I think NIS and Capcom are both heading towards that.
What's the next likely acquisition/merge that'll happen in Japan? I can see Idea Factory and Nippon Ichi finally laying down their swords and taking hands one day.
Nintendo getting Bamco makes even more sense then it did the first time. There's a lot of synergy there.
If you look at the most recent acquisitions in Japan, it's largely been cash rich mobile game and/or media companies (Sega, Gung-Ho, Nepro, Kadokawa) who want to expand into dedicated devices (via Atlus, Grasshopper, Tri-Ace, or From Software).Capcom with who?
If you look at the most recent acquisitions in Japan, it's largely been cash rich mobile game and/or media companies (Sega, Gung-Ho, Nepro, Kadokawa) who want to expand into dedicated devices (via Atlus, Grasshopper, Tri-Ace, or From Software).
Were I looking for someone to buy Capcom, I would guess someone along the lines of CyGames. Mind, I don't necessarily mean CyGames itself, since they've been choosing to hire up a ton of staff directly and then partner with independent studios like Platinum.
If I had to pick someone, Mixi/XFLAG has 80 gazillion Monster Strike dollars and nothing to spend it on, has generally failed to open successful new business lines, and has a variety of former Capcom staff working for them.
Just for the hell of it, who do you think Nintendo would/should pick up if it ever happened?
I don't think they'll have any difficulty hiring developers directly or partnering with independent dedicated device studios (and sometimes even publishers) to make games targeting their core audience, so I would suggest they make acquisitions to supplement their new business lines.
They lack internal talent in both multimedia creation and mobile gaming, so any investment there is likely to get more bang for their buck than buying Koei Tecmo would since they can just hire Koei Tecmo anyway.
I mean even if you look at Vivendi (Blizzard/Sierra), when they bought additional companies, they bought Activision because of their success in consoles (Vivendi was primarily successful on PC), and then King, who was hugely successful in mobile.
To me it makes more sense for Nintendo to buy a dev (or even a publisher like Koei Tecmo or Bandai Namco) so that they can double or even triple their 1st-party line-up by default, rather than worry about a game-by-game partnership.
Also Bandai owns Sunrise no? That can help their movie/TV business.
Bandai Namco is a $6.2 billion company and generally you have to pay significantly above that to actually acquire a company since there's an expected value of the company that might be quite a bit higher than whatever it's trading at.
Nintendo only has $8 billion in cash, so that would probably take just about all of it and put them in a relatively precarious situation.
Honestly The Bandai part is the part that would help Nintendo more with future branding/merchandising deals. Getting Namco would just be a bonus.
This is all pie in the sky though as I don't think Nintendo could force a buyout and I don't think Bamco would want to merge.
The issue with Level-5 is that they're a private company, so only what Hino wants to happen will happen.Yeah as I said above Nintendo may not even be able to afford them, didn't realize it was that close at that.
Level-5 might be cheap enough and provide the quantity, then again, like 90% of their line-up (sans mobile) is on Nintendo hardware (exclusive at that) so it's not the most necessary.
Not sure what Koei Tecmo's $ value is.
Bandai Namco is a $6.2 billion company and generally you have to pay significantly above that to actually acquire a company since there's an expected value of the company that might be quite a bit higher than whatever it's trading at.
Nintendo only has $8 billion in cash, so that would probably take just about all of it and put them in a relatively precarious situation, since Nintendo as a company is in many ways defined by its cash pile given their ho-hum existing cash flow.
Bandai Namco is a $6.2 billion company and generally you have to pay significantly above that to actually acquire a company since there's an expected value of the company that might be quite a bit higher than whatever it's trading at.
Nintendo only has $8 billion in cash, so that would probably take just about all of it and put them in a relatively precarious situation, since Nintendo as a company is in many ways defined by its cash pile given their ho-hum existing cash flow.
There would also be the trick of convincing Bandai Namco's shareholders that this is actually a logical and attractive takeover that benefits Bandai Namco as a company, or paying them so much money that they're willing to take the deal anyway (which is where the large premium on the stock price comes in).
Does Nintendo has any kind of debt like Sony?
Does Nintendo has any kind of debt like Sony?
I don't think they'll have any difficulty hiring developers directly or partnering with independent dedicated device studios (and sometimes even publishers) to make games targeting their core audience, so I would suggest they make acquisitions to supplement their new business lines.
They lack internal talent in both multimedia creation and mobile gaming, so any investment there is likely to get more bang for their buck than buying Koei Tecmo would since they can just hire Koei Tecmo anyway.
I mean even if you look at Vivendi (Blizzard/Sierra), when they bought additional companies, they bought Activision because of their success in consoles (Vivendi was primarily successful on PC), and then King, who was hugely successful in mobile. They also bought the MLG to augment their eSports ambitions.
