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Many may know on part my feelings for the loss of Rare (if it happens). Rare were the makers of the second best games on the N64 and the only western developer solely committed to Nintendo. Now though Nintendo have 2 replacements for the companies Retro Studio’s (who certainly won’t be leaving) and Silicon Knights (although they are a very different company). More to the point Rare’s games are really not going to hold strong against the competition. Banjo for example was the N64’s second best platformer, we all know since Rare began releasing sequels to the game that Rare seemed to lose their touch and now with the apparent exclusive to Gamecube Sonic series and the old Sony mascots Spyro and Crash going multiformat how well will Banjo really do? Donkey Kong, Killer Instinct and Starfox will either be leased to other companies or go back to Nintendo and that will probably be for the best. But it wasn’t these games that we went mad for was it, it was their awesome first person shooters. But again we don’t need them anymore or in fact want them, Metroid Prime, Die Hard and Timesplitters 2 are awesome in everyway and I wonder if Rare can match them let alone beat them. Yet believe it or not I will be devastated at the loss of Rare for a reason I’ll give at the end, because this post has more to do with Nintendo than Rare. So read on.
Let’s say Rare have been lost to Microsoft just so I don’t have to keep saying (if they go) after every time I mention it. And so with that in mind Rare are the second, second party that they have lost this year. Nintendo have increased their second and first party developers some what, Camelot, Hal, NTSC, Retro Studio’s, Interactive Studio’s and Silicon Knights to name but a few. Yet at the beginning of the year you could have added Left Field to the roster. Left Field are a sports developer who made the NBA Courtside series of games and Excitebike 64. Now I was never a big fan of Left Field and the reported rumours that Nintendo and Left Field had fallen out didn’t really effect me. But only recently did it become apparent that Left Field love Nintendo just as much as always, just as Rare still undoubtedly do. The reason why Nintendo cut ties is because Left Field weren’t making enough money for Nintendo to bother putting in the financial effort. Nintendo and Left Field just stated that, as Left Field has no future plans as regards games and nothing would appear for over a year that it would be best to cut ties. Now whether I like Left Field or not is beside the point, this my friends is deeply worrying news. Even more worrying is that this is also the reason that Rare are to be sold, after poor sales of Banjo and Conker and the fact that Rare are still using their expertise in delaying Nintendo don’t see them as a good financial investment.
Nintendo’s attitude has changed as of late, and to all-purposes it has been a good change. First of they have acknowledged the western and particularly European market, they’ve improved relationships with third parties no end and they are even working on price. Yet there is one other change, which isn’t a welcome one, the one policy that made me like Nintendo so much in the first place. Nintendo’s quality over quantity was one part of the policy and the other one was to make a good game no matter what the expense. Now we all got a little worried that Nintendo’s desperation to increase the amount of games made would mean shorter Nintendo games. It seemed as if that was so with Pikmin and Luigi’s Mansion but come Super Mario Sunshine, Zelda and Eternal Darkness and we would be proven wrong. Nintendo’s new policy was basically to get as many games made as possible by extending their current range of developers. Like I said before acquiring Retro Studio’s and co. was one way but the other was getting existing franchises exclusive (Resident Evil) and getting 3rd party developers to make their sequels such as F Zero and Starfox. But this was so more games could be made quicker and at little expense. But because of recent financial successes, Nintendo is no longer willing to spend ages making the world’s best games. Already Mario’s next outing is being rumoured for next year as is a Pikmin game. The days of risking millions on one game has gone, and I miss the old Nintendo that didn’t see Rare as a financial risk, they made good games and that was the main thing. Yet now Nintendo don’t want a company that costs them millions like Rare but a cheap company that’ll churn out loads of games in a relatively short space of time. The reason why Nintendo didn’t buy Rare’s shares when offered was because they didn’t see them as financially worth it. Yet I know for certain a couple of years before hand and Nintendo would have snapped them up.
