http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/business/cisco-considering-nintendo-acquisition-151
592.php

Cisco Considering Nintendo Acquisition?

Or rather, an attempt at acquiring Nintendo? In a CNet article, both
TiVo and Nintendo are mentioned as possible targets for a Cisco
acquisition. From the article's speculation: "Another possible
acquisition candidate for Cisco is Nintendo, the No. 3 game console
maker in the U.S. A stretch? Not really. Microsoft, which is emerging
as a key competitor to Cisco in the home entertainment market, is
already in this market with the Xbox 360. Gaming has already proved to
be a strong application for broadband, so it makes sense that Cisco
would want to own a game device to help drive more traffic on its
network. With its popular GameBoy product, Nintendo would also provide
Cisco an entree into the mobile-handheld market."

So they speculate that Cisco is interested in buying, but is Nintendo
interested in selling? I'd guess "No."

________

Speculation: Cisco Targeting Nintendo?

After completing its deal for Scientific-Atlanta, Cisco Systems could
go on the acquisition hunt again, and it's possible that video game
maker Nintendo (among others) could be in the crosshairs, argues CNET
News.com.

Computer networking firm Cisco Systems, which recently announced plans
to spend $6.9 billion on cable set-top maker Scientific-Atlanta, could
be looking to acquire still more companies as it seeks to further
expand into the consumer electronics market.

A speculative piece on CNET suggests that Cisco, because of its history
of acquisitiveness, could look to purchase companies like TiVo, Sling
Media, or yes, Nintendo sometime in the near future. While an
acquisition of Nintendo might seem completely ridiculous, CNET argues
that it's not as far-fetched as it sounds.

"A stretch? Not really. Microsoft, which is emerging as a key
competitor to Cisco in the home entertainment market, is already in
this market with the Xbox 360. Gaming has already proved to be a strong
application for broadband, so it makes sense that Cisco would want to
own a game device to help drive more traffic on its network. With its
popular GameBoy product, Nintendo would also provide Cisco an entree
into the mobile-handheld market."

While CNET may be of the opinion that it's not really a stretch, we
find it highly unlikely that a Japanese corporate mainstay like
Nintendo would sell out to an American company. Nintendo would be much
more likely to align itself with another Japanese company... if it ever
felt financially pressured to put itself up for sale.

But that's exactly where this rumor falls apart, in our opinion. Last
time we checked, Nintendo had over $5 billion in cash reserves. Mario
and co. may be in third place in the U.S. when it comes to selling
consoles, but financially the company is quite healthy. There simply is
no need for them to hand over the reigns to a giant from the West like
Cisco.

http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=11723