Nintendo Cube
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary of Nintendo |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | March 1, 2000 |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
Key people | Hidetoshi Endo (President) Atsushi Ikeda (Board Member)[1] Shuichiro Nishiya (Head of EDD)[1] |
| Products | Various video game titles Mario Party series Wii Party series |
| Parent | Nintendo |
| Website | www |
Nd Cube Co., Ltd. (エヌディーキューブ株式会社 Enudī Kyūbu Kabushiki Gaisha) is a Nintendo subsidiary and Japanese video game developer based in Japan with offices in Tokyo and Sapporo. Nd Cube is a fully owned Nintendo subsidiary. The company was originally founded on March 1, 2000, through a joint venture between Nintendo and advertising firm Dentsu, hence the Nd in the name.[2] The subsidiary shares were purchased by 78% in part by Nintendo, 13.3% by Dentsu, 8.7% by yet undecided shareholders. But in 2010, Nintendo decided to buy out 98% of the shares, with ad partner Dentsu stepping aside.[3] The company states it is an official R&D subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd on its website.[4]
Since Nd Cube was founded, they have kept a low profile, working on various Japanese GameCube and Game Boy Advance titles. Two notable games that have reached western shores are F-Zero: Maximum Velocity and Tube Slider.
By April 2006, many of the Nd Cube's employees had migrated to other companies, such as Nintendo and Square Enix.[2] The company is now headed by Hidetoshi Endo,[5] who was the former President of Hudson Soft. In addition, the key employees of the Mario Party team at Hudson have also joined the company. Nd Cube released Wii Party for the Wii console in 2010,[6] Mario Party 9 for the Wii in Europe on March 2, 2012, in Australia on March 8, 2012, in North America on March 11, 2012, and in Japan on April 26, 2012, Wii Party U for the Wii U on October 2013, and Mario Party: Island Tour for the Nintendo 3DS in North America on November 22, 2013 and in Europe on January 17, 2014. They have also made Mario Party 10 for the Wii U, which was released on March 12 in Japan, March 20 in North America and Europe, and March 21 in Australia.
As seen in the credits for Mario Party 9, Nd Cube indeed houses many ex-Hudson employees, some vary between folks who have focused primarily on many other entries in the Mario Party series, to a few who have also have worked on other Hudson titles such as Lost in Shadow and even older titles such as Bomberman 64, though the majority of employees have many Mario Party titles taking up most of their gameography.
List of games developed
Nintendo GameCube
GBA
- F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
- Dokodemo Taikyoku Yakuman Advance
- Card Party
Wii
Wii U
Nintendo 3DS
References
- ^ a b http://us.wii.com/iwata_asks/wiiparty/vol1_page1.jsp
- ^ a b "Nd Cube flatline". N-Sider.com. April 18, 2006. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
- ^ "Nd Cube flatline". IGN.com. August 22, 2000. Retrieved 2000-08-22.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Nd Cube". Nd Cube. January 1, 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
- ^ "Nd Cube — Corporate Profile". Nd Cube (in Japanese). Retrieved 2010-11-29.
- ^ "Wii Party due out this Christmas". eurogamer.net. June 15, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
- ^ http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/01/23/wii-u-party-announced