Microsoft Lusts Nintendo, To Little Avail

Richard Finney writes "The online version of Forbes Magazine says that Bill Gates has expressed an interest in buying Nintendo from Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Yamauchi." Though this news seems to have been part of a theoretical 'what if' question, the story reports: "'If Hiroshi Yamauchi phones me up, i will pick up at once,' Gates told WirtschaftsWoche magazine on the sidelines of an analyst conference."

Comments

Giving Sony Competition

[Cpt_Kirks]

This could be interesting, the way train wrecks are interesting.

M$ and the big N together could give Sony fits.

MarioX, anyone?

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[AlexMax2742]

I agree wholeheartedly. I havn't played my Gamecube in months because of the lack of software for it. Nintendo should stick to what it's good at, making kick ass games. Their stupid decisions reguarding hardware got old two generations ago.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Txiasaeia]

Three words: Tales of Symphonia.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[SilentChris]

Two words: 1 game.

I recently purchased a GameCube, and I have had a grand time picking up the classics (Metroid, Zelda, etc.) but the current and future libraries are lacking.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[mr.capaneus]

I don't think they have made any stupid decisions regarding hardware thought the GC controller is debatable. They have technically the best console out right now. The Xbox has slightly more capabilities but it is also much more expensive to produce. The problem Nintendo has is that is has not been good at attracting third party developers. They really need to get some good 3rd party exclusives to drive GC sales. Some 3rd party non-exclusives wouldn't kill them either.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Anonymous Coward]

If you "recently" bought a GameCube and have already gone through ALL of Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Zelda and Tales of Symphonia, you have too much time on your hands.

Get a job.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[DavidLeblond]

Future libraries lacking? Methinks you need to get out more.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Frizzle Fry]

I've never understand the position that a platform needs to have hundreds of great games. If it merely has, say, twenty truly great games, that would provide me with hundreds of hours of great game play which would more than justify the cost of the system, so what's the problem? Why do so many people perfer a platform with tons of mediocre games (playstation) that you aren't going to play anyway? Why don't you come back in a few years after you've played through all of the great gc games and then tell us if the system is "lacking"?

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Osty]

I don't think they have made any stupid decisions regarding hardware thought the GC controller is debatable

How about the decision to stick with the cartridge format for the N64 when all of the competition had moved to CDs (cost them Square's games, a major blow)? The abortion that was the N64 controller? How about the decision to use a miniature disc for the GC, thus making the GC unable to double as a DVD player while simultaneously decreasing the storage space available for media content such as voices, music, video, and high-resolution textures? Not a huge deal, but when your competition is offering that feature and you're not, it's just one more reason why a person may not buy your console. How about no backlight on the GB/GBA for years, up until the release of the GBA SP? I can understand no backlight on the GB, but when the GBA was designed there was no reason not to add a backlight. What about the aborted SNES CD expansion, which ultimately turned into the Sony Playstation and signed Nintendo's death warrant? And the worst of all ... wait for it ... VirtualBoy.

It's too soon to tell yet how the DS will turn out, but I'm afraid that the touch screen is going to be more pain than it's worth.

They have technically the best console out right now. The Xbox has slightly more capabilities but it is also much more expensive to produce.

No, Nintendo may have monetarily the best console out right now (assuming it costs less to build than a PS2), but I don't think anyone would claim that the XBox is not the best technically. Two words: hard drive.

The problem Nintendo has is that is has not been good at attracting third party developers. They really need to get some good 3rd party exclusives to drive GC sales. Some 3rd party non-exclusives wouldn't kill them either.

Nintendo used to be the best at attracting 3rd parties, but their rash of bad hardware mistakes (mostly starting with the N64, which they still have recovered from) caused them to lose many 3rd parties. Oh, and the GC does get 3rd party non-exclusives, but the problem is that while the GC ports may be better than the PS2 (not always the case, given that the PS2 has more storage space available on the disk, and a better controller), they can't hold a candle to the XBox port (see Splinter Cell and Splinter Cell: PT). I expect that a majority of GC owners also have a PS2 or XBox, and so when it comes to 3rd party non-exclusive titles they will either buy it for the platform it's released on first (XBox or PS2, depending on the game), or where it has more/better features (better graphics, online play, better controller, etc).

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[mr.capaneus]

How about the decision to stick with the cartridge format for the N64 ...

I thought we were only talking about the current generation. Nintendo has definitely made hardware mistakes in the past. I really don't think the mini DVD is a mistake. What is the only current console that does not have widespread game copying? Nintendo knows what they are doing, I think.

No, Nintendo may have monetarily the best console out right now (assuming it costs less to build than a PS2), but I don't think anyone would claim that the XBox is not the best technically. Two words: hard drive.

No. The Xbox is an x86 kludge of a console. It is expensive and inelegant. The reason it has more capabilities is that has more high end (expensive) parts. Throwing money at a problem is not a good technical solution (i.e. paying for an expensive HD).

Oh, and the GC does get 3rd party non-exclusives, but the problem is that while the GC ports may be better than the PS2 (not always the case, given that the PS2 has more storage space available on the disk, and a better controller), they can't hold a candle to the XBox port (see Splinter Cell and Splinter Cell: PT). I expect that a majority of GC owners also have a PS2 or XBox, and so when it comes to 3rd party non-exclusive titles they will either buy it for the platform it's released on first (XBox or PS2, depending on the game), or where it has more/better features (better graphics, online play, better controller, etc).

The GC gets 3rd party exclusives but if they are successful they get ported to the PS2 (I know, not all of them do. I am exaggerating). Also, multiplatform games are rarely better on the Xbox than GC and sometimes, but even more rarely, better on the GC than Xbox. Granted, the PS2 version can sometimes be less impressive but the GC and Xbox are basically the same unless you have an HDTV. Like most people, I don't, so it makes little difference to me which system it is on.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Paladine97]

No, Nintendo may have monetarily the best console out right now (assuming it costs less to build than a PS2), but I don't think anyone would claim that the XBox is not the best technically. Two words: hard drive.

Three words for you: source of failure. Sure the hard drive might be great now but let's see how great it is when you want to play an XBox game ten years from now when the disc is bad. Will they even be making compatible disks then?

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Osty]

No. The Xbox is an x86 kludge of a console. It is expensive and inelegant. The reason it has more capabilities is that has more high end (expensive) parts. Throwing money at a problem is not a good technical solution (i.e. paying for an expensive HD).

First off, the cost for manufacturing XBoxes, like all the other consoles, has steadily been decreasing. Second, the Gamecube is a slightly more elegant PowerPC kludge of a console. The fact that the XBox is based on PC hardware doesn't make it any less of a console. And finally, what "problem" was Microsoft "throwing money at" to solve with a hard drive? You can still use memory cards, but putting a fixed storage device in a console is a very good idea.

The GC gets 3rd party exclusives but if they are successful they get ported to the PS2 (I know, not all of them do. I am exaggerating).

That would define the games as non-exclusive then, huh? Would you care to provide any examples of this? The marketing just doesn't make sense. "Hey, let's spend a bunch of money to write an exclusive game for a marginal console. If it does well there, then we can spend even more money and port it to PS2." Why not just start on the PS2 immediately? Oh, and I'm referring to the US market, so if you want to mention Japanese games that are GC exclusive, they should be games that have already or will be released in the States.

Also, multiplatform games are rarely better on the Xbox than GC and sometimes, but even more rarely, better on the GC than Xbox.

Again, I'm going to have to ask for examples. For my part, take a look at the Splinter Cell games (better on XBox than GC or PS2), EA Sports' entire lineup (they're designed for PS2, but at least now the XBox ports will have online play -- GC still doesn't get the love there, and no the Warp Pipe project doesn't count), Prince of Persia (best on XBox), Soul Calibur II (again best on XBox with better graphics and game control, though fanboys will prefer the GC version for the Link character -- personally, I like Spawn), Rainbow Six 3 (well, pretty much every Ubi Soft game), and many more. Can you provide me examples of cross-platform games that were better on the GC? And games like Skies of Arcadia don't count, because that was only cross-platform for DreamCast and GC, not GC/PS2/XBox.

Granted, the PS2 version can sometimes be less impressive but the GC and Xbox are basically the same unless you have an HDTV

If the port is done properly, the PS2 version will always be less impressive because both the GC and XBox support higer resolution textures. That's not to say that ports are always done well, especially when it's a port from PS2 to GC/XBox. However, I wouldn't say that the GC and XBox "are basically the same". Oh, and speaking of HDTV, that's another Nintendo hardware bungle. They dropped the component output on recent GameCube hardware revisions, which is just plain stupid. Of course, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy when their marketting department looked at the usage of component output on GC, since they only sell the component cables direct from the Nintendo store, and not at regular retail joints. And speaking of non-HDTV, I don't know why, but my GC looks much worse via composite or S-Vid than my XBox. My GC apparently has issues with red pixels, making them appear very blocky and nasty, and bleed all over the place. It seems to be an inerlacing issue, though, because I have the same problem with component cables unless I switch to progressive mode. It's most visible on the red Nintendo oval logo at the start of each game, though you can also really notice it on Mario's hat in Mario Sunshine (horrible game, sold it not long after getting it "for free" with the purchase of my GC). In contrast, my XBox looks just fine on a comp

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Matrix272]

I've never understand the position that a platform needs to have hundreds of great games.

One platform CAN survive on 5-10 really great games, but that same platform will THRIVE on 20-50 really great games. Consumers aren't happy to spend $200+ on a game console just to see it have a handful of worthwhile games in the next 2 years, especially if all those games are first-party games anyway.

I agree with the other posts. If Nintendo was bought out by Microsoft, Microsoft would be able to make some really great games using Nintendo's copyrighted characters... not only on the XBox, but also on the PC. Imagine Microsoft developing a new Zelda that'll play on both the Xbox, and the PC... and, if there's a God, even play online...

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[bigman2003]

Well, it depends on your definition of 'great games'.

I've got an Xbox- Knights of the Old Republic is rated as one of the best Xbox games available. I don't like that kind of game. Grand Theft Auto Double Pack is also a 'great' game on the Xbox. I don't like that one either. Same with Prince of Persia.

But I like Splinter Cell, Halo, Crimson Skies, etc etc.

So, out of the 50 top games on the Xbox, I probably only like 25 or so.

In that case- (go with my logic here, not your opinion of Xbox games) does the Xbox have 50 great games, or does it have 25?

