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Rare have left the brains and innovation of Nintendo for all the power and money that belongs to Bill Gates and his Microsoft empire.
Ok, so that news is becoming very old fast, but the fact is that it still remians to be the truth. Nintendo have sold their one true friends, the old and faithfull who kept the N64 alive. And all for a mere £240m!
Would you sell your best friend for a huge stash of cash??
No matter what you think, no matter how wrong it really is, it's all too-late now.
The deal is done.
Without the support of Rareware, with the obvious exception of Dinosaur Planet's release, the GameCube will be hugely-lacking in the 'Exclusive Games' section with only their own work and the entire Resident Evil series being all they really have to show that makes their games line-up that extra-bit different to lists of the X-Box and PS2. With so-many great games that you can get on either of the other 2 consoles, why would any PS2 or X-Box fan want to buy a GameCube aswell when they can easily get the likes of the new Tony Hawk or ISS game on what they already have?
If Nintendo don't want a repeat of the N64, which they don't, then they'd better get around to buying up someone big and FAST who can really give them all the exclusive 2nd Party games the Cube will need in-order to succeed.
Just look at how well the PS2 is doing with exclusives like the GTA series and Gran Turismo - for now anyway.
If you are aware of all the latest news then you will know about Microsoft's apparent interest in Capcom; the people behind the likes of MegaMan, the Street Fighter series, Devil May Cry, and of-course, Resident Evil - along with many other big-name games going back through the last 15-20 years of Gaming.
Now for them, it would be a great investment - and I can't help but say it would work-out the same way for Nintendo with the GameCube or even SONY's PS2.
Back in the Super Nintendo's days, during the Golden Age of Gaming, Capcom were a huge hit - especially on the SNES itself with Street Fighter II: Turbo and the rest all setting the way. These games may not now be quite what they used to be back then, but Capcom are still 'doin' the biz' with the likes of Onimusha 2 on the PS2 and, i'll say it once more; Resident Evil on the GameCube. While Nintendo are also getting their fair-share on the GameBoy Advance with an all-new MegaMan game.
So you can see there that Capcom still remain to be 'Hot Property' when it comes to Games Development. If Nintendo have any sense left then they'll snap-up the Big C before Bill Gates can rub his Green Notes all up-in-their-faces.
If it's not to be Capcom, then there are a few other names i'd like to suggest:
And SEGA are the first on my list.
The masters behind so many great games from the past, present, and even future can never be forgotten. Even if you've played only ONE Sonic adventure, there's enough inside just one SEGA game to make you cry-out-loud for more.
SEGA have left the Console business for good after the Dreacast to go-on to producing a large number of games for a large number of formats, as you will all very-well know.
To have the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, the masters behind Streets of Rage, the brains behind Shenmue, producing games like these and more for your machine and your machine only would be only a dream-come-true! I personally hope that Nintendo do one-day realise this and take-note on SEGA availabillity leading to the capture of Yuji Naka and Yu Suzuki and co., working alongside Miyamoto and the brains behind Mario and Zelda.
These 2 companies, Nintendo and SEGA are the 2 biggest names in the world when it comes to Games. But over the years, with all those games, has come a lot of rivalry and bitterness between the 2. Thankfully though, all hatchets have been burried and they are now best-of-friends thanks to the Triforce Arcade board, bringing the 2 together along with Namco.
SEGA may have big-plans for future releases on the PS2 and X-Box after success like Super Monkey Ball and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle on the GameCube, but if Nintendo were to snap-'em-up to replace Rare, surely nothing could stop the tiny Cube!
I've found it hard to think up any-other names for possibly candidates to replace Rare, but due to their work on the Triforce Arcade board with the Big N, Namco; creators of Soul Calibur and Tekken, have come to mind.
Just like it will with SEGA, the Triforce will only bring Namco closer to Nintendo - just like how the 'other one' brought Princess Zelda and Link closer too.
If a deal were to be struck then to be honest, we wouldn't really be getting all that much 'extra' as GameCube owners. Sure, there would be the superb fighters like Tekken and Soul Calibur to go-along with Super Smash Bros. Melée and Primal Fury: Bloody Roar, but that would be just about it. That's all we know Namco for.
As you jolly-well-know, Rare have developed the latest Star Fox title, after Nintendo did the hard-work themselves with Lylat Wars. Now then, if my sources are to be believed, then Namco are set to be the next team to work on an all-new Star Fox game, just like Rare were.
