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Taken from IGN.com:
Earlier this morning Nintendo issued a press release stating that it had cut all development ties with Rare. The firm said it had sold its 49-percent share in the former second-party. Nintendo further explained that the decision reflected a restructuring move and a new partnership philosophy.
"Nintendo had the ability to continue its exclusive relationship with Rare, but in looking at the company's recent track record, it became clear that its value to the future of Nintendo would be limited," said Peter MacDougall, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America. "In other words, we passed on this opportunity for very good business reasons."
The Nintendo release went on to reiterate the fact that Rare software sales accounted for only 9.5-percent of Nintendo sales in fiscal year 2001 and only 1.5-percent in fiscal 2002.
Nintendo stated that it would retain the rights for all original properties including Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Star Fox. It made no comment on whether or not Rare would retain the Perfect Dark and Conker's Bad Fur Day licenses.
The company said that game development is ever changing and that the selling of Rare will afford Nintendo more opportunities with other studios. "The disposition of this investment leaves us in a position to become even more aggressive in expanding our development capacity, both internally and externally," MacDougall noted. "Aside from several partnerships already announced over the past year, we are currently in similar talks with several other prospective partners around the world."
Finally, the release noted that though Nintendo's relationship with Rare has come to an end, Nintendo still respects the giant software house. "Although we declined the opportunity to continue our exclusive agreement with Rare, this announcement does not diminish our respect for their work or the past contributions they have made to Nintendo," stated MacDougall.
Earlier this morning Nintendo issued a press release stating that it had cut all development ties with Rare. The firm said it had sold its 49-percent share in the former second-party. Nintendo further explained that the decision reflected a restructuring move and a new partnership philosophy.
"Nintendo had the ability to continue its exclusive relationship with Rare, but in looking at the company's recent track record, it became clear that its value to the future of Nintendo would be limited," said Peter MacDougall, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America. "In other words, we passed on this opportunity for very good business reasons."
The Nintendo release went on to reiterate the fact that Rare software sales accounted for only 9.5-percent of Nintendo sales in fiscal year 2001 and only 1.5-percent in fiscal 2002.
Nintendo stated that it would retain the rights for all original properties including Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Star Fox. It made no comment on whether or not Rare would retain the Perfect Dark and Conker's Bad Fur Day licenses.
The company said that game development is ever changing and that the selling of Rare will afford Nintendo more opportunities with other studios. "The disposition of this investment leaves us in a position to become even more aggressive in expanding our development capacity, both internally and externally," MacDougall noted. "Aside from several partnerships already announced over the past year, we are currently in similar talks with several other prospective partners around the world."
Finally, the release noted that though Nintendo's relationship with Rare has come to an end, Nintendo still respects the giant software house. "Although we declined the opportunity to continue our exclusive agreement with Rare, this announcement does not diminish our respect for their work or the past contributions they have made to Nintendo," stated MacDougall.
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Hmmm, i was looking forward to perfect dark i must say, but aside from that, i don't really care that rare have left. in fact, i could even go as far as to say i'm glad. here's why:
advantages to rare staying:
perfect dark;
kameo and perhaps one or 2 other newly made classics which would have likely come out.
advantages to rare going:
they hardly manage a game a year anyway, so won't be a major loss money-making wise;
they aren't what they used to be anymore anyway, when EVERY game was unreal. recently dk64 and banjo-kazooie have been abysmal boring collect em up's in my opinion, which the xbox is welcome to;
perhaps shigeru miyamoto or another development team will take on board and make classics out of the franchises rare ruined. i.e. they ruined donkey kong and (it now seems judging from japan) starfox
nintendo will also probaby make sure metroid prime is brilliant now to compensate for the loss of perfect dark, or perhaps shigeru himself will decide to make a shooter, which i'm pretty sure everyone would like to see
we can't even be sure rare will be able to handle the xbox anyway. they were just getting used to the gamecube, which is said to be a dream to develop for, whereas the xbox isn't meant to be near as handy. also, nintendo always let rare work away for ages till the games had been worked on so long they had to be classics... since microsoft have paid so much, they make expect quick payback, and this could lead to mediocre rushed rare releases.
finally, all rare really were was a small group of developers left to their own devices with no pressure and given as long as they needed to make great games. i'm pretty sure that most developers in that situation could produce such games, so whats stopping nintendo sticking a different few developers in a studio and letting them get on with it? and think about it, don't you always read in magazines about how miyamoto is constantly training his minions to know how he does what he does?
advantages to rare staying:
perfect dark;
kameo and perhaps one or 2 other newly made classics which would have likely come out.
advantages to rare going:
they hardly manage a game a year anyway, so won't be a major loss money-making wise;
they aren't what they used to be anymore anyway, when EVERY game was unreal. recently dk64 and banjo-kazooie have been abysmal boring collect em up's in my opinion, which the xbox is welcome to;
perhaps shigeru miyamoto or another development team will take on board and make classics out of the franchises rare ruined. i.e. they ruined donkey kong and (it now seems judging from japan) starfox
nintendo will also probaby make sure metroid prime is brilliant now to compensate for the loss of perfect dark, or perhaps shigeru himself will decide to make a shooter, which i'm pretty sure everyone would like to see
we can't even be sure rare will be able to handle the xbox anyway. they were just getting used to the gamecube, which is said to be a dream to develop for, whereas the xbox isn't meant to be near as handy. also, nintendo always let rare work away for ages till the games had been worked on so long they had to be classics... since microsoft have paid so much, they make expect quick payback, and this could lead to mediocre rushed rare releases.
