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"The Rare Question"

There comes a time in a man's life when he asks himself, What am I writing another topic on Rare for? Well the answer is this: I've got a completely different view to most people here about the videogames company Rareware. Most gamers, no matter what platforms they own, appreciate that Rare have developed some of the best games in videogaming history, Goldeneye 007 for one. To the delight of many X-box gamers, it looks like Microsoft have bought out Nintendo's share of Rareware, and I whole-heardily say, good for them!

Think about it. What has happened to Rareware over the years? Well after Goldeneye 007, (Dr)Doak and some of the other main coders left Rareware to work on games such as Timesplitters. Rare have also found themselves with a limited budget for staff, meaning that they couldn't make many games at once, reducing the number produced over the years resulting in only a few games for the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color. Admittedly, the few that were released were some of the best, such as the highly acclaimed Perfect Dark and the cutsey but challenging Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie games, but Rareware could have done a lot more for the Nintendo 64 if the money was available.

Over the last couple of years, Rareware announced many a new game for Nintendo systems. For the GameCube there was Klameo: Elements of Power, Starfox Adventures and Donkey Kong Racing, plus talk of Perfect Dark 2. And for the Game Boy Advance there was Donkey Kong: Coconut Crackers, Banjo Kazooie and Sabre Wulf. So far, none of them have been released, and most of them cancelled. Despite the Microsoft take-over rumour, which Special Reserve claims to be very likely, Rareware will (hopefully) still be releasing Starfox Adventures sometime before Christmas, but it is highly likely that this will be Rarewares first and last GameCube release. Ofcourse, Nintendo are the franchise owners of Starfox, so the game is bound to have the go ahead for a UK release anyway, but it will still become one of the most famous games of the early 21st Century as it will be marking a turning point in Rareware and Nintendo's company histories.

So what will happen to our favourite Rareware titles if Microsoft have bought out Rare? Well if you're a Donkey Kong or a Starfox fan, nothing will happen other than Nintendo will be making future games themselves or employ a second or third party to develop these franchises into more titles. If, however, you wanted a sequel to Rare's Perfect Dark, and Banjo Tooie, you'll more than likely have to purchase an X-box to play these games. Ofcourse, that's a bit of a kick in the nuts for Nintendo as these were some of the Nintendo 64's top selling games - but that's what you get for selling your shares in a company. It is also a kick in the nuts for some X-box fans who claim that games such as Banjo Kazooie are kiddy games. Maybe this will change their minds, maybe not, but in reality we know that the X-box fans are going to benefit from the Rareware buyout.

But why am I supporting the take-over by Microsoft? Well why not? After all, despite Rareware's brilliant games, I have been disappointed with the wait I've experienced for games such as Starfox Adventures, which I am still looking forward to, and for games such as Sabre Wulf and Banjo Kazooie: Gruntilda's Revenge on the Nintendo handheld. I was also disappointed to see Rareware cancel their stunningly beautiful racer Donkey Kong. So I'm starting to get sick of the company. I know it may not be Rareware who are to blame for delays and cancellations, and Nintendo may have even played their part in the whole thing, but it's Rareware who get the immediate blame as it's them who's name is on the box. It's not like Nintendo can't survive without Rareware anymore. The GameCube already has a stunning array of games on the shelves at the moment, many third party, which is something Nintendo seemed to lack with their 64-bit machine. Maybe it would be nice to see the under-dog (microsoft) have a bit more support. The X-box isn't too popular at the moment, and Rareware could be the beneficiary factor that 'saves' them from a plummet to Dreamcast status. Ofcourse, being a product of Microsoft, the X-box couldn't get that bad having almost an endless supply of money behind it, and the possibility to earn much more back, ofcourse the X-box wont need 'saving'. It just needs a popularity boost at the moment.

So I'll have to fork out on another £160 to play some new Rareware games in the future? So? It's not like the X-box is full price anymore, and there are bound to be sales and deals available for me to be able to afford a better package. I have been thinking about purchasing an X-box for a couple months already and a sequel to Perfect Dark might just convince me. I didn't buy the Gamecube for Rareware though. I bought the GameCube because I like Nintendo's games. I bought the GameCube because Nintendo have always kept me happy with their hardware and their software. Sure, most of their games may look like they have been designed with young kids in mind, and that's kind of true, but I still find the games both entertaining and challenging and that is why I purchased the GameCube. It would be the same reason for me purchasing an X-box in the future - the games. If there are a few more games that catch my eye that I haven't already got on another system, then maybe I will buy one. Rareware, possibly being exclusive to Microsoft (other than the Game Boy Advance - which isn't a threat to Microsoft - yet) will be the deciding factor.

So all this fuss about the Rare question. It's a good thing really. It'll mean more games from Rare and will boost the X-box's sales (there's no doubt about that). I mean, what have Rare done for Nintendo? Not much for the last two years I'll tell you that. What do you think about the Rare question?

Rare was the closest we had to a decent and loyal western game company on the N64, now we have hundreds of them including second parties Retro and Silicon Knights we don't really need them anymore. Kameo is still due for the cube.

Starfox will be released Novemeber 22nd.

Rare is most likely making it all up in order to gain publicity.

Rare never have the same staff year by year, most make a game and leave.

Free Radical Design now make the best First Person Shooters.

Nintendo always did make the best Adventure and Platform games.

Retro Studios are just as good as Rare if not better.

Rare are messing us about and it is really annoying me.

I've never been too fond of Rareware as a whole. Sure, I liked Banjo Kazooie and the humour in Conker's Bad Fur Day, as well as their two FPSs, but most other games by Rareware haven't interested me in the whole.

