If MS Really wants to win this generation...

[Inane_Dork]

Am I missing something or Microsoft already made their move?

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=58052

Or am I completely off topic here.
I don't follow comsoles that much...

That's not an aquisition. That's a partnership.

And it probably happened before Gates gave the mandate.

 

[Spidermate]

Just a few things to point out. SEGA killed the DC (it's simple math DC + no support + warry fanbase = XP [dead face]), 989 killed theirself, and MS euthanized their sports devision of their own volition. The only thing EA has managed to kill in recent years is competition.

That said, being on topic here. EA is a huge, utterly massive corporation. I think their worth has been valued at over 19 billion dollars US. That would be a huge investment even for MS to make. MS would likely pay more than that to acquire EA, too. The sale be would catering directly to the share holders who already have a lucrative interrest in EA as it stands now, so the only reason for them to actually sell would be a larger piece of change. Once MS has this 20+ billion dollar corp in its grasp you still have to realize that only about eight or nine billion dollars comes in from the ENTIRE console market each year. Even if MS were the only player in that arena it would still take them years to pay off the acquisition (unless they siphon money from other devisions of MS). It doesn't seem a prudent investment. A more fortuitous acquisition would indeed be one of the larger or more talented development houses, such as Capcom, Square-Enix, Mistwalker (know they're new, but that's damn tempting, and a very smart move), or Ubisoft. The point there is there are far better choices for acquisition than EA. It'd be a large investment for very little gain. As much as American Football is intergral to the American market, that and baseball games are all EA are actually GOOD at, and they'd be of no use in other territories.


That's just my take on it. I'm sure there are better. It just makes more sense to go with with a more talented, cheaper, smaller developer than to go for broke for one genre from a massive company.


Later


Scar

If Microsoft is serious about investing in another development company, chances are, it'll be a Japanease one. You forget, this is where they are hurting the most. Every time one of them are interviewed, they talk about making games that'll appeal to everyone. So while many still refuse to give them a try, by purchasing one of them, they will open that door a lot quicker. I'm eyeing Tecmo at the moment. But I could be wrong, though, and it just be a smaller Japanease company. Whatever the case, the odds of them refusing such a purchase is very low.

 

[Kesler]

20 Bil is a lot of money, even to MS

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=pub&aid=3564

 

[fulcizombie]

Actually MS can buy EA and no 20 billion isn't an ammount that MS doesn't have the ability to spend.It is not going to happen,though.

If MS is serious about next gen,the first move they should make is secure GTA as an xbox2 exclusive.Coupled with a buy-out(or a special agreement) with a major Japanese publisher(like Konami or Capcom) would be a really big coup for MS.

I doubt any of this will happen though.Due to MS' financial strength ,everybody is assuming that something big is always on the line for MS' console and then Sony actually makes the smart deals.

It seems to me(with the announcement of Japanese support from small studios) that MS will be second best to Sony,once again.You will see a game by"FF creator" on xbox2 while the TRUE next gen FF will be on ps3 and regardless of the actual quality of the games,the ps3 will always have the advantage from the casual gamer's standpoint.

 

[London Geezer]

Actually MS can buy EA and no 20 billion isn't an ammount that MS doesn't have the ability to spend.It is not going to happen,though.

If MS is serious about next gen,the first move they should make is secure GTA as an xbox2 exclusive.Coupled with a buy-out(or a special agreement) with a major Japanese publisher(like Konami or Capcom) would be a really big coup for MS.

I doubt any of this will happen though.Due to MS' financial strength ,everybody is assuming that something big is always on the line for MS' console and then Sony actually makes the smart deals.

It seems to me(with the announcement of Japanese support from small studios) that MS will be second best to Sony,once again.You will see a game by"FF creator" on xbox2 while the TRUE next gen FF will be on ps3 and regardless of the actual quality of the games,the ps3 will always have the advantage from the casual gamer's standpoint.

Nonono. MS will never ever ever spend 20B of their money like that. They might have it, but they cannot spend it like that. Many companies have more than 20B, but not one of them will just spend it like that, unless it's a merger. But i'd dread to see MicrotronicArts. :?

 

[AlNom]

"Games, it's good to play together at a higher level."

ugh.

 

[bbot]

Remember sometime back archie4oz (or someone) said Microsoft could have acquired Square for $1.8 billion. They should have. Just look at what happened to Nintendo when Square jumped ship. If they want to succeed in Japan they need SquareEnix aboard.

