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Nintendo brings Wii Party dev in-house

Publisher picks up 96 percent stake in ND Cube following release of top-selling minigame compilation in Japan.

Nintendo has a knack for churning out evergreen titles for its platforms, and the publisher appears to have scored yet one more success with ND Cube's Wii Party. Since launching in Japan during the first week of July, Wii Party has consistently placed near the top of Media Create's weekly sales chart, having sold close to 125,000 units during the stat-tracking firm's most recent accounting.

Wii Party has given Nintendo cause to celebrate.

Wii Party has given Nintendo cause to celebrate.

Nintendo has apparently taken note of ND Cube's success with Wii Party. As part of a recent Iwata Asks feature, the publisher revealed that it had acquired a 96 percent stake in ND Cube as of August 2010. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ND Cube was founded in 2000 and is perhaps best known for its work on the well-regarded Game Boy Advance title F-Zero: Maximum Velocity. The studio also crafted 2003's GameCube title Tube Slider, as well as a handful of other Japanese-only releases.

Wii Party is Nintendo's first stab at the genre for the Wii since 2007's Mario Party 8, which has sold more than 7.6 million units worldwide. The game, which is set for North American launch on October 3, will feature 13 different game modes and more than 70 individual minigames.

For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Wii Party.

20 Comments

  • tobelight

    Posted Aug 30, 2010 6:36 am GMT

    Confused. an American family playing the Japenese version. looks ok still rater have Mario Party 9

  • fmacraze

    Posted Aug 29, 2010 2:10 pm GMT

    i wonder what happened to the mario party series..

  • pokemonblackftw

    Posted Aug 28, 2010 3:09 pm GMT

    Meh... I guess I need another wiimote. Why the hell not.

  • wiidsduelpack

    Posted Aug 27, 2010 9:14 pm GMT

    The hilarious part is that I wasn't considering buying the game but its bundled with a remote. Lets see if its a family oriented game

  • gamer_seb

    Posted Aug 27, 2010 1:28 pm GMT

    The bomb game is great

  • Crisis_Eye

    Posted Aug 27, 2010 8:28 am GMT

    It's kind of similar to Mario Party but with Mii's. I think this will be a great game to play with the family or a group of friends.

  • aadmiral

    Posted Aug 27, 2010 5:30 am GMT

    played the japanese version, actually REALLY fun.. the 2-player modes are genius!

  • ricardo-sene

    Posted Aug 26, 2010 9:44 am GMT

    The game didn't appeal to me actually.
    .
    More interesting is the Nintendo's move - and success - in the business area, besides the fact Nintendo didn't have support of the main part of core gamers.

  • MationMac

    Posted Aug 26, 2010 1:22 am GMT

    Wii Party actually looks fun!
    I would prefer a new Mario Party, but maybe Nintendo is busy making something awesome.

  • ichc1000x

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 3:15 pm GMT

    This game is looking to be really good!

  • g1rldraco7

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 3:04 pm GMT

    So far the games looks cool and fun.

  • mario-nin-freak

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 2:20 pm GMT

    @sabin55 well, Maybe it will because it has nothing else with it like most other Mii based games

  • Sabin55

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 2:18 pm GMT

    @mario-nin-freak you will be waiting a very long time.. first party titles do not drop in price.. best bet is to buy it used.

  • mario-nin-freak

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 2:05 pm GMT

    Interesting, mario party would be better but it still looks like lots of fun I think I'll wait for the price to drop some though

  • cjasko94 posted Aug 25, 2010 1:48 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    cjasko94

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 1:48 pm GMT (hide)

    FAIL

  • Gamingclone

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 1:48 pm GMT

    Sweet, might give this a try

  • Flint247

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 1:35 pm GMT

    I definitely want to try Wii Party. It seems fun to play.

  • Cruse34

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 12:56 pm GMT

    I bet Wii Party is actually quite fun. Good of Nintendo to get the company

  • thom_maytees

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 12:23 pm GMT

    By purchasing 96% of ND Cube, this would make it a first-party developer for Nintendo. By the looks of this week's Japanese software sales, it would be a matter of weeks before it reaches the one million sale mark. Its sales are still solid weeks after its release last month.

  • Nintendo_Ownes7

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 11:38 am GMT

    I thought Nintendo already owned NDCube. I atleast know that company was created as a joint effort between Nintendo and another company.

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