finally, all rare really were was a small group of developers left to their own devices with no pressure and given as long as they needed to make great games. i'm pretty sure that most developers in that situation could produce such games, so whats stopping nintendo sticking a different few developers in a studio and letting them get on with it? and think about it, don't you always read in magazines about how miyamoto is constantly training his minions to know how he does what he does?
Hmmm, i was looking forward to perfect dark i must say, but aside from that, i don't really care that rare have left. in fact, i could even go as far as to say i'm glad. here's why:
advantages to rare staying:
perfect dark;
kameo and perhaps one or 2 other newly made classics which would have likely come out.
advantages to rare going:
they hardly manage a game a year anyway, so won't be a major loss money-making wise;
they aren't what they used to be anymore anyway, when EVERY game was unreal. recently dk64 and banjo-kazooie have been abysmal boring collect em up's in my opinion, which the xbox is welcome to;
perhaps shigeru miyamoto or another development team will take on board and make classics out of the franchises rare ruined. i.e. they ruined donkey kong and (it now seems judging from japan) starfox
nintendo will also probaby make sure metroid prime is brilliant now to compensate for the loss of perfect dark, or perhaps shigeru himself will decide to make a shooter, which i'm pretty sure everyone would like to see
we can't even be sure rare will be able to handle the xbox anyway. they were just getting used to the gamecube, which is said to be a dream to develop for, whereas the xbox isn't meant to be near as handy. also, nintendo always let rare work away for ages till the games had been worked on so long they had to be classics... since microsoft have paid so much, they make expect quick payback, and this could lead to mediocre rushed rare releases.
finally, all rare really were was a small group of developers left to their own devices with no pressure and given as long as they needed to make great games. i'm pretty sure that most developers in that situation could produce such games, so whats stopping nintendo sticking a different few developers in a studio and letting them get on with it? and think about it, don't you always read in magazines about how miyamoto is constantly training his minions to know how he does what he does?
advantages to rare staying:
perfect dark;
kameo and perhaps one or 2 other newly made classics which would have likely come out.
advantages to rare going:
they hardly manage a game a year anyway, so won't be a major loss money-making wise;
they aren't what they used to be anymore anyway, when EVERY game was unreal. recently dk64 and banjo-kazooie have been abysmal boring collect em up's in my opinion, which the xbox is welcome to;
perhaps shigeru miyamoto or another development team will take on board and make classics out of the franchises rare ruined. i.e. they ruined donkey kong and (it now seems judging from japan) starfox
nintendo will also probaby make sure metroid prime is brilliant now to compensate for the loss of perfect dark, or perhaps shigeru himself will decide to make a shooter, which i'm pretty sure everyone would like to see
we can't even be sure rare will be able to handle the xbox anyway. they were just getting used to the gamecube, which is said to be a dream to develop for, whereas the xbox isn't meant to be near as handy. also, nintendo always let rare work away for ages till the games had been worked on so long they had to be classics... since microsoft have paid so much, they make expect quick payback, and this could lead to mediocre rushed rare releases.
finally, all rare really were was a small group of developers left to their own devices with no pressure and given as long as they needed to make great games. i'm pretty sure that most developers in that situation could produce such games, so whats stopping nintendo sticking a different few developers in a studio and letting them get on with it? and think about it, don't you always read in magazines about how miyamoto is constantly training his minions to know how he does what he does?
Look, lets take stock of this situation!
Just think back a few years will you. Before you all get over dramatic and slate RARE lets have a trip down memory lane.
BLAST CORPS - absolutely unique game never got the credit it deserved!
GOLDENEYE - CLASSIC! And it really is. Still played to death in my house!
BANJO KAZOOIE - Blew the Playstation blubbers out of there cots that one!
(and I also heard that SONY cacked themselves when it was
released in 1998)
JET FORCE GEMINI - The ONLY dodgy (in my opinion) RARE game but still
great!
PERFECT DARK - PERFECT GAME. I love it soooo much. It out shines some
of the dodgy first person shooters on so
called 'next gen' consoles. (Mind you, im
still stuck on the Skedar Ruins level)!!
BANJO TOOIE - GREAT mulitiplayer games and wonderful 64 bit graphics!
CONKERS BFD - What can I say. This game has to be the funniest and most
gorgeous looking 64 bit game ever made. From the moment I
turned it on I was in awe of whoever came up with such a
superb masterpiece and still am. Had we had more examples
of the above on the N64 it would still be around now!
But just how much can one company produce. People moan about how long RARE took in making there games but the wait was worth it EVERY time.
