Nintendo, Capcom, Sega to merge?

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

If any other company made XBox they would have been gone the moment they realized they couldn't sell dick overseas.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

There is only room for 2...and if the competition were fair...I think it's obvious that MS would lose in the long run.

 

They are hand over fist losing the most money by the truckfull.

 

But they're just going to keep throwing money at it. So they aren't going anywhere.

I think the sucess(or lack thereof) of X-Box lends creedance to the theory that the only reason MS got so big was because they bullied everyone else with Windows.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

Eh, I don't think the overseas market is as important as the US Market is. The gaming industry in the US outperformed the movie industry last year and looks to do it again. Any gaming company that specifically targeted the US could easily be profitable..

 

Microsoft is probably doing more harm than good selling in Japan.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Eh, I don't think the overseas market is as important as the US Market is. The gaming industry in the US outperformed the movie industry last year and looks to do it again. Any gaming company that specifically targeted the US could easily be profitable..

 

Microsoft is probably doing more harm than good selling in Japan.

Japan is where 80% of the software comes from. If you can't capture the Japanese market, it's a tough sell to companies like Square and Capcom, because your product can't sell in their home country, while Sony's product seems like a sure thing.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

whada ya know...the blurred out pic kinda sorta does look like PS2...

 

coughHOAXcough

 

excuse me..

[Guest redbaron51]

and gamecube is any better?

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Gamecube is any better than what?

 

Selling overseas?

 

Um...yes.

 

Japan loves Nintendo.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

Gamecube is any better than what?

 

Selling overseas?

 

Um...yes.

 

Japan loves Nintendo.

Japan is the reason why odd titles like Cubivore, Animal Crossing and Pikmin are made, and up until just recently, odd games like these were never seeing the light of day in the US unless you imported. Nintendo finally realized the import demand for some of the styles of games that never make it to the US. Sure, most of the games based on Japanese anime and other strictly Japanese culture won't get the same treatment, but it just shows that the US is becoming a bigger market than Japan for games.

[Guest B-X]

If Nintendo were to succeed in taking away all the PS2s profits, that would cripple the game industry.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

First of all, that lawsuit rumor is B U L L S H I T. There /is/ a thing called statute of limitations, guys.

 

bps:

 

There is only room for 2.

 

I don't know about that. History has only had 2 big names for sure, but that's usually because someone was corporately fucked (Sega, who couldn't market video games properly even when the company depended on it.) or didn't have the right idea (3DO, among others) or whatever.

 

This year, I've seen the true benefits of competition, as there's great titles on all systems (Vice City, Metroid Prime, Splinter Cell just to name the #1s on all three)

 

If any other company made XBox they would have been gone the moment they realized they couldn't sell dick overseas.

 

Huh? It's doing decently in the UK and has a lead on GameCube in Australia. The only problem spot is Japan, but they never expected to sell very well there anyway, and the Japanese game BUYER market is nowhere near as important as the DEVELOPERS. They've got all the important developer names, but the actual numbers of Japanese purchases is small and quite honestly unimportant compared to the US.

 

 

MarvinisaLunatic:

 

X Box live is going to bomb because not enough people have Broadband

 

What??? 1 out of every 4 families that goes online does it with some form of broadband now (source)

 

 

Microsoft cannot continue to lose $100+ on each console sold, no matter how much money they have to throw at it.

 

The parts become cheaper and cheaper over the years, both because technology marches on and because they keep buying them in bulk. The Hard Drive is cheaper for them to buy this year than it was last year, for example.

MrZsasz

Japan is where 80% of the software comes from. If you can't capture the Japanese market, it's a tough sell to companies like Square and Capcom, because your product can't sell in their home country

 

Perhaps you didn't know, but game companies like MONEY. The US market is where all the MONEY is. This MONEY stuff is an important issue, and why they have names like Capcom and Konami and so on.

