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Apple Eyeing Nintendo?

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,537
30,844


Chris Stevens from CNet.co.uk revives a long-standing rumor that Apple may be eyeing a merger with Nintendo.

A city analyst told Crave that agressive takeovers of Japanese companies can be difficult and expensive. Japanese companies use the keiretsu system of interlocking holdings and partnerships, which makes conventional takeovers exceptionally hard.

If Apple was to acquire Nintendo, a friendly takeover or merger would be more likely. In the merger scenario, Apple might have a chat with Nintendo and convince them to agree to form a new company. Still, the viability of a merger is low. Now may be a bad time to adopt Nintendo -- Apple would do better to wait a year or two to see how the Wii does.
Click to expand...

Stevens goes on to speculate that a Mac Mini that could play Nintendo's Wii games could prove to be a formidible match to Sony's Playstation 3 and Microsoft's XBox 360, since the Mini can also play high-definition video, edit music and photographs, surf the web, word process, and edit video.

Nintendo and Apple merger rumors surface from time to time, due mainly to the fact that the companies have very similar philosophies in their respective industries (ease of use, industrial design, boldness in the face of defeat, etc). Despite the similarities, such a merger or aquisition is regarded as highly unlikely, although recent rumors that Apple is recruiting game developers may lend a slight bit of credence to the rumor.
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2006/06/09/apple-eyeing-nintendo/
shadowmoses

shadowmoses

macrumors 68000
Mar 6, 2005
1,821
0
Check out this link....Simularities between apple and Nintendo designs....

Any how I think this would be a great idea for Apple.....How cool would it be to see a Nano intergrated into a DS lite???

SHadoW
 
A

aftk2

macrumors regular
Nov 10, 2003
132
19
Pacific NW
Heh, this is such a ridiculous idea, I don't even know where to start. Sometimes I wonder if analysts just pick two "hot" companies and toss them together.

What's next?

Apple...and Toyota! iYaris!

Yeesh.
 
7on

7on

macrumors 601
Nov 9, 2003
4,939
0
Dress Rosa
ummm, no. I'd rather NOT see a merger between the two. Other than Iwata using a Powerbook, I don't think Nintendo would be keen on it either. It'd be hard to manage a partnership where both companies (Apple and Nintendo) are very controlative of their licenses. If anything happens, I could see Nintendo or Apple thinking "We can do better ourselves" and then pulling out of the partnership with either Nintendo releasing a computer or Apple releasing a game device.

If a partnership happens more than likely it'll be something simple like getting the Nintendo USB WiFi thing to work on Macs or some future Wii/DS + Mac connectivity. No joined products.
 
Sun Baked

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
Games on the iPods do not equal Apple becoming a game company.

Plus the game developers would have an edge in making creative use of 3d to make the iPod interface fun and interactive -- a little more out there, but not as much as a merger.
 
K

KEL9000

macrumors member
May 19, 2003
44
0
although there is no basis for any of this it kinda makes sense. I would love to have a mini that could play HD and console games.
 
D

dashiel

macrumors 6502a
Nov 12, 2003
876
0
there may have been some credence to the rumor before the intel switch, but now? how in the hell would apple justify going back to PPC so soon after dumping it?
 
eva01

eva01

macrumors 601
Feb 22, 2005
4,720
1
Gah! Plymouth
Once again i go back to a very old japanese company that would not have a merger of any kind with an american company. Not at least in my books
 
7on

7on

macrumors 601
Nov 9, 2003
4,939
0
Dress Rosa
eva01 said:
Once again i go back to a very old japanese company that would not have a merger of any kind with an american company. Not at least in my books
Click to expand...

yeah, the japanese have this crazy thing called pride. shrug.
 
jholzner

jholzner

macrumors 65816
Jul 24, 2002
1,385
21
Champaign, IL
This is a long standing rumor? I've never heard it before. I don't really care either way. I suppose if Apple buys them they have a good reason. Most of their aquisitions have been very successful with the exception of Powershool...which they have now sold.
 
DavidLeblond

DavidLeblond

macrumors 68020
Jan 6, 2004
2,323
600
Raleigh, NC
Next up: Apple to buy Starbucks? iCoffee? Ooo how about Apple buying the Gap to get into clothing!

I can write articles speculating about those too.
 
SiliconAddict

SiliconAddict

macrumors 603
Jun 19, 2003
5,889
0
Chicago, IL
chairguru22 said:
the day this happens, pigs fly and the earth will implode
Click to expand...


Hmmm how many people said the same thing about Intel on the Mac? Windows running on a Mac at full speed? 100$ iPods?

MrFrankly said:
It's just a distraction from the fact the Apple will buy Adobe.
Click to expand...


See that would make more sense. Apple owning Photoshop would send shockwaves through the PC world. Apple owning Nintendo? Meh...unlike Sony and MS they don't seem to be interested in being anything other then a game console. What does this attribute acomplish for Apple? Not a whole heck of a lot IMHO.
 
W

Websnapx2

macrumors 6502a
Apr 24, 2003
519
530
eva01 said:
Once again i go back to a very old japanese company that would not have a merger of any kind with an american company. Not at least in my books
Click to expand...

Yeah, because Sony merging/purchasing with Columbia/CBS years back is nothing like this. I mean one was a successful... no, wait... but the other, but the other one was a... no, wait, it's the same! :rolleyes:
 
U

ulyssespdx

macrumors newbie
May 18, 2006
12
0
not a good rumor

it's a wild rumor, folks, started on some message board that the guy in the UK read and ran with. it ain't happening. this was speculated on about two years ago, too.

and Sony buying Apple. and Apple buying a stake in Kia too (seriously.) and so on. yawn.

ps: this article would have more credence if you spelled "credence" correctly. :D
 
W

Websnapx2

macrumors 6502a
Apr 24, 2003
519
530
ulyssespdx said:
ps: this article would have more credence if you spelled "credence" correctly. :D
Click to expand...

lol, very nice indeed.

Mentioning the Sony/Columbia situation isn't meant to support the Apple/Nintendo claim, but rather point out that while it won't happen, the fact that one company is American and the other is Japanese, is not the reason.
 
J

JacKal

macrumors newbie
Jun 9, 2006
1
0
I like Apple. I like Nintendo. They won’t merge, I’m sorry… that’s just not gonna happen. Maybe it might be nice if they partnered up for a few interesting projects, but no… no takeover. No merger. The reason they are in the positions that they are is because they are self-reliant, innovative, and incredibly staunch in the fact that they refuse to die even when everyone else says that they should. Yes they share the same philosophies, but that only re-enforces that they won’t merge.
 
B

barcodebawtv

macrumors newbie
Apr 20, 2006
25
0
Sweet

It might not be likely, but I think it'd be awesome if it happened. The wii is the first system since N64 that I've actually anxiously anticipated. Like Apple, they do seem to have a similar philosophy of buisness
 
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