Earlier this month, Bloomberg delivered a story about how Microsoft tried to buy out Nintendo years ago.
EA apparently told Microsoft at the time that he had “no idea” how to make a console, while Nintendo believed Microsoft’s proposal was hilarious, according to Xbox’s former third-party director Kevin Bachus.
In the same Twitch interview with Reggie and Jack, Robbie Bach – former president of the entertainment and device division at Microsoft and chief Xbox officer – was asked to give some insight into this story and talked about how the technology giant merely ‘looking for partners’ “while exploring” every corner “, Nintendo was, of course, across the street from its own offices.
“In the early days of the Xbox concept, Microsoft did not want to do the hard work – it was just something we knew how to do. So the idea was that we were looking for partners. We worked with all the computer manufacturers. chats., we chatted with Sega and so went with Nintendo – they were definitely the big kids on the street, and by the way, they were across the street from our offices, so it was not like we had a long journey to go see. ‘
“So we had a conversation and the response we got was probably what we expected. You know, Microsoft did not have much to bring to the table, Nintendo was successful and has always been a kind of independent enterprise. – do a lot of their own content, but Bob and his team explored every corner. ‘
“Eventually we decided to use the hardware, which was the last option, and I know it sounds pretty stupid, but we were not a hardware company, so it was a big commitment for us to decide to “And we tried a lot of different ways not to do that, and in the end we had to do it ourselves.”
Bach further explained how Microsoft was apparently encouraged by third-party companies such as Electronic Arts, who wanted someone else to compete with Sony and Nintendo. Ultimately, the decision was made to continue with the Xbox.
“I mean ironically, the number one people who told us we had to do the hardware were actually third-party publishers. People like Electronic Arts and Activision and the guys, they wanted someone to compete with Sony and Nintendo. – so having a third person in the market was good for them.And they did not want anyone to do what 3DO did, who licensed their hardware to other people, but they wanted someone who had a skin in the had hardware. “
“So, you know, ‘A.’ we had potential partners who said no, and ‘B.’ we had third-party publishers saying “you have to do it yourself”, so that’s what we did.
While Microsoft and Nintendo obviously did not reach an agreement, Xbox continued to acquire the fan-favorite Nintendo developer, Rare. These days, the two video game giants maintain relatively good relationships – with Microsoft – owned IP recently represented in Nintendo’s all-star fighter, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
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