If all goes very-well here, then the 2 companies could see eye-to-eye here, and Nintendo may feel that they could use these guys for a lot, lot more - maybe they could even work on future Mario or Zelda games to give the every-ageing series' some new looks to keep-'em-alive!?
It may seem rather strange of me to throw Namco into the hat, but you never know when you really think about it.... And when Nintendo initially brought Rare, had you ever heard of them or played one of their games?? No.
No matter who it is, i'm sure Nintendo themselves will make the best descision possible. And no, buying Rare back off-of Micrsoft would never work before you even suggest it. Forget about them, they're old news! And anyway, Bill Gates would surely demand at-least 4-times what he payed in-return!!
Nintendo cannot afford to live the remaining 5 years of the GameCube's life-span without a big-name sitting alongside them in the 2nd Party Developers seat in Japan.
Without a new no.2, the GameCube may not even last 3-full years, and we may soon have another Dreamcast-style surprise failure on our hands, forcing Nintendo to pull-out and focus on their games alone.
Rare are long-gone now, let's hope Nintendo do the right thing and bring in someone new to replace them.
Ok, so that news is becoming very old fast, but the fact is that it still remians to be the truth. Nintendo have sold their one true friends, the old and faithfull who kept the N64 alive. And all for a mere £240m!
Would you sell your best friend for a huge stash of cash??
No matter what you think, no matter how wrong it really is, it's all too-late now.
The deal is done.
Without the support of Rareware, with the obvious exception of Dinosaur Planet's release, the GameCube will be hugely-lacking in the 'Exclusive Games' section with only their own work and the entire Resident Evil series being all they really have to show that makes their games line-up that extra-bit different to lists of the X-Box and PS2. With so-many great games that you can get on either of the other 2 consoles, why would any PS2 or X-Box fan want to buy a GameCube aswell when they can easily get the likes of the new Tony Hawk or ISS game on what they already have?
If Nintendo don't want a repeat of the N64, which they don't, then they'd better get around to buying up someone big and FAST who can really give them all the exclusive 2nd Party games the Cube will need in-order to succeed.
Just look at how well the PS2 is doing with exclusives like the GTA series and Gran Turismo - for now anyway.
If you are aware of all the latest news then you will know about Microsoft's apparent interest in Capcom; the people behind the likes of MegaMan, the Street Fighter series, Devil May Cry, and of-course, Resident Evil - along with many other big-name games going back through the last 15-20 years of Gaming.
Now for them, it would be a great investment - and I can't help but say it would work-out the same way for Nintendo with the GameCube or even SONY's PS2.
Back in the Super Nintendo's days, during the Golden Age of Gaming, Capcom were a huge hit - especially on the SNES itself with Street Fighter II: Turbo and the rest all setting the way. These games may not now be quite what they used to be back then, but Capcom are still 'doin' the biz' with the likes of Onimusha 2 on the PS2 and, i'll say it once more; Resident Evil on the GameCube. While Nintendo are also getting their fair-share on the GameBoy Advance with an all-new MegaMan game.
So you can see there that Capcom still remain to be 'Hot Property' when it comes to Games Development. If Nintendo have any sense left then they'll snap-up the Big C before Bill Gates can rub his Green Notes all up-in-their-faces.
If it's not to be Capcom, then there are a few other names i'd like to suggest:
And SEGA are the first on my list.
The masters behind so many great games from the past, present, and even future can never be forgotten. Even if you've played only ONE Sonic adventure, there's enough inside just one SEGA game to make you cry-out-loud for more.
SEGA have left the Console business for good after the Dreacast to go-on to producing a large number of games for a large number of formats, as you will all very-well know.
To have the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, the masters behind Streets of Rage, the brains behind Shenmue, producing games like these and more for your machine and your machine only would be only a dream-come-true! I personally hope that Nintendo do one-day realise this and take-note on SEGA availabillity leading to the capture of Yuji Naka and Yu Suzuki and co., working alongside Miyamoto and the brains behind Mario and Zelda.
These 2 companies, Nintendo and SEGA are the 2 biggest names in the world when it comes to Games. But over the years, with all those games, has come a lot of rivalry and bitterness between the 2. Thankfully though, all hatchets have been burried and they are now best-of-friends thanks to the Triforce Arcade board, bringing the 2 together along with Namco.
