Rare studio tour shows that Kinect is the centerpiece these days

by Mike Schramm on Sep 20th 2011 2:50AM

Here's the thing: The stuff you loved when you were a kid changes as you grow up. Mr. Rogers passed away after a long and full life. The Smurfs got turned into a terrible movie starring Katy Perry. And Rare, the creators of all those games you loved way back when, are really, really into Kinect Sports.

That's the lesson from this quick tour of the company's studios, where you can see lots and lots of wall-sized displays of Kinect avatars, but only two mentions of the company's storied and prosperous history with Nintendo. Goldeneye 007 and Banjo and Kazooie may sit front and center in many gamers' hearts, but at Rare HQ these days, they mostly just sit as unmarked cartridges inside a glass history case.

That's fine -- Rare is doing quite well under Microsoft's leadership, and as the article says, the company is very proud of what it's done with Kinect and Xbox Live. But that won't keep us from remembering the good old times, and all of the fun we had together way back when.

Source: IndustryGamers

Tags: banjo-and-kazooie, england, goldeneye-007, kinect, microsoft, nintendo, rare, studio, studio-tour, xbox

Reader Comments (54)

Pour one out for Killer Instinct. We miss you.

@MarkcusD

Pours a 40 for R.C Pro Am.

@Stevetrop Man of Mystery Man... I hated the cheating computer in that came if you blew up the enemy car too much.

Rare died a long time ago. Current Rare just has the name and nothing else....To think that they are still relevant as gaming devs because of "kinect sports" tells you what kind of people are working there and how delusional they are.

Here is hoping that Microsoft realizes that kinect will not last because it's just a gimmick and that they are letting some gold mine ip's going to waste.

@Jdrm03

You realize all of Rare's recent releases before Kinect Sports sold like crap, right? It's funny you talk about THEM being delusional.

@Jdrm03

As much as I'd like to hate on motion controls and such with you, because they are a gimmick, the Wii had some killer games with motion controls. MadWorld, No More Heroes and Little King's Story to name a few. Give the Kinect a chance.

@Apsac D
There is a noticeable lag between what you do and actually what happens on screen. Kinect is shoddy.

@ouenwoof I bought Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, and Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts. They were fun games.

the delusional portion is from one of their interviews. They stated they were as relevant as ever to the gaming industry because they make kinect sports.

A "Better With Kinect" sequel to Viva Piñata would be welcomed.

They have to be working on that, I can't see how they possibly couldn't be working on it, like if I was Microsoft and I had a company that have a killer core/casual IP like Viva Piñata and exexperience using Kinect that would be the first thing I would have them do

@Jdrm03
Spoken like a Kinect non-owner.

Here's a fact.. Kinect is fun. Here's another fact.. Kinect is here to stay.
Just because you don't have a use for it doesn't mean anything at all to it's current owners. I really like Kinect Sports, it's an awesome party game (along with Yoostar 2 and Dance Central) and Rare is doing just fine with it's games and talent. I don't think they are delusional, I think they have evolved with the market, and to me that's pretty damn smart.

@xreadmore You're right I am a Kinect non-owner, but I did buy one for my brother and sister in law. So I have thoroughly used it. Basically you just listed what it's good for. shovelware.

Microsoft is going down the same road as Nintendo and don't realize it. Nintendo's sales have massively dropped in the last year. What came out in the last year? That's right Kinect. Kinect is a gimmick and will garner profits in the short term but will die off like any other gimmick. Once the next "in thing" comes out Kinect will die off. It's how it works.

Hopefully it will be sooner then later because Microsoft's lack of non-kinect games this year and next year are going to effect their launch of the next box in 2013 when their loyal fans that have been gaming on the xbox brand since it first launched in 2001 are pissed because this damn casual focus and lack of any good exclusives other then halo, gears, forza, fable and pretending cod is exclusive every damn year.

A shame. While Kinect Sports is pretty well-made, they were getting on a really good track with Viva Pinata and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

Blizzard, Rare, Sierra, EA, Squaresoft, so many companies. Greed is deadly.

Rare better shape up and get me a sequel to Conker's Bad Fur Day on the 3DS. (Hell I'll settle for Vita and a port, just gimmie more of dat Conker!)

