Opening the Xbox: book question

[Migu]

First of all, I'd like to apologize if this topic is in the wrong forum (as Edge's Ask The Forum is out of order ), but I thought this was the most appropriate one...

Now to the point.

I'm currently writing a thesis on the next generation of gaming consoles (PS2, XBox, Gamecube). My question is about the book "Opening the Xbox: Inside Microsoft's Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution" by Dean Takahashi.

In this book, there is some mention of Microsoft wanting to buy out Nintendo, in order to enter the console market. To the people who own this book I'd like to ask which on which page this is (to give a correct reference in my thesis). If someone could give me an exerpt of the passage, I'd be thrilled!!

I'd hate to be making things up; so I'd be really grateful if anyone could give me the info I need...

[Ish]

Its mentioned in passing on page 187 but the real meat is on page 190 and 191:

(Rick) Thompson's office was only a few hundred yards from the headquartes of Nintendo of America in Redmond. He and Don Coyner, a former Nintendo marketer now working on the XBox, decided to call upon Minoru Arakawa, president of the unit. Thompson asked if Nintendo wanted to work with Microsoft on the XBox or if Nintendo would care to be acquired. Arakawa seemed stunned.

"I was surprised," Arakawa said later. "We didn;t need money. I thought it was a joke."

Arakawa told Thompson he needed to take the proposal to the corporate office in Japan. The two companies signed nondisclosue agreements and shared their plans with each other. Thompson visited Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto. He wanted Microsoft to buy Nintendo, which had a marker capitilization of $25 billion. It was a price that Microsoft could afford to pay if it really wanted to. With Nintendo, the P&L on the XBox would become positive very quickly. Ninetndo, usually made 50 percent or more of the games on its own consoles, so it reaped profits of $700 million a year or more. By contrast Ed Fried's plans called for Microsoft to make as little as 17 percent of the games on its console.

Some Nintendo executives seemed interested and the meetings went on through the winter. The parties met six or seven times. Microsoft wanted Nintendo to drop its GameCube console and get behind the XBox. But Hiroshi Yamauchi, the aging CEO of Nintendo, didn't like the idea. By January 2000, the talks were over.

"We said good luck and see you later," Thompson said.

Peter Main, executive vice president of Nintendo of America, sat through the meetings but saw the sides were far apart.

"Our ability to remain independent was unquestioned due to our financial status," he said. "And it became clear that our objectives and their objectives were not the same. We think Sony and Microsoft have similar strategies. But we think the $20 billion games industry is a market unto itself. The notion that the digital world is going to converge and combine markets - we have no need to share our assets across media in that respect. We believe in a single-minded focus on game content has stood us in good stead."

Hope thats useful. Good job I can type quick

[Migu]

That's exactly what I was looking for!!!

Thanks a million!!!!

You earned an honorable mention on my first page (being the thank-you-for-helping-me-out-with-my-thesis-page)! No, seriously, I really appreciate the help...

Thanks again!