Originally founded as a joint collaboration between Nintendo and an advertising agency named Dentsu, Nd Cube is now owned completely by Nintendo. In a recent Iwata Asks, it was revealed that the publisher holds a 96 percent stake in the small developer as of this month.
In the past, Nd Cube has created smaller titles for Nintendo, including F-Zero: Maximum Velocity for Game Boy Advance and Tube Slider for Gamecube. They are currently developing Wii Party, the spiritual successor to the Mario Party series.
The interview also revealed that several of the Mario Party staff are now a part of NdCube. The Mario Party games themselves were developed by another Nintendo collaboration called Monegi. Monegi was formed between Hudson and Nintendo in 1998, but following the release of Mario Party 8, several Monegi members jumped over to Nd Cube to begin work on Wii Party.
The future status of any further Mario Party games remains unclear, but somehow we have a feeling Nintendo will keep pumping them out.
