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[ironichaos]

What the hell is EA planning? Ubisoft may eventually get a hold of Eidos and when the timing is right, EA will come in and gobble them up?

 

[Idiot Member]

Namco and Sega SHOULD have merged.

It would have created a much stronger company in Japan, and would have put proper pressure on the industry there to continue advancing into consolidation. Instead we got Sammy and Sega.

I am hoping (or seeing more likely) for:

Square Enix + Namco

Konami + Capcom + Koei

Sammy Sega + SCEJ

Nintendo + Bandai

 

[Koshiro]

Namco and Sega SHOULD have merged.

I completely agree, trust Sega's management to stuff it up royal.

 

[john tv]

Sega Namco (or Namco Sega, or whatever) woulda ruled. Damn shame they got stuck with Sammy instead. Sammy's like the rich loser who insists on staying at the party even though nobody invited him there.

 

[Idiot Member]

I really think Square Enix would be wise to buy Namco. You're basically buying into a lot of genres after that. Racing, fighting, action, more rpgs... you get a lot of potential from those.

If Namco doesn't end up with Square Enix, I hope they at least end up with Capcom.

Konami would do well to buy Koei. They would add another key franchise to their library, and could push the series better in North America (shin sangoku musou). Not to mention that they could share a lot of elements and story ideas. If they were to get both Capcom and Koei, I think they could bring a lot of good ip back to life.

Sammy Sega and SCEJ would be a great mix to I believe. SCEJ lacks ip and development teams. It would be a good combination that would elevate SCEJ to a larger scale.

Nintendo and bandai are both creative wonders, the combination would be away for nintendo to stay in the game longer, and if forced into a 3rd party role would have ip to still stay dominant force.

 

[StrikerObi]

This is certainly some surprising news. Now two of my most hated publishers have become one.

Join me, and we can rule this galaxy as father and son!

Seriously, I used to LOVE Ubi Soft. If you could look back on the boards exactly one year ago I was all up on them. Prince of Persia: SoT and Beyond Good & Evil are two of the best games released this generation. Then all of the sudden Ubi turned from being a company that released art games to fucking shovelware this year. Granted, they always had Tom Clancy, but I could look at that like the book industry, using crap to fund art. Now it's all crap, so fuck 'em. They're better off with EA if this is the direction they want to turn their company to. We should have seen this coming with Godsmack all over the fucking place in PoP:WW.

 

[Idiot Member]

Sega Namco (or Namco Sega, or whatever) woulda ruled. Damn shame they got stuck with Sammy instead. Sammy's like the rich loser who insists on staying at the party even though nobody invited him there.

LOL, that is a great analogy.

P.S. SCEJ + Sega Sammy would bring Visual Concepts to SCEE/SCEA which I believe is needed. I really hope either SCE or Microsoft buys Sega either from Sammy or with Sammy.

 

[snapty00]

I'm sorry, but EA is just doing what other publishers SHOULD be doing. Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Konami, Namco, etc. have the money to be doing similar investments. They choose not to, and that's fine. But you can't blame EA for taking the initiative that they lack.

 

[Koshiro]

I'm sorry, but EA is just doing what other publishers SHOULD be doing. Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Konami, Namco, etc. have the money to be doing similar investments. They choose not to, and that's fine. But you can't blame EA for taking the initiative that they lack.

WTF?

Competition is a good thing. Someone needs to remind EA of this.

 

[Idiot Member]

The fact is that consolidation is a necessary evil with the growing costs of the video game industry.

Although there would be LESS competitors you would have larger competitors, and thus competition would still be very viable.

It's just up to the rest of the industry to respond accordingly.

 

[Shin Johnpv]

WTF?

Competition is a good thing. Someone needs to remind EA of this.

sega did that's why EA bought the NFL liscence they cant handle real competition

 

[Drensch]

Ea can't keep buying stuff forever, they just don't have that much money. They only have a couple of billion in cash, and you can't trade stock for everything. Me from NBA Street thread:

(estimates-currency fluctuations) Actually Ea is at 17.6 billion and valued at about 30x earnings.(Good god I've never read anything more self fellating than their corporate report) Nintendo is at 16.5 and way undervalued at 3.66x earnings. Nintendo has far more liquidity than EA and far more assets. Depending on how hard Nintendo was willing to ball they could grab a huge hunk of Ea in a hostile move.

