Rumormongering - Apple Could Buy Nintendo?

An anonymous reader writes "CNET wonders if 'Apple is about to frag the gaming community with a revelation that could shake Microsoft to its core: Apple will buy Nintendo. What could be more quintessentially left-field Apple behaviour than buying out the U.S.'s number three games console manufacturer?' The article goes on to compare the companies, saying 'both have followings whose brand dedication verges on the religiously devout' and design styles that are so similar that 'the Nintendo DS Lite practically looks like Jonathan Ive built it.' The writer says an Apple and Nintendo merger will 'penetrate the mainstream consumer market with Macintosh computers'. The possible outcome of a merger would be a console based around the Mac Mini. As for whether Apple have the cash to pull it off: 'Cisco was rumoured to be looking at a purchase of Nintendo earlier in the year, so the idea of Nintendo being bought is not outlandish in itself. Apple's market cap is $51.7bn (Nintendo's is $23.1bn)'"

Don't bother

[Midnight Thunder]

Apple and Nintendo are both good at what they do. Apple buying Nintendo is likely to dilute one of the two companies, without making either better. The other issue, is while they are both successful at what they do they have very different work cultures. I'd rather things be left as they are in this case.

As A Long Time Apple Game Developer

[Anonymous Coward]

I've had the displeasure of having dealt with Apple on games since the System 6 days.

Microsoft -> Security
Linux -> User Interface
Apple -> Games

I've seen other game developers run screaming from meetings with Apple game people. Apple can't even handle getting a decent OpenGL driver for their systems. I could go on all day describing what a nightmare it is to work with Apple on game development.

The only rational there can be for Apple buying Nintendo would be from some sort of desire to drive Nintendo into the ground.

Re:total bullshit

[duerra]

Actually, Nintendo has quite a history that doesn't just include gaming. They have been in business since 1889, and have even ventured into businesses such as playing cards, a love hotel, and a taxi company [wikipedia.org]. While they are most known for their gaming business, Nintendo just does a good job making sure that they have a business.

Apple is not a gaming company...

[KajiCo]

and personally I don't think it should ever be.

Remember this thing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Pippin [wikipedia.org]

Microsot if better than Apple on this for many reasons. When people were bashing the Xbox and saying Microsoft had no business entering the game market, I thought pretty stupid, because MS has put a lot of work into developing tools used to develop enhanced graphics games. DirectX (while it is proprietary though) is by far a better api for developing games than OpenGL.

With so many years of high quality, and highly detailed games working on the Windows platform, I don't know why so many people bashed the Xbox before it was released.

However the same does not apply for Apple, while for a short time, Apple was able to support some good quality games, it has lagged far behind in utilities needed to game quality as good as what you get on Windows.

I for one think that Apple moving to the game industry is a bad. While it definatley would help them gain some market share, I think they are too inexperienced to try and spend the amount of money it would require for them to advance in the gaming industry.

Re:This will NEVER happen

[mikeisme77]

Agreed, it is very interesting but is 99.99% unlikely to happen. A much more likely (and beneficial to both Apple and Nintendo) scenario would be a partnership similar to Microsoft's "Live Anywhere" only Nintendo would integrate their online features with OS X, iPod, and the upcoming Apple cell phone.

Re:Stupid.

[Alzheimers]

It just wouldn't make sense unless they had some mutually envisioned killer app sitting in the wings.

Intendo -- using the Itunes system for buying and playing old games on the new console. It would totally "revolutionize" the online distibution and billing systems for consoles in a heartbeat. If the retro emulation's one of the main focii of the Wii, it'd be the obvious solution.

Re:Even if they had enough now...

[Jace of Fuse!]

We don't need hard numbers to back up the claim that Nintendo was #1 in profit.

You see, it kind of works like this. Nintendo made money. It could have been one cent, and it was still more than Microsoft and Sony made together. They lost money. Lots of money. They hemoraged huge bloody soaked piles of cash out of their spend-happy assholes.

So yes, Nintendo was #1 in profit. They make tons of money off of their first party software sales for the Gamecube, because let's face it, the best games on the the 'cube are all first party anyway. They sell GBA's at an insane rate. They're selling DS's faster than they can make them. And they don't even take a loss on the sale of hardware.

So while they're market share might be just under even with Microsoft's, and a distant third compared to Sony, they're profit margins are all that really matters from a business stand point.

Dollars and cents, Nintendo kicked ass.