I know that the Gamecube does not have a lot of games that appeal to me. So if it has only 20 great games, but 17 of those don't appeal to me- I'm left with 3 games.

So I'd prefer more games- because it means I will have a better chance of finding games that *I* like.

So this isn't a knock on the Gamecube, but me just throwing in my opinion that everyone's definition of a great game will be different- and you can never have too many great games!

(Great game of the week? ESPN NFL 2K5)

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Frizzle Fry]

What you say is pretty true. For example, I don't care too much for sports games or rpg's, so great games of that type don't help me much. I bought the original nfl 2k (for dreamcast), and while it was indeed good, I didn't play much of it. (On the other hand, I loved both prince of persia and grand theft auto, so I guess we have pretty different tastes).

However, it has been my experience that the people who buy a nintendo console are very frequently the kind of people who enjoy the kinds of games that nintendo makes, which means they will truly appreciate the great games on the gamecube, even if (for example) many dedicated pc gamers who would never buy a gamecube would hate those games.

So I'd prefer more games- because it means I will have a better chance of finding games that *I* like.

But when we are talking about consoles that have been out for a few years, I don't have to take chances and play the numbers. I can look at what games are actually available and which of those are of a type that appeal to me. If one console has more "great" games, but they aren't games I care about, I won't buy it, even though without any other information the console with more great games is of course more likely to have games I want to play.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Txiasaeia]

Future: Metroid Echoes, Paper Mario 2, Fire Emblem, and Star Fox (a *real* Star Fox game, not the crappy Adventure).

Oh, do yourself a favour and pick up F-Zero GX too - best game I've ever owned, and have played for at least 50 hours, if not more.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Chess_the_cat]

Then why the fuck did you buy a Cube? Try a little research next time stupid.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[bigman2003]

How fitting that the last message (read at -1) got modded 'flamebait'.

Some mod took the bait...

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Christopher Cashell]

That's interesting.

I bought a GameCube about 8 months ago. I currently have a library of nearly 40 games, and I payed less than $20 for at least 85% of them.

Oh, and I've still got at least 15 that I play regularly and haven't yet completed. That last thing on my mind is lack of games, or difficulty in finding something to play. My only real problem is finding enough time to keep up!

As for future games. . . even if I wasn't seriously backlogged by the number of great games I already have, there's a ton of games I'm looking forward to getting:

• Tales of Symphonia
• Paper Mario 2
• The new Zelda game
• Prince of Persia 2
• Metroid Prime 2
• Geist
• Second Sight
• WWE DoR
• Resident Evil 4
• Star Fox
• Baten Kaitos
• Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
• Viewtiful Joe 2 (Damn, after VJ, I can't wait for this)
• Time Splitters: Future Perfect
• Mario Kart: Double Dash! (I know this one isn't really new, but I haven't gotten it yet. . . too busy still playing F-Zero GX)

I know I'm forgetting a few, but damn, that's quite a few off the top of my head.

I don't know about you, but something tells me it will be a long time before I'm lacking games to play. If you're really having trouble with this, then you're not looking hard enough. If you *really* can't find anything, drop me an e-mail. I'll give you some suggestions.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Yorrike]

Imagine Microsoft developing a new Zelda that'll play on both the Xbox, and the PC

Woo, that sent shivers down my spine. No. And just so we're clear here, no. Microsoft would ruin any Nintendo franchise. The reason? They're not Nintendo.

and, if there's a God, even play online...

Luckily, there isn't. Online Zelda? Have you ever PLAYED Zelda? Zelda sure, four swords made Zelda multiplayer seem a little less retarded than the concept would suggest, but all the same, Zelda is not the kind of franchise you can tranfers online.

On a slightly different note, I'd like to point out that making something "online" does not automatically make it better. In the same way that adding "XTREME!" or "X" to the end of a game's title, doesn't make it any better.

The argument is redundant anyway, Yamauchi won't being selling his stake in Nintendo. He's already a billionare, and Nintendo is and has been, his life.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Anonymous Coward]

"First off, the cost for manufacturing XBoxes, like all the other consoles, has steadily been decreasing."

So has their retail price probably keeping XBOX at at a loss or near loss.

"Second, the Gamecube is a slightly more elegant PowerPC kludge of a console. The fact that the XBox is based on PC hardware doesn't make it any less of a console."

Yup and Nintendo were right so much so that both Sony and MS are comming over to the PowerPC camp for their next gen consoles.

"The marketing just doesn't make sense. "Hey, let's spend a bunch of money to write an exclusive game for a marginal console. If it does well there, then we can spend even more money and port it to PS2." Why not just start on the PS2 immediately? Oh, and I'm referring to the US market, so if you want to mention Japanese games that are GC exclusive, they should be games that have already or will be released in the States."

See you left real venture capitol out of the equation. If you can get initial funding (which Nintendo is still not bad for) you can create a game that does well as an exclusive for the console and then spend a small amount porting to the PS2 at which point the game is no longer an exclusive. Need a game well both Viewtiful Joe (and Rayman before it) and Phantasy Star On-Line were both Game Cube ports that went to the PS2 and Xbox respectively. You can argue that the latter appeared on the Dreamcast first but to deny the XBox incarnation is not based on the Game Cube port is to piss in the wind. Finally many video games come from Japan and have for over a decade so to deny this is to ignore history. Maybe because the XBox is so poor in Japanese developement, your perspective of this reality is skewed. This also ties in with my comment on why a developer might go Game Cube then PS2 route. See in Japan the Game Cube did better salese wise than the XBox so small japanese developers would want to sell there and the MS console install base is too small. Now if you are a North American developer you will likely get a better deal with MS (or you did till they started demanding you perform, meet deadlines and expectations).

"And finally, what "problem" was Microsoft "throwing money at" to solve with a hard drive? You can still use memory cards, but putting a fixed storage device in a console is a very good idea."

It adds cost, encourages lazy developement (latest resident evil on PS2 without the optional (NOT) hard drive anyone) that ignores memory constraints. If you need an Xbox example remeber the first racing games for the Xbox and how long they took to buffer to HDD? Adds to costs and rate of console failure. Hurts retailers return channel (how many came back without hard drive? answer more than you would think). The list goes on so much so that MS may not even ship its Xbox with a hard drive in the next interation. Anyways "the problem" MS was throwing money at was that their first foray into consoles was not likely to be a success. To combat this they tried to make their console unique and did not dare count on peripheral sales (save the DVD remote and memory cards) like Sony did on its successful system.

"In order of bad to good, I'd have to rate the current crop of controllers as PS2 GC XBox (controller S, though I also liked the old larger Duke controller)."

You are entitled to your opinion but most would disagree. Most would say (and have said) it should be, in order of BEST to Worst
PS2 - GC & XBOX(TypeS JP) - XBOX (TypeS NA)- XBOX (Orig NA) those lame detachable cords just plain suck and big controllers suck too, finally note the different button setup on the Type S much better and MS recognized that it was the way to go.

I tell it like it is. You tell it how you think it is. The difference is, I have history, the general public and the future to back me up while you have only yourself to blame.

ping

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[lucas teh geek]

Luckily, there isn't. Online Zelda? Have you ever PLAYED Zelda? Zelda sure, four swords made Zelda multiplayer seem a little less retarded than the concept would suggest, but all the same, Zelda is not the kind of franchise you can tranfers online.

but.. but.. but.. they could make a zelda MSARORPG (Massively Stupid and Retarded Online RPG) like every other franchise seems to be doing and milk some more cash from the morons who buy into every one of these. [rant]thank god that the big N haven't and hopefully wont ever do this. everyone places too much value on online multiplayer these days, it doesnt instantly make games better you fools![/rant]

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Illissius]

Most of your points are valid to an extent, but this one is off:

First off, the cost for manufacturing XBoxes, like all the other consoles, has steadily been decreasing. Second, the Gamecube is a slightly more elegant PowerPC kludge of a console. The fact that the XBox is based on PC hardware doesn't make it any less of a console. And finally, what "problem" was Microsoft "throwing money at" to solve with a hard drive? You can still use memory cards, but putting a fixed storage device in a console is a very good idea.

Microsoft is still taking a huge loss for every Xbox sold. Enough of one that not even the games people buy for it afterwards have been enough to make the business as a whole profitable. A large part of the reason for that is the hard drive - and they are most likely removing it from Xbox2 because of that.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[13Echo]

Um... Right.

Nintendo is the only one that continues to show a profit (due to the reasonable Gamecube and the extreme success of the GameBoy). Like they really want to be part of Microsoft, who has a consistantly failing console game division.

Besides... I think that we're going to see a changing of the guard with the next generation of consoles; And it will be Nintendo on top.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[13Echo]

F-Zero GX is one of the greatest racers I've ever played. It's like the perfect marriage of Nintendo's F-Zero with SEGA arcade racers (complete with the '80s butt-rock music). Plus, it has a million things to unlock, and stays fun until the end. Certainly a must-have for any fan of F-Zero or racing games.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[13Echo]

Microsoft has huge losses not because of the fact that the console is "expensive to produce" (which it is not), but because the mediocre game library that consists largely of reworked PC games and Tecmo tech-demos isn't selling to make enough of a profit.

I'll be the first to admit that the X-Box has some great exclusives (like PDO, Halo, JSRF, etc.), but its library is obviously not attracting the attention of the PS2 crowd, or even people that want games like those on the GameCube (which I would say are both more diverse than the XBox). The major sales of the XBox stem from good sports games and a fantastic online system, but the appeal is only so limited. Go to GameFAQS and look at the top XBox FAQ. It's Ninja Gaiden - a game that came out almost 1/2 of a year ago.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[13Echo]

Not to mention that the hard drive is a poor excuse to release games early and patch buggy titles that should have been delayed. I hope nobody wants to argue this point, because it's already being done with several games... What a shame. It's more of a PC clone than anyone could have ever believed.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[geminidomino]

Going through my game book here, and starting with the exclusive titles:

Tales of Symphonia: Ok. I really hate the battle system

Metroid Prime: Never thought I'd like a console-based FPS... This is a GREAT game though.

Rogue Leader (RS2): Another great game.

Rebel Strike (RS3): Not so great. Replay value killed by inane "out-of-ship" missions.

Resident Evil 0: A bit easier than its predecessors, but a good game.

Starfox Adventures: *BLETCH!* (A gift from my kid brother tho)

Skies of Arcadia: Legends: Technically not an "exclusive" since it's a remake of a dreamcast game, but not available on the other two current consoles so I'll list it. AWESOME game.

