Do you want Microsoft to purchase Nintendo?

[Sean Endicott]

Earlier today, a massive leak revealed the Microsoft is interested in purchasing Nintendo. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said it would be a "career moment" for the company to buy Nintendo and that the future of Nintendo exists off the company's own hardware. Considering how hard it was for Microsoft to purchase Activision Blizzard, an acquisition of Nintendo seems unlikely, but we want to know if you would view the potential deal as a good thing.

Do you want to see Microsoft purchase Nintendo? What would the future of gaming look like if that purchase happened? Is there a particular franchise you want to see on Xbox hardware?

 

[Sean Endicott]

While I would enjoy being able to play Nintendo games on Microsoft hardware and Xbox Cloud Gaming, I think those benefits would be overshadowed by the negatives of a potential Nintendo that was part of Microsoft. Nintendo, for better and for worse, is willing to experiment. I don't see the Wii or the Switch coming out of a Nintendo made by Microsoft.

I'm frustrated by many things Nintendo struggles with, and I honestly think Microsoft could alleviate some of those issues, but overall I don't think Microsoft buying Nintendo would be a good thing.

 

[Bla1ze]

I don't see a purchase of Nintendo happening but it would be interesting to see what Microsoft would do with it for sure. Having Mario IP on Xbox hardware would be pretty sweet, along with Splatoon. There's some things there they could mutually do with Rare IP as well, like Rare Replay coming moving to Switch.

Mostly though, I'd like to think a Microsoft purchase would cause Nintendo to loosen up a bit and become more friendly to their userbase, maybe stop trying to sue them and perhaps be more open to licensing old games so they may live on outside the Nintendo ecosystem.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

While I would enjoy being able to play Nintendo games on Microsoft hardware and Xbox Cloud Gaming, I think those benefits would be overshadowed by the negatives of a potential Nintendo that was part of Microsoft. Nintendo, for better and for worse, is willing to experiment. I don't see the Wii or the Switch coming out of a Nintendo made by Microsoft.

I'm frustrated by many things Nintendo struggles with, and I honestly think Microsoft could alleviate some of those issues, but overall I don't think Microsoft buying Nintendo would be a good thing.

I think this is the key concern with such an acquisition. Nintendo has been the MOST innovative in terms of hardware design. I think it's ironic and concerning that the release shows Phil Spencer thinking Nintendo is just about the IP and software, which misses a HUGE part of their success.

Nintendo brilliantly zigged when everyone else zagged in developing a cheaper Wii, but with perfect motion sensing controls. Sony, MS, PC gaming all focused on maxing out GPU capacity with virtually no innovation. MS did some with Kinect, but few players liked it and fewer developers utilized it. Nintendo designed the hardware and games that took advantage of their innovations brilliantly. Similar situations occurred with the Nintendo DS, then 3DS, and with the detachable Switch system, and still nothing new, just spec maxing from Sony and MS (unless you count Sony's touchpad on the top of their controllers and new trigger haptics).

IF (and only if) MS would give Nintendo team a full-powered star chamber seat for hardware design and selection, then I'd like to see it happen. This could be the key to innovative gaming hardware coming out of MS, benefiting from the superior MS hardware R&D teams (MS has great hardware R&D, they have terrible insight into what the market wants, which is precisely where Nintendo shines). Otherwise, I agree with Sean, that it would be bad for gaming innovation overall.

And just to caveat myself: I would not want MS to dump performance for a cheap system that appeals to the masses purely on price. I prefer 4k 60+fps HDR gaming. But there's no reason innovation and performance need to be mutually exclusive.

 

[RabidPedagog]

The benefit of Microsoft buying Nintendo is that the latter's games would be available on Xbox Game Pass, allowing families to pay for a subscription which is just as beneficial to dad as it is to little Susie. Additionally, the family wouldn't have to buy a console altogether, adding costs to the household, since any PC in the house would be able to play the latest Mario or Zelda game. However, we've seen what a Microsoft purchase of developers does, and it is usually not positive.

 

[NoLifeDGenerate]

I just want Nintendo to go 3rd party. I hate their hardware. Maybe if MS bought it though, they'd at least release all the old games digital. There's no excuse for Nintendo not doing more ports of their stuff from previous gens, especially for IPs that barely get new titles (PunchOut).

 

[fdruid]

Well at least it would free those games so truly everyone could play them. And they would do a better job at old game preservation and availability, though anyone would do it better than those jerks at Nintendo.
Let's face it, Nintendo's game is about captive audience and setting the rules to whatever they feel like, regardless of the current industry trends and worse yet, what their customers and fans want. Remember that LIMITED digital edition of Mario 64 etc? Well you can't buy it anymore. Absolutely crazy.

 

[Jazhawk]

My answer is absolutely not. I'm not a fan of big companies gobbling up smaller ones. It's not a good result for the consumer.