SEGA may have big-plans for future releases on the PS2 and X-Box after success like Super Monkey Ball and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle on the GameCube, but if Nintendo were to snap-'em-up to replace Rare, surely nothing could stop the tiny Cube!
I've found it hard to think up any-other names for possibly candidates to replace Rare, but due to their work on the Triforce Arcade board with the Big N, Namco; creators of Soul Calibur and Tekken, have come to mind.
Just like it will with SEGA, the Triforce will only bring Namco closer to Nintendo - just like how the 'other one' brought Princess Zelda and Link closer too.
If a deal were to be struck then to be honest, we wouldn't really be getting all that much 'extra' as GameCube owners. Sure, there would be the superb fighters like Tekken and Soul Calibur to go-along with Super Smash Bros. Melée and Primal Fury: Bloody Roar, but that would be just about it. That's all we know Namco for.
As you jolly-well-know, Rare have developed the latest Star Fox title, after Nintendo did the hard-work themselves with Lylat Wars. Now then, if my sources are to be believed, then Namco are set to be the next team to work on an all-new Star Fox game, just like Rare were.
If all goes very-well here, then the 2 companies could see eye-to-eye here, and Nintendo may feel that they could use these guys for a lot, lot more - maybe they could even work on future Mario or Zelda games to give the every-ageing series' some new looks to keep-'em-alive!?
It may seem rather strange of me to throw Namco into the hat, but you never know when you really think about it.... And when Nintendo initially brought Rare, had you ever heard of them or played one of their games?? No.
No matter who it is, i'm sure Nintendo themselves will make the best descision possible. And no, buying Rare back off-of Micrsoft would never work before you even suggest it. Forget about them, they're old news! And anyway, Bill Gates would surely demand at-least 4-times what he payed in-return!!
Nintendo cannot afford to live the remaining 5 years of the GameCube's life-span without a big-name sitting alongside them in the 2nd Party Developers seat in Japan.
Without a new no.2, the GameCube may not even last 3-full years, and we may soon have another Dreamcast-style surprise failure on our hands, forcing Nintendo to pull-out and focus on their games alone.
Rare are long-gone now, let's hope Nintendo do the right thing and bring in someone new to replace them.
Nintendo only have Resident evil and themselves.... WHAT?????
Rare are a large second party devloper but Nintendo have so many more.
Camelot - working on ~Mario Tennis and Golf just finished Golden Sun 2
HAl - Makers of Super Smash Brothers... currently working on unknown title... maybe Earthbound.
NSTC - Made Wave Race... now????
Silicon Knights- Just finished Eternal DArkness now working on Too Human.
Retro Studio's - Called the American Rare, making Metroid.
Intelligent Studios - Made Paper Mario now working on Metroid Fusion
All Exclusive Gamecube developers... Left Field and Rare have since left.
This is more than the rivals and this is excluding the largest company... Nintendo themselves.
CApcom would be a worthy aquisition for Nintendo but if they are bought it would be through Nintendo's 1 billion bank balance as opposed to the racent money from Rare. My money's on making their other Western Game company REtro STudio's even bigger and better.... Silicon Knights are not really like Rare in anyway Retro Studio's are. Although Silicon may recieve a bit.
Dringo.
Rare are a large second party devloper but Nintendo have so many more.
Camelot - working on ~Mario Tennis and Golf just finished Golden Sun 2
HAl - Makers of Super Smash Brothers... currently working on unknown title... maybe Earthbound.
NSTC - Made Wave Race... now????
Silicon Knights- Just finished Eternal DArkness now working on Too Human.
Retro Studio's - Called the American Rare, making Metroid.
Intelligent Studios - Made Paper Mario now working on Metroid Fusion
All Exclusive Gamecube developers... Left Field and Rare have since left.
This is more than the rivals and this is excluding the largest company... Nintendo themselves.
CApcom would be a worthy aquisition for Nintendo but if they are bought it would be through Nintendo's 1 billion bank balance as opposed to the racent money from Rare. My money's on making their other Western Game company REtro STudio's even bigger and better.... Silicon Knights are not really like Rare in anyway Retro Studio's are. Although Silicon may recieve a bit.
Dringo.
Rare used to be called a company called ultimate before Nintendo bought them. They weren't exactly "no-bodies"...
Anyway, if Nintendo needed to replace Rare, they wouldn't have sold them off in the first place!
