Moore: Microsoft considered acquiring Nintendo

by Justin McElroy { Sep 17th 2008 at 10:45AM }

The Guardian's excellent interview with Peter Moore continued yesterday with a frank discussion of his final days at Sega after the Dreamcast's death, as well as his arrival at Microsoft. Moore talks about some of his early discussions with Microsoft's Steve Ballmer and admits that while the company always planned on warring with Sony, Nintendo wasn't necessarily seen as a threat.

Moore said, "[Ballmer] wanted to know how I was going to win for Microsoft, how we were going to take on Sony, how would we compete with – or acquire – Nintendo. Those were the conversations in those days. It was a classic build or buy conversation. ... Interestingly, we were just completely fixated on Sony – Nintendo didn't even come into the conversation."

Would "buy" have been the right move? That consolidation probably wouldn't have been good for us consumers but, if MS had kept a hands-off approach, Bill Gates might have finally had the cash to buy that moon he's always wanted.

Tags: microsoft, nintendo, sega, sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Fernando Rocker @ Sep 17th 2008 10:51AM

Now Nintendo is considering acquiring Sony.

WiNG [Life in a Game] @ Sep 17th 2008 10:54AM

Can't be serious.

Nintendo makes video games.

Sony makes every goddamn thing that runs on electricity on earth.

Well, I guess not vibrators.

Mr Khan @ Sep 17th 2008 11:02AM

Nintendo is worth more than Sony as an entirety. Indeed, they are the 2nd most valuable company in Japan after Toyota

TheAzureKnight @ Sep 17th 2008 11:10AM

Lol I'd die of laughter if that happened...

vannyx @ Sep 17th 2008 11:12AM

I think you would cream your pants if that happen fernando.

The Aggie CEO @ Sep 17th 2008 11:12AM

Is Nintendo REALLY capable of Buying Sony????

I mean Sony is worth over $70 Billion

Nintendo is what......$10-25 Billion

DEEZNUTZ @ Sep 17th 2008 11:20AM

@ Aggie,

If sales for Nintendo's disposable game console continue at the current rate, their cash pool may just be enough to gobble up Sony... or at the very least, their game division.
Shit, with all these trillion $$ financial institutions falling like dominos, I could see Sony being in business one day, and Mario's janitor the next.

Fenix @ Sep 17th 2008 11:20AM

New trend or fluke? o_O

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/17/moore-microsoft-considered-acquiring-nintendo/#commentform

• Xbox 360: 28,681 units
• Wii: 27,057 units
• PLAYSTATON 3: 8,050 units

Fenix @ Sep 17th 2008 11:22AM

Woops, fixed.

http://kotaku.com/5050976/holy-snot-xbox-360-tops-home-console-sales-in-japan

Fernando Rocker @ Sep 17th 2008 11:25AM

Fenix

Well... it had another price cut (now even more cheaper than the Wi) AND Infinite Undiscovery was just released. It should have sold that many units...

But this are Famitsu numbers... we need to wait for the real Media Create numbers.

RC @ Sep 17th 2008 11:27AM

Why Fernando, is Nintendo thinking of getting back into the video game business?

atrimus @ Sep 17th 2008 11:34AM

LOL at RC

j.howlett @ Sep 17th 2008 11:35AM

imagine if they had stayed partners

Dirty @ Sep 17th 2008 11:43AM

UMMM what?

1. Make Wii
2. Profit
3. ??????
4. Acquire one the largest corp in the world
5. More profit.

Maybe you mean that Nintendo wants to purchase the playstation division of sony.

Ayrkain @ Sep 17th 2008 11:47AM

Logistically speaking, that'd be ludicrous. Nintendo has about 4000 employees, while Sony has 180,000.

Mr Khan @ Sep 17th 2008 11:49AM

Uh-uh

Over a year ago, Nintendo was worth $51 Billion, with Sony at $53 billion, as a whole. By now that's shifted, though i can't find the link of proof.

http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2007/06/20/nintendo-near-sonys-worth-in-market-value/

ZippyDSMlee @ Sep 17th 2008 12:06PM

Excellent!

