Should Nintendo buy Take Two?

Take Two Interactive, the company behind GTA, is in trouble. Microsoft was floated as a potential buyer, but today Infendo reader Gaumer asks, why not Nintendo?

Gaumer’s email to the Infendo Tip line:

I assume you have heard of the probable (and from what I have read as recently as today, inevitable) sale of take 2 interactive the great publisher/developer of games like GTA and Bully and Table Tennis. I was thinking about who might purchase this company and I wanted to get your guys’ opinion to an idea of mine and maybe an insight of what company you think will or should snatch them up.

With TakeTwo’s current situation of being bashed by gamer-hating lawyers and having their stockholders bale on them because of it despite having terrific sales I think Nintendo would be a perfect company to buy them up. Nintendo’s stock, considering what they have done with the Wii and DS, i dont think anything sort of a nuclear disaster could hurt nintendo right now. Nintendo has also fell into a stigma in the past few years (mostly of their own doing) of being the ‘kiddy game company’. Owning the license to perhaps the most mainstream adult game ever created would sure help end that problem for Nintendo.

Plus we would get all the great cameos in our Mario games and maybe even a new SSB character 🙂

My response, via the secret intertubes of the Infendo back end (gmail):

My thoughts, and my thoughts only — not all of Infendo — is if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it.

Nintendo, for all the supposed negative press out there about their kiddie image, is doing gangbusters. To take on the legal risks associated with Take Two right now would be an unnecessary risk. I’m all for taking risks, but I think we should see how more mature titles like Project HAMMER, Godfather, Sadness, and Resident Evil do on the Wii before we start talking about acquisition.

Plus, who’s to say the GTA ship hasn’t sailed? Is it going to be just another open world GTA with “new content” or is it going to be something completely innovative worthy of my additional $10? Is this pending sale going to affect game quality?

I think all Nintendo needs to do is wait and see, get Take Two to make a great game for it in the future like all the other third party guys are trying to do, and stay out of the legal mess surrounding it. It’s just the wrong type of risk for them to be taking right now.

Again, just my opinion

thanks for reading
-jack

Now, what say you?