Anyway, if Nintendo needed to replace Rare, they wouldn't have sold them off in the first place!
Whatever Nintendo do with their money now, i'm sure they'll spend it VERY wisely, and only go-for the developer or possibly developerS who will suit them and their consoles best.
I think that SEGA are a company who would fit-in very well alongside Nintendo, even if they've had their differences in the past.
The fact is that they both produce very similar games in-terms of their style and ideas. And what's more, the majority of Nintendo fans who've played SEGA games can't say they didn't like it.
I don't neccesarily think a company that produces more 'adult' or 'mature' games would be as appropriate as a lot of Nintendo fans have and will have brought GameCubes for the likes of Mario and Zelda, and not Resident Evil and Eternal Darkness.
But they HAVE to find someone...
Maybe they could by some n'obodys', like Rare used-to-be, before Doney Kong Country?
I think that SEGA are a company who would fit-in very well alongside Nintendo, even if they've had their differences in the past.
The fact is that they both produce very similar games in-terms of their style and ideas. And what's more, the majority of Nintendo fans who've played SEGA games can't say they didn't like it.
I don't neccesarily think a company that produces more 'adult' or 'mature' games would be as appropriate as a lot of Nintendo fans have and will have brought GameCubes for the likes of Mario and Zelda, and not Resident Evil and Eternal Darkness.
But they HAVE to find someone...
Maybe they could by some n'obodys', like Rare used-to-be, before Doney Kong Country?
Well I think if Nintendo want to buy anything with their newly found wealth, they shouldn't bother with just one developer, instead how about buying the rights to some more games licences? They did it with the Resi series, so why not some more popular games franchises?
That way they could get games from all major developers instead just sticking with one. It's an idea anyway, but being realistic, I don't think Nintendo are going to spend their money as callously as Sony and Microsoft. I don't think they are as greedy, and already have more exclusive games than any of the other consoles out at the minute.
If anything I think they'll invest the money into developing some more exclusive games, whether it be by them or by one of their 3rd party development teams. Either way I don't think we are going to see Nintendo throw around their money as loosely as Microsoft, attempting to buy up every games developer who makes a game, which 'could' improve the consoles popularity. Though I wouldn't be complaining if that’s what they do.
That way they could get games from all major developers instead just sticking with one. It's an idea anyway, but being realistic, I don't think Nintendo are going to spend their money as callously as Sony and Microsoft. I don't think they are as greedy, and already have more exclusive games than any of the other consoles out at the minute.
If anything I think they'll invest the money into developing some more exclusive games, whether it be by them or by one of their 3rd party development teams. Either way I don't think we are going to see Nintendo throw around their money as loosely as Microsoft, attempting to buy up every games developer who makes a game, which 'could' improve the consoles popularity. Though I wouldn't be complaining if that’s what they do.
Money should not be an issue to the Big N!
Kinda like how Man United act at times - £30m on Rio Ferdinand.
The sale of Rare has added £240m to all-else they have left-over in the Piggy Bank after over 100 years in different business' and not just games.
How can they be short of cash??
With all that money they should go for the Big Name - SEGA - just like you said. They are available, Nintendo will surely have the money, and the Triforce Arcade Board is only bringing the 2 closer together.
SEGA and Nintendo on one console may make it seem even more 'kiddy', but think of the pulling-power it'd have over the X-Box and PS2!! :D
Kinda like how Man United act at times - £30m on Rio Ferdinand.
The sale of Rare has added £240m to all-else they have left-over in the Piggy Bank after over 100 years in different business' and not just games.
How can they be short of cash??
With all that money they should go for the Big Name - SEGA - just like you said. They are available, Nintendo will surely have the money, and the Triforce Arcade Board is only bringing the 2 closer together.
SEGA and Nintendo on one console may make it seem even more 'kiddy', but think of the pulling-power it'd have over the X-Box and PS2!! :D
I think Nintendo should aim big. If they're only going to buy one company, then why not go for the bigshots? SEGA, Konami, Rockstar, CAPCOM? Any of those four would increase the GameCube's potential a lot, with many PS2 and X-Box owners rushing to get GameCubes. They've got the money from Rare, so LET'S USE IT.
Boss_Pac_Man wrote:
> i dont really think nintendo have enough money to buy an actual
> company the size and quality of rare or sega. maybe they could use the
> bit of cash they made from rare to buy a smaller company, like
> neversoft, or activision, or even one of my personal favourates,
> Namco. that would be a blow for sony as it would mean making the
> popular tekken series on the gc only.