SneezyPorcupine @ Sep 17th 2008 12:25PM

Ummm...Why did Mr Khan get down-voted?

He wasn't lying...everything he said is true. At its current state, Nintendo is way more profitable than Sony. Keep in mind that I am saying this, based on stock values of the two companies.

Usually when a company goes to acquire another company they calculate the worth of the purchase using the said company's EoD stock value. Then they make an offer.

Overall, Nintendo stock has been higher than SCEA pretty much since the release of Wii.

So now, you dumbasses can offer your excuses as to why Khan was down-voted, now that I built my case.

Dirty @ Sep 17th 2008 12:47PM

Sony shares - 493,178 @ 32.12 on NYSE
(Millions)1,004.532 @ 3,660 yen on TYO

Nintendo Shares
Not traded on NYSE
(Millions)141.669 @ 46,450 yen on TYO

Do the math. A stock price can be low, but when you have more shares on the market the company has greater value.

Now I down vote you Sneezy.

SneezyPorcupine @ Sep 17th 2008 12:57PM

LOL. I got pwned in that argument. Didn't even think to look at # of shares. damn.

You win Dirty. uhhh Khan? yah you're on your own. Sorry dude.

Levi @ Sep 17th 2008 1:45PM

Help me out Dirty. When I do the math (Atari Jaguar FTW!) Nintendo's stock value is greater than Sony's. I admit I'll admit that I'm clueless when it comes to investing, so can you explain why more shares at a lesser value equates to a greater value?

Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question. I've been made stupider by reading too many political threads lately.

riggs @ Sep 17th 2008 2:00PM

if nintendo "gobbled up" sony, it would lose more than gain, also nintendo is nowhere near sony in worth are you guys just bending over and talking?

Dirty @ Sep 17th 2008 2:19PM

Take the number on the left and multiple it by the number on the right and you get the value of the company. (keep in mind that the TYO numbers are in millions and are in yen, they like big numbers over there).

Dale @ Sep 17th 2008 4:03PM

There's more than just stock market value. There's cash reserves (which, anecdotally, I have heard Nintendo has large amounts of) and borrowing ability based on projected earnings.

I am certain Nintendo could gobble up Sony right now. But the asking price versus benefits hardly makes it worthwhile.

josh @ Sep 19th 2008 5:30PM

@ Dirty

"Do the math"

3,676,587,120 yen : Sony
6,580,525,050 yen : Nintendo

???

Neebs @ Sep 17th 2008 10:51AM

No comment. I just felt like submitting.

WiNG [Life in a Game] @ Sep 17th 2008 10:53AM

If anything could have prevented my in laws from requesting we play Wii Sports every damn day, I'm for it.

samfish @ Sep 17th 2008 10:53AM

I always thought they had tried to acquire Nintendo and Nintendo told them to fuck off?

Anyway, this reason for this:
"Interestingly, we were just completely fixated on Sony – Nintendo didn't even come into the conversation.""
Is because if you read like the next paragraph in that interview, Moore admits that MS's goal was to stop Sony from ultimately controlling media capabilities into people's living rooms and that was the whole point of the Xbox brand.

Fernando Rocker @ Sep 17th 2008 10:55AM

I actually read this story yesterday, but as always, Joystiq takes all interviews out of context or omit certain parts.

Mr Khan @ Sep 17th 2008 11:04AM

Exactly. Microsoft's entry into the market was really an effort to stop what was believed at the time to be the unstoppable PlayStation multimedia juggernaut

Fortunately Nintendo reminded both that consoles are about playing games, and not winning some sort of set-top box war.

The Aggie CEO @ Sep 17th 2008 11:06AM

I can believe that........

