5 ms·

Am I the only one that feels uneasy about Microsoft acquiring Nintendo?

bombcar 3y ago
I'd feel uneasy about ANYONE acquiring Nintendo, they're the only independent game console manufacturer; and arguably the only independent game manufacturer of note. Disney? Microsoft? Apple? Musk? The US Gov't? The Seattle Mariners? All of them would kill Nintendo.
- gjsman-1000 3y ago
  This is actually an interesting argument for "why is Nintendo so protective when Sega and Microsoft show you don't have to?" Nintendo lives and dies by their mainline characters. Sega doesn't anymore and merged with Sammy Group after their failures with Saturn and Dreamcast; and Sega of Japan really didn't like Sonic the Hedgehog as a character that much - as evidenced by how much less popular he is in Japan than America. Microsoft could lose every major Xbox franchise and have it only be, what, ~10%-20% on their stock reports as a whole company? Whereas, if Nintendo lost Mario, the blow would be catastrophic. Just ask Sega - they lost over 200 Sonic the Hedgehog characters due to legal mistakes (Ken Penders incident).
  - parl_match 3y ago
    >Whereas, if Nintendo lost Mario, the blow would be catastrophic. Honestly, I don't the loss of Mario would be catastrophic. What would be is _how_ they "lost" Mario - presumably through bad games and other properties.
    - hot_gril 3y ago
      At least they survived the CD-i Mario + Zelda games and the, uh, not-so-classic TV shows based on both franchises.
  - RajT88 3y ago
    > Microsoft could lose every major Xbox franchise and have it only be, what, ~10%-20% on their stock reports as a whole company? Less than even that probably, since you're not talking about Xbox revenue as a whole, just the first party IP. 25% of Microsoft's revenue right now comes from a huge bucket of items: > Windows commercial and cloud products, Windows OEM, Surface, search and advertising, and Xbox First party IP (including their game studios like Bethesda, not just Xbox studios) probably puts you in the single digits for revenue for the company. > Whereas, if Nintendo lost Mario, the blow would be catastrophic. Completely agree. Nintendo's ecosystem is such that Mario and Zelda sell hardware, which then they get licensing fees from third party titles that people are buying, because they want more than just Mario and Zelda.
  - rideontime 3y ago
    I doubt Sega cares about any Ken Penders characters.
  - cush 3y ago
    > Nintendo lives and dies by their mainline characters Exactly. They’re opening a Super Nintendo theme park at Universal Studios soon and it looks exactly like what you’d expect a Nintendo theme park to look like. Now close your eyes and imagine what an Xbox theme park would have… all I can think of is maybe Master Chief? Whatever it is, it sounds boring comparatively. The Xbox brand is more hardcore-gamer-hardware… not the Xbox Universe of characters and worlds that Nintendo has built over the last 40 years. For Nintendo to shift those characters and worlds onto other hardware would completely devalue their brand
    - Hikikomori 3y ago
      Snes in universal Osaka har been open for a while. Does look very much like you would expect.
- endisneigh 3y ago
  If Apple acquired Nintendo I’m confident they’d leave them alone and use them simply to bolster their ecosystem with exclusives. In fact I’d argue Nintendo would be better off, now being able to make games without worrying about hardware as everything would be playable across a billion plus devices.
  - summerlight 3y ago
    > In fact I’d argue Nintendo would be better off, now being able to make games without worrying about hardware as everything would be playable across a billion plus devices. I'm pretty sure that Nintendo employees disagree with you. They strongly believe in the value of the holistic approach combining its hardware and software. And Apple (or whatever US big techs) will definitely not change iPhone design just for Mario or Zelda.
    - endisneigh 3y ago
      This fact is overstated. At the end of the day as shown over and over again they want to make games for the largest audience, which is why they’re priced accordingly.
      - summerlight 3y ago
        What do you mean by "overstated"? This has been explicitly stated by at least tens of senior Nintendo employees, including all former+current CEOs as well as Miyamoto.
        endisneigh 3y ago
        Nintendo as stated literally on their about page wants to put smiles on people’s faces. Making hardware is certainly one way to accomplish this, but it isn’t strictly necessary. Not to mention I never said a hypothetical Nintendo acquisition would mean they don’t still make their own input devices compatible with of course Apple devices. See beats for example
  - 3y ago
dougmwne 3y ago
They also wanted to buy Valve. Obviously the Microsoft execs are living in a fantasy land.
- lnxg33k1 3y ago
  The thing is they have the back of MS money, so it makes them extremely dangerous... it's like giving an assault rifle to a schizofrenic... to say it in US terms
AdmiralAsshat 3y ago
I don't think Nintendo wants to be acquired. And I imagine a hostile takeover would go over very poorly.
stale2002 3y ago
It doesn't have to be a full acquisition. They could just get Nintendo games on Xbox and PC, or gamepass. That would benefit consumers greatly, if Nintendo games were on other platforms.
HDThoreaun 3y ago
Pretty sure the japanese government feels the same way.

