A recent CNET article looks at blogger responses to whether an Apple-Nintendo relationship would be a good one. Speculation has been running rampant online that such a relationship could be imminent as both companies pursue a similar style and as Apple looks to beef up its gaming department.
While only featuring three samplings from the blogosphere, the article contends that the two companies have such well defined and unique cultures, that finding synergy would be nearly impossible.
For example, techNTalk contends that Apple would want a level of control that Nintendo would not allow.
InsanelyGreatMac points out that Apple has a history of doing everything in-house and maintaining a high level of control over product development including such standards as uniformity and simplicity across its product line.
Jon Choo, on the other hand, sees things from a Nintendo angle: Nintendo’s success depends on its autonomy and creative independence.
Each of these points is somewhat valid…but only somewhat.
Surely, Apple has independent divisions whose synergy is only on the periphery. I fail to see why Nintendo couldn’t be one of those large, independent, in-house divisions that has free creative reign and whose only restriction is to tie its product line in with Apple’s. Macs and iPods are independent and self-sufficient systems, with a simple, unforced and elegant synergy. I’m willing to bet that the iPod division isn’t tightly restrained by the Mac division, and vice versa.
My point here is that Nintendo’s creative autonomy could be preserved in a Nintendo-Apple merger, while enhancing both companies overall reach. Apple would provide Nintendo with the highest order marketing capacity. Nintendo systems could be marketed through iPod and vice versa. Nintendo would receive slick ad campaigns. Apple would receive its gaming division, on the grandest scale. Nintendo fanboys would become Mac fanboys. Mac fanboys would become Nintendo fanboys.
In my view, the benefits of a merger so far outweigh the negatives, that I’ve gotta suspect the skeptics of such a merger to be instinctive contrarians at the deepest level.