This does further my belief that a crash is closer and closer.

 

[jett]

Ugh...someone firebomb EA already!

 

[krypt0nian]

I'm sorry, but EA is just doing what other publishers SHOULD be doing. Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Konami, Namco, etc. have the money to be doing similar investments. They choose not to, and that's fine. But you can't blame EA for taking the initiative that they lack.

Only if you enjoy paying >$50 a game once they control the market more.

 

[Kon Tiki]

Jesus.

It would be one thing if EA were to build a killer portfolio out of these franchises. Sadly it is just EA buying competition so they do not have to compete, i.e. make a quality product.

EA should start selling parts of it's graveyard. They already got the talent from the companies and the licences are sitting dormant.

 

[snapty00]

Only if you enjoy paying >$50 a game once they control the market more.

lol Like I give a shit. I blame Take Two/Sega/Visual Concepts/Microsoft/Sony for not putting up a better fight.

 

[cja]

UPDATE 3-Electronic Arts to buy almost 20 pct of Ubi Soft

"We have no control over what Ubisoft's management chooses to do with the company," said EA spokesman Jeff Brown.

EA's stake secures it access to 18.4 percent of the voting rights against 22.8 percent held by Ubi Soft's founders, the Guillemot family, Ubi Soft said.

"Electronic Arts is unlikely to stop at the 20 percent threshold. There is an industrial logic behind this move. They must be gearing up for an acquisition," one sector analyst said.

 

[COCKLES]

I feel like Londo in Babylon 5 watching the Shadow fleet flying over Centuri Prime.

 

[Acosta]

Although there would be LESS competitors you would have larger competitors

EA has been hit & miss (more miss that hit) quality wise even if they are bigger than never. Having a big comapny means a lot of power to sell your games, but it doen´t offer warranties about quality.

EA thinks too much as producer, and not as much as it should as creator. Other companies focuses much more in quality, innovation or graphic and technical advances. EA just buys what it needs in order to produce more and better, but that type of thinking doen´t lead to a better market for the gamer, just a better market for EA.

I don´t see a market of just big fishs a good thing.

By the way, some additional info:

EA has bought 19,9 of share stock and that means they have 18.4% of vote rights. The founders of the company have a 22.8% of vote rights according with Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubi Soft, and he says "we are investigating operations to defend our studios´s interests".

 

[jarrod]

Namco and Capcom have both fallen vastly in their finances, and are no longer the sizeable companies they once were. They have more resources and ip, but definitely don't have the resiliance to defend themselves from buyouts.

Namco's actually doing okay... and while both Namco and Capcom are vulnerable, neither Konami or (especially) Square Enix are really large enough to buy them out either. A merger might be possible, but I doubt Konami at least would be interested in that.

Konami themselves actually aren't doing all that well either, with the recent restructuring and some high profile bombs. I think they need to worry more about getting themselves in order before looking into more investments.

Microsoft Gaming Studios compared to Konami... lol.. you're joking right. Konami is definitely a larger game publisher than MGS and probably SCEI too.

Not in the world market, SCEI and MGS are pretty huge actually (SCEI especially, I don't know why they're always glossed over). Don't forget MGS' rather sizable PC presence either, it's hardly just Halo for them.

Square Enix has large plans for worldwide market penetration, and in past years theve been more profitable than Capcom and Namco, whose success lies mostly in distant years. Square Enix isn't going to limit themselves to RPGs.

Square Enix is actually appreciably smaller than both Capcom and Namco though, with a good chunk of their stability coming from Enix's publishing empire. Also, Capcom's losses all stem from non gaming sectors (real estate and investment) and Namco's actually been pretty profitable over the past few years. Square Enix formed in part to focus on RPGs too and grow the genre internationally... I doubt they'd really be looking to add a third "partner" to the mix so soon, especially one as diverse as Namco or Capcom.

Whether their fate is merger or buyout, I do not know. I'm simply saying that they're the most likely to have to change their business structure in some type of deal.

With the companies you suggested a buyout would be impossible. They simply don't have the resources or pull to manage it. And I'd say a merger is pretty unlikely too... Namco and Capcom don't have to look out for Square Enix or Konami, they need to fear EA and Microsoft.