 

Games in Japan sell like shit compared to the USA. Also, the market is heavily different. Soccer games sell like hotcakes in Japan. Over here, Madden sales would crush Winning Eleven without even batting an eye. Japanese gamers also buy lots of weird DDR-style games and RPGs, Dating Sims, and other games with lots of anime tie-ins or appeal. These don't sell well at all overseas.

 

In short, selling for the Japanese market means making only a miniscule amount of MONEY, since you're making games to sell to a fewer number of people with no international appeal (aside from soccer, of course. But I was using that purely as example.)

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

Go X-Box! Hang in there so you're in great shape after I buy you!!!

 

It's very elementary why X-Box isn't doing well in Japan. It's too big for the country! Think about it! Wouldn't a society used to compacted everything have a natural aversion to a big black box?

 

Ever since I decided to get an X-Box, I now love Microsoft, so help me Kylie. I personally want to see it come down to a battle between Gamecube and X-Box, the old company I was fiercely loyal to versus the new company.

 

Fo sheez,

Kotzenjunge

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

Mmm.. Xbox size jokes. The only thing as played out as HHH "-uh"s and Heel Owner vs Rebel Worker.

 

I doubt you'll have to worry about that Kotzenjunge. PS2 is currently in about 40 times as many homes and, together with the PSOne, has sold more copies of games than every other video game system in history combined.

 

That's why I always find these Xbox vs GameCube arguements to be funny.

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

I find that claim of more than every other system in history combined to be just a tad blown out of proportion, don't you?

 

And I'm sooooooooo sorry I made a joke about the size of the X-Box. God forbid us casual gamer types join a discussion.

 

Fo sheez,

Kotzenjunge

[Guest Renegade]

I find that claim of more than every other system in history combined to be just a tad blown out of proportion, don't you?

I wouldnt be surprised if it was true.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

I find that claim of more than every other system in history combined to be just a tad blown out of proportion, don't you?

I wouldnt be surprised if it was true.

For a console, it might be true, but for all Video Game Systems, its not.

 

All numbers are world wide sales figure estimates

 

NINTENDO GAMEBOY/GAMEBOY POCKET/GAMEBOY COLOR

Year Released: 1988/1997/1998

Peak Year: 1999

Estimated Number Sold: 110,000,000

 

NINTENDO GAMEBOY ADVANCE

Year Released : 2001

Peak Year: n/a

Estimated Number Sold: 4,000,000 (as of October, 2002)

 

Estimated Total GameBoy Systems Sold: 114,000,000

 

SONY PSX/PSOne

Year Released: 1994/2000

Peak Year: 1998

Estimated Number Sold: 74,000,000

 

SONY PS2

Year Released: 2000

Peak Year: n/a

Estimated Number Sold: 40,000,00 (As of October, 2002)

 

Estimated Total Playstation Systems Sold: 114,000,000

 

The PS/PS2 is neck and neck with GameBoy for most total units sold, although the Gameboy numbers on Software sold are far and away more than Playstation software sold. Nintendo's GameBoy Advance is selling at about half the rate of the PS2 and about 3 times the rate of the PSOne, although the GBA is expected to outsell the PS2 over the holiday season with GBA Systems selling for as low as $49.95, $150 cheaper than the Sony PS2 and $100 cheaper than Nintendo's own home console sytem, Gamecube.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

Well, for what it's worth, I just checked the date from the publication source I was reading from, and it's dated sometime after Poke-mania but just around the time the GBA launched. I didn't figure the system really had produced that much numbers.

 

In other words, "Wow. That's a lot of GBAs." Further reason why I think Nintendo ought to drop out of the home hardware market and concentrate their hardware effort on portables.

[Guest RenegadeX28]

Well, someone has found this at the IGN forums, supposedly written by one of the IGN staff there.......

