June 10^th, 2004 (12:00am) - Last year, Nintendo purchased a considerable amount of stock in Bandai (2.6 percent), which as a result made the gaming giant the ninth largest holder of Bandai shares. Because of this purchase, rumors began to spread that Nintendo was planning on a takeover or buyout of Bandai, but these rumors were denied with official statements from both parties. However, let it be noted that in an interview which appeared in the Japanese business press, a son of the company’s founder later claimed that there had been a conspiracy within the Bandai board to aid a takeover by Nintendo.

Well, Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata revealed at the company’s corporate strategy conference yesterday in Tokyo that Nintendo has expressed an interest into purchasing more stock in Bandai.

Iwata once again expressed that Nintendo does not have any plans to buy out Bandai at the current moment. His goals and Nintendo’s is to strengthen the relationship between the two companies and to win a seat on the Bandai board for Nintendo, which, according to Rob Fahey of GameIndustry.biz, “could have serious implications for the Japanese games industry.”