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Reader Comments (42)

Posted: Mar 21st 2011 10:11PM dscuber9000 said

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Well... at least Rare isn't dead...

Posted: Mar 21st 2011 11:05PM Drakkenfyre said

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Depends on your definition of "dead".

Name still around? No, not dead.

A hollow shell of it's former self, alive only in name, and shambling around, barely producing anything, very few of anything of note. While Microsoft squeezes the reigns tighter and tighter, and delegating them to avatar work? Yes, very much dead.
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Posted: Mar 21st 2011 11:06PM Ericeman said

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@dscuber9000 And the award for saddest comment ever goes to...
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Posted: Mar 21st 2011 11:14PM False said

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@dscuber9000

Rare isn't dead. They're just called "Retro Studios" now.
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Posted: Mar 21st 2011 11:16PM The Cole Train said

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@dscuber9000 They're dead in my book.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 1:18AM tendoboy1984 said

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@False

Icwatudidthar
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 8:30AM Co said

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@False

Amen, brother.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 10:48PM tendoboy1984 said

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@Co

After the success of the Metroid Prime Trilogy and DKC Returns (one of my favorite platformers ever), what do you think Retro should tackle next? Another Nintendo franchise or their own IP?
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Posted: Mar 21st 2011 10:13PM MEMgrizzlies7 said

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Sure it was a total Mario Kart rip-off, but Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing was pretty sweet.

Posted: Mar 21st 2011 10:16PM Red Runner said

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All-SARS Racing?

I wasn't aware that the characters in that game were dealing with a chronic breathing disease. What brave fictional characters!

Posted: Mar 21st 2011 10:19PM eliteghost said

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Woah, thought that was a Mii in the background for a second.

Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 8:31AM Co said

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@eliteghost

LOL this comment wins on so many levels for so many reasons
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Posted: Mar 21st 2011 10:33PM Schlecht said

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That's nice. Now make Banjo Kazooie 3 CORRECTLY.

Posted: Mar 21st 2011 10:39PM KungFuChaosNinja said

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@Schlecht

I agree. Nuts & Bolts was a very good game, but it wasn't the Banjo that I wanted.
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Posted: Mar 21st 2011 10:38PM KungFuChaosNinja said

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Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing was better than Mario Kart Wii, IMO. It'd be cool to see a new Rare racer like Diddy Kong Racing, but now with all of Rare's beloved characters and some Microsoft characters. Of course, it wouldn't offer the same iconic mascots that a Nintendo or Sega racer can, but I'd still be down with it.

Posted: Mar 21st 2011 10:50PM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said

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Oh how the mighty have fallen...

Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 8:33AM Co said

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@Captain Planet Planeteer Power

Rare has fallen, stumbled down a staircase and broken a hip. And then http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3IQTjOMewg&feature=related
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Posted: Mar 21st 2011 11:09PM vinnycthatwhoibe said

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Time to quit failing with Microsoft and go back to Nintendo. Let's see what good titles you had going for you with Nintendo...

RC Pro-AM, Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country 1,2,3, GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Jet Force Gemini, Blast Corps, Killer Instict 1, 2, Gold, Conker's Bad Fur Day...

And for Microsoft...Perfect Dark Zero? LOL. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts? WTF Rare way to destroy two franchises and crush any potential fan's hearts. It's amazing how much you dropped the ball when you could have raked in SO much money from people who grew up playing your games.

Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 12:24AM Typhonic said

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@vinnycthatwhoibe
Kameo? Viva PiƱata? Banjo was excellent. PD got an hd update and a decent prequel... You're equivocating.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 1:15AM Drakkenfyre said

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The problem is that NO ONE from those days remain.

The Stamper brothers left before they sold out to Microsoft, and over time the rest of the studio left as well. No one that is there now worked on any of those older games. That's why they did the whole "new logo, finding our new identity" thing awhile back.

Even if they went back to Nintendo, all the talent is gone. With the art department being outsourced, and newer people being brought in before that, the company is literally Rare in name only.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 1:19AM Drakkenfyre said

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@Typhonic

The remake of Perfect Dark was done by ANOTHER company. They outsourced the port to someone else.

Rare has had maybe 4 good sellers since they were bought by Microsoft. Compared to every single one of their games going mega-huge million seller with Nintendo.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 1:20AM tendoboy1984 said

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@Typhonic

PD Zero was horrible. Nuff said.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 1:37AM Epoque said

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@Drakkenfyre You are so wrong. The Stampers left in 2007, before the final concept of Nuts & Bolts was even revealed to the public/press, they were still heading Rare well into Microsoft's acquisition. A lot of the other core staff is still there, including Males who not only designed DKC, but the original Banjo and even Nuts & Bolts. Yeah, a lot of core staff has left, but Rare is still more than capable of developing a standout game ... the problem is Microsoft, so if you're going to bitch about anyone, leave Rare out of it and focus it at MS.
---

As for returning to Nintendo, Rare didn't leave Nintendo ... Nintendo left Rare. Simply, they just didn't want them, for better or worse (really, for better ... IMO, Nuts & Bolts is the finest title and certainly their most original since their Ultimate days).
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 1:43AM Epoque said

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And by Microsoft being the problem, I mean their tight control. It's like they're afraid to give them any slack to produce games anymore. All they have to do is loosen the reigns. For a console that's lacking in exclusives this year, there's no excuse for not having a Rare game releasing.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 2:24AM Drakkenfyre said

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@Epoque

I bitched about Microsoft aquiring them since it was announced.

