Speculation Boosts Nintendo Shares
Gates Talks. Nintendo Shares Climb.
August 05, 2004 - Yesterday, news that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates was looking into purchasing Nintendo fueled a surge of press coverage. The upswing in coverage regarding Microsoft's interest in Nintendo (which remains the game industry's strongest company) stem from an article published in the German financial magazine WirtschaftsWoche.

Earlier today, IGN Cube published a story where Nintendo public relations chief Yasuhiro Minagawa quickly dispelled rumors of any negotiations between the two companies, saying:

"Nintendo is not on sale, and there is no such talk at all,"

Still, that didn't stop a quick surge in Nintendo shares. Minagawa's response followed a sharp rise in Nintendo shares of 3.8 percent. The shares, now 12,580 yen on the Osaka Securities Exchange, outperformed a 0.46 percent gain in Japan's benchmark Nikkei average.

We'll keep you posted on all the latest buzz. Stay tuned.

Nintendo Dismisses Microsoft Advances
Says company is not for sale.
August 05, 2004 - On Wednesday the German financial magazine WirtschaftsWoche published that Microsoft head Bill Gates was interested in talking with Nintendo's former president and backer Hiroshi Yamauchi about buying Nintendo. Today Nintendo issued an official response that it is, simply, not for sale.

"Nintendo is not on sale, and there is no such talk at all," Nintendo public relations chief Yasuhiro Minagawa said.

Nintendo Co. Ltd. continues to profit from strong sales of its Game Boy Advance handheld hardware and software, as well as modest sales of its GameCube home console. The company this November will release the Nintendo DS handheld in the US, followed by a December release in Japan, according to sources. Nintendo is planning to showcase its next-generation console, codenamed Revolution, at 2005's Electronics Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

"If Hiroshi Yamauchi phones me, I will pick up at once," Gates told WirtschaftsWoche. It would appear that such a phone call will have to wait.