Microsoft thought about acquiring Nintendo while planning the first Xbox
Microsoft considered several ideas for the Xbox well before the first console launched in 2001. One possibility could have been an acquisition of Nintendo, based on a new report from GamesIndustry.
GamesIndustry spoke with Seamus Blackley, the co-creator of Xbox, “who helped draft the Xbox proposal and assemble the design team.” A portion of the site’s article states:
Blackley noted that a number of other ideas were pushed around at Microsoft too. Some people said Xbox should be focused on playing movies, or that all the games would have to be made by Microsoft. Some even pushed the notion that Microsoft should make a huge play and just gobble up Nintendo. “Just name it, name a bad idea and it was something we had to deal with,” Blackley lamented.