So Left Field and Rare have gone for the simple reason that Nintendo don’t want to waste their valuable money on them. It is a stark warning really that Nintendo isn’t ready to mess about like before. And it is a shame because we used the get these awesome games because of it, Nintendo are now struggling to beat their older N64 titles now because they are not willing to spend so much time and money on them like before. The reason why I’ll miss Rare (and I know you’ve been waiting for it) isn’t for Perfect Dark or Banjo, because I have replacements for those. It is because of Conker, my most favourite game in the world, the game that has led me to create a website. Conker 2 will alone persuade me to get an X-box, I am willing to spend £190 for one game but really I shouldn’t have to. It is all because Nintendo don’t care anymore, where once they may of worried about the games ahead of the money now it is not so. And although Nintendo are still the best at making games, they will never really be the same again.
Here’s to the future.
Dringo.
Let’s say Rare have been lost to Microsoft just so I don’t have to keep saying (if they go) after every time I mention it. And so with that in mind Rare are the second, second party that they have lost this year. Nintendo have increased their second and first party developers some what, Camelot, Hal, NTSC, Retro Studio’s, Interactive Studio’s and Silicon Knights to name but a few. Yet at the beginning of the year you could have added Left Field to the roster. Left Field are a sports developer who made the NBA Courtside series of games and Excitebike 64. Now I was never a big fan of Left Field and the reported rumours that Nintendo and Left Field had fallen out didn’t really effect me. But only recently did it become apparent that Left Field love Nintendo just as much as always, just as Rare still undoubtedly do. The reason why Nintendo cut ties is because Left Field weren’t making enough money for Nintendo to bother putting in the financial effort. Nintendo and Left Field just stated that, as Left Field has no future plans as regards games and nothing would appear for over a year that it would be best to cut ties. Now whether I like Left Field or not is beside the point, this my friends is deeply worrying news. Even more worrying is that this is also the reason that Rare are to be sold, after poor sales of Banjo and Conker and the fact that Rare are still using their expertise in delaying Nintendo don’t see them as a good financial investment.
Nintendo’s attitude has changed as of late, and to all-purposes it has been a good change. First of they have acknowledged the western and particularly European market, they’ve improved relationships with third parties no end and they are even working on price. Yet there is one other change, which isn’t a welcome one, the one policy that made me like Nintendo so much in the first place. Nintendo’s quality over quantity was one part of the policy and the other one was to make a good game no matter what the expense. Now we all got a little worried that Nintendo’s desperation to increase the amount of games made would mean shorter Nintendo games. It seemed as if that was so with Pikmin and Luigi’s Mansion but come Super Mario Sunshine, Zelda and Eternal Darkness and we would be proven wrong. Nintendo’s new policy was basically to get as many games made as possible by extending their current range of developers. Like I said before acquiring Retro Studio’s and co. was one way but the other was getting existing franchises exclusive (Resident Evil) and getting 3rd party developers to make their sequels such as F Zero and Starfox. But this was so more games could be made quicker and at little expense. But because of recent financial successes, Nintendo is no longer willing to spend ages making the world’s best games. Already Mario’s next outing is being rumoured for next year as is a Pikmin game. The days of risking millions on one game has gone, and I miss the old Nintendo that didn’t see Rare as a financial risk, they made good games and that was the main thing. Yet now Nintendo don’t want a company that costs them millions like Rare but a cheap company that’ll churn out loads of games in a relatively short space of time. The reason why Nintendo didn’t buy Rare’s shares when offered was because they didn’t see them as financially worth it. Yet I know for certain a couple of years before hand and Nintendo would have snapped them up.
So Left Field and Rare have gone for the simple reason that Nintendo don’t want to waste their valuable money on them. It is a stark warning really that Nintendo isn’t ready to mess about like before. And it is a shame because we used the get these awesome games because of it, Nintendo are now struggling to beat their older N64 titles now because they are not willing to spend so much time and money on them like before. The reason why I’ll miss Rare (and I know you’ve been waiting for it) isn’t for Perfect Dark or Banjo, because I have replacements for those. It is because of Conker, my most favourite game in the world, the game that has led me to create a website. Conker 2 will alone persuade me to get an X-box, I am willing to spend £190 for one game but really I shouldn’t have to. It is all because Nintendo don’t care anymore, where once they may of worried about the games ahead of the money now it is not so. And although Nintendo are still the best at making games, they will never really be the same again.
