Nintendo already has a new "Rare"... Its name is Retro. They have also worked with several Western developers in the past gen, like Monster Games, Next Level Games and Kuju Entertainment, and continue to do so. While their focus is indeed in Japan (which I personally appreciate, specially in our current gaming industry), they've always being open to collaborate with Western developers/publishers. ZombiU and Lego City Undercover (this latter one published by Nintendo) are also evidence of this (which aren't currently "saving" WiiU anyway...).

That aside, I don't see how working with Western developers guarantees more success than working with Japanese ones. You're certainly not going to buy an "AAA" multiplatform game to turn it into an exclusive, so which games/developers are we talking about here ? Furthermore, would a few Western exclusives from acclaimed developers be enough to attract a considerable audience in a market that's pretty much saturated with them ? On a platform that is less powerful, no less ? And why not just expand Retro or NST instead, or create a new developer ?

Sure, Bayonetta 2 is not "the answer", but it was never meant to be. It's a sequel to a critically acclaimed game targeted at a relatively big niche, which has little alternatives in the market. It's also an opportunity that Nintendo ceased, not something planned as part of a big strategy. The idea, I presume, is to attract fans of this niche and others like JRPGs (X and SMTxFE) to offer variety in genres (on top of Nintendo's traditional offerings) that aren't currently being the focus of Sony and Microsoft, nor even much available from 3rd parties. I think this is a better idea than trying to compete directly with Sony/Microsoft for the same audience.

Finally, I believe you're giving Rare too much credit... Nintendo's most popular home consoles didn't have them as 2nd party (NES and Wii), nor were they there much on any of their handhelds. They were important of course, but not something that kept Nintendo "on top", in my opinion.

Look Im sure the rest of your post had some good points to make but Retro are no Rare, thats in both quality and sales

Its a bit silly to compare Nintendo to Disney... but alright.

Assuming Nintendo is willing to spend their money in the bank to go on a purchasing spree, wich they clearly arent lets think about what they can do:

Buying Microsoft is not possible.
Buying Sony is not possible (too much baggage and debt).

So, the only way is to go around buying third parties. This in itself is not as easy as Disney.
Lets start with the US.
Should they buy EA? Can they? EA's only worth is the FIFA franchise. Their are doing an incredible job ruining everything else they do as usual. Bioware? There might be some worth there, but EA is running it down, like they did every other developer they bought. It wont last long.

Bethesda? Maybe, but wouldnt this only generate hate in the west for Nintendo and blocking bethesda games?
The same could be said about 2K, or Take 2.

Ubi soft? Makes a bit more sense.

Activision? They only have 2 franchises. They are a time bomb waiting to explode. Once CoD goes, Activision is finished.

So, the only market where they wouldnt be hated for aquiring other companies would be Japan.

Buy SEGA? Definitly yes. Didnt need any Disney example to say this.
Square enix? Would've been a good idea before last gen. Now? Nope.
Capcom? Not a bad choice, just like SEGA. But they are not doing so well financial wise after so many duds.
Konami? Konami is already dead. With the fading of Metal gear solid, they will be done.
Namco? Not a terrible idea.
Tecmo? Not that big.

End of the day, this will not affect Nintendo in the west in the least.

The problem with aquisitions is how they are perceived. Disney buying Lucas film... i am still to be convinced it was a good thing. Marvel, definitly is working in terms of movies though.

Final line. There is no comparison with Disney. Its a very different market. Nintendo operates on their own platforms, Disney doesnt. Disney movies are widely available on any cinema or DVD shop.
What you are trying to say here is: Nintendo goes third party and buys other developers to make themselves bigger and more relevant.

Now tell me, how has that worked out with EA? A giant that eats talent and spews out crap.

At the end of the day this is an incredibly risky strategy. I do think Nintendo should buy SEGA and have them develop more and better games.
RARE? No one cares. RARE as we knew it in the past no longer exists. Actually if Nintendo were to buy SEGA, they would have to rehire the likes of Yuji Naka and Yu suzuki once again.

Agree with seiya on all these points. Sure, Nintendo could make some different business decisions, resurrect some dusty IPs, experiment with different genres, etc. But, honestly, Disney seems like the wrong role-model. Yes, Disney has expanded in recent years, but it's done so in very predictable, conservative ways. Snatching up Marvel and LucasFilm weren't strokes of creative genius; they were calculated and safe bets. The year before the Marvel acquisition, Iron Man brought in over $300 million. And LucasFilm owns Star Wars, for goodness sake.

Plus Disney has an unfortunate history of sanitizing its products, surely something you don't want based on the OP.

Quality is subjective, but if we look at critical acclaim, all 3 Metroid Prime games are at 90+ on Metacritic, with the original one consistently appearing on best games of all time lists. Donkey Kong Country Returns is at 87, so again, a very good reception.

Sales-wise, DKC Returns is over 6m and over DKC 2 and 3. Sure, it didn't reach the 1st game, but would you call that a failure ? The Prime games are different beasts from Goldeneye/Perfect Dark, so I don't think it's fair to compare them here. An FPS game focused on exploration, without a focus on multiplayer and based on a niche IP was never going to get to Goldeneye numbers, specially when FPS games on consoles are far more common nowadays.

In any case, my point was that Retro is equivalent to Rare in the way they're positioned right now, as Nintendo's prime Western developer. Rare is not coming back, so there's no point to compare them here beyond that.

And I agree with all of yours. ^_^

Yes, Nintendo must learn to make movies about a boy who turned into a mermaid when he was 13.

I don't agree, buying isn't the answer. I know it's hard but they need to keep the money in their pockets, buying mindlessly is not the answer.

i'd say Metroid Prime and DKCR are better than PD and DKC

I do not agree with Nintendo following Disney, since Disney has many successful sources of income, merchandise, Disney Channel, theme parks, studio, etc, etc, in my opinion Nintendo's main problem is the image that gamers have given it, teen gamers see it as little kids games, younger gamers (10-13) dont want to be seen as kids so they also want to play the "cool games" you'd be surprised how many 4th 5th graders are playing COD or GTA, Nintendo has established itself as a family game maker but right now only loyalists are buying their products, these are the solutions i can think of,
Needs more games, if it wants to be relevant in Europe, it needs soccer games, sports games overall, Fifa, Tennis, NFL, NBA, Golf games even wrestling games are games that simply sell and can help fill the voids between big releases,
RPG's still the best selling genre in Japan, perhaps try to bring the pokemon franchise to the Wii U? I remember back in SNES days all of the squaresoft title and the enix ones were awesome and they pulled huge numbers,
either way, Mario, Link, and Mario Kart wont make this console a success, Nintendo needs to find help in bringin out more games.