Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi created the Nintendo Research & Development 4 department in 1983. Nintendo R&D4 was a new development department to complement the other three existing ones in the Nintendo Research & Development division. Yamauchi scouted and hired Hiroshi Ikeda, the former president of Toei Animation in 1983 and appointed Ikeda as the General Manager of the newly founded Research & Development 4 department. Thus, he was Miyamoto’s boss and responsible for assembling a development team for Miyamoto. Although uncredited, Ikeda was the producer of the early R&D4 games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.

Around 1990, Miyamoto became the General Manager of R&D4 while Ikeda departed to become president of a Joint Venture named “Mario Co Ltd”. Mario Co Ltd was founded in 1991 by Nintendo and advertising firm Dentsu. Mario Co Ltd developed a Famicom port of Balloon Kid under the Hello Kitty label, called Hello Kitty World and Sanrio Carnival 2.

Later Ikeda became president of another joint venture. This one was founded between Nintendo and Hudson in 1998 and was called Monegi. Although neither Monegi nor Ikeda appear in credits, this team is the development team behind the Hudson accredited Mario Party series.

At first, Monegi was a Nintendo first party company, but after 2000 it belonged to Hudson. After Mario Party 8 the company seems to have dissolved and the series went on hiatus. Many former Monegi staff now work at ND Cube and develop the new Mario Party games.