>
> at least sony already have all the electronics business if the
> playstation flops. hopefully microsoft dont have the insight to buy
> sony if they drop out of the wars.
How much money do you think nintendo actually have? Its not pocket change. They have at least £1 Billion.
> i dont really think nintendo have enough money to buy an actual
> company the size and quality of rare or sega. maybe they could use the
> bit of cash they made from rare to buy a smaller company, like
> neversoft, or activision, or even one of my personal favourates,
> Namco. that would be a blow for sony as it would mean making the
> popular tekken series on the gc only.
>
> at least sony already have all the electronics business if the
> playstation flops. hopefully microsoft dont have the insight to buy
> sony if they drop out of the wars.
How much money do you think nintendo actually have? Its not pocket change. They have at least £1 Billion.
i dont really think nintendo have enough money to buy an actual company the size and quality of rare or sega. maybe they could use the bit of cash they made from rare to buy a smaller company, like neversoft, or activision, or even one of my personal favourates, Namco. that would be a blow for sony as it would mean making the popular tekken series on the gc only.
at least sony already have all the electronics business if the playstation flops. hopefully microsoft dont have the insight to buy sony if they drop out of the wars.
at least sony already have all the electronics business if the playstation flops. hopefully microsoft dont have the insight to buy sony if they drop out of the wars.
Well I read the first paragraph and bit then stopped, cause you were writting the same trash X-box owners have been writting.
With Rare gone this is what Nintendo stand to lose:
One good game a year
Thats all. The Gamecube now has more exclusives than Nintendo ever had! (with the exception of maybe the SNES, seeing as there were only two consoles then)
With the release of the Gamecube Nintendo's popularity has gone right up, they're doing the best they've done since the SNES!
It really, truly, means nothing.
With Rare gone this is what Nintendo stand to lose:
One good game a year
Thats all. The Gamecube now has more exclusives than Nintendo ever had! (with the exception of maybe the SNES, seeing as there were only two consoles then)
With the release of the Gamecube Nintendo's popularity has gone right up, they're doing the best they've done since the SNES!
It really, truly, means nothing.
Rare have left the brains and innovation of Nintendo for all the power and money that belongs to Bill Gates and his Microsoft empire.
Ok, so that news is becoming very old fast, but the fact is that it still remians to be the truth. Nintendo have sold their one true friends, the old and faithfull who kept the N64 alive. And all for a mere £240m!
Would you sell your best friend for a huge stash of cash??
No matter what you think, no matter how wrong it really is, it's all too-late now.
The deal is done.
Without the support of Rareware, with the obvious exception of Dinosaur Planet's release, the GameCube will be hugely-lacking in the 'Exclusive Games' section with only their own work and the entire Resident Evil series being all they really have to show that makes their games line-up that extra-bit different to lists of the X-Box and PS2. With so-many great games that you can get on either of the other 2 consoles, why would any PS2 or X-Box fan want to buy a GameCube aswell when they can easily get the likes of the new Tony Hawk or ISS game on what they already have?
If Nintendo don't want a repeat of the N64, which they don't, then they'd better get around to buying up someone big and FAST who can really give them all the exclusive 2nd Party games the Cube will need in-order to succeed.
Just look at how well the PS2 is doing with exclusives like the GTA series and Gran Turismo - for now anyway.
If you are aware of all the latest news then you will know about Microsoft's apparent interest in Capcom; the people behind the likes of MegaMan, the Street Fighter series, Devil May Cry, and of-course, Resident Evil - along with many other big-name games going back through the last 15-20 years of Gaming.
Now for them, it would be a great investment - and I can't help but say it would work-out the same way for Nintendo with the GameCube or even SONY's PS2.
Back in the Super Nintendo's days, during the Golden Age of Gaming, Capcom were a huge hit - especially on the SNES itself with Street Fighter II: Turbo and the rest all setting the way. These games may not now be quite what they used to be back then, but Capcom are still 'doin' the biz' with the likes of Onimusha 2 on the PS2 and, i'll say it once more; Resident Evil on the GameCube. While Nintendo are also getting their fair-share on the GameBoy Advance with an all-new MegaMan game.
So you can see there that Capcom still remain to be 'Hot Property' when it comes to Games Development. If Nintendo have any sense left then they'll snap-up the Big C before Bill Gates can rub his Green Notes all up-in-their-faces.