 

[radioheadrule83]

EA has bought 19,9 of share stock and that means they have 18.4% of vote rights. The founders of the company have a 22.8% of vote rights according with Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubi Soft, and he says "we are investigating operations to defend our studios´s interests".

Hmm. Maybe this isn't over yet? Could be interesting to see what Ubisoft do or who they rally to protect them.

 

[radios shipping overview]

[insert image of hog at trough]

 

[theo]

 

[Idiot Member]

Namco's market capital is about 1.377 billion dollars

Capcom's market capital is about 538 million dollars.

I don't have japanese fonts for adobe on this computer so I can't say how much cash and cash equivalents either Konami or S-E has.

But I can tell you that Konami is worth 2.528 billion dollars more than both companies combined. And Square Enix is worth 3.186 billion worth more than both Konami and Capcom combined. Square Enix is MUCH larger than either company.

Unless you are talking about the number of employees or something, I don't know if i catch your drift.

You severely overrate Microsoft Game Studios. They're hardly a presence in either the console or pc markets. Being part of a division of microsoft it would be difficult if not impossible to find their actual financials though.

You overrate SCEI also. They are a somewhat large force globally, but aren't all that high ranked when it comes to individual regions. They are glossed over because people don't match their development studios with the name SCE.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

So, with every passing day, the next gen looks like it will be decided by whoever lets EA fuck them the hardest. I believe that to be true

 

[Ninja Scooter]

uhh, some of you guys are such drama queens.

 

[Azih]

Man EA is the Anti Christ, once they become the most powerful force on the planet it will be the end times.

Anybody who has bought an EA game has been marked with the sign of the BEAST!.

 

[Forsete]

Anschluss!

 

[Che]

So guys is it just me or it's others too that they want to scream because of the anger they feel? I'm currently exploding inside.

Is it wrong for me to buy FIFA 2005?

YES IT IS. Winning Eleven is ten times the game FIFA will ever be.

 

[AstroLad]

Just because EA isn't the anti-christ or some people are possibly being overly dramatic (though it seems to me like almost everyone doing so is half-joking anyway), doesn't mean this pattern of buying up companies is good for anyone who, you know, actually plans on playing games in the next decade. And if I hear that "it's legal!" bullshit again (or one of the million variations), fucking spare me, something can be both legal and bad for consumers, in case you haven't been paying attention.

Is it wrong for me to buy FIFA 2005?

:lol :lol :lol :lol
FIFA
:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
Oh...

FIFA.

Good one.

 

[Che]

Just because EA isn't the anti-christ

Can you confirm that? Link?

 

[jarrod]

Namco's market capital is about 1.377 billion dollars

Capcom's market capital is about 538 million dollars.

I don't have japanese fonts for adobe on this computer so I can't say how much cash and cash equivalents either Konami or S-E has.

But I can tell you that Konami is worth 2.528 billion dollars more than both companies combined. And Square Enix is worth 3.186 billion worth more than both Konami and Capcom combined. Square Enix is MUCH larger than either company.

Unless you are talking about the number of employees or something, I don't know if i catch your drift.

Market cap isn't an exact estimation of value or potential though. Look at Square, who negociated terms much better than their equivalent stock value for their merger into Enix. These numbers mean little so far as real world potential mergers or aquisitions, where countless issues come into play. Bottom line, I doubt there's any way Square Enix or Konami could buy out either Namco or Capcom. They simply aren't "big" enough to manage that.

I wouldn't mind a source for these numbers though...

You severely overrate Microsoft Game Studios. They're hardly a presence in either the console or pc markets. Being part of a division of microsoft it would be difficult if not impossible to find their actual financials though.

They're included in Home & Entertainment, they're actually the largest component there (with Mac Office and WebTV pretty much making up the rest). And MGS has a sizable market presence with diverse brands like Halo, Age of Empires, Crimson Skies, MechWarrior, Flight Simulator, Dungeon Siege, Perfect Dark, PGR, Vangard, Rise of Nations, Blinx, Banjo-Kazooie, Conker, Zoo Tycoon, Shadowrun, Battletoads and Fable among others. You're severly underestimating things here.

You overrate SCEI also. They are a somewhat large force globally, but aren't all that high ranked when it comes to individual regions. They are glossed over because people don't match their development studios with the name SCE.

