I'm not sure the merger will really help either.
Other than Nintendo, only Sega and Capcom are really in a strong position among the remaining 6 Japanese publishers. They haven't totally found their way forward, but at least they're experimenting and have some big success stories. Konami, Namco and Square-Enix are sort of fumbling around. But Tecmo-Koei is still an afterthought compared to them.
Hudson was probably the similar small Japanese publisher, and they are a big strength for Konami now.
And other than those 6, who is there?
"[Our former customers] are unable to find software which they WANT to play."
"The way to solve this problem lies in how to communicate what kind of games [they CAN play]."
Satoru Iwata, Nintendo President. Only slightly paraphrased.
