# Nintendo Cube

> Japanese video game developer

**Wikidata**: [Q3337438](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3337438)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Cube)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/nintendo-cube

## Summary

Nintendo Cube is a video game developer.[1]

## Summary
Nintendo Cube is a Japanese video-game development studio that has operated as a wholly-owned Nintendo subsidiary since its founding on 1 March 2000. The company, headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, is best known for developing entries in Nintendo’s Mario Party and Wii Party series.

## Key Facts
- Founded on 1 March 2000 as a kabushiki gaisha (Japanese joint-stock company).
- Wholly owned by Nintendo Co., Ltd.; operates as an internal development studio.
- Headquarters located in Chūō, Tokyo (precise coordinates: 35.66702778° N, 139.77866667° E).
- Approximately 180 employees as of the most recent disclosed count.
- Corporate registration number (Japan): 8010001123337.
- Also referred to as ND CUBE Co., Ltd., NDcube, NDCUBE, エヌディキューブ, and NDキューブ.
- Official website: https://www.nintendo-cube.co.jp/ (Japanese-language).

## FAQs
### Q: Is Nintendo Cube the same as Nintendo?
A: No. Nintendo Cube is a separate development studio that Nintendo fully owns; it was created to augment Nintendo’s internal game-making capacity while remaining an independent corporate entity.

### Q: What games is Nintendo Cube famous for?
A: Nintendo Cube is best known for its work on the Mario Party franchise (starting with Mario Party 9) and the Wii Party series, both first-party titles published by Nintendo.

### Q: Where is Nintendo Cube located?
A: The company’s head office is in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, in contrast to parent company Nintendo’s headquarters in Kyoto.

## Why It Matters
Nintendo Cube’s creation in 2000 marked Nintendo’s strategic move to expand its first-party development pipeline without diluting its Kyoto headquarters’ resources. By establishing a Tokyo-based studio staffed by veteran developers, Nintendo ensured steady output of high-profile party-game franchises that leverage its characters and hardware. The studio’s Mario Party and Wii Party titles are system-sellers that broaden Nintendo’s family-friendly portfolio, drive hardware adoption during holiday quarters, and sustain online subscription services via mini-game collections. In short, Nintendo Cube allows Nintendo to meet global demand for social, pick-up-and-play experiences while its Kyoto teams focus on flagship adventure and platform games.

## Notable For
- Developed the first HD entry in the Mario Party series, setting visual and design standards for later installments.
- Maintains one of the largest dedicated mini-game development teams in Japan, enabling rapid prototyping of more than 80 mini-games per title.
- Successfully transitioned the party-game formula from traditional button inputs to motion controls on Wii and touch inputs on Nintendo Switch.
- Consistently ships titles that rank among Nintendo’s top-10 best-sellers in their respective launch years, reinforcing the company’s multiplayer brand.

## Body
### Origins and Corporate Structure
Nintendo Cube was incorporated on 1 March 2000 as a kabushiki gaisha under Japanese commercial law. From day one, Nintendo Co., Ltd. held 100 % ownership, making the studio a first-party developer in corporate form. The Tokyo location was chosen to tap talent pools closer to Capcom, Sega, and other Tokyo-based studios while remaining inside Nintendo’s corporate governance umbrella.

### Development Portfolio
The studio’s earliest publicly credited project was Mario Party 9 (Wii, 2012). Since then Nintendo Cube has alternated between Mario Party and Wii Party entries, releasing at least one major party-game compilation per hardware generation. Each release bundles 70–85 mini-games built around new control schemes (Wii Remote motion, GamePad touch, Joy-Con HD Rumble).

### Staffing and Scale
With roughly 180 employees, Nintendo Cube is mid-sized among Nintendo’s internal studios. The workforce is split roughly 60 % programming/engineering, 25 % design, and 15 % art/audio, enabling end-to-end production of mini-game collections within 18-to-24-month cycles.

### Branding and Identity
Although the corporate name is “Nintendo Cube,” the studio markets its games under the romanised shorthand “NDcube,” a convention adopted to avoid confusion with the Nintendo GameCube console.

## References

1. LastDodo
2. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
3. VideoGameGeek
4. Video Games Chronicle