by Brian Cook
Introduction
A lot of news came out of the press conference for Nintendo last week. Satoru Iwata said last week that the company "is looking at different aspects of their company." In an interview with Nikkei.com Mr. Iwata spoke about specific strategies that Nintendo will implement in the future. "We'll change the way we sell products" he said. "We'll offer discounts to steady, regular customers."
While the change of how things will be done around Nintendo is important, one thing came out of that interview that spoke louder to me than anything else. A small bloop on the radar of this radar.
"We should abandon old assumptions about our businesses. We are considering M&As (Mergers and Acquisitions) as an option. For this reason, we'll step up share buybacks."
The impact of a merger or someone buying Nintendo can impact the entire landscape of the video game industry, but who would be a good candidate?
Apple seems to be at the top of the list of rumored companies to possibly merge with or buy Nintendo, but Google has been left in the dark of what people are looking at. Google is always looking at ways to expand with new apps and features. Google Wallet, Google Translate, even Google Drive are all features that Google is proud to feature, but what impact could those have on Nintendo?
Google does a lot. They have a vast amount of apps and features (including Blogger) that can be easily used to help rebuild Nintendo to a powerhouse. Things like Google Wallet, Google Drive to store games you buy through a store, and even YouTube to provide an automatic record and upload to YouTube service like Sony and Microsoft use with Twitch could help build not only Nintendo back up, but also help raise the image of Google and would give a breath of fresh air to the video game industry.
Apple
Many websites and publications that have picked up the interview of Mr. Iwata, have begun speculating whether or not Apple will be jumping into the video game industry. In a way, Apple has always desired to step into the video game market. During the early days of gaming development, when having a Commodore 64 was cool, Apple dabbled in the video game market, but never hit anything. In corporate America, it's a simple understanding. If you can't beat them, buy them.
It's no secret that Apple has a strong hold on a lot of things, but at the moment, while they have a strong grip on the phone industry, things like the iPod touch, and Macs are slowly falling. According to TechHub.com and the Apple press report iPhones sold 51 million units, a record compared to the same quarter last year, but is down 4 million units based off of Tim Cooke's estimation. This has caused stocks to drop slightly due to the let down of sales (around 8 cents at the time of the quarterly reports publication).
Apple will be needing that "next big thing" that has made them famous. Anyone that gets involved in the slightest way with the tech industry knows the impact that Steve Jobs gave with his presentation of the iPod and the iTunes store. Both left people shocked, and excited for the future. Apple appears to be the best fit for Nintendo as they have the most to offer and the best chance to help expand and improve Nintendo for the future.
Microsoft or Sony
Few people have completely put together the possibility of one of the other companies who make consoles buying out Nintendo. I feel there is no way that if Microsoft or Sony stepped up, they would be willing to merge with Nintendo. It simply wouldn't work. What I do see happening is simple enough. If you can eliminate the competition, do it. If Microsoft or Sony would end up buying Nintendo, we would get set to have Nintendo's biggest franchises appear on those consoles. I don't know about you, but I'd feel weird playing an Xbox version of Super Mario Brothers or Super Smash Brothers. Don't think we haven't forgotten the Vita there, PlayStation, because I don't think Pokemon will be as well received on that console either.
Conclusion
The future is far from being able to be educationally predicted. The short-term future is stable for Nintendo. As Mr. Iwatu has said, they are tapping into their "rainy day fund." You have to wonder how many zeros that account has attached to it. For the foreseeable future, it seems Nintendo will continue to be under their own name. The company has lived and breathed with the understanding that doing the society's "norm" for video games is nothing short of "easy." For now, we can just look forward to whatever Nintendo produces, yes, even "health hardware" that Mr. Iwatu says that Nintendo will be producing in and beyond 2014. Only time will tell what will happen for Nintendo, but until then, let's just enjoy the titles they produce, and who knows? Maybe Disney will buy them out as well.
