Edition Bloomberg released material on brand creation Xbox and preparation Microsoft to enter the console market, in which former high-level representatives of the company recalled attempts to buy gaming giants, including Nintendo, Electronic Arts and Squaresoft…
In the late nineties, Microsoft was not perceived by the general public as a gaming company and was not perceived as an entertainment company, but it really wanted to make a powerful statement in this field, especially against the backdrop of success Sony and her Playstation…
The PlayStation 2, which received breakthrough multimedia functions for its time, promised to take the main place in the living rooms of millions of people, and at the same time the PlayStation’s father called it “a real computer that will change the computer world.” This angered Microsoft, the computer giant, and decided to make the Xbox.
“We have to take a place in people’s living rooms, and if the way there is through games, let’s go down this path,” recalled Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Learn more about the origins of the Xbox.
To enter the console market, it was not enough to create a console – it needed games and game developers, and Microsoft tried to buy many well-known studios and companies in the early 2000s. For example, she paid a lot of money for the team Rare with all her IPs. The British have released many hits on Nintendo consoles.
“The first company we approached with an offer to buy was Electronic Arts. She said to us: ‘No, thanks.’ Then we went to Nintendo,” – said a former Microsoft employee Bob McBreen…
“Representatives of Nintendo just made fun of us. Just imagine that they laughed at you for an hour. That is how that meeting went,” he added Kevin Bacchus, then the head of Microsoft’s third-party development business.
“In January 2000, we invited Nintendo to our office to discuss the details of the joint venture, where we gave them all the characteristics of the Xbox. We wanted to explain to them that their consoles suck, and compared to the PlayStation it was. [подхода к Nintendo] was like: “You are much better at playing games, Mario and all this. So why don’t you let us take care of the hardware?” But nothing came of it. “
Tried to buy Microsoft and the studio Squaresoft (which eventually merged with Enix to become Square Enix). In the second half of the nineties, she released exclusive JRPGs for the PlayStation and seemed like a tasty morsel.
“We sent them a message that we were interested in buying, and then we went to Japan for a meeting. That was in November 1999. We had a lunch with the CEO of Square and Steve Ballmer. The next day we got together in their conference room and we said that now their financier will make a statement. And he said: “Square cannot go on this deal because the price is too low.” We packed our things and went home. That was all. “
Was considered as a candidate for purchase and the company Midwaywho owned the rights to Mortal kombat… She was serious about the takeover, but here Microsoft had no idea what to do with Midway’s sales and marketing team, and the deal fell through.
But there were also successful purchases. For example, Microsoft took over the studio Bungiewho was soon able to create a super popular franchise Halo…
Microsoft employees were also able to successfully negotiate with many developers to support the Xbox, including Japanese, although initially few believed in them. So the studio Team Ninja started creating exclusive games in the series Dead or alive and Ninja gaiden for Xbox.
“We made it our mission to create the best fighting game in the world, and we needed an Xbox to do that. Microsoft’s console was 4-6 times more powerful than the PlayStation 2,” recalls Dead or Alive father Tomonobu Itagaki.
Despite the fact that the Xbox seems to be a flop in terms of sales compared to the PlayStation 2, for the people who stood at its origins, it is a great success. They are delighted that they were able to convince Microsoft executives to enter the console market. The brand has been around for almost 20 years and is preparing to make another leap – this time into the cloudy world.
Read also: The story is just beginning: Yoshinori Kitase commented on the development of the sequel to Final Fantasy VII Remake…
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