I'd feel uneasy about ANYONE acquiring Nintendo, they're the only independent game console manufacturer; and arguably the only independent game manufacturer of note. Disney? Microsoft? Apple? Musk? The US Gov't? The Seattle Mariners? All of them would kill Nintendo.

gjsman-1000 3y ago
This is actually an interesting argument for "why is Nintendo so protective when Sega and Microsoft show you don't have to?" Nintendo lives and dies by their mainline characters. Sega doesn't anymore and merged with Sammy Group after their failures with Saturn and Dreamcast; and Sega of Japan really didn't like Sonic the Hedgehog as a character that much - as evidenced by how much less popular he is in Japan than America. Microsoft could lose every major Xbox franchise and have it only be, what, ~10%-20% on their stock reports as a whole company? Whereas, if Nintendo lost Mario, the blow would be catastrophic. Just ask Sega - they lost over 200 Sonic the Hedgehog characters due to legal mistakes (Ken Penders incident).
- parl_match 3y ago
  >Whereas, if Nintendo lost Mario, the blow would be catastrophic. Honestly, I don't the loss of Mario would be catastrophic. What would be is _how_ they "lost" Mario - presumably through bad games and other properties.
  - hot_gril 3y ago
    At least they survived the CD-i Mario + Zelda games and the, uh, not-so-classic TV shows based on both franchises.
- RajT88 3y ago
  > Microsoft could lose every major Xbox franchise and have it only be, what, ~10%-20% on their stock reports as a whole company? Less than even that probably, since you're not talking about Xbox revenue as a whole, just the first party IP. 25% of Microsoft's revenue right now comes from a huge bucket of items: > Windows commercial and cloud products, Windows OEM, Surface, search and advertising, and Xbox First party IP (including their game studios like Bethesda, not just Xbox studios) probably puts you in the single digits for revenue for the company. > Whereas, if Nintendo lost Mario, the blow would be catastrophic. Completely agree. Nintendo's ecosystem is such that Mario and Zelda sell hardware, which then they get licensing fees from third party titles that people are buying, because they want more than just Mario and Zelda.
- rideontime 3y ago
  I doubt Sega cares about any Ken Penders characters.
- cush 3y ago
  > Nintendo lives and dies by their mainline characters Exactly. They’re opening a Super Nintendo theme park at Universal Studios soon and it looks exactly like what you’d expect a Nintendo theme park to look like. Now close your eyes and imagine what an Xbox theme park would have… all I can think of is maybe Master Chief? Whatever it is, it sounds boring comparatively. The Xbox brand is more hardcore-gamer-hardware… not the Xbox Universe of characters and worlds that Nintendo has built over the last 40 years. For Nintendo to shift those characters and worlds onto other hardware would completely devalue their brand
  - Hikikomori 3y ago
    Snes in universal Osaka har been open for a while. Does look very much like you would expect.
endisneigh 3y ago
If Apple acquired Nintendo I’m confident they’d leave them alone and use them simply to bolster their ecosystem with exclusives. In fact I’d argue Nintendo would be better off, now being able to make games without worrying about hardware as everything would be playable across a billion plus devices.
- summerlight 3y ago
  > In fact I’d argue Nintendo would be better off, now being able to make games without worrying about hardware as everything would be playable across a billion plus devices. I'm pretty sure that Nintendo employees disagree with you. They strongly believe in the value of the holistic approach combining its hardware and software. And Apple (or whatever US big techs) will definitely not change iPhone design just for Mario or Zelda.
  - endisneigh 3y ago
    This fact is overstated. At the end of the day as shown over and over again they want to make games for the largest audience, which is why they’re priced accordingly.
    - summerlight 3y ago
      What do you mean by "overstated"? This has been explicitly stated by at least tens of senior Nintendo employees, including all former+current CEOs as well as Miyamoto.
      - endisneigh 3y ago
        Nintendo as stated literally on their about page wants to put smiles on people’s faces. Making hardware is certainly one way to accomplish this, but it isn’t strictly necessary. Not to mention I never said a hypothetical Nintendo acquisition would mean they don’t still make their own input devices compatible with of course Apple devices. See beats for example
- 3y ago

dougmwne 3y ago

They also wanted to buy Valve. Obviously the Microsoft execs are living in a fantasy land.

lnxg33k1 3y ago
The thing is they have the back of MS money, so it makes them extremely dangerous... it's like giving an assault rifle to a schizofrenic... to say it in US terms

AdmiralAsshat 3y ago

I don't think Nintendo wants to be acquired. And I imagine a hostile takeover would go over very poorly.

stale2002 3y ago

It doesn't have to be a full acquisition. They could just get Nintendo games on Xbox and PC, or gamepass. That would benefit consumers greatly, if Nintendo games were on other platforms.

HDThoreaun 3y ago

Pretty sure the japanese government feels the same way.