@Captaindrek1

You do realize that Rare is owned by Microsoft, so there's no way they're making a game for a Nintendo system.

@The Scout
Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge, Sabre Wulf, It's Mr. Pants, Banjo-Pilot, Diddy Kong Racing DS and Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise.

All games released on Nintendo systems after Microsoft purchased Rare.

@The Scout
After Rare became wholly-owned by Microsoft, they made:
-Donkey Kong Country (GBA port)
-Banjo-Kaooie: Grunty's Revenge (GBA)
-Sabre Wulf (GBA)
-Donkey Kong Country 2 (GBA port)
-It's Mr. Pants (GBA)
-Donkey Kong Country 3 (GBA port)
-Diddy Kong Racing DS (DS)
-Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise (DS)

If you include XBLA releases and ports of existing games, they've made 13 games for Microsoft (2 for Xbox, 11 for 360), and 8 for Nintendo while owned by Microsoft.

@The Scout

Rare made Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise for the DS. Anything is possible.

I miss Mr.Rogers. :(

Now, I've come to terms with the fact Stampers Bros Rare is gone. But why won't Microsoft use the franchises under Rare's Belts? You've got a bevy of classic names that you could use! Fighting games are making a comeback. Well, how about some Killer Instinct? What about a new Battletoads as one of those XBLA games? I'm do not have to pretend the spark is still there, but it'd be good from a marketing standpoint.

@Batzarro The worlds WOrst Detect

A lot of those franchises are tied up with the publishers owning rights to the IPs in some form.

It's more than just copyrights.

Microsoft has an ego. And if an old IP under Nintendo was made into a new game, and became a hit, they couldn't take it. That would be too embaressing to them. Microsoft doesn't work with companies. They buy them. When that little company who had the rumble patent sued all three companies, Nintendo and Sony worked it out with them. Microsoft bought them. So to take Rare out of the game with Nintendo still serves it's purpose. It removes competition. But to turn around, and after failure after failure, have a successful game that was an IP created under Nintendo, they wouldn't allow that.

In the end, it's sad that it's Rare's fault to begin with. Internally, they were tired of developing only for Nintendo. They wanted to try new systems. I can understand that. But when Microsoft came along, and thought they would deal Nintendo a crippling blow by buying Rare, Rare was all too happy at the amount of money they were waving at. So they sold out.

And now, they are stuck making stupid mini-games, without a single game selling half the copies of one of their old games, while their name is barely known with new gamers.

@Drakkenfyre

Yes, because Nintendo's current system has nothing to do with mini-games.... right?.........

This Rare would make the 90s Rare cry.

@Cafecito

This Rare would make the 80s Rare commit suicide.

@Apsac D big difference between having controls and no controls like the wii.

We shall see how the hybrid games do, but like Chickok said, there is a lot of input lag....Input lag works fine for shovelware like kinect sports. input lag does not work for games that require precise controls.

Until Kinect can give 1:1 controls, it will be a failure for anything other then shovelware and will die out like any other gimmick.

@Jdrm03

"shovelware like kinect sports"

Have you ever actually played the game? It's far from the most inspired game, but it actually works pretty well! Quit spouting hyperbole.

@ouenwoof yes i've played the game. it's shovelware. nothing else.

Rare is dead to me, and that makes me sad. :C

It isn't because of the focus on Kinect... but because they were once SO great at making character-driven games. They delivered games that were fun to play, and (for the most part) you would find the characters they created interesting.

And now to be so focused on a... character-less mini-game compilation...

C'mon now. Let's not forget Blast Corps. Took gaming around the solar system.

@Golgo13 I loved blast corps and managed to make it to outer space.

Make a sequel to Nuts and Bolts! Massively under-appreciated game that was amazing once you got over the fact it wasn't a platformer.

@bjb1990

The problem of Nuts & Bolts was Banjo and Kazooie. This game is very cool, but the IP ruined it because everyone wanted something else. Nuts & Bolts concept with new IP would be awesome. I assume it was a (bad) marketing decision

This kinect thing was a let down from start and i just cant believe that it can deliver even some parts of its promises yet this article acts like it does...

Dear joystiq members, i am awar that i can never deliver ps-move like accuracy and response but is kinect actaully any good? or are we reading just some professional journalists here?