 

[aaronspink]

Nonono. MS will never ever ever spend 20B of their money like that. They might have it, but they cannot spend it like that. Many companies have more than 20B, but not one of them will just spend it like that, unless it's a merger. But i'd dread to see MicrotronicArts. :?

Very Very few companies have 20B in cash.

GE has 15B in Cash but a 370B debt.
GM has 57B in Cach but a 301B debt. GM is btw a better buy right now than GE.
Ford has 23B in Cash but a 170B debt
Citigroup has 23B in Cash and a 450B debt.
DaimlerChrysler has 15B in Cash and 100B debt.
Dell has 10B and 0B debt.
HP has 13B and 7B debt.
IBM has 10B and 23B debt.
Intel has 17B and 1B debt.
Sony has 10B and 12B debt.

Microsoft has 34B, no debt, already gave away 20+ Billion this year and makes over 10B in profit per year.

So a brief survey of some of the worlds biggest companies shows that very very few have over 20B and those that do tend to also have extremely heavy debt loads.

If Bill thought there was advantage in owning EA and the lawyers thought it would be allowed (unlikely) then they could do it without batting an eyelash.

Aaron Spink
speaking for myself inc.

 

[Titanio]

There's a little rumour going around that MS has, in some form or another (be it timed or otherwise), secured GTA as a Xenon exclusive. This was "suggested" by someone who's supposedly reliable on the gaming age forum, and a second "reliable" member seemed to corroborate. It absolutely makes sense that MS would aggresively persue that - I'm sure Rockstar would only agree to a timed exclusive, but I'd say it would go to the highest bidder - it would be no surprise if that was MS.

I'd liked to see it developed on, and specifically for, the most powerful hardware, whatever that is. Though I'm sure they'll probably take the more reliable middleware road :?

 

[jvd]

Eh i think ea wouldn't be worth it .

They need to buy smaller companys . You can get smaller companys much cheaper and aftre awhile you will most likely have a stable of developers almost as big as ea for a much lower price .

 

[rabidrabbit]

If (when) MS comes first with xbox2, there'll sure be many "timed exclusives" which in reality are basically just your multiplatform titles. Especially if PS3 launches 6 months later, it'll give many titles that "6 month timed exclusive" period even without any signing of such agreements

 

[wazoo]

Also Pro Evolution has become the best selling Football title worldwide now ahead of the FIFA games.

No, I do not think it is true. You are underestimating the grip of EA on the casual market. Fifa sells 3M copies each year, whereas PES is in the 1-2M range.

It took people a little while to see past the extra content of the FIFA games to the sheer quality of gameplay in PES, but it happened. And it happened because EA got lazy.

You mismatch forums reaction with the casual market reality.

 

[Pozer]

There's a little rumour going around that MS has, in some form or another (be it timed or otherwise), secured GTA as a Xenon exclusive. This was "suggested" by someone who's supposedly reliable on the gaming age forum, and a second "reliable" member seemed to corroborate. It absolutely makes sense that MS would aggresively persue that - I'm sure Rockstar would only agree to a timed exclusive, but I'd say it would go to the highest bidder - it would be no surprise if that was MS.

This would be good for Xenon but won'tt guarantee anything. I personally can't wait to play a nextgen GTA game. Each Gen (with some exceptions) has saw the rise of new franchises that weren't possible the generation before. Wonder where the next GTA3 phenomenon will come from.

I'd liked to see it developed on, and specifically for, the most powerful hardware, whatever that is. Though I'm sure they'll probably take the more reliable middleware road :?

Alot of xbox1 owners agree with that statement Funny how nextgen ps3 and X2 fanboys are gonna reverse their credos

 

[Shifty Geezer]

GE has 15B in Cash but a 370B debt.
GM has 57B in Cach but a 301B debt. GM is btw a better buy right now than GE.
Ford has 23B in Cash but a 170B debt
Citigroup has 23B in Cash and a 450B debt.
DaimlerChrysler has 15B in Cash and 100B debt.

How the bloody hell are these companies surviving then?!?! What idiot would lend a company money when it's so far in debt it'll take a million years to recover?!?! Or is it a case of "we can't afford them to go bankrupt so better shovel them some more cash in the hopes they find a way to make more profit"?

