titles. F-Zero: Maximum Velocity and Tube Slider are its two biggest Western imports, but Wii Party, said to bear some relation to Mario Party, has topped the Japanese sales chart this month and should be heading to Europe and the US in quarter four this year.