Back in 1999, before the original Xbox, Microsoft tried to buy Nintendo. It didn’t go so well.
Now, more than two decades later, Microsoft has published a letter sent between the companies at the time, revealing plans for what might have been.
The document was sent by Xbox’s then-hardware chief Rick Thompson to Nintendo of America’s then business boss Jacqualee Story, and discusses Microsoft’s attempts to meet with Nintendo legends Hiroshi Yamauchi, then boss of the company, and Genyo Takeda, Nintendo’s hardware chief. Again, it sounds like Microsoft was having a tough time.
The letter is part of the new browser-based Xbox interactive museum, which went live yesterday. Much of the document is sadly censored by big green text, but you can work out a few phrases.
“Dear Jacqualee, I appreciate you taking the time to try to arraign a meeting with Mr. Takeda and Mr. Yamauchi to discuss a possible strategic partnership between Nintendo and Microsoft on future video game platforms,” the letter begins. “I understand Mr. Takeda’s concerns about the possible partnership and will try to [obscured] the guidelines that he has requested.”