 

 

Major Merger in Japan

The news has been coming down for some time now. At first just in trickles, and now in large full waves. Several major Japanese publishers are looking to merge. With some of the same thinking that was used to explain Enix and Square's merger, Capcom is definitely in the process of merging with another major Japanese developer/publisher. The other possibilities are Sega, Namco and Konami. Yes, we know it sounds crazy, but the economy in Japan has been in the dumps for some time now, and merging two companies in these rough times is looking very attractive right now to stray strong now and to grow stronger in the future. Past rumors of Sega buying Infogrames were indeed true, and we know now that Sega could possibly be in talks with Capcom about merging in the next couple of weeks. Whatever it is, it's going to be big. Keep your eyes open." - IGN

 

 

 

Sega and Capcom together????? WOW!

[Guest Renegade]

Megaman, The SF crew and Dante + Sonic team = Fucking ownage!

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Well, for what it's worth, I just checked the date from the publication source I was reading from, and it's dated sometime after Poke-mania but just around the time the GBA launched. I didn't figure the system really had produced that much numbers.

 

In other words, "Wow. That's a lot of GBAs." Further reason why I think Nintendo ought to drop out of the home hardware market and concentrate their hardware effort on portables.

GBC is what kept Nintendo afloat while the N64 was getting OWNED~! by PS.

[Guest HoffmanHHH]

Apparently, the GBA sold over 1,000,000 units over the Thanksgiving holiday week (credit: GameSpot). So, that would up the total sales to 5,000,000+ in, what, 18 months? Which comes out to roughly 9250 units a day. I don't know how that bodes financially, but it sure as hell seems like a lot to me.

 

Anyway, I just thought I'd throw that holiday tidbit out there, being a huge GBA fan.

[Guest redbaron51]

Sega and Capcom to merge

 

*plays NFL 2K5 realizes that the camera angles and controls are shitty like Resident Evil, yet best graphics and features ever....*

[Guest RenegadeX28]

Well, the announcement will be said Tuesday. It seems part of this rumor may come true. CBS News.com has reported that Nintendo is going to buy Capcom...........

 

 

Gaming consolidation?

 

Video-game industry analysts stoked speculation of a possible buyout Capcom Co. by Nintendo Co., one of the world's top three game-console makers.

 

The sector is ripe for consolidation, and a Capcom buyout would substantially boost Nintendo's position, said James Lin, an analyst with Jeffries & Co. "All of these companies are up for sale, except Microsoft (MSFT: news, chart, profile) and Sony (SNE: news, chart, profile)."

 

Analysts said Japan-based Nintendo is expected to make a major announcement Tuesday. Officials at both Nintendo and Capcom, of Osaka, Japan, declined comment.

 

Nintendo could use Capcom's software to drive buys of its lagging GameCube console.

 

GameCube is second worldwide but ranked behind Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation 2 in the United States, said analyst Paul Kaump, of Doughery & Co. LLC.

 

Nintendo has suffered because its game software -- Pokemon, Super Mario and Donkey Kong -- cater to younger children. "They are trying to shake their image a little bit and attract older gamers," Kaump said.

 

Capcom, which has created game franchises such as Street Fighter and Resident Evil, would be a logical buy for Nintendo, analysts said.

 

"Nintendo has to do something to beef up its software," said analyst Shawn Milne of SoundView Technology.

 

Luisa Beltran is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in New York.

[Guest Renegade]

Look if MS couldnt buy Capcom, its very doubtfull that the big N can/will.

[Guest redbaron51]

Capcom best bet is to stay a third party co.

 

 

But what does Capcom provide? Resident Evil and spinoffs?

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Capcom would be DUMB on this one.

 

They can't look at the poor Res. Evil sales on the cube and think...hey...lets put all of our games on here!

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

http://cube.ign.com/articles/380/380234p1.html

 

IGNcube: Why do you think Capcom Japan has aligned itself so strongly with Nintendo and GameCube?

 

Capcom: The first thing that you must understand is that Capcom has a multi-platform philosophy. In other words, we believe that we must diversify our offerings, as there are three strong console players in the market.