They're a brilliant bunch of developers, but they've produced nothing in the last two years.

Anyway, I've not said I hate them anyway.

One thing that i do hate is Nintendo fans suddenly changing their opinion to Rare from "Rare rocks" to "Rare sucks, they never made any good games anyway, Microsoft can have them"

I think that Rare has gone to asss. Look at their last few games. Banjo Tooie wasn't the leap we wanted, and DK64 was no more than a collection fest. StarFox looks distinctly average, and its the only thing they've been working on for ages. With most of the decent Rare guys at Free Radical or Zoonami, its become less about having Rare's games, and more about having Rare as a brand, and as something that used to be Nintendo's.

There comes a time in a man's life when he asks himself, What am I writing another topic on Rare for? Well the answer is this: I've got a completely different view to most people here about the videogames company Rareware. Most gamers, no matter what platforms they own, appreciate that Rare have developed some of the best games in videogaming history, Goldeneye 007 for one. To the delight of many X-box gamers, it looks like Microsoft have bought out Nintendo's share of Rareware, and I whole-heardily say, good for them!

Think about it. What has happened to Rareware over the years? Well after Goldeneye 007, (Dr)Doak and some of the other main coders left Rareware to work on games such as Timesplitters. Rare have also found themselves with a limited budget for staff, meaning that they couldn't make many games at once, reducing the number produced over the years resulting in only a few games for the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color. Admittedly, the few that were released were some of the best, such as the highly acclaimed Perfect Dark and the cutsey but challenging Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie games, but Rareware could have done a lot more for the Nintendo 64 if the money was available.

Over the last couple of years, Rareware announced many a new game for Nintendo systems. For the GameCube there was Klameo: Elements of Power, Starfox Adventures and Donkey Kong Racing, plus talk of Perfect Dark 2. And for the Game Boy Advance there was Donkey Kong: Coconut Crackers, Banjo Kazooie and Sabre Wulf. So far, none of them have been released, and most of them cancelled. Despite the Microsoft take-over rumour, which Special Reserve claims to be very likely, Rareware will (hopefully) still be releasing Starfox Adventures sometime before Christmas, but it is highly likely that this will be Rarewares first and last GameCube release. Ofcourse, Nintendo are the franchise owners of Starfox, so the game is bound to have the go ahead for a UK release anyway, but it will still become one of the most famous games of the early 21st Century as it will be marking a turning point in Rareware and Nintendo's company histories.

So what will happen to our favourite Rareware titles if Microsoft have bought out Rare? Well if you're a Donkey Kong or a Starfox fan, nothing will happen other than Nintendo will be making future games themselves or employ a second or third party to develop these franchises into more titles. If, however, you wanted a sequel to Rare's Perfect Dark, and Banjo Tooie, you'll more than likely have to purchase an X-box to play these games. Ofcourse, that's a bit of a kick in the nuts for Nintendo as these were some of the Nintendo 64's top selling games - but that's what you get for selling your shares in a company. It is also a kick in the nuts for some X-box fans who claim that games such as Banjo Kazooie are kiddy games. Maybe this will change their minds, maybe not, but in reality we know that the X-box fans are going to benefit from the Rareware buyout.

But why am I supporting the take-over by Microsoft? Well why not? After all, despite Rareware's brilliant games, I have been disappointed with the wait I've experienced for games such as Starfox Adventures, which I am still looking forward to, and for games such as Sabre Wulf and Banjo Kazooie: Gruntilda's Revenge on the Nintendo handheld. I was also disappointed to see Rareware cancel their stunningly beautiful racer Donkey Kong. So I'm starting to get sick of the company. I know it may not be Rareware who are to blame for delays and cancellations, and Nintendo may have even played their part in the whole thing, but it's Rareware who get the immediate blame as it's them who's name is on the box. It's not like Nintendo can't survive without Rareware anymore. The GameCube already has a stunning array of games on the shelves at the moment, many third party, which is something Nintendo seemed to lack with their 64-bit machine. Maybe it would be nice to see the under-dog (microsoft) have a bit more support. The X-box isn't too popular at the moment, and Rareware could be the beneficiary factor that 'saves' them from a plummet to Dreamcast status. Ofcourse, being a product of Microsoft, the X-box couldn't get that bad having almost an endless supply of money behind it, and the possibility to earn much more back, ofcourse the X-box wont need 'saving'. It just needs a popularity boost at the moment.

So I'll have to fork out on another £160 to play some new Rareware games in the future? So? It's not like the X-box is full price anymore, and there are bound to be sales and deals available for me to be able to afford a better package. I have been thinking about purchasing an X-box for a couple months already and a sequel to Perfect Dark might just convince me. I didn't buy the Gamecube for Rareware though. I bought the GameCube because I like Nintendo's games. I bought the GameCube because Nintendo have always kept me happy with their hardware and their software. Sure, most of their games may look like they have been designed with young kids in mind, and that's kind of true, but I still find the games both entertaining and challenging and that is why I purchased the GameCube. It would be the same reason for me purchasing an X-box in the future - the games. If there are a few more games that catch my eye that I haven't already got on another system, then maybe I will buy one. Rareware, possibly being exclusive to Microsoft (other than the Game Boy Advance - which isn't a threat to Microsoft - yet) will be the deciding factor.

So all this fuss about the Rare question. It's a good thing really. It'll mean more games from Rare and will boost the X-box's sales (there's no doubt about that). I mean, what have Rare done for Nintendo? Not much for the last two years I'll tell you that. What do you think about the Rare question?