The Home Media Servers wont take off NEARLY as quickly as the Xbox has..........hell I have a Custom Server for movies, videos, etc. and I use my PS3 to Stream it to my TV.......

they new what they were doing tho......

The Aggie CEO @ Sep 17th 2008 11:06AM

riggs @ Sep 17th 2008 11:07AM

i dont know about you, but thats what i thought (not as specific though) when i read the article above.

Hyams @ Sep 17th 2008 10:55AM

"Bill Gates might have finally had the cash to buy that moon he's always wanted."

That's no moon - it's a space station.

CyberKnight @ Sep 17th 2008 11:18AM

Doggonnit.

You beat me to it. :)

Obie @ Sep 17th 2008 10:58AM

At this rate Nintendo could own MS by 2010.

aristokrat @ Sep 17th 2008 11:48AM

Yeah, but then the next version of Windows would be a souped-up DOS with innovative bang-your-head-against-the-keyboard controls.

Roto13 @ Sep 17th 2008 12:42PM

I subscribe to game news RSS feeds. Banging my head against my keyboard is an hourly occurance.

CJLopez @ Sep 17th 2008 12:54PM

that would work for most programmer, thats how most bugs are fixed on software this days, xDDDDD

Superstar90 @ Sep 17th 2008 5:03PM

@aristokrat

you mean vista!?

Sora @ Sep 17th 2008 6:33PM

Must...not....respond...to...Superstar's...flamebait....

The Aggie CEO @ Sep 17th 2008 11:03AM

wow........

a world without Nintendo!?!?!

I dont think M$ would do Mario Justice.......

Banjo Kazooie on 360 is bad enough........imagine Mario on 360...........smh

Mr Khan @ Sep 17th 2008 11:09AM

I could imagine Nintendo losing a lot of what makes them great. Their talent comes from the fact that Nintendo hardware design is software-driven. The N64's cartridges accommodated EAD's hatred for load times, and the GC's miniDVD's were a compromise on that hatred. The huge A button on the GC pad was a predecessor to the A-button dominated layout on the Wii-remote, and the Wii itself was designed to be no stronger than it needed to be to accommodate the Wii remote

Working on other hardware would put Nintendo studios right out of their element, since Nintendo hardware is designed for Nintendo studios

Marty @ Sep 17th 2008 11:11AM

AS much as I like Nintendo, I wouldn't mind seeing them put their software on other consoles. Sure, they'd never do this, as it would make their own hardware useless, but it'd sure be awesome to be able to play a Mario or Zelda game without having to dig out my N64 from the closet.

Deeznuts420 @ Sep 17th 2008 11:11AM

you must come from the future if youve already played it.

Boffo the Sock @ Sep 17th 2008 11:11AM

Banjo Kazooie on the 360 is bad? Really? Thanks for traveling ahead to November so you could bring back your impressions from the future for us here. I also want to thank you for keeping your review brief and not overloading it with pesky verifiable evidence. Do you think I could borrow your time machine? There are a couple of sports bets that I'd like to make.

Antagonist @ Sep 17th 2008 11:12AM

Surely the use of 'M$' is not an indicator that your just spouting baseless hatred for Microsoft.

Fernando Rocker @ Sep 17th 2008 11:12AM

Well... according to previews, the new Banjo is really bad.

Funny how a lot of the hyped games are not delivering: Mercenaries, Star Wars and aparently now Banjo.

Too bad, I loved the last Banjo games =(

The Aggie CEO @ Sep 17th 2008 11:16AM

I dont mean the GAME play is bad.....

of COURSE I havent played it......

what I mean is the thought of B.K. on 360 is bad.....

like 10 years ago if you woulda had her that Sonic would be on PlayStaion or a new system called the Xbox you would be like WTF!?!?!

The Aggie CEO @ Sep 17th 2008 11:18AM

@Antagonist

the M$ is used because on here it helps people better get who it is....

hell I've said $ony a few time to in the past.....

get your panties out a bunch dude

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