Zelda: Wind Waker: See "Starfox Adventures"

Summoner: A Goddess Reborn: A sorry bastardization of the "Summoner" series.

MGS: The Twin Snakes: I REALLY liked the whole idea of being able to use the engine of MGS2 to replay MGS1. Kinda bummed about the loss of voice acting quality (Mei Ling and Natasha's accents, e.g.) and that it didn't use the "Substance" engine, so some of the dogtags are all but impossible.

So there we have 4 great games and a bunch of cruft... of course, there are NON exclusive games as well, which should be taken into consideration if you already HAVE the unit and are not considering which one to buy.

Zelda Bonus Disks (both varieties): These are just cool to have.

Bounty Hunter: This will teach me to read the back of boxes. I thought it was about Boba Fett. Decent gameplay tho.

Bloodrayne: REALLY lame.

Soul Caliber II: This is the best version to have, cause Link is way cooler than Hihashi. ;)

I-Ninja: Cute little platformer. Has voicework by Billy West ("Fry" on Futurama) and Michael Bell ("Raziel" in the "Soul Reaver" series)

Beyond Good and Evil: Seems ok, haven't played much since I got it 3 days before I got Tales of Symphonia. Lots of collectibles.

PN03: Square should stick to RPGs.

Megaman Anniversary Collection: Play control seriously fscked up on the 'cube. Should have gotten the PS2 version.

So I have about 10 out of 18 games that keep the Cube alive for me. Of course, I have over 20 games for PS2 that are RPGs alone (total of about 70 PS2 games... gotta love pre-played!) but all in all it was worth the $99 bucks.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[AlexMax2742]

Microsoft doesn't like companies trying to patch games after release. And the main bugs that do get patched under my observation are ones dealing with online play.

Seriously, when you are dealing with online players, you simply can not expect the retail version to cover every single base, exploits and imbalances are GOING to be found, and they have to get patched. Take the 50 CAL from Rainbow Six 3, used to be the equivilent of the AWP of CounterStrike, now through a patch, now people can simply say they don't want this weapon in the game. You just can't plan for that.

As long as Microsoft continues to insist on the quality of games that are coming out, I don't think that patching will turn epidemic, and will turn from "fixing major problems with a broken game" to "fixing the very minor problems with an already fantastic game".

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[AlexMax2742]

Can you provide me examples of cross-platform games that were better on the GC? And games like Skies of Arcadia don't count, because that was only cross-platform for DreamCast and GC, not GC/PS2/XBox.

I agree with you (except on that 'hardware being cheaper' point, but others have already argued over thar), but I'll play devils advocate and provide you your example. Sonic Heroes.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Cpt_Kirks]

Besides... I think that we're going to see a changing of the guard with the next generation of consoles; And it will be Nintendo on top.

Handheld or home based? Nintendo is the current king of handhelds in numbers. If the DS will play GBA and GBC games, plus good new stuff, they may remain #1.

Or maybe not. It looks like all handheld devices are converging. The N-Gage may be a POS, but the idea is right. Combine a phone, with a nice touch screen, PDA functions, tiny hard drive, good game controls, good audio and video chips and a 3+ megapixel camera with optical zoom and flash (all of which is in the pipeline) and handheld gaming consoles pretty much go away.

With that kind of convergence, Nintendo better keep the price of the DS under $100 or kids won't even touch it.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Lucractius]

Right... 1st thing...

given that the PS2 has more storage space available on the disk, and a better controller

What dream world are you from? I dont see throttleable shoulder buttons on those ghastly overgrown rumble pack ripoff controllers Sony has been using ever since it stole the idea off Nintendo to put a rumble unit in them. The gamecube controller fits prefectly in most peoples hands. (something X-Box had to fix by making a whole new pad for their japanese sales because no one could use their pad over there) The throttling shoulder buttons are wonderful, and the "Digital click" when they reach full insertion is excelent, makes it feel like less of a twisted keyboard-joystick gene splicing experiment gone wrong (the impression i always get when i hold a PS2 pad) and more like the precision control device it is. The asymetrical layout defines clear roles for each hand in gameplay, the left ususual taking motion on the Control stick or occasionaly d-pad, and the right taking the player controls, and camera control with the c-stick. The shoulder buttons are located and set so that the index or middle finger are able to use them without needing to move from a normal gameplay position. And the wireless Wavebird Controller is a gift from the gaming gods themselves, an official genuine product wireless controller, that actualy works after years of crap 3rd party ones. My contoller point made ill move to the games. Upcoming ~ Metroid Prime 2 : Echoes If youve played the original you will know just how much this game has to live up to. So far it doesnt look set to disapoint. Out now ~ F-Zero GX This game is utterly addictive, classic racing gaming at its best. Nice well planed out courses executed in full 3d complete with loops, twists crossovers, and drops, all in rich 3d settings. An kick ass soundtrack (so much so i went to the effort of riping the mp3s from the game and converting them to CD audio to take with me everywhere.) and a ship customisation function that adds a huge amount off satisfaction when you manage to make "your" perfect ship. Utterly Flawless gaming, I was able to play a 24 hour stretch of this game without once feeling bored ~ Metroid Prime The groundbreaking redefinition of the classic metroid series. Lush graphics. With every little finishing touch aplied to them to make it an utterly awesome experience. From the fog, rain, volcanic and toxic resides on her visor, the awesome rendering from the Infravision and X-ray visor, to the jawdropping beam effects. (Fire off a nice long blast from the flamethrower charge up shot mode of the plasma beam and then come back and tell me you dont love it) With the intese atmospheric effects and some very ruthlesly hidden enemies, not to mention the nastiest end of game Boss(es) I have ever seen in a game EVER. (like getting the Spiderdemon and then have Tim Burton do it on crack or something.) This game and its sequel will have me satisfied until i can get a computer capable of playing Doom3, without any doubt. Pull out the Dolby Surround sound, flick off the lights and then wait till you can see your own eyes reflected back on the inside of your visor when you get slamed by an enemy. Totaly Immersive... I think i may have gone to exessive levels to try and get my point across but stop and think, IS MS capable of producing and fostering such inovative moves on traditional and well know game serieses with the same degree of finesse that Nintendo has almost always had (I wont claim theyre perfect), from Rare blowing us away with the DKC series on the SNES to Goldeneye redefining console FPS games on the N64, and the Bliss that was Ocarina of Time, and the in development Zelda that looks like ganon has gone on an Resident Evil bender right across hyrule. Can you ever see MS delivering things like these?

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Matrix272]

Microsoft would ruin any Nintendo franchise. The reason? They're not Nintendo.

Funny... that kinda reminded me of something someone once said about Sega's franchises being developed for Nintendo's hardware...

Luckily, there isn't. Online Zelda? Have you ever PLAYED Zelda? Zelda sure, four swords made Zelda multiplayer seem a little less retarded than the concept would suggest, but all the same, Zelda is not the kind of franchise you can tranfers online.

Also funny... I remember lots of people saying the same thing about Final Fantasy. However, I will grant the point that an online Zelda might not be the best example of how Microsoft could improve on already-existing big-name Nintendo franchises. The fact is that with Nintendo not having to worry about developing hardware, they can spend more time developing good games... just like Sega.

On a slightly different note, I'd like to point out that making something "online" does not automatically make it better.

Nor did I say that it would. It's apparent that my analogy was lost on you, so I'll state my point without making another analogy. Nintendo, and its most famous franchises, would be better served by concentrating on what makes those games great, rather than spending millions, if not billions, of dollars on hardware development at the same time.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Matrix272]

So I have about 10 out of 18 games that keep the Cube alive for me. Of course, I have over 20 games for PS2 that are RPGs alone (total of about 70 PS2 games...

That's my point. Imagine getting all those games, but not having to spend $99 on the hardware to play them. Imagine getting the 20 RPG's from your PS2 library COMBINED with the 10-18 games, all on one system... It could be wonderful.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Anonymous Coward]

Check out Tales of Symphonia. Or, if you're feeling adventurous, get a FreeLoader and an import copy of Baten Kaitos, which is (IMHO, of course) the best console RPG of this generation.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Anonymous Coward]

NFL2K5 is ridiculous. There are increasingly few games whose technology nearly made me shit my pants as a programmer, and 2K5 is one of them.

The amazing thing about it is that it's almost good enough to be a real simulator--coverages, patterns, matchups--they all work almost like they do in real life. Give it three years, and every team in the NFL will be using this game (or a competitor's) in a far more serious manner.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Matrix272]

Besides... I think that we're going to see a changing of the guard with the next generation of consoles; And it will be Nintendo on top.

I see that statement as foolish optimism.

Let me preface my argument by saying that I grew up on Nintendo consoles... I was a Nintendo fanboy for most of my life. I had a Sega Genesis, with about 5 games, versus my SNES, with about 50... so don't tell me that I just don't like Nintendo.

In the last 10 years, Nintendo has made one bad decision after another: GBA with no backlight, N64 cartridges (which led to Square's departure), N64 controller, VirtualBoy, their treatment of third-party developers, their overly-protective rules on games, etc. I could really only think of 2-3 good decisions they've made. First: they revived Metroid after a 10-year absense from the home-console scene. Second: they admitted their mistake with the GBA by releasing the GBA SP (for an addition $100). Third: um... hang on, I'm thinking... nope, nothing comes to mind.

Nintendo is dying now because they've burned all the bridges they could use to revive themselves. I'm saddened by that, but it's all their fault anyway. If only 1 of the things I listed above wouldn't have happened, Nintendo could still have a shot. (For instance, if the N64 didn't use cartridges, Square would still be with them, and all the Final Fantasy games would have made the N64 mega-popular, despite what Sony or MS did. Also, if the controller didn't require moving hands back and forth all the time, maybe I would have had more patience with it. Maybe if they wouldn't have been overly-restrictive in regards to game content (remember Mortal Kombat?), people wouldn't have started buying non-exclusive titles for other systems.)

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[bigman2003]

NFL 2K5 is crazy...

It's a small thing, but the first time I saw the blimp shadow, I thought 'oh cool, the blimp is overhead'.

Then it slowly moved across the field, and was always in the correct spot, during replays, and everything else.

It's small thing, but that's the kind of detail that makes the game great.

And of course, doing the replays in slow-mo, from every angle, zoomed in/out, etc etc.

And actually, the LOGIC of the announces is good too. Yes, they could use more phrases, but they give you enough information that it really does seem like someone is doing a play-by-play...not just a stupid artificial lack-of-intelligence.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Rayonic]

Did you just say... "Online Zelda"?