I also said the Stampers left BEFORE they were sold to Microsoft, which they did.

And it's hard to say Nintendo "left" them since it was Rare who agreed to be bought out by Microsoft. Microsoft, in their usual "we're going to buy you, screw forming a partnership" needed well-established studios for the new XBox, and decided to just buy Rare, and would have countered any offer Nintendo would have put forth.

See Bungie. Microsoft did the same thing to them. They needed a killer app for the XBox, so they took Bungie, which had been developing Halo as a pc and Mac title, and made them their own little pet company.

But unlike Bungie, which didn't have a vast library of existing games before then, Microsoft wasn't about to let Rare reuse the properties which made it famous in the Nintendo days, so what IP's they retained, very few of them were allowed to be reused for a new game.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 2:46AM Epoque said

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@Drakkenfyre No, actually, they didn't. The Stampers left in 2007, a full five years after Microsoft acquired Rare.

And it's not hard at all to say that, I'll say it again even: Nintendo left Rare. Nintendo didn't bother trying to secure Rare even when they knew others had been making offers for years. This was just after Nintendo had acquired Retro Studios, so it's not like they were afraid of acquisitions. They simply didn't care, and the Stampers accepted a deal to sell to Microsoft - after which Nintendo sold their shares in Rare to MS as well.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 9:42AM Jack Kevorkian said

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@Drakkenfyre you clearly dont understand the subject matter so you should really stop. Nothing in what you typed is remotely on base.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 10:52PM tendoboy1984 said

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@Epoque

Kinect Sports a made by Rare... Expect Microsoft to announce Kinect Sports 2 at E3 this year... :(

Thank God Nintendo's casual titles aren't being outsourced to Retro Studios. (inb4 "don't give them ideas!")
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 12:23AM Cafecito said

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I miss the Rare of the nineties. It almost sounds like like a legend now...

Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 1:38AM Darkspawn98 said

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The real Rare is at Retro Studios!

Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 8:34AM Co said

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@Mr Esc is the namesarcasm is my

Look, Retro is the shit and all, but i wouldn't go so far as to say Other M was destined to fail. It's a pretty good game in it's own right, just very VERY different than the Prime series.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 10:56PM tendoboy1984 said

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@Co

In a way, Other M is the true successor to the 2D Metroid games. The Prime games turned Samus into a tank, and she lost her mobility and agility. Her agility was brought back in Other M, and the combat was done well. If it wasn't for the horrible story and awful dialog, I'd call Other M my favorite in the series.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 11:24PM vinnycthatwhoibe said

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@Darkspawn98

Retro Studios definitely picked up the ball and ran with it. DKC Returns is a perfect sequel to the DKC games we grew up. It took what was successful with the early titles and implemented it CORRECTLY in a sequel.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 2:58AM shojx said

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You know,
a proper sequel to Banjo Tooie and a *wishful thinking* 3DS port of Banjo Kazooie would complete my life at the moment.

Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 8:38AM Co said

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@Mr Esc is the namesarcasm is my

"It makes you wonder what was Microsoft vision when they bought Rare at the time."

To make sure they never ever made another amazing game for a Nintendo console ever again. Beyond that, I don't think much thought was applied.

Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 10:52AM Axcalibur said

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Who remember's Conker's Bad Fur Day?
Golden-eye 64
Perfect Dark
Killer Instinct
...
I wish Rare would remember...

Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 10:59PM tendoboy1984 said

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@Axcalibur

GoldenEye was remade by Wurocom and Activision holds the James Bond license now. Eurocommunist did a pretty awesome job at reviving GoldenEye. I liked it, a lot.

Perfect Dark had a prequel for the Xbox 360 as a launch title. It was decent, but the weak plot and lame guns ruined it for me. And the AI was terribly glitchy.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 11:00PM tendoboy1984 said

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@tendoboy1984
Edit: Eurocom, not Wurocom.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 11:02PM tendoboy1984 said

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@tendoboy1984

WTF is "Eurocommunist"? Stupid iPod and it's auto-correction keyboard.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 12:33PM Red Runner said

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Is it wrong of me to say I almost wish they would make a new Battletoads game?

Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 11:26PM vinnycthatwhoibe said

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@Red Runner
I don't think Rare is capable anymore... Maybe they should let Retro Studios do it.
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Posted: Mar 22nd 2011 11:25PM vinnycthatwhoibe said

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@Co

lol well put

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