It is a travesty that RARE could be leaving the Nintendo fold. As I have said before, without RARE the 'CUBE' will be just another console with over hyped ports from other machines. We need RARE so that the best, most unique games stay with the CUBE. Bill Gates is doing anything to make the XBox sell. If thats the way of of it then fine, but Nintendo will be worse off without them!
N64 4 EVA.
Just think back a few years will you. Before you all get over dramatic and slate RARE lets have a trip down memory lane.
BLAST CORPS - absolutely unique game never got the credit it deserved!
GOLDENEYE - CLASSIC! And it really is. Still played to death in my house!
BANJO KAZOOIE - Blew the Playstation blubbers out of there cots that one!
(and I also heard that SONY cacked themselves when it was
released in 1998)
JET FORCE GEMINI - The ONLY dodgy (in my opinion) RARE game but still
great!
PERFECT DARK - PERFECT GAME. I love it soooo much. It out shines some
of the dodgy first person shooters on so
called 'next gen' consoles. (Mind you, im
still stuck on the Skedar Ruins level)!!
BANJO TOOIE - GREAT mulitiplayer games and wonderful 64 bit graphics!
CONKERS BFD - What can I say. This game has to be the funniest and most
gorgeous looking 64 bit game ever made. From the moment I
turned it on I was in awe of whoever came up with such a
superb masterpiece and still am. Had we had more examples
of the above on the N64 it would still be around now!
But just how much can one company produce. People moan about how long RARE took in making there games but the wait was worth it EVERY time.
It is a travesty that RARE could be leaving the Nintendo fold. As I have said before, without RARE the 'CUBE' will be just another console with over hyped ports from other machines. We need RARE so that the best, most unique games stay with the CUBE. Bill Gates is doing anything to make the XBox sell. If thats the way of of it then fine, but Nintendo will be worse off without them!
N64 4 EVA.
What i dont understand is why nintendo sold their 49% share, they could have used it to become a real thorn in Microsofts side.
Cos they rather have the MILLIONS of pounds/dollars/yen, which they can pump into other developers and make LOADS of games, rather than wait for Rare to release one, every year or two!
:)
:)
Nintendo litterally kicked 'em out, Rare offered Nintendo the remainding shares as well.
Cooky wrote:
> Cos they rather have the MILLIONS of pounds/dollars/yen, which they
> can pump into other developers and make LOADS of games, rather than
> wait for Rare to release one, every year or two!
>
> :)
Exactly. The last Rare game I bought was Goldeneye, that says it all really doesn't it.
> Cos they rather have the MILLIONS of pounds/dollars/yen, which they
> can pump into other developers and make LOADS of games, rather than
> wait for Rare to release one, every year or two!
>
> :)
Exactly. The last Rare game I bought was Goldeneye, that says it all really doesn't it.
Dringo wrote:
> Nintendo litterally kicked 'em out, Rare offered Nintendo the
> remainding shares as well.
No. Nintendo didn't want to spend a fortune buying out a company that didn't make them huge profits, so Rare moved on elsewhere.
Nintendo didn't NEED Rare anymore, because third parties were filling the GC with plenty of releases.
And because Rare's games are great, but few, Rare don't pour in as much cash as Nintendo would like, so when Nintendo get offered a ridiculous amount of money from MS...
Anyway, MS gain a lot more than Nintendo lose.
Besides, with the Xbox dropping it's price so much, by the time Rare release something, the Xbox will be so cheap, we can all get one for the Rare games. Nothing to worry about! :-)
> Nintendo litterally kicked 'em out, Rare offered Nintendo the
> remainding shares as well.
No. Nintendo didn't want to spend a fortune buying out a company that didn't make them huge profits, so Rare moved on elsewhere.
Nintendo didn't NEED Rare anymore, because third parties were filling the GC with plenty of releases.
And because Rare's games are great, but few, Rare don't pour in as much cash as Nintendo would like, so when Nintendo get offered a ridiculous amount of money from MS...
Anyway, MS gain a lot more than Nintendo lose.
Besides, with the Xbox dropping it's price so much, by the time Rare release something, the Xbox will be so cheap, we can all get one for the Rare games. Nothing to worry about! :-)
Whitestripes wrote:
> Exactly. The last Rare game I bought was Goldeneye, that says it all
> really doesn't it.
*
So you didn't bother buying Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64 or Conker's Bad Fur Day then....?
Are you mad, woman?!
> Exactly. The last Rare game I bought was Goldeneye, that says it all
> really doesn't it.
*
So you didn't bother buying Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64 or Conker's Bad Fur Day then....?
Are you mad, woman?!
Take note from that press release:
"Although we declined the opportunity to continue our exclusive agreement with Rare..."
Rare clearly wanted to stay exclusive to Nintendo, but were turned away. Obviously Nintendo have been keeping an eye on their developments, and are possibly not best pleased with Rare's steady decline in quality?
"Although we declined the opportunity to continue our exclusive agreement with Rare..."
Rare clearly wanted to stay exclusive to Nintendo, but were turned away. Obviously Nintendo have been keeping an eye on their developments, and are possibly not best pleased with Rare's steady decline in quality?
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