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Guppy06]

"How about the decision to stick with the cartridge format for the N64 when all of the competition had moved to CDs (cost them Square's games, a major blow)?"

I still agree with Miyamoto on this. I don't think OoT would be as fun if it had horrendous load times. I also liked the way the cut scenes used the game's engine instead of pre-rendered stuff; everything seems to flow into a seamless whole instead of jarring transitions.

Even today, with more modern hardware and DVD-ROM and HDD access speeds many games still have horrendous and very noticable load times, while Nintnedo has done an excellent job of hiding them. I suspect it's something they mastered in the days of the Famicom Disk System, but I digress...

"The abortion that was the N64 controller?"

Controllers are meant to be held, not looked at. The N64 controller fit my hands perfectly and IMO was the most comfortable controller around before the GCN came out. And I suspect I wasn't the only one with this opinion, considering for how long the N64 controller was the iconic symbol of the games section here on /. for quite a while.

"How about the decision to use a miniature disc for the GC, thus making the GC unable to double as a DVD player"

Avoiding the "DVD" moniker also means avoiding obnoxious licensing fees to our good friends at the DVD Consortium. You'd think with all the pro-DeCSS voices here on /. there'd be more praise for a major media company that has boycotted the CSS heierarchy in entirety.

At any rate, avoiding those fees means a lower price point, which has served Nintendo very well so far, and also fits in with Nintendo's philosophy of "It's the games, stupid!"

"while simultaneously decreasing the storage space available for media content such as voices, music, video, and high-resolution textures?"

It's the games, stupid! If you want bells and whistles over gameplay and fun, go back to PC gaming.

Here's a fun quote from Game Over which I only just started to read (unfortunately):

"The best companies and the best programmers were making computer games," one of (Electronic Arts's) game designers says. "But the Nintnedo player didn't care about the sophisticated leaps we were making on computers--the frame rate of the images or incredible sound. They just wanted fun."

"Not a huge deal, but when your competition is offering that feature and you're not, it's just one more reason why a person may not buy your console."

Of what use is better picture and sound when you can't play Metroid Prime or Wind Waker on it?

"How about no backlight on the GB/GBA for years, up until the release of the GBA SP?"

How about horrendous battery lives for handhelds with such built-in lighting until the pricepoint on better technology came down?

"but when the GBA was designed there was no reason not to add a backlight."

Because the batteries used by the SP were too expenstive to justify putting into the original GBA at the time.

"I can understand no backlight on the GB,"

By the way, in Japan they did. They had a Game Boy Pocket with an Indiglo-style light. It sucked batteries down. It never made it out of Japan.

"What about the aborted SNES CD expansion,"

Wisely dropped after seeing the ultimate failure of the Sega CD (Why publish games for the smaller set of people that own a Genesis and a Sega CD when you can publish for the larger market that simply has a Genesis?). Or would you rather have had Nintendo make such a CD drive and watch it have the same fate as the 32-X?

"And the worst of all ... wait for it ... VirtualBoy."

I'm probably in a minority opinion here, but I don't think the Virtual Boy would have had the fate it did if Mario Clash was the Super Mario World-styl

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Osty]

Go to GameFAQS and look at the top XBox FAQ. It's Ninja Gaiden - a game that came out almost 1/2 of a year ago.

That cuts both ways. The top PS2 FAQ is Final Fantasy X, which came out over 2 years ago. #2 is GTA:VC, another old game. #3 is FFX-2, another old game. Only Spider-Man 2 at #4 is a recent game in the top 5. The top Gamecube game is Tales of Symphonia which is relatively new (almost a year old in Japan, though), but look further into the list and you see #2 is Super Smash Bros. Melee, #3 is Zelda: The Wind Waker, and #4 is the GameCube hardware!

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Osty]

Controllers are meant to be held, not looked at. The N64 controller fit my hands perfectly and IMO was the most comfortable controller around before the GCN came out. And I suspect I wasn't the only one with this opinion, considering for how long the N64 controller was the iconic symbol of the games section here on /. for quite a while.

I played a good amount of N64 back in college (Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye, Killer Instinct 64), and the controllers really cramped my hands after half an hour of play. It was especially bad on fighters like KI. It was only slightly better on MK or 007. As well, I don't find the GC controller all that comfortable either, though it is quite a bit easier to hold than the N64. No, give me an XBox Controller S, and I can play for hours with no cramping at all. That's not something I can do with a GC, PS2, or N64 controller (the DC controller was better than those, too, though not better than the XBox).

Avoiding the "DVD" moniker also means avoiding obnoxious licensing fees to our good friends at the DVD Consortium. You'd think with all the pro-DeCSS voices here on /. there'd be more praise for a major media company that has boycotted the CSS heierarchy in entirety.

Sure the lack of licensing keeps the price point lower, but other than that I don't care. I couldn't care less about DeCSS, the "injustice" of the regions system, or other political bullcrap Slashdotters think everybody should care about. Maybe that's just me, though.

It's the games, stupid! If you want bells and whistles over gameplay and fun, go back to PC gaming.

Yes, bells and whistles don't make a good game, but as I implied in other posts, given the choice between "Game with good gameplay and average looks on GC" and "Game with good gameplay, bells and whistles, and perhaps some extras like online play or custom soundtracks or downloadable content on the XBox", I'm going to go with "bells and whistles" every time.

Of what use is better picture and sound when you can't play Metroid Prime or Wind Waker on it?

What use is a beautiful game like Metroid Prime (just about compares graphically to XBox launch titles) when you can't control it worth a shit? I blame Zoid for that, though.

How about horrendous battery lives for handhelds with such built-in lighting until the pricepoint on better technology came down?

Considering long the GBA ran off of two AA batteries, I don't see why they couldn't have just put in two more batteries and a backlight, and not lost much play time at all. Besides, if you put a switch on it to turn off the light, you can play for 20 hours with no light, and I can play for 5 with a light, and we'll both be happy. I may replace my batteries more often than you, but that doesn't bother me. Nintendo didn't give us that option, though. If you wanted a backlight, you had to buy a whole new GBA. Was that "about the game, stupid," or was it "about the money, stupid?"

I'm probably in a minority opinion here, but I don't think the Virtual Boy would have had the fate it did if Mario Clash was the Super Mario World-style platformer it was originally intended to be. The 3D Mario Bros. gameplay was alright and Wario World was good and all, but...

I never spent much time playing a VirtualBoy, so I can't tell you whether or not the games were good. However, that's a moot point. The thing burned out your eyes! Seriously, what genius thought it was a good idea to have a monochrome red stereo display only inches away from your eyes? I hope he has images of koopas burned into his retinas for that.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[GameNutz]

Wow...imagine that, someone posting here is uninformed :)

First off, the cost for manufacturing XBoxes, like all the other consoles, has steadily been decreasing. Second, the Gamecube is a slightly more elegant PowerPC kludge of a console. The fact that the XBox is based on PC hardware doesn't make it any less of a console. And finally, what "problem" was Microsoft "throwing money at" to solve with a hard drive? You can still use memory cards, but putting a fixed storage device in a console is a very good idea.

The cost of production of the XBox may have decreased slighty due to quantity purchases, but not due to manufacturing. MS is dependant on 3rd party manufacturers for components that are generalized and does not provide cost relief, unlike the GC and the PS2 that use custom AISCs and components, not to mention that Sony has their own fab. facility. Fact is, MS still loses money on EVERY XBox sold. Period. Hmmm...guess MS figured that out as the XB2 will not have a harddrive (but will use the one on your PC over your home network).

Would you care to provide any examples of this? The marketing just doesn't make sense. "Hey, let's spend a bunch of money to write an exclusive game for a marginal console. If it does well there, then we can spend even more money and port it to PS2." Why not just start on the PS2 immediately? Oh, and I'm referring to the US market, so if you want to mention Japanese games that are GC exclusive, they should be games that have already or will be released in the States.

Ok...how about the Sonic games from Sega? Or the Viewtiful Joe series from Capcom? Or Resident Evil games only on GC (not online)? Or the Star Wars series of games than make it to GC first, and the best ones STAY on the GC? Or...you get the picture. However, there are plenty of exclusive titles for all 3 platforms that kick ass. Just pointing out that GC gets them too.

Plenty of space for everyone in the sandbox. No need to fight.

-GN

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[geminidomino]

But with only one system, you end up falling into the "Game rut" that came around in the US towards the end of the NES era, after it was clear that the SMS wasn't going to be much of a competitor (the Genesis did a lot better in that department).

Don't even get me STARTED on the "Wisdom Tree" games. *cringe*

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[he who meows]

Another game that went to gamecube before PS2 was Ikaruga. It went in order: Arcade -> DC -> GC -> PS2.

Two points regarding the gamecube:

The Controllers: Keep in mind that a gamecube controller works well for the kind of games that are on a gamecube. It might suck for fighting games, but there aren't a lot of those on gamecube anyhow. Gamecube has a lot of games that are made to play with only a few buttons most of the time, and the design reflects that.

The size: Many japanese people have tiny homes. Size is a pretty large selling factor. The gamecube with its small size (due to no hard drive/DVD), and smaller discs is going to win out for a lot of homes. This is something lost on Americans. Also, a lot of people are going to either have a DVD Player, or a PS2 to play DVD's, so they don't want to waste space on another DVD player.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[aceadean]

You can badmouth the N64, or the loss of SNES CD and even the Small disks on GC, but when someone calls the first innovative controller since the classic NES days an abortion, I draw the line. It may have been a bit oversized, but without it where would either the analog stick, or the rumble feature be today. It's like calling the Wright Flyer an Abortion just because it only went a few feet! Aceadean

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[Osty]

when someone calls the first innovative controller since the classic NES days an abortion, I draw the line. It may have been a bit oversized, but without it where would either the analog stick, or the rumble feature be today. It's like calling the Wright Flyer an Abortion just because it only went a few feet! Aceadean

I'll agree that there were innovations in the controller, with the addition of an analog stick and the eventual rumble pack. However, PCs had analog joysticks for years, and my timeline may be slightly off but I believe that PCs also had force feedback around the time Nintendo launched their rumble pack (and the PC joysticks were more advanced in that the force feedback was not just some non-directional vibration). However, the layout and hand-feel (for lack of a better term) of the N64 controller was horrible. I acknowledge it for what it was, a step in the right direction, but to ignore that it was also poorly designed ergonomically is to blind yourself. Besides, we're not talking about revolutionary changes to the control scheme. Analog controls and force feedback/vibration are obvious evolutions that would've come about even without the horrible N64 controller. One may say the same thing about flight and the Wright Bros., but giving man the gift of flight is quite a bit different than giving the gift of vibration.