If it's not to be Capcom, then there are a few other names i'd like to suggest:
And SEGA are the first on my list.
The masters behind so many great games from the past, present, and even future can never be forgotten. Even if you've played only ONE Sonic adventure, there's enough inside just one SEGA game to make you cry-out-loud for more.
SEGA have left the Console business for good after the Dreacast to go-on to producing a large number of games for a large number of formats, as you will all very-well know.
To have the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, the masters behind Streets of Rage, the brains behind Shenmue, producing games like these and more for your machine and your machine only would be only a dream-come-true! I personally hope that Nintendo do one-day realise this and take-note on SEGA availabillity leading to the capture of Yuji Naka and Yu Suzuki and co., working alongside Miyamoto and the brains behind Mario and Zelda.
These 2 companies, Nintendo and SEGA are the 2 biggest names in the world when it comes to Games. But over the years, with all those games, has come a lot of rivalry and bitterness between the 2. Thankfully though, all hatchets have been burried and they are now best-of-friends thanks to the Triforce Arcade board, bringing the 2 together along with Namco.
SEGA may have big-plans for future releases on the PS2 and X-Box after success like Super Monkey Ball and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle on the GameCube, but if Nintendo were to snap-'em-up to replace Rare, surely nothing could stop the tiny Cube!
I've found it hard to think up any-other names for possibly candidates to replace Rare, but due to their work on the Triforce Arcade board with the Big N, Namco; creators of Soul Calibur and Tekken, have come to mind.
Just like it will with SEGA, the Triforce will only bring Namco closer to Nintendo - just like how the 'other one' brought Princess Zelda and Link closer too.
If a deal were to be struck then to be honest, we wouldn't really be getting all that much 'extra' as GameCube owners. Sure, there would be the superb fighters like Tekken and Soul Calibur to go-along with Super Smash Bros. Melée and Primal Fury: Bloody Roar, but that would be just about it. That's all we know Namco for.
As you jolly-well-know, Rare have developed the latest Star Fox title, after Nintendo did the hard-work themselves with Lylat Wars. Now then, if my sources are to be believed, then Namco are set to be the next team to work on an all-new Star Fox game, just like Rare were.
If all goes very-well here, then the 2 companies could see eye-to-eye here, and Nintendo may feel that they could use these guys for a lot, lot more - maybe they could even work on future Mario or Zelda games to give the every-ageing series' some new looks to keep-'em-alive!?
It may seem rather strange of me to throw Namco into the hat, but you never know when you really think about it.... And when Nintendo initially brought Rare, had you ever heard of them or played one of their games?? No.
No matter who it is, i'm sure Nintendo themselves will make the best descision possible. And no, buying Rare back off-of Micrsoft would never work before you even suggest it. Forget about them, they're old news! And anyway, Bill Gates would surely demand at-least 4-times what he payed in-return!!
Nintendo cannot afford to live the remaining 5 years of the GameCube's life-span without a big-name sitting alongside them in the 2nd Party Developers seat in Japan.
Without a new no.2, the GameCube may not even last 3-full years, and we may soon have another Dreamcast-style surprise failure on our hands, forcing Nintendo to pull-out and focus on their games alone.
Rare are long-gone now, let's hope Nintendo do the right thing and bring in someone new to replace them.
Ok, so that news is becoming very old fast, but the fact is that it still remians to be the truth. Nintendo have sold their one true friends, the old and faithfull who kept the N64 alive. And all for a mere £240m!
Would you sell your best friend for a huge stash of cash??
No matter what you think, no matter how wrong it really is, it's all too-late now.
The deal is done.
Without the support of Rareware, with the obvious exception of Dinosaur Planet's release, the GameCube will be hugely-lacking in the 'Exclusive Games' section with only their own work and the entire Resident Evil series being all they really have to show that makes their games line-up that extra-bit different to lists of the X-Box and PS2. With so-many great games that you can get on either of the other 2 consoles, why would any PS2 or X-Box fan want to buy a GameCube aswell when they can easily get the likes of the new Tony Hawk or ISS game on what they already have?
If Nintendo don't want a repeat of the N64, which they don't, then they'd better get around to buying up someone big and FAST who can really give them all the exclusive 2nd Party games the Cube will need in-order to succeed.
