Earlier this month, Bloomberg published a story about how Microsoft tried to buy Nintendo many years ago.
EA, at the time, apparently told Microsoft that it “had no idea” how to make a console, while Nintendo assumed Microsoft’s proposal was funny, according to Kevin Bachus, a former Xbox third-party director.
In the same Twitch interview with Reggie and Jack, Robbie Bach, former president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division and director of Xbox, was asked to give some information about this story and talk about as the tech giant simply “looked for partners” while exploring “every angle” and Nintendo was obviously across the street from its own offices.
“In the early days of the Xbox concept, Microsoft didn’t want to do the hard work; that wasn’t something we knew how to do, so the idea was that we were looking for partners. We talked to all the PC makers, we talked to Sega and we went to talk to Nintendo: they were the big kids in the block for sure, and by the way, they were across the street from our offices, so it wasn’t like we had to make a long trip to get them to I’ll see “.
“So we had a conversation and the reaction we got was probably what we expected. You know, Microsoft didn’t have everything to contribute, Nintendo was successful and it’s always been a kind of standalone company. A lot of content of its own, but Bob and his team explored every angle. “
“Ultimately, we decided to get into hardware, which was kind of a last resort, and I know it sounds a little ridiculous, but we weren’t a hardware company, so deciding we wanted to make hardware was a huge commitment. “And we tried a lot of different ways of not doing it, 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. In the end, the decision was to move on with the Xbox.
“I mean ironically the first person who told us we had to make the hardware were really third-party publishers. People like Electronic Arts and Activision and those guys, they wanted someone to compete with Sony and Nintendo, so having a third person to the market was good for them. And they didn’t want anyone to do what 3DO did, which was to license their hardware to other people, they wanted someone to have the skin of the game on the hardware. “
“So, you know,‘ A. ’we had potential partners who said no, and‘ B. ’we had third-party editors who said‘ you have to do it yourself ’, so that’s what we did “.
Although Microsoft and Nintendo obviously failed to reach an agreement, Xbox acquired fan favorite Nintendo developer Rare. Today, the two video game giants maintain relatively good relations, as Microsoft’s intellectual property has recently been represented in Nintendo’s star fighter, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
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