Nintendo has made 71 Brand new Franchises Since 2001

[VanceIX]

IamAwsome said:

Nintendo bought an 80% stake in Monolith in 07, long before Xenoblade was announced. They didn't "fully" own them, but they had the controlling stake. 

80% share does mean controlling share, yes, but it doesn't make them first-party, not quite. Namco-Bandai, I believe, owned the majority of the rest of the share, so they had some control over the future of the company. It wasn't until 2011 that Nintendo bought them out completely, thus making them fully under control of Nintendo.

Edit:  "Namco Bandai is considering the sale as a way to strengthen its relationship with Nintendo and is not entirely ending its involvement with Monolith Soft. Namco Bandai will retain 16 percent of the developer's shares and will continue to count the studio among its partners. "

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-buys-monolith-soft/1100-6169813/