Re:Giving Sony Competition

[ronfar]

SEGA has been a bigger failure since becoming game developers for other systems than they were when they were pushing their own hardware. In fact, they've failed so badly that they went through a hostile takeover by the Sammy corporation, and they are pretty much the same as Atari, a cool brand name that no longer represents a real company.

What has been SEGA's breakout hit since going third party? I can't think of a single one.

nooooooooo

[Anonymous Coward]

please god no :(

Well

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft is in Redmond, Nintendo is in North Bend, WA. If I wanted to expand my company, I'd buy some real estate in North Bend. Screw the staff, it's the buildings and campus that are pretty good location.

Re:Well

[The Zody]

Part of Nintendo of America is also located in redmond washington actualy, digipen is about 1 block from a MS campus.

Re:Well

[Paladine97]

The Nintendo where stuff actually happens is in Japan.

Keep your damned, dirty hands off of Nintendo!

[empaler]

Don't spoil my fountain of youthful fun! Bastard!

As a rule...

[Anonymous Coward]

...these stories based on idle speculation that company A might buy company B are utterly worthless. There really must be enough News For Nerds that we don't need three of these every day.

Re:As a rule...

[bartok]

Unfortunately, this site is more like "News for crazy tech investors" or "News for consumer product fanboys who want to argue pointelessly".

Behold!

[rayamor]

The Wintendo and the Super Microsoft Office Brothers.

Re:Behold!

[lphuberdeau]

You forgot about all the Mario.NET serie.

Re:Behold!

[Cpt_Kirks]

Shouldn't that be:

Behold, Gentlemen!

Re:Behold!

[Luigi30]

Gentlemen, BEHOLD! followed by a witty comment.

Re:Behold!

[milph]

Perhaps the Warior Office Assistant?

Re:Behold!

[TheAdventurer]

Don't forget Marketroid, the game where you must explore the labyrinth of earth's economy and find innovative companies to buy and add as components to your powered business model.

But watch out for software pirates and Mother BitTorrent!

Re:Behold!

[Cpt_Kirks]

"More Corn!"

Very Interesting Fishing Perhaps

[blueZhift]

The article makes it sound like idle talk, but statements from that level may actually have something behind them, but not what you may think at first. I mean Gates knows that he isn't likely to get the opportunity to buy Nintendo. But his statement lets people know that he's in the market. So maybe it won't be Nintendo, but some other prominent Japanese (or other) games company. Who knows? Would Namco, Konami, or Capcom turn him down? Any one of these, handled correctly, could get MS the traction they need in Japan to make the Xbox successor a success there and bolster the chances elsewhere in the world.

I think the next 18 months will be very interesting.

THIS JUST IN!

[Elmdor]

Microsoft Corp's founder Bill Gates has expressed his interest in acquiring ANYTHING from computer games companies. "Hell yeah we're desperate... did you see what we make?" THIS ASLO IN! "Don't for get to buy Halo: Marine Gocart Xtreme Championship, Halo: Cute Kitten Gernades, Halo: NuvaRing, and Halo: Devolved"

Re:THIS JUST IN!

[Elmdor]

My 1 attempt at humor here on /. and I get a Troll rating... :( Never again.... never again...

Re:THIS JUST IN!

[Anonymous Coward]

Uhhmmm... Yeah. The moderators are fscking morons. It took you this long to figure that out? You must be new here or something.

If any psychology students are reading this. It might be interesting to do a study concerning the correlation between mod points and IQ. I am sure you will find that the more mod points one has, the lower their IQ.

Re:THIS JUST IN!

[satoshi1]

Or, in this case, they're just Microsoft fanboys that can't take a joke.

This is news?

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's some news. I am interested in buying Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, and the company that makes generic marshmellows for Wal-Mart. Do I get a slashdot post now?

Re:This is news?

[Anonymous Coward]

The difference is that you can't afford to buy any of those company Bill can.

Re:This is news?

[Anonymous Coward]

How do you know? In fact, how do you know I'm not Bill?

Microsoft or Bill Gates?

[Ianoo]

From the article, this sounds like Gates is interested in buying Nintendo, not Microsoft. But I guess if he owned them both and said "now let's merge" they'd jump to it.

Re:Microsoft or Bill Gates?

[gasgesgos]

From the article, this sounds like Gates is interested in buying Nintendo, not Microsoft. I thought he already owned Microsoft. Why would he need to buy it again? :P

Re:Microsoft or Bill Gates?

[macrom]

I don't know that the FTC, SEC, or whoever would allow this. Gates is the Chairman of the largest software company in the world, already under allegation of existing as a monopoly. To purchase a large company that makes a competing product I think would be rejected, but I'm not overly familiar with corporate law. He would have a majority position in two companies that directly butt heads. That's not good for competition by any means.

I think of it this way : Warren Buffet owns a crapload of Gillette and Coca-Cola. I don't think he would be allowed to own a majority position in Pepsico, Dr. Pepper, Schick, etc. since they make competing products.

No, the only way this could happen would be for Microsoft to make the purchase. Hey, then you could have the latest Square Enix RPG on the Microsoft Nintendo Gamecbue XBox!

Re:Microsoft or Bill Gates?

[AuMatar]

You're assuming the FCC gives a shit anymore. Seeing how the DoJ folded in the anti-trust case, I think the FCC would roll over too.

Re:Microsoft or Bill Gates?

[cynical kane]

Peoplesoft? Oracle? What are those?

By the way, I think you meant FTC

So ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Did Bill turn on his "What if" machine with his finglonger?

Re:So ...

[EddieBurkett]

Gates only watched himself turning on the WhatIf machine with his finglonger when he asked the question, "What if I invented the finglonger?"

That is so Bill Gates...

[mmynsted]

If Bill wants a functional game machine, he can get off his butt and go to Walmart and buy one like everybody else.

Re:That is so Bill Gates...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, he's not interested in their gaming platforms. It's the slogan he wants:

"Microsoft. Now you're playing with power."

Not that trick again...

[scowling]

Gates wanted to buy out Nintendo years ago; his failure to do so led directly to the decision to produce the XBox.

If Gates is interested again in buying Nintendo, this would seem to be to be a strong indication that the XBox is underperforming, and Microsoft is looking for a new way to compete with Sony in the console market.

Re:Not that trick again...

[TomSawyer]

If Gates is interested again in buying Nintendo, this would seem to be to be a strong indication that the XBox is underperforming,

As opposed to quaterly reports?

Re:Not that trick again...

[scowling]

I'm an end user. I don't read quarterly reports, or even quaterly ones. But when I hear that Gates wants to buy Nintendo, it makes me think twice about buying an XBox.

Re:Not that trick again...

[Corngood]

So you don't read quarterly reports, but you read Forbes?

Re:Not that trick again...

[scowling]

No, I read the five-lin blurb. This is Slashdot. Nobody RTFAs. You must be new here.

Re:Not that trick again...

[Anonymous Coward]

scowling : "But when I hear that Gates wants to buy Nintendo, it makes me think twice about buying an XBox. "

# 1, scowling is a very appropriate name for a guy that comes up with such garbage.

# 2,What you are saying makes about as much sense as saying Oracle wants to buy Peoplesoft, so its time to stop using Oracle and buy Peoplesoft software instead.
It simply doesn't make any sense.
Oracle is clearly buying Peoplesoft in order to kill Peoplesoft apps and replace it with Oracle software
If the XBOX is easily clobbering the Gamecube in America(the world's biggest games market by far),why on earth would Gates want to kill the XBOX and replace it with a failing Gamecube, and spend billions of dollars doing it as well?
Makes no sense.

XBOX continues to rock as in the latest sales figures for June:

"June 2004 NPD Funworld figures arrived check out what analyst are excited over.
That goes double for the Xbox. Xbox sales were up far more than any other console.
Breaking sales out by console, Xbox showed a dramatic spike in year-on-year game sales. Xbox software sales in June 2004 were up 69 percent over June 2003 figures...... Sales of PS2 games were up 3 percent and sales of GBA games were up 6 percent"
http://www.xboxadvanced.com/article.php?artid=33 43

And

"June PS2 hardware sales dropped 3% from last year in spite of May's price cut, while Xbox sales rose 55% in the same year-over-year period."

http://www.gamemarketwatch.com/news/item.asp?nid =2 936

I think its time for you to dump your wimpy, pink Gamecube and replace it with a real man's console, the awesome, dominating,most powerful console on the planet, the XBOX!

Re:Not that trick again...

[Corngood]

My point was: slashdot could just as easily run an article with information from a quarterly report. The article wasn't written for slashdot, so what makes you think that it's intended audience was anyone other than Forbes readers?

Re:Not that trick again...

[scowling]

Yawn. A lame flame attempt by an anonymous coward.

Your figures are meaningless. They show only growth and decline. They don't show sales numbers.

[If the XBOX is easily clobbering the Gamecube in America]

Easily clobbering? Outpacing by a fraction, 8.6 million to 7.46 million in 2003 in North America.

XBox sales numbers are well-known to be the lowest of the three major consoles, and with the highest production costs, and therefore the lowest profit per unit.

It's nothing like Oracle and PeopleSoft. We know that Oracle is the Big Boy and their products are the best sellers. In the console world, Microsoft is the little guy and their products are the worst sellers.

Because we know this, this story is indicative not of an attempt to monopolize the market (if it were, the Microsoft would try to buy Sony) but of an attempt to stay in the market at all.

I own neither a Gamecube nor an XBox. I'm not big on console gaming.

Re:Not that trick again...

[Anonymous Coward]

Why would I care? I didn't RTFA, and I don't plan on doing so. I'm just jumping in early to get hits on my site without buying an ad.

Re:Not that trick again...

[ViolentGreen]

XBox sales numbers are well-known to be the lowest of the three major consoles,

I find that suprising from my personal experience. I know lots of people that have ps2s, some with xboxes and not one with a game cube. Perhaps the game cubes are marketed towards younger gamers.

Re:Not that trick again...

