How Microsoft Tried To Buy Nintendo

An anonymous reader submits: "A new book, Opening the Xbox: Inside Microsoft's Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution discusses Microsoft's plans to buy Nintendo for $25 billion in late 1999. By January 2000 however, talks dissolved and each company went their seperate way. Makes you wonder how the home entertainment industry would be different if they had gone through with it. Stories are at Gamers and Cube Europe."

Re:Xbox is in trouble

[rkgmd]

Wrong! From this article, [forbes.com] msft has about $5.3b in cash and cash equivalents (that can be quickly liquidated), and, "using a slightly more expansive methodology", about $36b. But, remeber that this includes items like various venture capital investments that a) cannot be liquidated easily, b) probably required to support its stock price and market cap(~$300b with P/E of 45, a relative high). In any case, while the article acknowledges that the $500m that msft spent on xbox marketing won't probably affect it much, the stock market does not necessarily applaud a product unless the investment is recouped somehow in a fairly short interval.

Re:What about sega?

[azosx]

Microsoft wanted Nintendo to drop its GameCube console and get behind the Xbox.

As the gamers.com article states, Microsoft wasn't looking to purchase the GameCube's technology when making an offer for Nintendo, they just wanted the name and licenses (Mario, Zelda, Pokemon). Despite the opinion of many gamers that the Dreamcast was a great system, the fact was Sega had been in second and third place for the last six years behind Nintendo and Sony. Microsoft didn't want that kind of recognition with their Xbox. They wanted the only heavy hitter at the time that could potentially smoke Sony.