SCEA is consistantly in the US top 5 publishers, which is something neither Square Enix or Konami can claim. Same goes for Europe and they're sizable in Japan too. Gran Turismo is a bigger brand than anything Konami or Square Enix have either.


These squabbles are besides the point though, both MGS and SCEI have the benefit of their parent companies resources if they wanted to buy out a publisher. As game divisions though they're still pretty huge, and worldwide have a much greater presence than either Square Enix or Konami.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Not Ubisoft too...

God damnit, EA needs to die.

 

[Idiot Member]

Actually I think Square got gipped in the whole deal. While they might have had less market cap, they certainly were a far more influential company in the industry. And their ip was far more successful. In the long run they would have been better off than enix.

I wouldn't mind a source for these numbers though...

You don't know where to get stock quotes?

SCEA is consistantly in the US top 5 publishers, which is something neither Square Enix or Konami can claim. Same goes for Europe and they're sizable in Japan too. Gran Turismo is a bigger brand than anything Konami or Square Enix have either.

SCEA is NOT in the top 5 in the US... EA, Nintendo, THQ, Activision, Take-Two... are almost ALWAYS bigger than SCEA among other companies when it comes to total sales. In Europe it's not even funny... one property compared to many...

These squabbles are besides the point though, both MGS and SCEI have the benefit of their parent companies resources if they wanted to buy out a publisher. As game divisions though they're still pretty huge, and worldwide have a much greater presence than either Square Enix or Konami.

Not necessarily true. It's not like going to your mom and pops and saying yo, i need this, give me money to buy it.

 

[cvxfreak]

Damn, EA is bent on world domination. The end is near. :lol

 

[Legal Step]

Up next partnering with a Japanese publisher...hoo ah!

 

[monkeyrun]

Not necessarily true. It's not like going to your mom and pops and saying yo, i need this, give me money to buy it.

actually yes it is .... just look at xBox, MS will buy anything it wants, but someone will get fired if it doesn't work out.

 

[JayFro]

This is bad.............very bad.

 

[DarienA]

Hello GAF! I like to be an idiot!
Will be purged sooner or later
(Today, 01:52 PM)

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

EDIT:

EA doesn't make very good games, doesn't make innovative games, they're happy producing boring sequels.

You're kidding yourself here. EA releases alot of titles across a multitude of genre's...some good, some bad. The REAL problem with EA right now is achieving a consistent quality level. The quality of the teams at various studios across the EA is not even CLOSE to being on parity... so you'll find some studios that always put out quality titles and other's that don't.

That's what EA really needs to focus on... internal quality f'n control.

 

[kard]

To recitfy those problems. They've depended on shoveling mediocre games at unsuspecting consumers for years and that's how they rose to the top. THe consumers are much more educated now. They read reviews, they check online, and the gamers are getting older overall. EA Sports found that out that the hard way when ESPN games got better reviews and better sales. What do they do, they go out and sign exclusive licenses to lock ESPN out of the NFL game. Their Medal of Honor franchise has taken a hit with subpar releases lately, so they're looking at Ubisoft to shore out the war genre.

EA doesn't make very good games, doesn't make innovative games, they're happy producing boring sequels. This year, they found out other companies made the best games and they've been exposed. They know they can't compete on creativity and originality, so they're going to buy out those who can give them that edge. They're going to monopolize the market, they can care less about putting out good games, they're interested in getting bigger and richer.

 

[jarrod]

Actually I think Square got gipped in the whole deal. While they might have had less market cap, they certainly were a far more influential company in the industry. And their ip was far more successful. In the long run they would have been better off than enix.

Square had the benefit of worldwide brand recognition essentially... which is something both Namco and Capcom hold over Square Enix today.

You don't know where to get stock quotes?

Can you source them or not?

SCEA is NOT in the top 5 in the US... EA, Nintendo, THQ, Activision, Take-Two... are almost ALWAYS bigger than SCEA among other companies when it comes to total sales. In Europe it's not even funny... one property compared to many...

SCEA often comes up to top 5, especially around the holidays. And SCEI has tons of successful brands besides GT (Minna Golf, SOCOM, Jak, R&C, ATV Offroad Fury, The Getaway, WipEout, WRC, EyeToy, Twisted Metal, Dark Cloud, WildARMs, Ape Escape, etc).

