Nintendo "Laughed Their Asses Off" At Microsoft's Buyout Offer

I feel bad for the Microsoft rep, but that's hilarious!

Great subheader 😄

Honestly wouldn't have been a smart move either way. Xbox's brand image definitely doesn't cater as universally to all audiences as Nintendo or even Sony. They have a bit of an imbalance in regards to supplying content for multiple age groups and only electing to focus on the T-M rated stuff. They should focus on curating that kind of content themselves instead of buying out people who do it for them.

Nintendo and Sony are heading in that direction as well, especially with Switch and PS4/PS5, but they still keep their more family friendly franchises on standby because of how valuable they still are to people

Definitely Wario-style laughing.

@clvr thank you!!

This is funny and everything, but it's also how Nintendo created their biggest rival Sony, by thinking they knew everything and didn't even needed to hear what the other guys had to say.

Bowser type laugh, methinks

I think Microsoft would've mismanaged Nintendo's IP's hard, and several newer ones would never have happened. Couldn't be happier this didn't happen.

This isn't really new. I've heard this story before. I remember specifically the part about the Microsoft pitch was we can build a beefy hardware and Nintendo could do the software because of how amazing they were at it. Something about a perfect marriage of hardware and software. The Nintendo people just politely said "No thanks."

@Agriculture Yamauchi was probably a total ***** to work with back then. That's just what happens your console has near complete control over the market. At least they actually paid the price and felt their mortality during 5th gen as a result

This is a good article.

And then Xbox ate their lunch that generation... Damn.

@Agriculture

Yep. Their arrogance also resulted in Sega becoming a big rival.

I heard that Nintendo did actually laugh because they thought it was a joke, but when they realized they were serious they actually took it into consideration and thought about it. But they ultimately decided that Microsoft was too new to the console business and decided not to do it.

Shame this didn't go ahead because Microsoft has got the console and Nintendo has got the games this gen.
Imagine what could have been achieved with BotW2 if Nintendo had the power of the XsX instead of being tied down with older tech like the switch. Same with Microsoft, gamespass is amazing value for money and the new consoles are beasts but they don't have the IP power that Nintendo have.

Seeing how Microsoft treated Rare, I cannot image how they would have treated the big N and how much damage it would have cause them

@SimplyCinnamon53 yeah, it would be a bit pants if the meeting just ended there, right?

Kind of seems a bit arrogant of Ninty to laugh though. A polite decline of the offer would have sufficed!

@quinnyboy58 You forget, this is late 90s/early 2000s Nintendo when they thought they were literally incapable of doing anything wrong

The same Nintendo that thought cartridges were totally still sustainable and futureproofed in the age of disc media because of their avoidance towards load times, or that people would willingly wait for the N64 to come out because it was a Nintendo product and Sony was unproven as a competitor, a competitor they literally created by accident as a result of their arrogance. Even after they got crushed by Sony and the PlayStation, the Nintendo of yesteryear still had a tendency to create rivals purely by accident. You can thank Yamauchi for that lol

@quinnyboy58 But not arrogant of Microsoft wanting to buy them? Interesting...

Good for Nintendo. I would have laughed at Microsoft too thinking they can just buy their way through an industry instead of actually being passionate about it. Honestly, their acquisitions are about as cynical as you can get. Nintendo buying Next Level was probably protecting them from Microsoft buying them (their commitment to Nintendo probably had them drooling)

It's much better to cooperate. Banjo in Smash. Ori on Switch etc. It's healthier and shows infinitely more goodwill.

As Reggie has said time and time again: software sells hardware.

Microsoft have had a really hard time finding anything past Halo and the other space marine game to put on their box until they bought a quarter of the companies out there in the past 18 months. Even buying Rare didn’t do them any good.

MS typical arrogance. Nintendo has survived ups and downs and many generations while their Xboxes are a joke. Only the 360 did "well". The first Xbox sold just a few more than the Gamecube while the XBO is a joke.

I find interesting how many so-called Nintendo fans here think that it was a good idea. Probably the same ones that want Nintendo go third party and a switch pro to watch Netflix in there.

@Shiro28
Isn't that the truth? Aside from Halo and Forza, have their first-party titles established them as a game studio on Nintendo or Sony's level? I've always looked at MS as a hardware company that is very dependent upon 3rd parties, strong hardware, and deep pockets to remain competitive with Sony. For all of the wonderful Rare IP's, even with the departure of the Stamper Brothers, they seem to have the reverse-Midas touch. I'm glad they haven't had the opportunity to buy Nintendo so far.

You can be a nintendo software fan but at the same time not be a fan of their hardware sometimes.

Otherwise vitrualboy, 64, gamecube, and Wii u would have sold a lot better.

I was hoping Howard Lincoln was Howard Phillips. He is not.