Here’s to the future.
Dringo.
Fair enough financially it's not a good investment for Nintendo but it'll still be a loss to US if they go and you know it, don't try and sell them off just because Nintendo may let them go to a rival company.
This isn't school yard backstabbing.
Personally I'd miss the Banjo games, not so much Perfect Dark but Banjo.
This isn't school yard backstabbing.
Personally I'd miss the Banjo games, not so much Perfect Dark but Banjo.
Rare just took a few years learning how to code for the Gamecube. Expect more games.
Yeah. It's a pity that Nintendo have given up on big titles.
I reckon that if the Gamecube was the market leader then they'd be more than happy to make a huge game, knowing that they had countless millions of fans to sell to.
While the GC user-base is relatively low, they need to be more cost efficient. Still, once the GC sales pass the 10/20 million mark, they might start trying to make the "definative" game - one so big that EVERY one of their owners will want it.
As for Rare, the chances are that I will buy an Xbox to play their games, among over things.
Starfox should be great.
And although not EVERY Rare game was fantastic (DK64 wasn't bad, just not amazingly brilliant), when they do come good (Conker, Goldeneye, DKC, Perfect Dark) they are VERY good, and often outclass Nintendo's own efforts in lots of ways.
The fact that Perfect Dark can almost hold it's own against modern FPS, despite running on 7 year old hardware means that we can expect BIG things when Rare get working on next gen material.
And also, there were titles like Jet Force Gemini and Blast Corps, which weren't perfect, but ventured into new territory and created great, original foundations for a game which could be expanded in sequels on newer hardware.
Gamecube owners, do not dispair!
While you'll need an Xbox to play these games, knowing how long it takes Rare to release them, and how MS is slicing the Xbox price tag, by the time a Rare Xbox game comes out, you should be able pick up the Xbox and Rare game for real cheap. And you'll get a DVD player too! :-)
I reckon that if the Gamecube was the market leader then they'd be more than happy to make a huge game, knowing that they had countless millions of fans to sell to.
While the GC user-base is relatively low, they need to be more cost efficient. Still, once the GC sales pass the 10/20 million mark, they might start trying to make the "definative" game - one so big that EVERY one of their owners will want it.
As for Rare, the chances are that I will buy an Xbox to play their games, among over things.
Starfox should be great.
And although not EVERY Rare game was fantastic (DK64 wasn't bad, just not amazingly brilliant), when they do come good (Conker, Goldeneye, DKC, Perfect Dark) they are VERY good, and often outclass Nintendo's own efforts in lots of ways.
The fact that Perfect Dark can almost hold it's own against modern FPS, despite running on 7 year old hardware means that we can expect BIG things when Rare get working on next gen material.
And also, there were titles like Jet Force Gemini and Blast Corps, which weren't perfect, but ventured into new territory and created great, original foundations for a game which could be expanded in sequels on newer hardware.
Gamecube owners, do not dispair!
