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Oh Rare what happened? Once you’d have been described as a national treasure of gaming design, developing smash hit after smash hit. Now you’ve been reduced to releasing mediocre exclusive software for the GBA and X-box that don’t even hit the charts.
You simply cannot ignore everything this generation has thrown up from Rare. Starfox Adventures, Grabbed by the Gholies, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Donkey Kong Country (GBA), Donkey Kong Country 2 (GBA), Banjo Pilot, Banjo Kazooie: Gruntilda’s revenge, Sabrewulf and (heaven forbid) It’s Mr. Pants. Some are down right awful, others are nothing more than okay and that even applies to the ports of the already established Rare classics. Nine games since RARE was sold to Microsoft. Once upon a time nine releases by RARE could generate enough revenue to cure world hunger. Those nine releases barely broke even.
I am a mega Nintendo fan. A sad obsessed loser who can’t see beyond the mushroom filled world of Nintendo. Yet it is the “other” Nintendo fans that do the crowing over how Microsoft bought a “dead weight”, not me. For I am still a little sad. There were 4 groups who lost out on the sale of RARE. Nintendo, Microsoft, Rare and us. Nintendo because they lost their link to the western world, they lost their link to the casual gamer and they lost their largest ally. Rare because they lost their mentor, they lost the guidance of Miyamoto and his crew and the creative freedom that came with being a Nintendo second party. Microsoft cause they spent $375 million on a company that hasn’t even generated $1 million. And us because we’re rapidly losing sight of what was once Britain’s premier game developer.
So what happened? The wholesale changes of staff? Perhaps, but then this is RARE and this has been going on for years. The team famous for developing the legendary Killer Instinct and Donkey Kong Country games from the SNES were not the same team that made Goldeneye, Blast Corps, Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini and Conker on the N64. RARE expanded, lost members, gained new ones and got bigger and bigger. And every game they released was (mostly) a new classic to add to their list (Killer Instinct Gold and Mickey’s Speedway USA aside). You see RARE demand a high standard of game development. If this game development didn’t reach their high standard then they would happily take the game away for a few years and change it (Conker’s Bad Fur Day is a prime example). And more specifically Nintendo were happy to let them do it. After all they pretty much did the same.
So you cannot blame the new staff. After all RARE’s high standards are still there. Granted the Microsoft sale shake up may have damaged a few things but nothing on the level of damage that has been done. You see RARE WARE were nothing without their big Japanese friend.
They suited each other perfectly. RARE were a niche on Nintendo’s console, their beat ‘em ups, first person shooters, third person shooters and clever little titles were something Nintendo never created themselves. Add the intensely high production values Nintendo always offered and massive development periods together and you got a company that were the top of their field. Their other games, the westernised platformers and cartoony racers were equally fantastic because their parent company were the masters of both genres. Of course Diddy Kong Racing ruled, it was published by the makers of Mario Kart!
RARE without Nintendo are nothing. The biggest 3 sellers of the last 3 years have been DKC, DKC 2 (both on GBA) and Starfox Adventures. They are also the only 3 RARE developed titles published by Nintendo. But equally Nintendo without RARE are also lacking.
Football fans may be able to understand it in relation to the Steven Gerrard saga. If Gerrard (RARE) went to Chelsea (Microsoft) he would just be another member of the dream team and would shine less than he would at Liverpool (Nintendo). At Liverpool he is the fan favourite and centre of the team. RARE were the best of the Nintendo second party bunch. Camelot, Hal and even Retro had nothing on the mighty English development studio. Nintendo without RARE is like Liverpool with Gerrard. Still a quality team but lacking their star man.
Nintendo and RARE were always a match made in heaven, one without the other just is not right. Look at Nintendo now! They’re relying on exclusive third party support from Capcom, Namco (especially), Square-Enix and their second party Retro. Some are great but none of them match RARE for their homely touches. Donkey Konga, F Zero GX, Crystal Chronicles and Starfox Assault are solid efforts at games; they just lack the soul RARE titles always used to posses.
I look at RARE this Christmas and I hope. I Hope Kameo: Elements of Power, Perfect Dark Zero and even Donkey Kong Country 3 will find our beloved developer back on their feet. But Kameo has a Starfox style “let down” vibe about it. Perfect Dark Zero (like the issue with most of RARE’s current games) is too busy enjoying past glories rather than progressing into the future. And DKC3 is almost certainly going to lack that little something missing in the previous 2 titles.
Both Nintendo and RARE have their backs to the walls. No one cares for RARE on the X-box anymore and Nintendo’s beloved fanbase is, one by one, shaking its head and turning away. And if you visit their headquarters at night, you are sure to see the chief executives of both companies staring out the window… wondering what went wrong.
Dringo.
