Topic: "A single game saved the GB (Pokemon), it could save the Wii U too” Iwata said

[Adrock]

Acquiring the Xbox brand is a real outside-the-box idea that effectively lets them replace the Wii U ASAP.

And have absolutely no first-party software available nor any real experience developing for it. Wow, that's brilliant. Nintendo, hire this man immediately.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Microsoft actually first offered to buy Nintendo and make them their entire software division instead of creating the X-Box brand. But Nintendo did not want to be under a non-Japanese company and refused.

Yeah, but would MS now decide to sell Nintendo the entire Xbox division and let that be Nintendo's thing to do with what they please?

It would be nice for them to get Rare back, even if just for the IP. I'm sure alot of the displaced talent would find their way back home should Nintendo make the offer.

Conker, Perfect Dark, Viva Pinata, Banjo Kazooie & Killer Instinct would all be very welcome to the Nintendo library once again.
I don't see it happening, but without putting any real thought into it, it sounds like a good idea.

Acquiring the Xbox brand is a real outside-the-box idea that effectively lets them replace the Wii U ASAP.

And have absolutely no first-party software available nor any real experience developing for it. Wow, that's brilliant. Nintendo, hire this man immediately.

but you're putting thought behind it. not fair.

[Adrock]

If Nintendo were to buy the Xbox division, Xbox One wouldn't be the point of it. Like you said, they'd get Rare back. Also, they'd get Halo, Project Gotham, Fable, Gears of War etc. They would also get Xbox Live, that infrastructure, and a **** ton of patents. That's where the value lies. Anyone who thinks, "They can just replace Wii U," isn't thinking outside the box. Nintendo would be taking all those assets for the purpose of applying it to future hardware.

[Ceric]

If Nintendo were to buy the Xbox division, Xbox One wouldn't be the point of it. Like you said, they'd get Rare back. Also, they'd get Halo, Project Gotham, Fable, Gears of War etc. They would also get Xbox Live, that infrastructure, and a **** ton of patents. That's where the value lies. Anyone who thinks, "They can just replace Wii U," isn't thinking outside the box. Nintendo would be taking all those assets for the purpose of applying it to future hardware.

And we have a winner!

There some good stuff under it and Nintendo would just be running 2 consoles till they could merge them.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Imagine all the excuses 3rd parties would suddenly have as to why they can only afford to support the PS4. It would be a media circus with all the crazy stunts and tricks being pulled.

[nickmitch]

At that point, Nintendo wouldn't need 3rd parties. If they could work out an exclusive deal with Sega, they'd be set.

[Ian Sane]

Acquiring the Xbox brand is a real outside-the-box idea that effectively lets them replace the Wii U ASAP.

And have absolutely no first-party software available nor any real experience developing for it. Wow, that's brilliant. Nintendo, hire this man immediately.

But the Xbox One already has games out for it and games in the pipeline from third parties and first party games from Microsoft's current teams that would presumably come with the deal.  So there's no Mario for a little while?  Who gives a ****?  It isn't like his presence has created any worthwhile demand for the Wii U.  And while Nintendo has no experience with the hardware they also have no experience with the sort of hardware architecture that third parties want to use.  If they ever want to attract any third party support then at some point Nintendo has to get out of their little bubble and learn something beyond the basic Gamecube architecture they're been using.  Nintendo was dumbstruck by HD development after talking trash about everyone else struggling with it during the Wii years.  They have to change and have to adapt anyway.  Any new console they themselves would release that would have a shot in hell of amounting to anything would be such a drastic overhaul from what they've been doing with the Wii brand that there would be a huge learning curve involved.  Whether it is their own custom hardware or someone else's really makes no difference.

Really the whole advantage is that the pre-existence of Xbox One games on the shelf and in development gives Nintendo the breathing room to get themselves in shape.  They don't HAVE to carry the whole console on their backs.  That's the point.  They can buy themselves time, which is not a feasible option if they stick with the Wii U or try to introduce their own successor.

[Adrock]

But the Xbox One already has games out for it and games in the pipeline from third parties and first party games from Microsoft's current teams that would presumably come with the deal.

And it's getting trounced by PS4. Wii U can and is getting trounced by PS4 without Nintendo spending billions to acquire another company's product and losing billions dropping their own. See, you're missing the point entirely. Buying the Xbox division just so they can drop Wii U doesn't make sense.

So there's no Mario for a little while?  Who gives a ****?

Millions of Nintendo fans. We all realize you have this weird, jilted lover mentality with an axe to grind regarding Nintendo, but you really, REALLY need to stop acting like you represent more than a very small minority of internet whiners.

[nickmitch]

Dropping the Wii U would only make sense if Nintendo could keep the Xbox One self sustained long enough to transition enough of their titles to it.  Maybe in like a two year window (which makes the idea less than plausible).  Then, Nintendo could drop the price on the XB1 and yet the market with 2 or 3 of their own IPs.  That would probably be a huge boost to the console sales.

But to Ian's point, another positive in all this would be Nintendo not having to make so many Mario games.  Didn't we get two New Super Mario Bros titles in the same year?  While I loved both of those games, some space between them would've been great.

[Adrock]

Taking Microsoft out of the equation means taking away the benefits of dealing with Microsoft, a company willing to throw money at problems until they go away for a while. Who knows if third parties stick around after nearly-completed games release and notably, after contracts signed with Microsoft are fulfilled? In the extremely unlikely scenario that Nintendo could keep Xbox One alive under those conditions long enough for their first party titles to make the transition, it'd be pretty close to when they'd be launching a successor to Wii U anyway (one which probably wouldn't be a significant leap in power over Xbox One either).

