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Chapter One - Titans Collide
I know it's a week early, but I wanted to get a jump start!
The Deal
It was a monstrous deal. On December 31, 2000 would be the day that changed gaming forever. That morning, Nintendo acquired Sega for $2 billion, in a move that shocked analysts around the globe. Sega's situation had been so desperate, they had sold themselves to their biggest rival, Nintendo. The deal came after failed talks with Microsoft, who had an amicable relationship up until that point. Sega's former chairman, Isao Okawa, had bolstered Sega with a loan nearing $500 million, though in his poor health now has forgiven Nintendo of the debts, based on various tenants of the sale. Nintendo has agreed to give Sega a prominent role in hardware development, and keep the Sega name for game development. Last year Sega had a net operating loss nearing $400 million, and it's unclear how Nintendo will utilize Sega for their current business.
One part of the deal specifies Nintendo's treatment towards the Sega Dreamcast, which it pledges to support until May of 2001. Though Sega will no longer produce titles for the Dreamcast, third parties will continue supporting the platform until the release of Nintendo's upcoming console, now called 'GameCube'. Nintendo will cease production of the Dreamcast next week, and will ship the remaining units until the end of May, at a discounted price of $79.99. The future of the SegaNet service is in the air, but the sale specifies that Sega will continue to provide SegaNet on future Nintendo consoles. The deal also specifies that the Sega teams be given priority in developing Sega properties, though Nintendo will contain creative and quality control for those products.
Nintendo is expected to reorganize their assets in the coming year, restructuring and incorporating Sega into their company, with a target date of February 1, 2001. Sega board members will not be retained but will be given vested stock options in Nintendo, or financial compensation as a part of the buyout. Sega of America will continue to operate seperate of Nintendo through the current fiscal year, ending in March, and potentially beyond that. The last game Sega will release for the Dreamcast will be Phantasy Star online, slated for release in late January 2001.
The Sega arcade division would be closed in February 2001, in order to focus on home platform development. A skeletal crew would be in charge of technical support until early 2002.
Restructuring Nintendo
As a result of the merger, Nintendo was going to consolidate and restructure all of their subsidiaries and development teams. As a result of the merge, Retro Studios was merged with Sonic Team USA to form Sega America, and WOW Entertainment was dissolved. All Nintendo software development was merged into Nintendo Software (console games), and Nintendo Handheld (handheld games). Sega AM2 and Sega Rosso were merged to form Sega Software. All Nintendo hardware development was merged to form Nintendo Hardware.
Nintendo Internal Research & Development (Nintendo)
Nintendo Hardware
Nintendo Software
Nintendo Handheld
Sega Software
Sega America
Nintendo Subsidiary Development (Owned by Nintendo)
Amusement Vision
Creatures, Inc.
Hitmaker
Nd Cube
Overworks
Smilebit
Sonic Team
NinSys
United Game Artists
Visual Concepts
Nintendo Satellite Development (Partially owned by Nintendo)
Ambrella
Camelot Software Planning
Game Freak
HAL Labratory
Intelligent Systems
Noise
Rare
Skip Ltd.
Gameboy Delayed?
When Sega engineers first got to Nintendo Hardware, they brought with them new ideas about connectivity and internet. They also brought some design principles that would be used for the new 'GameCube'. Nintendo decided to postpone the March and June launches of the Gameboy Advance until Fall 2001, in order to implement some new ideas presented by the Sega engineers. The goal was to produce a cohesive landscape for Nintendo, with connectivity between both the Gameboy Advance and the 'GameCube'. These changes will be explored in the next chapter.
It was a monstrous deal. On December 31, 2000 would be the day that changed gaming forever. That morning, Nintendo acquired Sega for $2 billion, in a move that shocked analysts around the globe. Sega's situation had been so desperate, they had sold themselves to their biggest rival, Nintendo. The deal came after failed talks with Microsoft, who had an amicable relationship up until that point. Sega's former chairman, Isao Okawa, had bolstered Sega with a loan nearing $500 million, though in his poor health now has forgiven Nintendo of the debts, based on various tenants of the sale. Nintendo has agreed to give Sega a prominent role in hardware development, and keep the Sega name for game development. Last year Sega had a net operating loss nearing $400 million, and it's unclear how Nintendo will utilize Sega for their current business.
One part of the deal specifies Nintendo's treatment towards the Sega Dreamcast, which it pledges to support until May of 2001. Though Sega will no longer produce titles for the Dreamcast, third parties will continue supporting the platform until the release of Nintendo's upcoming console, now called 'GameCube'. Nintendo will cease production of the Dreamcast next week, and will ship the remaining units until the end of May, at a discounted price of $79.99. The future of the SegaNet service is in the air, but the sale specifies that Sega will continue to provide SegaNet on future Nintendo consoles. The deal also specifies that the Sega teams be given priority in developing Sega properties, though Nintendo will contain creative and quality control for those products.
Nintendo is expected to reorganize their assets in the coming year, restructuring and incorporating Sega into their company, with a target date of February 1, 2001. Sega board members will not be retained but will be given vested stock options in Nintendo, or financial compensation as a part of the buyout. Sega of America will continue to operate seperate of Nintendo through the current fiscal year, ending in March, and potentially beyond that. The last game Sega will release for the Dreamcast will be Phantasy Star online, slated for release in late January 2001.
The Sega arcade division would be closed in February 2001, in order to focus on home platform development. A skeletal crew would be in charge of technical support until early 2002.
Restructuring Nintendo
As a result of the merger, Nintendo was going to consolidate and restructure all of their subsidiaries and development teams. As a result of the merge, Retro Studios was merged with Sonic Team USA to form Sega America, and WOW Entertainment was dissolved. All Nintendo software development was merged into Nintendo Software (console games), and Nintendo Handheld (handheld games). Sega AM2 and Sega Rosso were merged to form Sega Software. All Nintendo hardware development was merged to form Nintendo Hardware.
Nintendo Internal Research & Development (Nintendo)
Nintendo Hardware
Nintendo Software
Nintendo Handheld
Sega Software
Sega America
Nintendo Subsidiary Development (Owned by Nintendo)
Amusement Vision
Creatures, Inc.
Hitmaker
Nd Cube
Overworks
Smilebit
Sonic Team
NinSys
United Game Artists
Visual Concepts
Nintendo Satellite Development (Partially owned by Nintendo)
Ambrella
Camelot Software Planning
Game Freak
HAL Labratory
Intelligent Systems
Noise
Rare
Skip Ltd.
Gameboy Delayed?
When Sega engineers first got to Nintendo Hardware, they brought with them new ideas about connectivity and internet. They also brought some design principles that would be used for the new 'GameCube'. Nintendo decided to postpone the March and June launches of the Gameboy Advance until Fall 2001, in order to implement some new ideas presented by the Sega engineers. The goal was to produce a cohesive landscape for Nintendo, with connectivity between both the Gameboy Advance and the 'GameCube'. These changes will be explored in the next chapter.
- Suzon
- Word Count: 640