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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."
This could be interesting, the way train wrecks are interesting.
M$ and the big N together could give Sony fits.
MarioX, anyone?
Don't spoil my fountain of youthful fun! Bastard!
...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.
The Wintendo and the Super Microsoft Office Brothers.
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.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
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?
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.
Did Bill turn on his "What if" machine with his finglonger?
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.
www.kitchengeek.com -- Nosh for
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.
Microsoft already bought RARE (Killer Instinct, Donkey Kong Country, Goleneye, etc), and Nintendo owned quite a bit of them at one time.
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]?"
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.
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.
Insert Sig Here
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.
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.
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?
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.
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
Why would the ex-president of Nintendo of Japan call him? Maybe Gates needs to realize that Iwata is the president there now ;)
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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?
I'm not even going to warrant that with a response...er...k. Honestly, the parent is just asking to get flamed.
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.
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.
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.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
2. Yes.
Sorry you were modded down, but there's no prize for proper grammar from editors around here.
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
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.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
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.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
Wonder what the next system would be called in the event of this. The XCube?
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 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!
Part of Nintendo of America is also located in redmond washington actualy, digipen is about 1 block from a MS campus.
The Nintendo where stuff actually happens is in Japan.
I don't know about the other companies, but I'll go in for half with you on that Marshmallow thing.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
Wow, Fry. It's amazing how you NOTICE TWO THINGS. You really should write a book about the EAT MORE.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
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.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
Or, in this case, they're just Microsoft fanboys that can't take a joke.
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.
Susanna: NO! A si NO. Octavio: Pos...entonces como?
nintendo has something bill gates never has, and never will have: the creativity to innovate.
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.
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. :)
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.
I'd rather be lucky than good.
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.