 

[Carl B]

GE has 15B in Cash but a 370B debt.
GM has 57B in Cach but a 301B debt. GM is btw a better buy right now than GE.
Ford has 23B in Cash but a 170B debt
Citigroup has 23B in Cash and a 450B debt.
DaimlerChrysler has 15B in Cash and 100B debt.

How the bloody hell are these companies surviving then?!?! What idiot would lend a company money when it's so far in debt it'll take a million years to recover?!?! Or is it a case of "we can't afford them to go bankrupt so better shovel them some more cash in the hopes they find a way to make more profit"?

Hmmm.... I think some people are confused about debt. That's like saying, how does the US government survive? (and that's a different topic, so let's not go to global economies...) 8)

Here's what the above means.

Those are all profitable companies with long-term debt. The way the debt effects them, is that they have to service, or pay interest, on their debt. So all of those companies above are doing quite fine with that debt - basically, they make more than they spend, even after paying interest on their bonds, loans, etc...

 

[wco81]

Well if GTA became a Xenon exclusive, it would have to be online right?

What happens to multiplatform games which aren't online? Is MS going to say you can't port to Xenon if it isn't XBL compatible?

What if EA decided they want to renegotiate for XBL support on Xenon? Is MS going to say no EA games for Xenon without online play?

 

[AlNom]

What happens to games which aren't online?

Live Aware doesn't mean the game has to have a multiplayer component.

It should be trivial (by comparison) to leave the game open to online stats or content download.

edit: changed quote to more general question.

 

[BlackAngus]

Nonono. MS will never ever ever spend 20B of their money like that. They might have it, but they cannot spend it like that. Many companies have more than 20B, but not one of them will just spend it like that, unless it's a merger. But i'd dread to see MicrotronicArts. :?

Very Very few companies have 20B in cash.

GE has 15B in Cash but a 370B debt.
GM has 57B in Cach but a 301B debt. GM is btw a better buy right now than GE.
Ford has 23B in Cash but a 170B debt
Citigroup has 23B in Cash and a 450B debt.
DaimlerChrysler has 15B in Cash and 100B debt.
Dell has 10B and 0B debt.
HP has 13B and 7B debt.
IBM has 10B and 23B debt.
Intel has 17B and 1B debt.
Sony has 10B and 12B debt.

Microsoft has 34B, no debt, already gave away 20+ Billion this year and makes over 10B in profit per year.

So a brief survey of some of the worlds biggest companies shows that very very few have over 20B and those that do tend to also have extremely heavy debt loads.

If Bill thought there was advantage in owning EA and the lawyers thought it would be allowed (unlikely) then they could do it without batting an eyelash.

Aaron Spink
speaking for myself inc.

Hmm just looking at those numbers... If MS wants to win... they should just buy Sony. =)

 

[blakjedi]

[Sony has 10B and 12B debt.

Hmm just looking at those numbers... If MS wants to win... they should just buy Sony. =)

Thats not value its cash to debt ratio... Now financially MS IS in a better cash and overall financial position than Sony, but in buying Sony, MS would pick up all their debt, have to assimilate cultures, manage product lines, engineers, a movie studio... such headache... No way would I buy a company like Sony if I weren't already in that line of business... now NEC or Matsushita could buy SONY as they are larger, wealthier consumer product companies and it would probably also give them an image boost...

 

[London Geezer]

Nonono. MS will never ever ever spend 20B of their money like that. They might have it, but they cannot spend it like that. Many companies have more than 20B, but not one of them will just spend it like that, unless it's a merger. But i'd dread to see MicrotronicArts. :?

Very Very few companies have 20B in cash.

GE has 15B in Cash but a 370B debt.
GM has 57B in Cach but a 301B debt. GM is btw a better buy right now than GE.
Ford has 23B in Cash but a 170B debt
Citigroup has 23B in Cash and a 450B debt.
DaimlerChrysler has 15B in Cash and 100B debt.
Dell has 10B and 0B debt.
HP has 13B and 7B debt.
IBM has 10B and 23B debt.
Intel has 17B and 1B debt.
Sony has 10B and 12B debt.

Microsoft has 34B, no debt, already gave away 20+ Billion this year and makes over 10B in profit per year.

So a brief survey of some of the worlds biggest companies shows that very very few have over 20B and those that do tend to also have extremely heavy debt loads.

If Bill thought there was advantage in owning EA and the lawyers thought it would be allowed (unlikely) then they could do it without batting an eyelash.

Aaron Spink
speaking for myself inc.

OK OK so it's not many. A few companies have 20B in the bank.