When gaming companies play games...its fun to watch

I know this isn\'t directly PS2 related, but when news jacks up regarding gaming companies (especially the heavy 3-4 console companies), I like to catch the scoop.  Hoping others share my view, here\'s a recent blip from Forbes.com:

Forbes.com
Sega-Nintendo Deal Doesn\'t Play Well
By Amy Doan

Nobody in the gaming industry will be surprised when Sega announces a merger. The Japanese videogame company has been struggling for most of the 1990s; it has lost more than $1 billion in the past three years.

But if Sega (otc: SEGNY - news) were talking to Nintendo (otc: NTDOY - news), as reported today by The New York Times, the deal would be a shocker. In the list of potential Sega saviors, only Sony (NYSE: SNE - news) seems like a less likely candidate.

Unlike Nintendo, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) desperately needs Sega\'s arsenal of games and game developers. A traditional media company could benefit from Sega\'s graphics and online games. Sega may be playing a multibillion-dollar game of hard-to-get.

The Times reported that Nintendo has been in talks for months with Sega executives. It put a $2 billion price tag on the deal. Nintendo\'s stock fell 4% on the acquisition rumors, due to concerns that Sega\'s heavy debt would weigh it down. Nintendo is currently the second-place console maker, behind Sony, and its Gameboy line has a virtual monopoly on the handheld game market.

Sega, which has failed to overtake Nintendo and Sony in console market share, saw its shares jump nearly 11% on the news. Despite a strong Christmas due to Sony\'s PlayStation 2 production shortfall, Sega this year will report a net loss for the fourth year in a row.

Both companies have denied that they are in merger talks.

``The information reported by some overseas media that our company will buy out Sega is all wrong, and we express with 100% certainty that our company will not buy out Sega,\'\' said Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo, in a written statement.

Sega whipped out its own press release denying a possible merger: ``The report that Nintendo is in talks with Sega to buy us out is groundless and Sega flatly denies the report.\'\'

If Nintendo were interested in pairing up with Sega, its spooked shareholders have given it reason to reconsider. Sega, on the other hand, has reason to welcome the rumors. Microsoft\'s Xbox game console will ship in fall 2001, and there\'s still no hard agreement between Sega and the Redmond, Wash., software company. Microsoft shareholders won\'t be eager to take on Sega\'s losses, but Microsoft could absorb them more easily than Nintendo.

If Sega wanted Microsoft to stop dragging its feet, innuendo about a rival would certainly help.

- w1ngman

[Living-In-Clip]

This is just my opinion. If Nintendo was to buy Sega  , it would be a huge problem for Sony. Look at it like this, Nintendo would of course take advantage of the Sega franchises. Sega development teams like AM2 would keep cranking out games. Then you got the Nintendo fanbase getting their games. It would be two huge fanbases combined. That would be a big problem for Sony.

But, I don\'t see this happening. So who knows. Sega has stated interest in developing for the GBA. So these talks bewteen Nintendo and Sega could be about that. Its really anyones guess.

I myself am and will always be a loyal Nintendo supporter. It is only because of PS2 im involved with sony. Even if the big N and sega tied the knot, i\'d support my PS2.