Microsoft published the letter of the failed attempt to buy Nintendo, we will tell you the story of the proposal, of which even Mario laughed.
Microsoft is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Xbox console and created a Metaverse Museum Interactive online to know the whole history of the console and its different versions, you can even find a personal museum with your game history.
In the Xbox Metaverse Museum, the letter of attempted purchase of Nintendo by Microsoft, in 1999, signed by Vice President Rick Thompson and addressed to Nintendo of america.
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This was Microsoft’s failed attempt to buy Nintendo
Like all good stories, this anecdote happened a long, long time ago – more than 20 years, to be exact – two years before Microsoft will release the original Xbox. It all started when some team members expressed concern about including enough games for the new console.
Then, someone had a brilliant idea: try to buy Nintendo and problem solved. Kevin Bachus, the then director of third-party relations for Microsoft for Xbox, remember the meeting like this:
Steve Ballmer, the then CEO of Microsoft, had a team from the company meet with Nintendo to expose the proposal to be acquired. Bachus remembers that heNintendo executives just laughed out loud for about an hour.
In the Metaverse Museum we can see that, despite the note “Spring 2000” at the bottom, The date on the letter is October 20, 1999.
The letter, sent by the then vice president of hardware of Microsoft, Rick Thompson, then Executive Vice President of Business Affairs for Nintendo of america, Jacqualee Story, appears to be following up on the business meeting between Microsoft and two of the most important figures of Nintendo: Nintendo’s hardware leader, Genyo Takeda, and the president of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi.
In the letter, Thompson said he “understands Mr. Takeda’s concerns about the possible association.” Also refers directly to the console Nintendo’s “Dolphin”, which was the code name for what would eventually be released in 2001 as the Nintendo GameCube.
Now we know that consoles The original Xbox and GameCube (Dolphin in code) would end up being very different gaming experiences.
Nintendo did not accept Microsoft’s proposal, and finally Sony’s PlayStation 2 console dominated video game culture for the next decade.