You simply cannot ignore everything this generation has thrown up from Rare. Starfox Adventures, Grabbed by the Gholies, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Donkey Kong Country (GBA), Donkey Kong Country 2 (GBA), Banjo Pilot, Banjo Kazooie: Gruntilda’s revenge, Sabrewulf and (heaven forbid) It’s Mr. Pants. Some are down right awful, others are nothing more than okay and that even applies to the ports of the already established Rare classics. Nine games since RARE was sold to Microsoft. Once upon a time nine releases by RARE could generate enough revenue to cure world hunger. Those nine releases barely broke even.
I am a mega Nintendo fan. A sad obsessed loser who can’t see beyond the mushroom filled world of Nintendo. Yet it is the “other” Nintendo fans that do the crowing over how Microsoft bought a “dead weight”, not me. For I am still a little sad. There were 4 groups who lost out on the sale of RARE. Nintendo, Microsoft, Rare and us. Nintendo because they lost their link to the western world, they lost their link to the casual gamer and they lost their largest ally. Rare because they lost their mentor, they lost the guidance of Miyamoto and his crew and the creative freedom that came with being a Nintendo second party. Microsoft cause they spent $375 million on a company that hasn’t even generated $1 million. And us because we’re rapidly losing sight of what was once Britain’s premier game developer.
So what happened? The wholesale changes of staff? Perhaps, but then this is RARE and this has been going on for years. The team famous for developing the legendary Killer Instinct and Donkey Kong Country games from the SNES were not the same team that made Goldeneye, Blast Corps, Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini and Conker on the N64. RARE expanded, lost members, gained new ones and got bigger and bigger. And every game they released was (mostly) a new classic to add to their list (Killer Instinct Gold and Mickey’s Speedway USA aside). You see RARE demand a high standard of game development. If this game development didn’t reach their high standard then they would happily take the game away for a few years and change it (Conker’s Bad Fur Day is a prime example). And more specifically Nintendo were happy to let them do it. After all they pretty much did the same.
So you cannot blame the new staff. After all RARE’s high standards are still there. Granted the Microsoft sale shake up may have damaged a few things but nothing on the level of damage that has been done. You see RARE WARE were nothing without their big Japanese friend.
They suited each other perfectly. RARE were a niche on Nintendo’s console, their beat ‘em ups, first person shooters, third person shooters and clever little titles were something Nintendo never created themselves. Add the intensely high production values Nintendo always offered and massive development periods together and you got a company that were the top of their field. Their other games, the westernised platformers and cartoony racers were equally fantastic because their parent company were the masters of both genres. Of course Diddy Kong Racing ruled, it was published by the makers of Mario Kart!
RARE without Nintendo are nothing. The biggest 3 sellers of the last 3 years have been DKC, DKC 2 (both on GBA) and Starfox Adventures. They are also the only 3 RARE developed titles published by Nintendo. But equally Nintendo without RARE are also lacking.
Football fans may be able to understand it in relation to the Steven Gerrard saga. If Gerrard (RARE) went to Chelsea (Microsoft) he would just be another member of the dream team and would shine less than he would at Liverpool (Nintendo). At Liverpool he is the fan favourite and centre of the team. RARE were the best of the Nintendo second party bunch. Camelot, Hal and even Retro had nothing on the mighty English development studio. Nintendo without RARE is like Liverpool with Gerrard. Still a quality team but lacking their star man.
Nintendo and RARE were always a match made in heaven, one without the other just is not right. Look at Nintendo now! They’re relying on exclusive third party support from Capcom, Namco (especially), Square-Enix and their second party Retro. Some are great but none of them match RARE for their homely touches. Donkey Konga, F Zero GX, Crystal Chronicles and Starfox Assault are solid efforts at games; they just lack the soul RARE titles always used to posses.
I look at RARE this Christmas and I hope. I Hope Kameo: Elements of Power, Perfect Dark Zero and even Donkey Kong Country 3 will find our beloved developer back on their feet. But Kameo has a Starfox style “let down” vibe about it. Perfect Dark Zero (like the issue with most of RARE’s current games) is too busy enjoying past glories rather than progressing into the future. And DKC3 is almost certainly going to lack that little something missing in the previous 2 titles.
Both Nintendo and RARE have their backs to the walls. No one cares for RARE on the X-box anymore and Nintendo’s beloved fanbase is, one by one, shaking its head and turning away. And if you visit their headquarters at night, you are sure to see the chief executives of both companies staring out the window… wondering what went wrong.
Dringo.
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Dringo wrote:
>
> Hedfix the new Conker is mediocre. Why do you love such boring
> games?
They're not boring it's just that you have a limited attention span.
Also you fail to grasp what's good about so many games nad as much as someone needs to sit you down nad explain to you how some games can be good: nobody's going to.
Miaow.
>
> Hedfix the new Conker is mediocre. Why do you love such boring
> games?