[Anonymous Coward]

scowling :"Easily clobbering? Outpacing by a fraction, 8.6 million to 7.46 million in 2003 in North America"
That's XBOX outselling Gamecube by over 1.1 million last year alone,with the XBOX INCREASING its lead even more this year.
I call that clobbering. :)

scowling :"XBox sales numbers are well-known to be the lowest of the three major consoles, and with the highest production costs, and therefore the lowest profit per unit."

There you go with your "it's well known" garbage again.
Well known by who exactly?
You and your lil band of "brothers" from the hate-Microsoft club or the John Kerry "band of brothers" who he trashed before club?
You quote figures showing XBOX smoking Gamecube, then turn round and say XBOX figures are well known to be "the lowest" without ANY proof whatsoever, and contrary to your own figures.
With brain dead clowns like you fighting Microsoft, its no surprise Microsoft's sales and profits continue to soar to new records every quarter.

scowling : "We know that Oracle is the Big Boy and their products are the best sellers."

Wrong again.
SAP is by far the big boy in the ERP, CRM and applications market with over FOUR times Oracle's sales.
In fact Peoplesoft's CRM sales are actually BIGGER than those of Oracle's!!
Check your facts before you show your utter ignorance and cluelessness again, will you?

Scowling : " In the console world, Microsoft is the little guy and their products are the worst sellers."

In case you are deaf as well as stupid, Microsoft's XBOX is the NUMBER 2 console vender on the planet, whether you measure it by dollar sales or by unit sales, being # 2 in the US (the world's biggest market by far), #2 in Canada, #2 Australia and # 2 in Europe.
Microsoft's console products continue to smoke Nintendo's fast fading Gamecube console after just 2 years in the market.
That is awesome, no matter how you look at it.

Re:Not that trick again...

[scowling]

See, I don't look at undr 15% on one market is clobbering.

According to this site: http://www.pcvsconsole.com/hank/answer.php?file=54 9, Gamecube outpaces Xbox slightly worldwide.

In cas eyou are stupid, XBox is #3. Not #2.

There's your proof. Buh-bye now. Want more reponses? Then log in. Until then, I go back to surfing at 1.

Re:Not that trick again...

[kisrael]

Like I said before, your anecodtal observations mean VERY LITTLE. I know more people with a GC than w/ a PS2, but that doesn't mean there are more GCs out there. (And it's not a younger gamer thing...I'm 30 and most of my friends are in the same ballpark.)

I have all 3 consoles...GC is the only one that gets regular play, but that's probably because of my interest in multiplayer games. Or it's easier to lug around...Xbox is pretty good w/ Halo and Crimson Skies and Fusion Frenzy. PS2, except for a few oddball games, my main reason of still keeping it is to have GTA...

Anyway. I don't know why that "gee, my buddies don't have a GC, they must not sell" line bugs me so much.

Re:Not that trick again...

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure you don't.
A clobbering is a clobbering, 15% or not!
I can knock you out at round 11 of a 12 round boxing bout, and I still clobbered you.

Furthermore, XBOX was, is and remains # 2 in the console business. In fact Microsoft has already stopped worrying about the Gamecube, focusing instead on taking out PS2 in the next generation as in this extract from the SeattlePI:

"Xbox exec's bold words
Bryan Lee, corporate vice president and chief financial officer in Microsoft's Home and Entertainment Division, had an attention-getting conclusion to his speech yesterday at the company's meeting with financial analysts, talking about the next-generation Xbox's chances against the next Sony Playstation. By way of explanation, the slide he was showing at the time indicated that the Xbox had attained No. 2 position in the console market Here's what he said:

We're very happy with what we've created, but when I showed this slide to some of the guys back at the Xbox team before I came here, there was one thing they were very dissatisfied withThey were very dissatisfied with seeing the number two. There are a lot of people right now who are focused, laser focused on being number one, being number one through innovation. They want to push innovation harder, faster and farther than anyone in the videogame business has ever seen before. And quite frankly they're going to push it harder, faster and farther than Sony has ever seen it handed to them before as well. ....

The company that can define those scenarios and execute on them will win the next console cycle. That company will either be Microsoft or it will be Sony.

So we think we've proven we can play; our goal now is to prove that we can lead.....

Among other things, note that he didn't even mention the next-generation Nintendo console, the GameCube successor, as a potential contender"

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/arc hi ves/003098.html

If Nintendo Gamecube is not even a contender inMicrosoft's eyes, how can Microsoft be even thinking of replacing the superb XBOX with the foundering sissy pink Gamecube?

As to whether you reply or not, its not, it doesn't make any difference to me, except to debunk any more whoppers that you may throw out here if you reply.
Another thing, since I am not a member of slashdot,I am not going to join just to debunk your disinformation on the XBOX.

Re:Not that trick again...

[Anonymous Coward]

So we are to understand that you are of the naive mindset that Microsoft speaks publically about everything off the top of their heads, as opposed to strategically spinning what they say to give off a polished, pre-determined impression?

You are insisting that Microsoft is the stupidest, as opposed to the smartest (which they are), of marketers. That is lunacy. So is insisting that they are ignoring Nintendo. They are telling YOU that they are aiming for #1. Who isn't? The only thing is that they do not mention #2. That wool that they've just pulled over your eyes makes all the difference in the world, and it is why Microsoft is considered king of the spin doctors.

Re:Not that trick again...

[Anonymous Coward]

"The only thing is that they do not mention #2"

Direct quotes from SeattlePI

http://www.microsoft.com/msft/speech/FY04/LeeFAM 20 04.mspx

"By way of explanation, the slide he was showing at the time indicated that the Xbox had attained No. 2 position in the console market

and

"but when I showed this slide to some of the guys back at the Xbox team before I came here, there was one thing they were very dissatisfied withThey were very dissatisfied with seeing the number two"

and from from Bryan Lee,
Corporate Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

"So the numbers here do speak for themselves, but I'll highlight them some. We have sold 15.5 million consoles through the end of the fiscal year. That's what we told you last year, and we hit the number. But the important thing here is the momentum. To take a look, in the United States we now have a third of the market. A year ago we had 23 percent; that's a 10 point increase. In Europe we've also seen an increase in our market share"

These market share figures are FACTS.

If that is not mentioning that XBOX IS # 2, you are blind as well as stupid! :)

Another thing,I have insisted all along that Microsoft is the smartest, mot awesome company out there. How you mange to arrive at the opposite conclusion is something only a member of the hate-Microsoft "band of brothers" can manage to manufacture.

Re:Not that trick again...

[drinkypoo]

The first quote you pasted here does not appear on the URL you cite.

Xbox has outsold GC for one month.

Show me the facts. And preferably not inside of a Microsoft press release.

Heh

[foidulus]

wasn't it about 2 years ago or so that there was speculation that MS wanted to buy Sega? I guess that didn't pan out, so they are going down the line.

Re:Heh

[Pluvius]

Microsoft wants to buy all of the major companies. They tried to buy Square once, for example; they might have succeeded if they had done it at the right time.

Rob

Re:Heh

[Anonymous Coward]

Up the line, frankly. Sega has never been worth more than Nintendo, especially not when MS was looking to buy them.

In light of this, Gates' idle whispers reek of desperation. The justification of a Sega or Nintendo acquisition was that they were entering a new market, and a one-sided partnership with either company would have pushed them up on the food chain far faster and higher. Now that they are a close #3 in the console race (not counting dedicated gaming PCs, portables, and old platforms, in which case they are a distant third to both Sony and Nintendo), they must really think that they can't handle Sony by themselves in the home space, regardless of what they tell people in and out of the Microsoft fan club. And in that, they are right.

After all, you don't see Sony or Nintendo, two other huge companies in positions capable of large acquisitions, scrambling to buy partners like Microsoft has and does (Bungie, Rare, etc), and has tried in the past (Nintendo, Sega).

Re:Heh

[drinkypoo]

Sega has been "worth" more but not monetarily - in terms of mindshare. If Dreamcast hadn't been coopted by the very early announcement of the PS2 with a bunch of made-up specifications none of which actually came to pass, Sega would likely still be around today. That, and if they had used a copy protection scheme that wasn't so trivially defeatable just as CD recorders and media became utterly inexpensive and broadband internet became common... If you at least had to chip your dreamcast to play copied games, that alone might have saved them, though I doubt it.

Go back in time to the space in between N64 and DC and ask [almost] any gamer whether they prefer Nintendo or Sega. They'll tell you that Nintendo is for kids. Whether that's true or not is left as an exercise for the reader but the perception was that Sega was much "cooler" and that the Dreamcast would rock the socks off everyone and everything. If Sony hadn't pulled some underhanded shit, I seriously think Sega would still have been a competitor, and today gamers would be saying "X-what?"

RARE

[vasqzr]

Microsoft already bought RARE (Killer Instinct, Donkey Kong Country, Goleneye, etc), and Nintendo owned quite a bit of them at one time.

Re:RARE

[xenocide2]

Ironically, RARE has sole ownership of very little of its software. The Donkey Kong franchise remains Nintendo's, after Rare turned the Bond brand around with goldeneye, MGM decided to keep it to themselves, and they've also done a lot of games with Disney characters, who naturally remain part of Disney.

What I'd heard was the Stamper brothers wanted out of Rare, or possibly simply out of Nintendo's grip. Much of the talent behind goldeneye had already left to form Free Radical. Its amazing Microsoft purchased the company, really. Rare's offerings don't really mesh well with the XBox's heavily marketed demographics, and their in development titles are slowly achieving Duke Nukem Forever status.

If Micorosft were to purchase Nintendo, it would have to be accompanied by a shift in marketing, away from the xTreme appeal they're still making and towards a group and family situation. They'd also have to tell investors to choose between another high profile acquisition and their huge dividend boost, unless Gates was planning to do this with his 3 billion dollar share of the proceeds from said dividend.

Re:RARE

[BigJimSlade]

unless Gates was planning to do this with his 3 billion dollar share of the proceeds from said dividend.

Off-topic, but all $3 billion US of his dividend share will be going to his charity.

Re:RARE

[Anonymous Coward]

The chronology:

- Rare is a successful second-party dev for Nintendo for generations, starting with the NES.

- Rare becomes complacent, given their close & comfy relationship with the Big N. Games trickle out at a slow pace and their quality is quite dubious. Each one is expected to be a blockbuster and are produced with an associated large budget, but they rarely perform proportionatley as well at market (especially in the post-Goldeneye era).

- A mass exodus of Rare staff led by the Stamper brothers (founders of the company) leave Rare. Many stay in the gaming industry working for more successful companies.

- Nintendo declines a purchase offer presented by Rare, given their poor track record. Nintendo also sells off their controlling share in Rare.

