IamAwsome said:
VanceIX said:
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.
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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/
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They were fully under control of Nintendo in 07. You don't have to own 100% of a company to control them. Even now Monolith's managers own a few shares in the studio.
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I already admitted that they controlled them for the most part. However, Namco kept a significant share in order to keep "involvment" with the studio, which signifies that the studio still was under some degree of influence from Namco, and not 100% privately owned by Nintendo, as a first party studio generally is.
You're Gonna Carry That Weight.
