2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the Xbox, and to celebrate the occasion, Bloomberg spoke with more than 20 people involved with the creation of the console. It's a fascinating read that is stuffed with interesting insight, one part of which was that Microsoft wanted to collaborate with Nintendo, and potentially even buy the Japanese company.
Former head of business development at Microsoft, Bob McBreen, said Microsoft reached out to a number of companies to discuss an acquisition many years ago, the first of which was Electronic Arts. They said "no thanks," according to McBreen. Nintendo also declined to get acquired, and the meeting apparently did not go so well.
Former Xbox executive Kevin Bachus said then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told senior staff they needed to travel to Japan to speak to Nintendo about a potential sale.
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