Just look at how well the PS2 is doing with exclusives like the GTA series and Gran Turismo - for now anyway.
If you are aware of all the latest news then you will know about Microsoft's apparent interest in Capcom; the people behind the likes of MegaMan, the Street Fighter series, Devil May Cry, and of-course, Resident Evil - along with many other big-name games going back through the last 15-20 years of Gaming.
Now for them, it would be a great investment - and I can't help but say it would work-out the same way for Nintendo with the GameCube or even SONY's PS2.
Back in the Super Nintendo's days, during the Golden Age of Gaming, Capcom were a huge hit - especially on the SNES itself with Street Fighter II: Turbo and the rest all setting the way. These games may not now be quite what they used to be back then, but Capcom are still 'doin' the biz' with the likes of Onimusha 2 on the PS2 and, i'll say it once more; Resident Evil on the GameCube. While Nintendo are also getting their fair-share on the GameBoy Advance with an all-new MegaMan game.
So you can see there that Capcom still remain to be 'Hot Property' when it comes to Games Development. If Nintendo have any sense left then they'll snap-up the Big C before Bill Gates can rub his Green Notes all up-in-their-faces.
If it's not to be Capcom, then there are a few other names i'd like to suggest:
And SEGA are the first on my list.
The masters behind so many great games from the past, present, and even future can never be forgotten. Even if you've played only ONE Sonic adventure, there's enough inside just one SEGA game to make you cry-out-loud for more.
SEGA have left the Console business for good after the Dreacast to go-on to producing a large number of games for a large number of formats, as you will all very-well know.
To have the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, the masters behind Streets of Rage, the brains behind Shenmue, producing games like these and more for your machine and your machine only would be only a dream-come-true! I personally hope that Nintendo do one-day realise this and take-note on SEGA availabillity leading to the capture of Yuji Naka and Yu Suzuki and co., working alongside Miyamoto and the brains behind Mario and Zelda.
These 2 companies, Nintendo and SEGA are the 2 biggest names in the world when it comes to Games. But over the years, with all those games, has come a lot of rivalry and bitterness between the 2. Thankfully though, all hatchets have been burried and they are now best-of-friends thanks to the Triforce Arcade board, bringing the 2 together along with Namco.
SEGA may have big-plans for future releases on the PS2 and X-Box after success like Super Monkey Ball and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle on the GameCube, but if Nintendo were to snap-'em-up to replace Rare, surely nothing could stop the tiny Cube!
I've found it hard to think up any-other names for possibly candidates to replace Rare, but due to their work on the Triforce Arcade board with the Big N, Namco; creators of Soul Calibur and Tekken, have come to mind.
Just like it will with SEGA, the Triforce will only bring Namco closer to Nintendo - just like how the 'other one' brought Princess Zelda and Link closer too.
If a deal were to be struck then to be honest, we wouldn't really be getting all that much 'extra' as GameCube owners. Sure, there would be the superb fighters like Tekken and Soul Calibur to go-along with Super Smash Bros. Melée and Primal Fury: Bloody Roar, but that would be just about it. That's all we know Namco for.
As you jolly-well-know, Rare have developed the latest Star Fox title, after Nintendo did the hard-work themselves with Lylat Wars. Now then, if my sources are to be believed, then Namco are set to be the next team to work on an all-new Star Fox game, just like Rare were.
If all goes very-well here, then the 2 companies could see eye-to-eye here, and Nintendo may feel that they could use these guys for a lot, lot more - maybe they could even work on future Mario or Zelda games to give the every-ageing series' some new looks to keep-'em-alive!?
It may seem rather strange of me to throw Namco into the hat, but you never know when you really think about it.... And when Nintendo initially brought Rare, had you ever heard of them or played one of their games?? No.
No matter who it is, i'm sure Nintendo themselves will make the best descision possible. And no, buying Rare back off-of Micrsoft would never work before you even suggest it. Forget about them, they're old news! And anyway, Bill Gates would surely demand at-least 4-times what he payed in-return!!
Nintendo cannot afford to live the remaining 5 years of the GameCube's life-span without a big-name sitting alongside them in the 2nd Party Developers seat in Japan.
Without a new no.2, the GameCube may not even last 3-full years, and we may soon have another Dreamcast-style surprise failure on our hands, forcing Nintendo to pull-out and focus on their games alone.
Rare are long-gone now, let's hope Nintendo do the right thing and bring in someone new to replace them.