Not necessarily true. It's not like going to your mom and pops and saying yo, i need this, give me money to buy it.

That's likely the worst comparison I've heard on these boards, beside the fact it's highly inaccurate. Microsoft Corp is pushing Xbox to protect their Wintel empire, and they've already sunk billions into it. PlayStation is the darling of Sony Corp these days, and SCEI/Kutaragi are essentially steering the entire company. Try again.

 

[Gribbix]

They'll probably go after Eidos next. A few month ago Eidos put itself up for sale and both EA and Ubi put bids in. Nothing really came of it at the time, but I think there is a good chance of them buying Eidos. It would also explain why they let Eidos buy Io Interactive (I believe Freedom Fighters did pretty well for EA, does anyone have numbers?). They'd also get access to a number of properties, most importantly Tomb Raider.

 

[MASB]

At the rate EA is going, why do I get visions of Ken Kutaragi and Bill Gates, etc. coming to Redwood to kiss Riccatello and Co.'s feet to ensure support.

And Nintendo.... start buying some third parties! Buy Bandai, Capcom, etc. You've got to start buyting before there's nothing left to snatch up!

I mean, look at Capcom! Yamauchi could buy that company with just the loose change he finds in his couch!

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

And everyone predicting a crash doesn't remember what caused the original crash in the first place.

Companies are stupid enough to produce more copies of a shitty game than they have consoles in the market.

would this count?

 

[radioheadrule83]

They'll probably go after Eidos next. A few month ago Eidos put itself up for sale and both EA and Ubi put bids in. Nothing really came of it at the time, but I think there is a good chance of them buying Eidos. It would also explain why they let Eidos buy Io Interactive (I believe Freedom Fighters did pretty well for EA, does anyone have numbers?). They'd also get access to a number of properties, most importantly Tomb Raider.

EIDOS are gonna go this coming gen or next... which is ok by me, they suck. After Acclame they'd be the next to wish it on. Tomb Raider can still be saved.

 

[Mr_Furious]

Ah, the joys of being a public company. Corporate America is ruthless.

 

[Idiot Member]

Square had the benefit of worldwide brand recognition essentially... which is something both Namco and Capcom hold over Square Enix today.



Can you source them or not?



SCEA often comes up to top 5, especially around the holidays. And SCEI has tons of successful brands besides GT (Minna Golf, SOCOM, Jak, R&C, ATV Offroad Fury, The Getaway, WipEout, WRC, EyeToy, Twisted Metal, Dark Cloud, WildARMs, Ape Escape, etc).



That's likely the worst comparison I've heard on these boards, beside the fact it's highly inaccurate. Microsoft Corp is pushing Xbox to protect their Wintel empire, and they've already sunk billions into it. PlayStation is the darling of Sony Corp these days, and SCEI/Kutaragi are essentially steering the entire company. Try again.

Sorry to tell you this but Square Enix has been far more successful than Capcom and Namco in the last two years when it comes to worldwide sales.

If you want stock quotes try msn.com... really I thought you would at the very least have the resourcefulness of a little kid.

Both Jak and Ratchet have fallen tremendously in sales. As has wipeout. Never knew WRC to be that great of a seller. Did you see dark cloud 2 sales? Wild Arms... you're kidding right?

For all the money that Microsoft has put into the xbox... beyond Halo and perhaps PGR... where are your high selling games...

SCE is hardly running Sony Corp...

 

[SantaC]

:lol I admire the mods on this board.

 

[Ferrarisimo]

At the rate EA is going, why do I get visions of Ken Kutaragi and Bill Gates, etc. coming to Redwood to kiss Riccatello and Co.'s feet to ensure support.

John Riccitiello left EA nearly a year ago.

 

[jedimike]

EA doesn't make very good games, doesn't make innovative games, they're happy producing boring sequels. This year, they found out other companies made the best games and they've been exposed. They know they can't compete on creativity and originality, so they're going to buy out those who can give them that edge. They're going to monopolize the market, they can care less about putting out good games, they're interested in getting bigger and richer.

Let's be a little partial... EA does make a lot of good games (SSX, Bond series prior to Goldeneye2, and Need for Speed) and at least a couple great ones (Madden and Burnout 3). The problem with EA is that the rely too much on licensed material like Harry Potter, James Bond, and LotR. However, I think EA does make the best possible games out of the licenses.