Nintendo Almost Got A Piece Of The Skylanders Cash Cow

Imagine, if you will, a world where Activision’s crazy-popular Skylanders series isn’t just populated with giants and dragons, but Marios and Zeldas and Samuses.

It almost happened, according to Fred Ford and Paul Reiche, co-founders of Skylanders developer Toys For Bob. Speaking to the gaming website Polygon as part of a larger Skylanders feature, Ford and Reiche said they met with Nintendo about partnering up for their big toy-centric action game. Nintendo was confused, and eventually decided not to commit to Skylanders

“We have no idea why,” Reiche told Polygon. “Clearly, they have got properties well suited to this world. Why it is that they didn’t rush in here will probably haunt them for the rest of their days.”

Indeed—Skylanders went on to sell a gazillion games and toys to kids (and Mike Faheys) across the globe. It was an enormous success, and even today, it’d be fun to see Nintendo mock up their own version of Toys For Bob’s hit. Pokémon Skylanders would turn the Wii U into an instant success. Just saying.