- Microsoft opens the wallet and gives the newly deflated Rare a second chance at the greatness that the original Rareheads had once attained with Nintendo. Truthfully, Microsoft only gains, at great expense, second-rate properties that were former Nintendo exclusives, although games in development will continue to be released for Nintendo platforms.

- Grabbed by the Ghoulies shocks and awes the gaming industry to such proportions that people stop having sex in favor of playing it. It's that damn good. At least, that's what we're supposed to think.

- Rare goes on to release more games for the GBA than the Xbox in the subsequent year after their sellout.

- Nobody notices or cares any more, because shit, whereas they used to be (ooh! ahh!) Rare (!), nowadays they are just (meh, them again?) Rare (who?).

Re:RARE

[13Echo]

Not to mention that all of the employees that didn't leave to form Free Radical years ago have recently started to walk out as well (defecting to companies like Codemasters and Eidos).

http://forum.pcvsconsole.com/viewthread.php?tid= 11 980

So now, Microsoft is left without any of the good franchise games that Rare made (and someone else owned), but also are without any team members that are even worth a damn.

Well... XBox fans always have "Grabbed by the Ghoulies". ;) Personally, I think that the RARE deal was one of the best decisions Nintendo could have made... And they're probably chuckling about it while swimming in mounds of cash. RARE
s games were getting pretty poor, and development times took way too long. Nintendo's gain... Microsoft's loss.

Great

[dmomo]

Maybe Clippy and Mario can team up!
"It appears you like to [eat strange mushrooms and then break bricks with your head]. Would you like me to help you create a macro to [eat strange mushrooms and then break bricks with your head]?"

Re:Great

[Anonymous Coward]

He used his fist! Admittedly, his fist only stuck out two pixels (or one?) past his head...

Re:Great

[tktk]

That's redundant. Seeing Clippy is just like breaking bricks with your head.

Eating strange mushrooms though...I could get behind that.

Re:Great

[Anonymous Coward]

you make an interesting point though. How come there aren't any XBox games with clippy. You could have clippy and all the other office guys in a battlearena to see who really is the best helper.

Re:Great

[drinkypoo]

IIRC his fist stuck out 0 pixels past... his hat.

If we were going to get an accurate portrayal of the exploits of an italian plumber, it would have involved more asscrack.

Re:Great

[SnoBall]

Instead of Mario and Clippy ... how about a clippy borg?

Clippy: I am j00r master
Kid with clippy borg: Huh?
clippy: You have no chance to survive make your time.
Kid: MOMMY!!! THE CLIPPY BORG IS LAME!!! I WANT A FRIGGIN GAMECUBE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!! WAAAAH!


And so ends teh legacy of clippy.

Takeover?

[mmport80]

I reckon Nintendo shares are traded on the stock market. I am not sure how much of Nintendo Yamauchi owns, but if the "Super Gamecube" is a flop then investors might be only too happy to sell their shares to Gates.

Re:Takeover?

[prockcore]

but can MS afford it? Nintendo has a higher market value than Apple.. meaning it would be cheaper for MS to buy Apple than Nintendo.

Re:Takeover?

[SilentChris]

What makes more business sense? A company that has 5% of the PC market and a good chunk of MP3 hardware, or one that has a 20%-25% share of the videogame market and insane margins on in-house titles?

Re:Takeover?

[geminidomino]

I thought MS already owned a controlling interest in Apple? ICBW, I don't use either of their crap.

That explains it....

[shoptroll]

This would probably explain why Microsoft isn't setting their sights on beating Nintendo in the actual market.

They just plan on flatout buying them.

Re:That explains it....

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft is ALREADY beating Nintendo in the actual market.
Read and weep.

http://www.xboxadvanced.com/article.php?artid=33 43

http://www.gamemarketwatch.com/news/item.asp?nid =2 936

Re:That explains it....

[Anonymous Coward]

Just some Japanese figures...

Rank/Console/Sales Monday 19th July - Sunday 25th July 2004/Total Sales 2004:

1. PlayStation 2 - 41.525 - (1.540.357)
2. Game Boy Advance SP - 35.988 - (1.507.481)
3. GameCube - 9.778 - (417.081)
4. Game Boy Advance - 2.362 - (162.883)
5. Xbox - 278 - (22.513)

Yeah, what a beating that is... it's a knock-out...

FYI, "actual market" not equal US only...

Re:That explains it....

[Spleener12]

It's no secret that the Xbox is not doing very well in the Japanese market. In fact, their desire to buy Nintendo is probably partly because of this.

Re:That explains it....

[Anonymous Coward]

Nintendo beats Microsoft... in Japan!

Planet of the Nerds!

[Anonymous Coward]

Get your paws off me you damned dirty nerd!

MS + Nintendo Never

[Satertek]

I'll have to admit that I havn't played my Gamecube much lately... But MS? No way. Ever. They already have a monopoply on the Desktop OS, they do not need a stronger console.

It's official

[TheZalm]

If Gates gets anywhere near Nintendo, I will personally throttle the damn dirty bastard.

Nintendo is a name that brings me joy.
Microsoft is a name that makes me want to break stuff.

Re:It's official

[Akaihiryuu]

I have to agree there...I already boycott anything that Microsoft touches. Even though I'm a huge Panzer Dragoon fan, I will not play Panzer Dragoon Orta unless it comes to another system. I don't play Xbox games period...not even emulated illegal copies. If Microsoft were to buy Nintendo, I guess I'd have to boycott Metroid and Zelda as well...heck, that might just be what it would take to get me out of video game stuff and make me find other things to do...like *gasp* go outside.

Re:It's official

[NanoGator]

"Microsoft is a name that makes me want to break stuff."

I just like play gamee.

Re:It's official

[Anonymous Coward]

I would stop buying new games if MS had the only game console around, and I will fight against such a situation any way I can. I simply do not support them with my money, knowing that every multi-platform game I would buy for the Xbox is an active financial strike against their competitors.

As a non-Microsoft console gamer, I have ample commercial alternatives that non-Microsoft PC users can only dream of. I intend to exploit this ability to its maximum, in expectation and fear of what Microsoft could be in the console space, given enough blind support by those less familiar with their opportunistic capitalist potential compared to their competitors.

Re:It's official

[Anonymous Coward]

I just like to break stuff.

It would be nice if...

[Anonymous Coward]

Somebody - anybody - would buy Infinium labs and make them STFU. Should be a drop in the bucket to any profitable corporation, and it'll be an invaluable service to humanity.

Halo: Cute Kitten Grenades

[raygundan]

If you liked Halo: Cute Kitten Grenades, I highly recommend you try out the often-overlooked No One Lives Forever 2, which includes the Angry Kitty Feline Proximity Mine.

I nearly laughed myself to death on that one. It's really in there. You can really send an explosive robot kitten to lure guards to pet it, and then watch them all blow up.

That aside, the gamecube has its share of oddball titles. But at least we don't have Halo: Curry Restaurant Simulator like the PS2, right?

Re:Halo: Cute Kitten Grenades

[Anonymous Coward]

NOLF = the awesome.

Interesting Fishing, or Old News?

[*weasel]

Dean Takahashi's book Opening the XBox has been around since April 2002. It's the first I'd heard about Microsoft's intentions and attempt to buy Nintendo back in the day.

Here's an editor's roundtable from May 2002 that talks about it as well.

Um...why not the current President?

[GweeDo]

Why would the ex-president of Nintendo of Japan call him? Maybe Gates needs to realize that Iwata is the president there now ;)

Re:Um...why not the current President?

[Anonymous Coward]

because the ex-president is the majority stock holder....

Re:Um...why not the current President?

[The-Bus]

The ex-pres might be the majority shareholder, and therefore the owner of Nintendo. Nintendo doesn't have that many employees, after all.

Re:Um...why not the current President?

[Guppy06]

"Why would the ex-president of Nintendo of Japan call him?"

Because the ex-president owns the company (or at least majority interest), just as the Yamauchi family has for over a century.

NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo...

[RobDogAlpha]

Nintendo takes pride in relating its hardware to its first-party software. Making games for others systems doesn't appeal to them for this reason.
I don't care to ponder the implications of this, because it would be wrong, and can not happen!
I don't know too much about the Nintendo brass, but from what I've heard, it doesn't seem like they would ever call Mr. Bill and make the offer to sell.
Would anybody honestly want this to happen?

Re:NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo...

[Thrymm]

I actually would like to see this happen since there's been speculation that Nintendo may (may mind you not will) go the way of Sega and just be a software company. I would assume all of that will depend on the next generation console war which will be in full swing next year...

Re:Who cares? Nintendo hasn't made anything...

[sindarin2001]

I'm not even going to warrant that with a response...er...k. Honestly, the parent is just asking to get flamed.

Square-Enix?

[andman42]

You negelected to mention Square-Enix. Square-Enix would be invaluable to Microsoft. Not only would Sony lose one its most prominent exclusive developers, but Microsoft would gain exclusive rights to two of the most popular Japanese RPG series (Final Fantasy & Dragon Quest). The Dragon Quest games are so popular in Japan, that they have to be released on weekdends so kids don't skip school. If that doesn't help Microsoft gain traction in Japan, nothing will.

Re:Square-Enix?

[Anonymous Coward]

How does Square Enix making games for Nintendo systems make them an exclusive developer for Sony?

Re:Square-Enix?

[Spleener12]

Sqeenix(more specifically, the Square side) has recently started making games for Nintendo consoles again, yes; however, the only GC game they have made is Final Fantasy: Chrystal Chronicles, a game that could not have been done in quite the same way on the PS2. Aside from that, all of Squeenix's non-portable titles have been PS(2) exclusive.

...from what it seems, Square (this was pre-merger, remember) was mostly interested in the GBA, not the GC (since they realized that with the death of the WSC it was the only viable portable system availible at the time). Until we see Squeenix porting Final Fantasy X to the Cube and/or XBox (unlikely, seeing as anyone who wanted it has a PS2 already) it'll be safe to say that they are still in Sony's camp.

Gates vs. MS

[El_Ge_Ex]

The story doesn't say MS was interested in buying Nintendo; it says Gates is.

Despite what the zealots around here might say, there is a difference. Gates already owns several companies outside of Microsoft. Of course that never gets mention around here or people just assume Gates == Microsoft.

This is funny especially since Ballmer really runs the company.

Why buy the cow?

[hey!]

When you can buy the milk supply for a lot less?