Yeah even Capcom makes more sense than KT.
Capcom would be much more expensive no?
Capcom would be much more expensive no?
Ōkami;215996697 said:I don't think Nintendo has ever acquired a fully independent game studio, like ever.
If they felt like now was a good time to start I'd bet they'd be looking for mobile developers.
They're a bit under $1.5 billion and their income is pathetic so you might not have to pay much of a premium, but they're also a go-nowhere company which is why no one is attempting to buy them.
3-5 years from now they might be under $1 billion at which point I could see someone like Mixi trying to pick them up in a play to use their cash for something.
Nintendo in particular already has Monster Hunter on their platform and there's basically no value in anything else for them, unless they're speculatively purchasing their as of yet unsuccessful mobile development arm.
They're a bit under $1.5 billion and their income is pathetic so you might not have to pay much of a premium, but they're also a go-nowhere company which is why no one is attempting to buy them.
3-5 years from now they might be under $1 billion at which point I could see someone like Mixi trying to pick them up in a play to use their cash for something.
Nintendo in particular already has Monster Hunter on their platform and there's basically no value in anything else for them, unless they're speculatively purchasing their as of yet unsuccessful mobile development arm.
... Kinda like what they just did with Momotaro Densetsu.
Nintendo co founded, them they were never fully independent.Retro was no? Or did they start out as 2nd-party?
Ōkami;215997129 said:Nintendo co founded, them they were never fully independent.
I think it's pretty obvious by now that some posters here are just port-begging. Often we've been seeing topics such as "X should've been on 3DS" and now it's "Nintendo should be buying X company (so that their games will be exclusive to Nintendo platforms)".Like... do people actually feel that's a good investment? I'm sure they could just pay Koei Tecmo $50-$100 million a year and get about that much content anyway.
Eh, there's no need to buy a company to release their amiibos. Plus, there are already many DOA and Atelier figure/figurines out there if you just want to collect them. Rorona's figure released by Megahouse a few years ago is really nice.I want DoA and Atelier amiibos =)
Nirolak has already touched upon it, but I would expect a mobile company to get them.Capcom with who?
One scenario I can actually see happening is that Nintendo buys Level-5 considering how tight they are, but also EG's rumor from last year where apparently Iwata saw Akihiro Hino as a potential successor.
That's about as big as Nintendo would go for. Bandai Namco would be WAY too big. Then again, they seemingly had their eye on Bandai and apparently even Namco on their own prior and those two were already pretty big.
They're a bit under $1.5 billion and their income is pathetic so you might not have to pay much of a premium, but they're also a go-nowhere company which is why no one is attempting to buy them.
3-5 years from now they might be under $1 billion at which point I could see someone like Mixi trying to pick them up in a play to use their cash for something.
Nintendo in particular already has Monster Hunter on their platform and there's basically no value in anything else for them, unless they're speculatively purchasing their as of yet unsuccessful mobile development arm.
It was Iguana not Acclaim and no, Nintendo just got key people out and funded a new studio, plenty of other people left due to that and they became Retro.Wasn't Retro, Acclaim? They basically bought the talent and formed a new studio.
Retro was made up of/was Iguana at one point. They did a lot of Acclaim console ports.
Ōkami;215997435 said:It was Iguana not Acclaim and no, Nintendo just got key people out and funded a new studio, plenty of other people left due to that and they became Retro.
Iguana got rebranded as Acclaim Austin, they were the studio that made Turok 3 and Evolution. Shut down in 2004
I think Level-5 will grow better at managing their franchises, YW is one of L5's biggest hits and they're likely learning on how to adapt and make a bigger market.
Level-5 is probably closer to making as many big projects as Square Enix than ever.
I don't see much benefit in that for Sony lol.
they need to increase their share in the alice in zombieland movies before the inevitable reboot
plus, sony would get such hit ips like dying horror franchise #1, dying horror franchise #9, hugely popular ip limited to a product type they're not interested in, bait for a lawyer tv show, failed fighting game #1, chronically unsuccessful platformer
but hey, maybe mega man battle network on mobile would make a billion dollars
or not
I'd argue nostalgia for Battle Network is just about ready for exploitation. They do a lot of merch for it in Japan, but the company is too cheap to do anything more.
The company I wonder most about in the next five years is Nippon Ichi. They are in for some interesting times if the Vita isn't replaced by a Sony product or they won't/can't adapt to the NX. PS4 and super late Steam versions isn't going to cut it.
The company I wonder most about in the next five years is Nippon Ichi. They are in for some interesting times if the Vita isn't replaced by a Sony product or they won't/can't adapt to the NX. PS4 and super late Steam versions isn't going to cut it.