EA had spit millions into the failed 3DO, they were ones to laugh...

Then when xbox came out of course madden was a launch title

@Agriculture Not really even similar. Nintendo and Sony had a great working relationship for a long time, as evidenced by the fact that Sony made components for Nintendo’s existing systems and their joint console very nearly made it to market, which kind of proves the whole “Nintendo undone by their own hubris” theory wrong.

People have been laughing at Microsoft for years

Bruh so Xbox/Microsoft... tried to buy Nintendo? Did they really think that would go well?

It would have actually have been a good deal. If you looked at Playstation versus N64, Sony did alot with on paper weaker hardware that was easier to use and the N64 was a hamstrung mess like most Nintendo hardware.
Why are we currently looking at Nintendo who ditched their own designs in favour of an Nvidia based machine? (Switch is a Shield). Which ironically was the GPU provider of the original Xbox, which got MS into the market. Nintendo laughed away market share, when they could have pinched a rival in the bud easily. It would still have been Nintendo that had to give the "framework" on what the hardware had to be "capable" of and likely free reign on controller still.

Two arrogant companies blowing hot air at each other. Sounds like business as usual in the world.

Even though the N64 didn't set the world on fire like the PS1 did, people assume Nintendo was doing badly during those years. This is not true. Not only was Nintendo doing great thanks to Pokémon being the biggest phenomenon around at the time, but Nintendo faced little to no competition on their own hardware from third parties with the N64. Consequently, practically every first party Nintendo game on N64 sold in the millions of units, time and time again for 5 years straight. Then Nintendo never sold the N64 hardware at a loss. This actually was never something Nintendo did and they certainly don't do it these days either, so they were not losing money on every N64 console sold.

They were not market leaders in the home console space in those days, for sure, but they had a lot of chart toppers in the software department and they certainly didn't lose money with the system, and that was in spite of, yes, the choice of cartridges over CDs making them lose the support of a lot of 3rd party developers. It was not an ideal situation for them to be in because that put them in a weakened brand recognition situation for the generation that came after, but the N64 days were not bad for them, financially.

The Gamecube was worse for them if anything because the Gamecube did have some actual third party support (most Ubisoft and EA titles of that era were consistently released on the cube as well for example) and there was more "choice" for software there, but with a more limited install base. And then the Wii U, of course, is when they started reporting years where they were actually losing money.

@Maulbert I don't think so. This comment is solely based on Rare, and us Nintendo gamers like to forget the majority of the classic Rare staff exited in 2000/2001. Atleast one year before Microsoft bought them out - Nintendo knew they were flogging a dead horse. Microsoft gave them alot of free reign in the early days, too much perhaps.

As for Forza series, Minecraft etc they have went from strength to strength. Halo has remained solid but the issue was the unpolished visuals of the latest, however it has been pushed back to allow the work to sort it out, I think the issue was showing off the 120hz mode.

@AJDarkstar if you don't ask you never know! And as for Apple... they copied also 😂😂🤷‍♂️.

The fact is all these companies had big headed execs, Nintendo's Yamuchi was one of the worst - laughing and screwing over their closest supporters ie Square, Capcom etc, laughing at screwing over Sony, Philips, Sega...the list of Yamuchi's audacity is much worse than this.

I think Nintendo's answer was: "You need to wake up 100 years earlier to buy US out!"

@Gwynbleidd 😂😂😂 my Xbox One X runs my entertainment centre, has a fantastic online service and with Gamepass I have literally hundreds of awesome games to sink my teeth in, if that's bad..... Just Nooooooo! 🤪🤪🤪😂😂😂😂

@ReikoMortis My Xbox One X has been the go to system for the last three years. Powerful hardware, great price, awesome range of choice, flexibility and runs my whole entertainment center with ease, heck I even use it for streaming. Perhaps with so much choice and variety you only need so many exclusives 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

How do you insert gifs in the comments section? I think this appropriate for that one from Goodfellas.

I wouldn't mind if Sony or Microsoft merged with Nintendo. It would mean less consoles to buy.

@TheFrenchiestFry is that not what most companies do? Buy games studios and bring them under their umbrella? And why not do that?

Like Nintendo and Monolith, Retro, Next level etc? Or Sony and Naughty Dog etc?

@Shiro28 explain? All the Rare talent left by 2001 bar one or two stragglers....Nintendo flogged a dead horse. Microsoft gave Rare a good 8 years to mess around and Rare showed they couldn't do it, so MS redirected them smartly.

Sea of Thieves is arguably Rare's most original work ever.

@DK-Fan One can't really level typical arrogance at MS without acknowledging that Yamauchi's Nintendo was arguably the most arrogant and blinded company to ever grace the planet.

A little 90s history lesson in Nintendo wouldn't go amiss.

Interesting article. MS needs to work on their multiple Oses. I love wonky Windows 10 updates, that I can't uninstall.

