Relax. It isn’t happening any time soon… if ever at all. It’s a shame, really. There is an active gamer community who consistently asks for the two companies to cross the console barrier and work together. Over the last year I have witnessed a strong social media campaign for Banjo to appear as a guest character in Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros games and the most recent excitement came from a tweet by Microsoft Game Studios commenting on the possibility of Rare Replay appearing on the Wii U.
@GARU_SSB @NinlendoAmerica Suggest it to the great folks at @RareLtd
— Microsoft Studios (@MSStudiosBlog) December 7, 2015
For the record, that won’t be happening either but the fact remains that the desire for Microsoft and Nintendo to work together is there. Besides, it isn’t as if Microsoft is completely averse to doing business with Nintendo.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that Nintendo drop their upcoming NX console and become a third party developer for the Xbox ecosystem. However, there are plenty of ways that two companies involved in the gaming industry could help each other. Nintendo is already working on mobile games with Dena, a developer notorious for game bugs, frequent disconnects and inconsistent customer service if their forums are anything to go by. It seems to me that Nintendo’s mobile games would ge a great fit on the mobile side of Xbox Live. After all, there are already over 110 million Windows 10 devices out there and a Surface Pro 4 can easily handle games designed with iPads and Android devices in mind. If Gameloft can do it then so can Nintendo. On the flip side, Microsoft could certainly stand to introduce characters such as Ori or Joule to Nintendo players via cameos in games like Super Smash Bros. or Mario Kart.
Since the dawn of this century technology has improved at an astounding rate. We are at a point where even visionary science fiction from decades ago appears obsolete and the notion of a console ecosystem being contained to a single platform seems nonsensical. Microsoft and Nintendo can compete in the gaming industry but still work together on collaborations that make sense for both companies. That would be such a treat for gamers.
Featured image courtesy of SuperSmashBrosGMod