They're not boring it's just that you have a limited attention span.
Also you fail to grasp what's good about so many games nad as much as someone needs to sit you down nad explain to you how some games can be good: nobody's going to.
Miaow.
Starfox Adventures - one of the worst GAmecube games
Grabbed by the Gholies - RARE get even worse
Sabrewulf - Alright
Banjo Kazooie: Gruntilda's revenge - Major let down
Donkey Kong Country - Not as good as the original, a bad port. Alright.
Donkey Kong Country 2 - See above
It's Mr Pants - Officially the worst game RARE have made since Grabbed by the Gholies
Banjo Pilot - terrible
Conker - a port with an over-complex live mode and a dissapointing single player
This is how RARE have fallen. I just hope the Perfect Dark team still have it. I am still really looking forward to that game.
Grabbed by the Gholies - RARE get even worse
Sabrewulf - Alright
Banjo Kazooie: Gruntilda's revenge - Major let down
Donkey Kong Country - Not as good as the original, a bad port. Alright.
Donkey Kong Country 2 - See above
It's Mr Pants - Officially the worst game RARE have made since Grabbed by the Gholies
Banjo Pilot - terrible
Conker - a port with an over-complex live mode and a dissapointing single player
This is how RARE have fallen. I just hope the Perfect Dark team still have it. I am still really looking forward to that game.
Hedfix wrote:
> Well you can always buy rushed EA garbage instead if you like.
>
> miaow
Hedfix the new Conker is mediocre. Why do you love such boring games?
RARE have released 9 games in the past 5 years and all of them have not deserved a score over 80%.
9 RARE games, back to back... some die hard awful... others just alright...
How can you say, with 9 releases, that RARE have skipped a generation?
RARE need to turn things around and quickly.
And what's with the whole "I'm going to sound all high and mighty and say get over it"... you know I am an X-box fan... I do have one in my house... I am getting a 360.
What I can't get over is how crap RARE have become.
> Well you can always buy rushed EA garbage instead if you like.
>
> miaow
Hedfix the new Conker is mediocre. Why do you love such boring games?
RARE have released 9 games in the past 5 years and all of them have not deserved a score over 80%.
9 RARE games, back to back... some die hard awful... others just alright...
How can you say, with 9 releases, that RARE have skipped a generation?
RARE need to turn things around and quickly.
And what's with the whole "I'm going to sound all high and mighty and say get over it"... you know I am an X-box fan... I do have one in my house... I am getting a 360.
What I can't get over is how crap RARE have become.
Yes, the public will probably still be their playing Fifa 2401's and their Medal Of Honour 35's. Shows how the mainstream has such fantastic taste.
Well you can always buy rushed EA garbage instead if you like.
miaow
miaow
Im looking forward to some great games in 2009 then!
Cant wait!
Cant wait!
Stroppy teenagers!
An Amazon review from before it was finished? Amazing.
'as it now stands'
'until the finished version'
...
I OWN the finished version and spent 3 hours of my time playing the multiplayer to death last night.
"Oh 4 years! Waaah waah waaah!"
Get over it.
'as it now stands'
'until the finished version'
...
I OWN the finished version and spent 3 hours of my time playing the multiplayer to death last night.
"Oh 4 years! Waaah waah waaah!"
Get over it.
Hedfix wrote:
> Gameing drought? Yeah! So let's whine on about Rare leaving!
No-ones whining on about it - its a perfectly normal conversation!
> * Rare have basically skipped a generation whilst making a few token
> efforts - games now take more time to make.
Four years for the XBox Conker - read the Amazon review (below)! After 4 years of production, gamers could of at least expected something a little more special!
Although the controls and combat are very easy to pick up there are a number of obvious problems with the game as it now stands with characters moving extremely slowly and unresponsively. The graphics are also poorly detailed, belying their N64 origins.
It'd be foolish to disregard the game until the finished version is seen, but the fact that there seems to be more that is old than new is certainly worrying – especially when the original single player mode was very much a case of style over substance.
> Get over it.
We are - but its called reminiscing! Ever heard of it?
> Gameing drought? Yeah! So let's whine on about Rare leaving!
No-ones whining on about it - its a perfectly normal conversation!
> * Rare have basically skipped a generation whilst making a few token
> efforts - games now take more time to make.
Four years for the XBox Conker - read the Amazon review (below)! After 4 years of production, gamers could of at least expected something a little more special!
Although the controls and combat are very easy to pick up there are a number of obvious problems with the game as it now stands with characters moving extremely slowly and unresponsively. The graphics are also poorly detailed, belying their N64 origins.
It'd be foolish to disregard the game until the finished version is seen, but the fact that there seems to be more that is old than new is certainly worrying – especially when the original single player mode was very much a case of style over substance.
> Get over it.
We are - but its called reminiscing! Ever heard of it?
Fair enough.
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