1. Nintendo buyout?
2. Take-Two buyout?
3. Electronic Arts cuts people, profits

1. Nintendo buyout?

Cisco Systems announced it was launching a new home entertainment division two weeks ago. This week, News.com's Marguerite Reardon speculated that in addition to Tivo, Cisco could be looking at acquiring Nintendo.

And the firestorm began.

Really, it doesn't make sense, and an inappropriate amount of attention is being focused on the fact that the report came from "News.com" -- even though the article clearly says it's "news analysis".

Nintendo's profitable, so there's not much chance of an acquisition on this front.

2. Take-Two buyout?

Take-Two Interactive is sucking some serious wind.

The parent company of 2K Games, Global Star, Joytech North America, and Rockstar Games (the Grand Theft Auto people) is financially on the ropes, and bad decisions (a la the "Hot Coffee" GTA sex-content) may force an acquisition.

In addition to known lawsuits/investigations pending from the FTC and individuals, cities, or class action acitivites in CA, New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, a recent SEC filing indicates additional possible actions from North Carolina, Connecticut, and Delware.

Besides legal grief, Take-Two was out of control on the acquisition front last calendar year (Irrational Studios/$11.8 million, Gaia Capitol Group/$11.4 million, Visual Concepts/$32.2 million, and Firaxis Games/$26.7 million).

Add big spending plus pending lawsuits plus the GTA franchise making up roughly 34% of Take-Two's revenue, and you have a compelling acquisition target (diversified brands, IPs, and spin-off sales of companies/studios opportuniteis), and a compelling reason to get acquired -- "the new owner didn't create the problems cause d by Take-Two."

3. Electronic Arts cuts people, profits

Electronic Arts confirmed it laid off a sizeable number of its employees -- approximately 5%, or 325-350 people -- across 3 sites (unoficially, Redwood Shores, EA Tiburon, and EA Canada).

Layoffs were done "so we have the most efficient alignment for all of our strategic priorities...it doesn't have to do with any one [game]."

Today, EA announced its last quarter earnings. Typically, major layoffs are a sign of pending poor financials, and EA's net income for last quarter saw steep decline. Profits were slashed by nearly 1/3, ($375 million in Q404 to $259 million in Q405, or a drop of $116 million).

Part of the shortcoming was likely due to the December purchase of mobile-game-maker Jamdat ($680 million).