No big loss, actually. Rare is one of the most overrated game developers ever, second only to Square, and I can't think of a single game made by them that I enjoyed (though I'll admit I never played Perfect Dark, as I don't care about FPS). The DKC series was mediocre at best and it owes its success to the popularity of pre-rendered graphics from back then. The Banjo-Kazooie series and DK64 are boring collect-a-tons that were popular because they were amongst the first 3d Platformers ever made - not because they were any good. Conker is a dull and slow-paced game, and Rare, knowing this, tried to make it noteworthy by turning it into a mature game, yet it still didn't manage to sell very well.

Downrate this comment if you agree with it.

game development studios, not game developers*

@Ericss

Why am I not surprised that someone who doesn't know what the hell they are talking about, doesn't know what they are talking about.

Conker was a cute and cuddly platformer. After showing it off twice, and being criticized both times for being "another cute platformer", they took it and made it the mature-rated game it is. They didn't change it because it was "slow and boring".

And the reason it sold poorly was because NINTENDO DIDN'T ADVERTISE IT. They were so afraid of kids seeing it, they only advertised it in one place. Playboy. They never mentioned it (never even mentioned it, let alone reviewed it) in Nintendo Power. And it had no commercials.

Considering every review I have read about it has praised it, and the most common con listed it "too short, we want more", I would be likely to say that it's you being a jackass than the game being "slow and boring".

The whole "downrate this comment if you agree with it" shows you are just being a jackass. Or rather, a troll.

@Drakkenfyre
Not only did Nintendo not advertise it, but they didn't even publish Conker's BFD; it was self-published by Rare.

And there were commercials for it, too.

Considering almost no one is left from the Nintendo days, and they changed their logo specifically to "rebirth" themselves, I don't think the lack of anything in their past being displayed prominently is a surprise.

When you go from being one of the best second-party developers in the world, to the boot-lickers of Microsoft being forced to develop avatar and Kinect stuff, I am sure the self-esteem drops pretty low, and towing the owner's line in interviews isn't unusual.

Rare /rɛər/

verb

1. To trade on past glories.
2. To be delusion about current relevancy.

I miss games like Jet Force Gemini, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Perfect Dark. Old Rare... you will be missed.

Bring back Battletoads!!!!!

There is no Old or New Rare. Every Game Studio or business has some employees come and go over the time. When you see some great games like Conker Live & Reloaded, Kameo or Viva Pinata that don't sell, it's not a problem of quality, just a problem of market. Now with Kinect, Rare has his market, and its great games sell (yes Kinect Sports is great, play party game mode, you will enjoy it more that other Xbox games with your friends at home). But yes, I agree some of you, the studio has good IPs and it's sad MS doesn't use them, but I think it's just a matter of time; I don't want to see Rare IP become Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed or Raving Rabbids, with one game every year.

"Banjo and Kazooie"? You mean that game on the Pretendo 64? you dang kids and your "game videos"

Poor Rare. I'd love to see an expose style book from an insider on how it all went wrong. Would be a great read.

reading through the posts here made me shed tears after remembering how many awesome games I've played from Rare.. RC Pro-Am, Battletoads (double dragon and snes battletoads as well), Wizards&Warriors, KI, DKCountry series, DK64, DKRacing, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Banjo K/T, JFGemini, Blast Corps, Conkers BFD.. ;_;

Rare died after the N64 Days.

Donkey Kong Country was my first ever game....I miss you Rare...Shout out to DKRacing I have some good summer memories because of that!

Its sad when a company like Microsoft holds the rights to some of my favorite ips.

Goodbye Age of empires, so long Battle toads... hello dashboard Ads.

You forgot to mention Donkey Kong Country for SNES. Loved that game.

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Rare studio tour shows that Kinect is the centerpiece these days

Reader Comments (54)

Posted: Sep 20th 2011 3:08AM MarkcusD said

Posted: Sep 20th 2011 3:49AM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

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Posted: Sep 20th 2011 3:15AM Jdrm03 said

Posted: Sep 20th 2011 3:18AM ouenwoof said

Posted: Sep 20th 2011 3:39AM Apsac D said

Posted: Sep 20th 2011 3:50AM Chichok said

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