I'd just hire away Shigeru Miyamoto.

Suppose you're willing to pay X dollars for the company. What do you get? You get name recognition, distribution channels, production facilities, engineering teams, all of which Microsoft already has or can readily buy. You also get the creative talent, which is the one thing you can't just walk out and buy anywhere.

So, insted of buying the company for X, I'd offer some hefty fraction of X to Miyamoto to jump ship, set aside a few milion to keep his noncompete in the courts for a decade or so and to indemnify him when he eventually loses.

But that's just me with my evil overlord thinking cap on.

Re:Why buy the cow?

[Anonymous Coward]

maybe i'm just generalising, but don't japanese people, particularly those in high levels of management tend to have very high loyalty to their companies?

it's not always about money.

Re:Why buy the cow?

[Anonymous Coward]

You are suggesting bribery (hiring Miyamoto) to commit assault & battery (slap Nintendo in the face and turn around to compete against them).

Never happen. He's a product manager who, until only very recently, worked for a manager's wage. You can't bribe people like that. Good thing for the state of humanity, really. :)

Re:Why buy the cow?

[Yorrike]

Shigeru Miyamoto doesn't own Mario, Zelda or Donkey Kong, which is the value behind Nintendo.

Besides, I doubt you'd get him away from Nintendo, as you'd be saying: "Shigeru, here's a ton of cash, which you already have anyway. We'll give you this cash if you put your life's work aside and start again".

I'm reasonably sure he'd decline your offer.

Re:Why buy the cow?

[geminidomino]

That has to be the best idea I've read in this thread. Not because I like the idea of Dr. Miyamoto working for MS, but because he's one of the most brilliant designers in the history of his field. Without DK/Mario/Zelda, he'd have to start from scratch and we might get NEW great games out of it instead of what we get now (the same four or five old series from NES/SNES days, rehashed over and over again.)

Re:Why buy the cow?

[Guppy06]

Do you honestly think that Microsoft has or is even capable of becoming an environment to work in similar to Nintendo's, the one Miyamoto has flourished in all these years?

"Yeah, Shig, we're liking the new Mario game, but marketing says the princess needs to show more cleavage before it can get released. Have you considered topless scenes for her? And this water pack thing? Our test demographics say that just ain't working for the teenagers, so we're replacing it with a rocket launcher."

I don't see Microsoft letting Donkey Kong out the door ("There's no explosions! We'd be better off sticking to Radarscope!"), let alone Pikmin.

Re:Why buy the cow?

[macserv]

Yeah, creative types REALLY thrive as part of M$. Just look at the great stuff Rare and Bungie have done since being acquired.

Re:grammatical question

[StocDred]

1. No.
2. Yes.

Sorry you were modded down, but there's no prize for proper grammar from editors around here.

Mario Office Buddy

[CamelToes]

Woohoo, now we get to replace Clippy the Paperclip with Mario the Plumber to give us tips on how to use Mircosoft Office.

Hey don't laugh, knowing Microsoft, they'd probably do this ...

Re:Mario Office Buddy

[macserv]

"It looks like you're trying to rescue the princess. Would you like to:

- Go to another castle
- Defeat Bowser
- Have some pasta"

Not every system needs to be #1

[Syncdata]

With all due respect, the games Nintendo makes run on nintendo spec'd hardware. Don't underestimate the hardwares role in defining what the developer can and cannot do. Would zelda TOOT have been the same game on the PS1? Hells no. Would F-zero GC be the same game if it were for Xbox? I strongly submit it would not, despite the Xbox's superior hardware.
Nintendo is one thing, if nothing else. A profitable company. More money in then money out.

If I were nintendo, I would invite Mr Gates to tea, a tour of the nintendo facilities, tell him a joke, ask how his stay in Japan was, and then thank him, but decline his no doubt flattering cash offer.

"Lusts" - off topic

[Anonymous Coward]

When did lust become a transitive verb? It's supposed to be X lusts _after_ Y.

Don't get me started on "moot" as a verb either.

Yes, it is

[Syncdata]

No, you don't get a slashdot post now, because you are an anonymous jackass with no money.

Bill Gates, on the other hand, is an Prominent Jackass, with a LOT of money.

Hence the article.

Heh

[damnal]

Wonder what the next system would be called in the event of this. The XCube?

And how will that work??

[Metroid72]

I thik Bill Gates is just trying to undermine Nintendo with this. He of all people knows that Nintendo and Microsoft have two WAY different cultures and that would not work well. Unless MS is willing to let it work as a completely independent subsidiary.

Gates want a bigger share of the Japanese market

[sketch7]

Gates wants Nintendo so that he'd have a bigger profit in the Japanese market with Nintendo's popular recognition.

Who knows? 25 years after that he may just buy the entire island of Japan!

Mmm....

[Thedalek]

I don't know about the other companies, but I'll go in for half with you on that Marshmallow thing.

Ob. Futurama Quote

[Thedalek]

Wow, Fry. It's amazing how you NOTICE TWO THINGS. You really should write a book about the EAT MORE.

Careful.

[Thedalek]

I'd watch remarks like that. In eight years or so, when Gates buys the election and gets himself office of President, they'll likely hunt you down for that sort of thing.

I, of course, plan to escape to the past by spinning around very quickly.

Re:Careful.

[Anonymous Coward]

If Wonder Woman were an actual god, and not just a demi-god, would she be able to do the same thing?

(I'm not talking about Lynda Carter, I already know she could do it. I'm talking about the real Wonder Woman.)

Re:Careful.

[geminidomino]

He can't be president, remember? He already accepted knighthood from the UK.

When Pigs Fly

[AztecL0B0]

This would NEVER. EVER happen. Referring to another post, yes the Japanese corporate culture yields loyalty and pride. If you look at other Japanes companies that would have been bought by M$FT you begin to see a correlation in that they didn't sell out. Rare and Bungie (non-Japanese) companies sold out but Sega opted to go with Sammy, a much smaller company when compared to M$FT. M$FT could have offered Sega TWICE the amount Sammy offered them, but they chose to go with a Japanese company.

And regarding previous posts about XBOX profitability (oxymoron), there is NO SUCH THING AS XBOX PROFITABILITY, NONE, NADA, ZIPPO, ZILCH. The XBOX will never be profitable in this generation. This comes from a M$FT post so hopefully this will convince people about their XBOX profitability delusions.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=13898

On a separate note. I think the GC is the best console released by Nintendo to date. It has great games, (you cannot compare Zelda OOT and Mario 3), their lineup keeps getting more amazing. I own 12 GC games and haven't played all of them due to lack of time, yet they keep on releasing great games and have a great upcoming schedule. Some of the games I own are Pikmin, Resident Evil, SC 2, Mario Kart, MP 4, Metroid Prime, Viewtiful Joe, WindWaker, Ikaruga, Super Monkey Ball, and Prince of Persia. I think this small amount of games would satisfy even the most hardcore gamer out there.

no wonder

[liminality]

nintendo has something bill gates never has, and never will have: the creativity to innovate.

Re:no wonder

[Anonymous Coward]

Where exactly is this fabled innovation? Is it in Yet Another Mario Game? Yet Another MarioKart? Maybe it's in Pixel Perfect Port of 5 Year Old Dreamcast Game. Or could it be in the requirement to own four $100 handhelds to play multiplayer on games? I looked for the innovation in the Gamecube version of Resident Evil. I think it's hidden behind one of the locked doors I can't open yet. It probably opens another locked door further in the game and lets me get some extra pistol ammo that wasn't in the original.

Not gonna happen.

[GaimeGuy]

Ok, first of all, gates is simply stating that, if presented with the opportunity, he'd buy nintendo.

ANY ENTREPRENEUR WOULD DO THE SAME THING. Nintendo has the cash flow and the stability that entrepreneurs everywhere DREAM about having. You'd be a fool to NOT want them. Doesn't mean you'll have them.

Nintendo regularly buys back a lot of their stock to prevent such hostile takeovers from happening. Hiroshi Yamauchi came up with this model, along with keeping a very big cash amount in the bank to make sure that nintendo could be self-supporting, even in times of economic crisis, or market crunches, or whatever.

And to those of you who are saying "Why would Bill call Yamauchi and not Iwata? Yamauchi isn't running the show anymore." That's true, but Yamauchi is STILL on the board of directors for Nintendo, and still is an influence in Nintendo's business matters (the DS is his brainchild) As a matter of fact, Yamauchi IS the majority shareholder in Nintendo. He owns 51% of the company, if I'm not mistaken. To take over Nintendo, Bill Gates would have to buy Yamauchi's shares, but Yamauchi set up Nintendo like this just to prevent a takeover from happening.

What you have hear is a case of a big businessman stating out loud a wish which he shares with thousands of businessmen and women across the globe.

Well?

[Guppy06]

Has Yamauchi responded yet? I would pay to see what Nintendo's iron samurai go off on one his famous tirades on this one, especially if he uses Bill's trademarked term "innovation" in it. :)

MOD PARENT DOWN TROLL

[Frizzle Fry]

I didn't try to read through this whole thing, but it starts of as "quoting" me as saying something I never even came close to saying and then attacking me for it. Seems that's the sort of thing mod points were invented to deal with.

Re:MOD PARENT DOWN TROLL

[Lucractius]

Well it was a formating problem that mucked up my post. I wasnt quoting you on that PSX-PS2 controler point.
It was further down in the replies.
But rather than make two separate replies i concatenated them into one and pretty much FUBARed my post in the process without realising it. (forgot to check the formatting differences between them)

My appologies to those annoyed or confused by that post.

The point relevant to the posts parent was mostly lost in a single block of unformatted text.
I will reformat and repost it and you can all just blast that one down to (-1).
That is, unless I get informed by someone that I shouldn't try and fix my formating error, reposting it in a way that can actualy be read and prove Im not some Troll.

I dont know how much antipathy there is here for people who post after working a 40 hour day and happen to make a minor mistake when submiting it...
(before you mention it, i did try to preview but my comp gave me some problems and wouldnt show it, so i posted it in without a preview)

But hopefuly there's no objections to me at least trying to make my point or even just part of it again.

Geez

[PKC Jess]

One thing we aren't remembering about "oh xbox uses pc parts so its not a console" *cough* please remember the NES and the Atari and several other consoles used 6502 processors. And oh look, they just happened to be like, the most popular processor for computers, and what? the 68000? Thats a computer processor... but... in the Genesis? We shouldn't shake fingers at consoles using PC processors, its nothing new.