@liveswired Difference is Microsoft was looking to buy one of the titans of the games industry at the point where they were merely starting off in the business. Yamauchi-era Nintendo was arrogant like nobody's business but It's not like they could just waltz their way into the offices of a company that had previously established dominance in the market beforehand and simply shake hands. They pretty much got the response they walked right into if anything.

Companies like Naughty Dog, Monolith, Insomniac, Next Level and Guerrilla at least had their track record established first as successful developers before being bought out by their respective companies. It also helped that they primarily developed for one of the console manufacturers more often than others like Insomniac and Guerrilla with Sony, or Next Level, HAL and Monolith with Nintendo

@Averagewriter This is different. That involved collaborating with external developers on software for rival systems. Microsoft straight up tried to buy a famous console manufacturer just so they could be turned into a first party studio to develop games for their first attempt at making a home console. Better yet, they wanted to buy out NINTENDO. It would be one thing if they were considering SEGA given their work together on stuff like Windows on Dreamcast, but this is NINTENDO. Despite their fall from grace in the 5th gen of systems they were very much still regarded as a force to be reckoned with and had way more of a solid reputation in gaming compared to most. You don't just ask to buy NINTENDO.

Again I emphasize, NINTENDO. This is like Stan Lee walking into DC's offices on a brisk summer afternoon and asking the top heads there if they would like to be bought out by Marvel Comics so Superman can be an Avenger.

oh Microsoft you never learn, this remind me of the news when you bought Rare thinking that you have now the Donkey Kong IP.

@Averagewriter They were a tech giant. Microsoft isn't just a video game developer, but like Sony they had to actually prove that they had an understanding of the industry first when it came to hardware. Microsoft may have had successes in developing software, especially on the PC side of things, but this is Microsoft saying "we can be as big of a brand for the living room as Sony and Nintendo". Microsoft is still monolithic as far as tech products are concerned but the video game industry is a whole different field than your usual commodities like computer OSes or PCs. Microsoft had no proper reputation next to companies that basically spent the last few generations perfecting their craft in the space like Nintendo, SEGA and by that point Sony as well. It's basically the equivalent of starting from square one all over again despite being on square 100 in all other regards. Nintendo probably knew of their talent in other tech spaces, but as far as video games were concerned, they didn't see them as a threat for a reason. They didn't specialize in that the way they did at that point.

It's funny in hindsight but I think there were definitely some touch and go moments for Nintendo during the Wii U era. The Switch definitely rectified all of that but it could have been a disaster as well.

If microsoft bought nintendo then master chief would be in ultimate

@Stargazer The time Sega had the most success competing with Nintendo was probably the Genesis days.
And even then it wasn't really that Nintendo needed to motivate them.

It was that Sega had foolishly sold the Master System to toy company Tonka, just as the NES was getting hot in the US. (Tonka, the company who, as their commercials said "TONKA MEANS TRUCKS!" (toy trucks being its main product line) Tonka apparently did not mean video games.)
So certainly when the Genesis launched, Sega saw they had an opportunity to not mess up a second time, and get in the market before the SNES came along.

People who said Microsoft had experience with MSX before.

Was not MSX a product standard? That is, something that any company who wanted to pay a licensing fee could make their own MSX?
Essentially what the 3DO was intended to be when it was introduced a decade later. But since Panasonic was the first licensee to get their console out, it because the de-facto standard, and they became credited as the console inventor. (so much that when Goldstar (aka LG) got theirs out a year later, it reportedly had some compatibility issues with existing software)

I do remember when the original Xbox was in development, people expected it to be a consolized PC (given that it used a Pentium III CPU and I believe was the first console with a hard drive as standard equipment). Especially then were considered very PC factors.

I do remember the previous Microsoft hardware box we had seen before that was WebTV. (in high school, I had a friend and when I went over there, that was how her mom and mom's boyfriend did their web-browsing)

"We can't imagine the bravery of that man to tell Nintendo that they weren't very good at consoles."

One could argue Nintendo's track record on console quality and design was a bit of a mixed record. Then again, the same can now be said of Microsoft with their old red rings.

I personally have a dislike for the way Microsoft goes about spending a lot of money on software developers since they began making consoles as a lot of those big money deals they have made over the years have ended up ruining those developers to the point they have closed them down eventually. If Sea of Thieves was a success Rare would probably have closed too since any of their older games are now being given to other developers. That is why I fear for the long term of Bethesda under Microsoft since they seem to be paying more for the games catalogue than the actual team that makes it.

@Mr-Fuggles777 Well, it wouldn't be a hybrid system, it wouldn't have motion controls or HD Rumble, and it would cost at least $100 more. Ever since the GameCube, Nintendo has gone its own way with its hardware features, and save for the Wii U it's always worked out very well.