While you'll need an Xbox to play these games, knowing how long it takes Rare to release them, and how MS is slicing the Xbox price tag, by the time a Rare Xbox game comes out, you should be able pick up the Xbox and Rare game for real cheap. And you'll get a DVD player too! :-)
Many may know on part my feelings for the loss of Rare (if it happens). Rare were the makers of the second best games on the N64 and the only western developer solely committed to Nintendo. Now though Nintendo have 2 replacements for the companies Retro Studio’s (who certainly won’t be leaving) and Silicon Knights (although they are a very different company). More to the point Rare’s games are really not going to hold strong against the competition. Banjo for example was the N64’s second best platformer, we all know since Rare began releasing sequels to the game that Rare seemed to lose their touch and now with the apparent exclusive to Gamecube Sonic series and the old Sony mascots Spyro and Crash going multiformat how well will Banjo really do? Donkey Kong, Killer Instinct and Starfox will either be leased to other companies or go back to Nintendo and that will probably be for the best. But it wasn’t these games that we went mad for was it, it was their awesome first person shooters. But again we don’t need them anymore or in fact want them, Metroid Prime, Die Hard and Timesplitters 2 are awesome in everyway and I wonder if Rare can match them let alone beat them. Yet believe it or not I will be devastated at the loss of Rare for a reason I’ll give at the end, because this post has more to do with Nintendo than Rare. So read on.
Let’s say Rare have been lost to Microsoft just so I don’t have to keep saying (if they go) after every time I mention it. And so with that in mind Rare are the second, second party that they have lost this year. Nintendo have increased their second and first party developers some what, Camelot, Hal, NTSC, Retro Studio’s, Interactive Studio’s and Silicon Knights to name but a few. Yet at the beginning of the year you could have added Left Field to the roster. Left Field are a sports developer who made the NBA Courtside series of games and Excitebike 64. Now I was never a big fan of Left Field and the reported rumours that Nintendo and Left Field had fallen out didn’t really effect me. But only recently did it become apparent that Left Field love Nintendo just as much as always, just as Rare still undoubtedly do. The reason why Nintendo cut ties is because Left Field weren’t making enough money for Nintendo to bother putting in the financial effort. Nintendo and Left Field just stated that, as Left Field has no future plans as regards games and nothing would appear for over a year that it would be best to cut ties. Now whether I like Left Field or not is beside the point, this my friends is deeply worrying news. Even more worrying is that this is also the reason that Rare are to be sold, after poor sales of Banjo and Conker and the fact that Rare are still using their expertise in delaying Nintendo don’t see them as a good financial investment.
Nintendo’s attitude has changed as of late, and to all-purposes it has been a good change. First of they have acknowledged the western and particularly European market, they’ve improved relationships with third parties no end and they are even working on price. Yet there is one other change, which isn’t a welcome one, the one policy that made me like Nintendo so much in the first place. Nintendo’s quality over quantity was one part of the policy and the other one was to make a good game no matter what the expense. Now we all got a little worried that Nintendo’s desperation to increase the amount of games made would mean shorter Nintendo games. It seemed as if that was so with Pikmin and Luigi’s Mansion but come Super Mario Sunshine, Zelda and Eternal Darkness and we would be proven wrong. Nintendo’s new policy was basically to get as many games made as possible by extending their current range of developers. Like I said before acquiring Retro Studio’s and co. was one way but the other was getting existing franchises exclusive (Resident Evil) and getting 3rd party developers to make their sequels such as F Zero and Starfox. But this was so more games could be made quicker and at little expense. But because of recent financial successes, Nintendo is no longer willing to spend ages making the world’s best games. Already Mario’s next outing is being rumoured for next year as is a Pikmin game. The days of risking millions on one game has gone, and I miss the old Nintendo that didn’t see Rare as a financial risk, they made good games and that was the main thing. Yet now Nintendo don’t want a company that costs them millions like Rare but a cheap company that’ll churn out loads of games in a relatively short space of time. The reason why Nintendo didn’t buy Rare’s shares when offered was because they didn’t see them as financially worth it. Yet I know for certain a couple of years before hand and Nintendo would have snapped them up.
So Left Field and Rare have gone for the simple reason that Nintendo don’t want to waste their valuable money on them. It is a stark warning really that Nintendo isn’t ready to mess about like before. And it is a shame because we used the get these awesome games because of it, Nintendo are now struggling to beat their older N64 titles now because they are not willing to spend so much time and money on them like before. The reason why I’ll miss Rare (and I know you’ve been waiting for it) isn’t for Perfect Dark or Banjo, because I have replacements for those. It is because of Conker, my most favourite game in the world, the game that has led me to create a website. Conker 2 will alone persuade me to get an X-box, I am willing to spend £190 for one game but really I shouldn’t have to. It is all because Nintendo don’t care anymore, where once they may of worried about the games ahead of the money now it is not so. And although Nintendo are still the best at making games, they will never really be the same again.