Ian keeps dipping back into the specs-well, as if Xbox One's better hardware is some magical cure-all. It isn't. Again, Nintendo wouldn't buy the Xbox division for Xbox One. The entire point would be acquiring assets. That helps in many ways except Xbox under Nintendo is still subject to Nintendo's policies and they can change those with or without a major acquisition. Their Achilles' Heel has always been their resistance to change.

[Oblivion]

Ian, this is another moment that I'm glad that Nintendo "fan" like yourself aren't in charge of the company. As much **** as you give them for their mistakes, I can guarantee that if you were the CEO of Nintendo that ship would have crashed a long time ago.

[Ian Sane]

Ian, this is another moment that I'm glad that Nintendo "fan" like yourself aren't in charge of the company. As much **** as you give them for their mistakes, I can guarantee that if you were the CEO of Nintendo that ship would have crashed a long time ago.

I wouldn't have released the Wii U so I'm smarter than Iwata in one aspect.  Frankly if in some dream world I worked for Nintendo I would just like to have veto power so that when Nintendo wants to do something obviously stupid I can just say "no you can't do that".  So I don't suggest ideas as much as just filter Nintendo's good ideas from their bad.  I think a lot of people on this forum could do that well.

I just think the Wii U is a dead product with no chance to bounce back and Nintendo needs a more up-to-date console ASAP to have any chance of surviving in the console market.  If they have the opportunity to acquire one that already is on the market then they save themselves time they don't have.

[Oblivion]

Nah dude, considering earlier you said Nintendo should buy the Xbox brand, I really don't think you know what you're talking about. Just because you wouldn't release the Wii U doesn't make you smarter than them.

[nickmitch]

Specs matter so long as 3rd parties cite them as a reason to not develop for Nintendo consoles.  You can't just write them off as unimportant.

[Adrock]

Specs matter so long as 3rd parties cite them as a reason to not develop for Nintendo consoles.  You can't just write them off as unimportant.

Is this addressed to me? I never said specs were unimportant nor have I ever written them off. I merely disagree with Ian's repeated insistence that better specs would suddenly fix so much of Nintendo's woes, cure cancer, and end world hunger. Seriously, look through his post history to see how many times he brings it up. Turn it into a drinking game, try get to page five before everyone dies of alcohol poisoning.

Specs absolutely matter to the people making the games. I've said this before. However, and more importantly, the best specs in the world won't mean **** if Nintendo's policies still suck. That's where it starts. I think third parties would be far more amenable to working on lower spec hardware if Nintendo was more collaborative and friendly. Ideally, Nintendo would improve their policies and include better specs. Unfortunately, that's almost never what's discussed here. It's always specs first and foremost.

[Nemo]

The next system would be the N-Box. :B :B :B

[nickmitch]

Specs matter so long as 3rd parties cite them as a reason to not develop for Nintendo consoles.  You can't just write them off as unimportant.

Is this addressed to me? I never said specs were unimportant nor have I ever written them off. I merely disagree with Ian's repeated insistence that better specs would suddenly fix so much of Nintendo's woes, cure cancer, and end world hunger. Seriously, look through his post history to see how many times he brings it up. Turn it into a drinking game, try get to page five before everyone dies of alcohol poisoning.

Specs absolutely matter to the people making the games. I've said this before. However, and more importantly, the best specs in the world won't mean **** if Nintendo's policies still suck. That's where it starts. I think third parties would be far more amenable to working on lower spec hardware if Nintendo was more collaborative and friendly. Ideally, Nintendo would improve their policies and include better specs. Unfortunately, that's almost never what's discussed here. It's always specs first and foremost.

It was.  The comment just seemed dismissive of any importance towards specs as a whole.

I do see your point, however.

[Spak-Spang]

The only way the Xbox One purchase makes any sense is IF Nintendo could emulate the Wii U on the Xbox One, or basically figure a way to move and play Wii U games on the system.  If that was possible.  Nintendo could release the Xbox One as a Wii U and Xbox system.  All the previous Nintendo games could play on it.  All the Xbox One games could play on it.  Then Nintendo could see about slowly merging the systems together.  But at first they would have to be separate entities.  Basically like Wii mode one the Wii U.  But with Xbox One have Xbox Mode and Wii U mode. 

I think the one thing that would be cool is if Nintendo figured out a way to use Xbox Kinnect and the Wii sensor bar together…or make a combined unit with the patients it would own, it would really be able to push true movement based games.  And that could bring some cool stuff in the future…but honestly that would be talking about a future console further into the future. 

Though, I would support all this if we could get a new system called the NU Box. 

[Stratos]

The Nintendo U-Box One?


Weird.

[tendoboy1984]

Whoa whoa whoa... What's with all this talk about Nintendo buying the Xbox brand? Microsoft would never let that happen, and Nintendo has no interest in "Western" games.

[NWR_insanolord]

Microsoft is shopping the Xbox division, and Nintendo has both the money to buy it and the established position in the industry to want it. I don't think they'll actually go through with it, but them being the buyer makes a lot more sense than a lot of companies.

[BlackNMild2k1]

It would be pretty funny if Nintendo did but it, setting how MS made an offer in Nintendo 12 or so years ago.

[shingi_70]

Microsoft is shopping the Xbox division, and Nintendo has both the money to buy it and the established position in the industry to want it. I don't think they'll actually go through with it, but them being the buyer makes a lot more sense than a lot of companies.

Where was it said that Microsoft is hoping Xbox?

[Louieturkey]

Microsoft is shopping the Xbox division, and Nintendo has both the money to buy it and the established position in the industry to want it. I don't think they'll actually go through with it, but them being the buyer makes a lot more sense than a lot of companies.

Where was it said that Microsoft is hoping Xbox?

Everywhere and nowhere.

[NWR_insanolord]

It's the worst kept secret in the gaming industry that Microsoft is considering it. Hell, the guy who just took over the division has publicly argued that they should.