I would love for Nintendo to have Microsoft's knowledge of online technologies, though...

@DK-Fan To be fair, Microsoft does pretty well despite having very little presence in the Japanese market, which isn't really their fault. (If you were a Japanese gamer wanting to buy a high-powered console, would you choose the proven local Sony brand or the relative upstart American Microsoft brand?)

That being said, they have had notable issues of their own over the years such as lack of quality exclusive games, the Red Rings of Death, their lousy attempt at motion controls, and the embarrassing initial announcement of the XB1.

@FargusPelagius Maybe if Microsoft had proposed a partnership (like almost happened with Sony) it could've worked, but Nintendo would not have retained that kind of power in a buyout.

There's an interesting tidbit from the article on Why Bill Gates decided to make the Xbox: It's because of Sony.

BACH: We’re not getting anywhere. So at some point during the meeting, I said to Steve Ballmer, “We’re not going to convince each other. So let’s just decide not to do this. If you guys are that concerned about it, let’s just stop.” And of course, that led to like another hour of angst about, “Well, Sony has got PlayStation 2 in the living room. They’re calling it a computer. What are we going to do about that?”

FRIES: One of the vice presidents who had been quiet the whole time asks this question, “What about Sony?” So that basically stopped the room, and the way I remember it is, it got quiet for a second, and then Bill got that kind of funny look he gets when he’s thinking and said, “What about Sony?” And he turns to Ballmer, and Ballmer said, “What about Sony?”

@Averagewriter No matter how much experience they had in the games industry at that point, Nintendo was still a juggernaut and the bigger name in the games industry despite the N64 losing out to the Playstation. You can't just offer to buy out an equally successful company and one that's bigger in their area of specialization! Even if it wasn't specifically Microsoft, what would Nintendo have to gain by letting anyone buy them out?

I mean, Microsoft isn't entirely wrong.

@Giancarlothomaz Maybe that was the idea, get Rare, get Nintendo and then they'd have Donkey Kong.

@BulbasaurusRex no point in letting Nintendo "handle" software if they wouldn't let them choose how best to "handle" software.
Bungie pretty much used MS money and resources to make themselves so rich they could splinter off from MS. Then do exactly the same with Activision. Nintendo would have been in the same position at all points during a buyout by MS, so if MS "didn't" listen, they'd just leave.
It is one thing to be arrogant, it is another to realise a position of strength can be used appropriately.

@BulbasaurusRex a ***** ton of money and hardware to make their next machine do "whatever games" they wanted. And likely make Ninty more amiable to third parties. It was actually a win, win offer, neither had anything to lose at that point.

@TheFrenchiestFry

Honestly, I would argue that Microsoft caters to all gamers now more than Sony. Nintendo does cater to the younger crowd more than the other two, and they have been trying since the Wii U to cater to adults as well, but with only a handful of products. Fortunately for Nintendo, a lot of Adults like the products designed for the younger audience.

Sony has gone all in on the mature and adult orientated products, while Microsoft has been branching out to all ages. They have a lot of games they have published that is for all ages, like Sea of Thieves, Cuphead, Minecraft Dungeons (wont count original Minecraft as it was developed before they bought the company), Ori, and many more. Hell, look at the game pass lineup and you see games for all ages and genres.

@Bizaster thank you!!

@SwitchplayerJohn hello! That's very kind of you to say! I am being well taken care of, don't you worry

@BAN No. It may not have been as serious when they dismissed Microsoft since they had no previous relationship, but they still did dismiss what is now a serious competitor. They could at least had listened to what Microsoft had to say and figure out what kind of threat they would be to Nintendo.

Maybe that could have prevent something like Nintendo using smaller discs in the Gamecube (if they had listened more they would have realized Microsoft planned to bet on high performance and they could have realized what a mistake it would be not to use standard DVDs).

@Agriculture They didn’t dismiss Sony, they had a major falling out with them over a contract dispute. I know some people tell it like Sony were totally caught off guard by it but they weren’t. It was pretty much mutual.

As for the disc thing, maybe? But I don’t think Microsoft were giving Nintendo a snapshot of their plans/specs. This just sounds like a rough pitch. And regardless, GameCube was still pretty powerful for its time. Even so, Nintendo kind of stopped caring about specs and power after that anyway, so I don’t see how they would have meshed with Microsoft, who’s only real mission in hardware is to be roughly as powerful as PlayStation.

@BAN Of course it was a rough idea, not specifics, but if Nintendo instead of dismissing Microsoft had thought "a multi billion dollar company wants to enter the console market and they talk a lot about high performance" then maybe they could have made some better decisions.

>when knock-off sony thinks their good enough take over nintendo

People are mixing Nintendo's pride as a company with arrogance here. If anything was arrogant, it was MS thinking they could just buy Nintendo.