Here’s to the future.
Dringo.
Let’s say Rare have been lost to Microsoft just so I don’t have to keep saying (if they go) after every time I mention it. And so with that in mind Rare are the second, second party that they have lost this year. Nintendo have increased their second and first party developers some what, Camelot, Hal, NTSC, Retro Studio’s, Interactive Studio’s and Silicon Knights to name but a few. Yet at the beginning of the year you could have added Left Field to the roster. Left Field are a sports developer who made the NBA Courtside series of games and Excitebike 64. Now I was never a big fan of Left Field and the reported rumours that Nintendo and Left Field had fallen out didn’t really effect me. But only recently did it become apparent that Left Field love Nintendo just as much as always, just as Rare still undoubtedly do. The reason why Nintendo cut ties is because Left Field weren’t making enough money for Nintendo to bother putting in the financial effort. Nintendo and Left Field just stated that, as Left Field has no future plans as regards games and nothing would appear for over a year that it would be best to cut ties. Now whether I like Left Field or not is beside the point, this my friends is deeply worrying news. Even more worrying is that this is also the reason that Rare are to be sold, after poor sales of Banjo and Conker and the fact that Rare are still using their expertise in delaying Nintendo don’t see them as a good financial investment.
Nintendo’s attitude has changed as of late, and to all-purposes it has been a good change. First of they have acknowledged the western and particularly European market, they’ve improved relationships with third parties no end and they are even working on price. Yet there is one other change, which isn’t a welcome one, the one policy that made me like Nintendo so much in the first place. Nintendo’s quality over quantity was one part of the policy and the other one was to make a good game no matter what the expense. Now we all got a little worried that Nintendo’s desperation to increase the amount of games made would mean shorter Nintendo games. It seemed as if that was so with Pikmin and Luigi’s Mansion but come Super Mario Sunshine, Zelda and Eternal Darkness and we would be proven wrong. Nintendo’s new policy was basically to get as many games made as possible by extending their current range of developers. Like I said before acquiring Retro Studio’s and co. was one way but the other was getting existing franchises exclusive (Resident Evil) and getting 3rd party developers to make their sequels such as F Zero and Starfox. But this was so more games could be made quicker and at little expense. But because of recent financial successes, Nintendo is no longer willing to spend ages making the world’s best games. Already Mario’s next outing is being rumoured for next year as is a Pikmin game. The days of risking millions on one game has gone, and I miss the old Nintendo that didn’t see Rare as a financial risk, they made good games and that was the main thing. Yet now Nintendo don’t want a company that costs them millions like Rare but a cheap company that’ll churn out loads of games in a relatively short space of time. The reason why Nintendo didn’t buy Rare’s shares when offered was because they didn’t see them as financially worth it. Yet I know for certain a couple of years before hand and Nintendo would have snapped them up.
So Left Field and Rare have gone for the simple reason that Nintendo don’t want to waste their valuable money on them. It is a stark warning really that Nintendo isn’t ready to mess about like before. And it is a shame because we used the get these awesome games because of it, Nintendo are now struggling to beat their older N64 titles now because they are not willing to spend so much time and money on them like before. The reason why I’ll miss Rare (and I know you’ve been waiting for it) isn’t for Perfect Dark or Banjo, because I have replacements for those. It is because of Conker, my most favourite game in the world, the game that has led me to create a website. Conker 2 will alone persuade me to get an X-box, I am willing to spend £190 for one game but really I shouldn’t have to. It is all because Nintendo don’t care anymore, where once they may of worried about the games ahead of the money now it is not so. And although Nintendo are still the best at making games, they will never really be the same again.
Here’s to the future.
Dringo.