According to a new oral history report, Microsoft apparently decided to buy Nintendo to secure original games for its Xbox games division. But in response to the proposal, the Japanese video game company not only declined the offer, but laughed at Microsoft executives.
“Steve [Ballmer, Microsoft’s former CEO] made us find Nintendo to see if they would consider being acquired, ”said Kevin Bachus, former director of third-party relations at Microsoft for the Xbox. “They just laughed too much. Like, imagine an hour of someone laughing at you. That’s how the meeting went. “
During the early days of the Xbox, Microsoft met with several developers with offers to help develop the game offering for its main console. The report goes on to note that at one point Microsoft was in negotiations to enter into a joint partnership with Nintendo leveraged by its advanced technology.
“In fact, we had Nintendo in our building in January 2000 to work out the details of a joint venture in which we provided them with all the Xbox technical specifications,” Bob McBreen, then head of Xbox business development. “The bid was terrible on hardware and, compared to Sony’s PlayStation, it was. So the idea was: ‘Listen, you are much better at the parts of the game with Mario and all that stuff. Why don’t you let us take care of the hardware? ‘ But it did not work. ”
Go to Bloomberg to read the full Microsoft Xbox oral history.
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