Rare is widely considered by long-time fans to have fallen from fame since its GoldenEye and Donkey Kong Country days as a Nintendo studio, but Rare studio manager Scott Henson insists the studio has "lived up to its potential".
Fans of old Rare might beg to differ, but Henson points to one recent success as a sign of Rare's continuing significance. "Fallen off the map is interesting when you sell over three million units," he said in reference to Kinect Sports - the Wii Sports-alike Kinect launch title.
"I like that falling off the map. It's great success in this industry," he added, setting off sarcasm detectors.
"If you look at what Rare has done," he went on, "whether it was Killer Instinct in the arcade or Donkey Kong Country and pushing pre-rendered graphics, they always innovate as a studio. That has stayed the same."
It was huge news when Rare jumped ship from Nintendo to Microsoft. Xbox fans were expectedly in for a blast with Rare on board. Has it lived up to expectations?
"We absolutely have," said Henson, who joined Rare late last year.
"We delivered as much to the platform as any other studio. With the success of Kinect Sports and what I believe will be a successful Season Two, I think Rare lived up to its potential," he added, before saying Rare's work on Microsoft's Xbox Avatars "goes far beyond anything the studio has ever done".
Hanson looks to the future. "We're excited about Season Two and it's something to celebrate. The title itself is about connecting people to video games. It's a new Rare. It's an exciting place to push boundaries for what's possible."
What do you guys think?
Comments
44 comments so far...
TheCrimsonFenix on 14 Sep '11 said:
Rare = rare
Surprisingly that took me only 2 seconds to come up with.
mogel94 on 14 Sep '11 said:
Congrats non- Rare, you've made a succesful Wii sports clone with another one coming out to clutter the shelves. Feel proud of yourselves lads?
El Mag on 14 Sep '11 said:
No they didn't fall....they were pushed.
*Insert Murder, She Wrote theme tune*
MrPirtniw on 14 Sep '11 said:
I don't care what anyone says- Kameo, Viva Pinata and (especially) Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts have been original, refreshing and most importantly fantastic games. Kinect Sports is also pretty good too.
Now I want to see a new Conker game even more random and ridiculous than the original. Thankyou please.
humanhand on 14 Sep '11 said:
Perhaps this was the work of Maureen and Larry??
only_777 on 14 Sep '11 said:
'Kinect Sports sold 3 millions copies'
It was a bundle game with the Kinect you f**king idiot. It's like the director of Wii Sports saying his game sold over 70 million copies.
With this sort of stupidity....no wonder Rare went under.
El Mag on 14 Sep '11 said:
Wouldn't surprise me one bit, they always seemed bloody suspicious!
You aren't in on it as well are you hmmmmm, fecking conspiracy I tells ya.
We just want a new Conker, it's not much to ask is it Rare?
Lady Gagagged on 14 Sep '11 said:
Diddy Kong was a rip of Mario Kart, even if it was much better.
Donkey Kong 64, the two Banjo games and Conker's BFD all owe so much to Super Mario 64.
Star Fox Adventures was a two potentially good games but ended up a third rate Zelda.
All were relatively successful but were clearly influenced by Nintendo's pedigree. None were as important to me Jet Pac, Knightlore, Blastcorps, Donkey Kong Country or Battletoads. Rare used to great, producing a relatively well received Wii tech demo clone is hardly a great legacy for the last decade.
rbt2 on 14 Sep '11 said:
Not forgetting Batman and Head Over Heels, eh?
Black Mantis on 14 Sep '11 said:
Nothing like that, as Kinect Adventures was the game bundled with Kinect at launch. There may well be a KS bundle now, but it did sell a lot of copies as a stand-alone title before that came out.
InsertMoreCredit on 14 Sep '11 said:
RARE are a toss games developer now making s**t games for a s**t gimmick.
Lady Gagagged on 14 Sep '11 said:
Were they by Rare/Ultimate? I never played Bat Man but Head over Heels was sodding mad as a box of bats.
Sixpack1976 on 14 Sep '11 said:
I think the man from Rare is deluded and I don't care if kinect sports sold millions, it's garbage.
AJDarkstar on 14 Sep '11 said:
Battletoads.
Donkey Kong Country.
Blast Corps.
GoldenEye.
Banjo-Kazooie.
Perfect Dark.
Jet Force Gemini.
Diddy King Racing.
Donkey Kong 64.
Conker's Bad Fur Day.
StarFox Adventures.
Grabbed By The Ghoulies.
Kameo.
Perfect Dark Zero.
Kinect Sports.
Some might call it devolution.
rbt2 on 14 Sep '11 said:
Blastcorps/Blastdozer was a criminally underrated game that is in desperate need of a remake.
MrPirtniw on 14 Sep '11 said:
Were their (newer) games released on a Nintendo console I'm sure people would be singing a different tune. Ah, well.
kimoak on 14 Sep '11 said:
I think they are glad that they still exist as a developer in the UK. I see that as a success even though MS have supported them very well. Their games may not be as acclaimed as a lot of their past games from old RARE back catalogue to Ultimate Play The Game days. they have to be happy about that. Even though it's not RARE as we all know. How can it be without the Stamper Brothers though?
tmulford on 14 Sep '11 said:
No they weren't. They were Jon Ritman (who also did the legendary Match Day) games, though the 3D isometric view owed a lot to Knightlore and Alien 8, and were published by Ocean. Just shows how times have changed, back in the 80's as Ultimate they were innovators of new genres. Now they code shovelware for Kinnect. Same goes for David Braben who went from Elite to Kinnectimals.
KMakawa on 14 Sep '11 said:
If people actually stand back and see the scale of XBL Avatars, and what it has done for Xbox in terms of marketing and globalization.. Rare have done an immense job.
Just as much as Bungie created the Xbox Live Friends/party system for Halo (by mistake) and Microsoft then adopted it as their global system.
Rare may of not made a perfect game for a long time, however their contributions in other sectors have been something short of immense to be honest.
Lady Gagagged on 14 Sep '11 said:
b*****ks, I was moaning in the N64 days that they'd fallen into the trap of just making the same games over and over and were in decline.
Aren't XBL avatars just an improved version of the Mii? If I'm wrong fair enough but it seems to me once again Rare are aping Nintendo.
kron-1664 on 14 Sep '11 said:
We all know the truth ,this dude hasn't got a clue. They have gone so far down its scary. To use Kinect Sports as an example about how great they still are is ridiculous, they have the new hardware on sale with it and its a lauch title. Lets see how their next title fairs.
voodoo341 on 14 Sep '11 said:
TheCrimsonFenix on 14 Sep '11 said:
They're the Ronald McDonald of the gaming industry then!
ricflair on 14 Sep '11 said:
Whether the Avatars on XBL are successful or not, they basically just nicked what Nintendo did Nintendo did with Miis and gave them clothes. With the new dashboard (which I don't mind overall) colour scheme, the little chimes and even some of the facial features, it's so Mii-like I'm sure were Nintendo American and not Japanese, they would have been instructing lawyers.
MrPirtniw on 14 Sep '11 said:
Well, at least with the games I mentioned they were either new IP's or offered interesting game mechanics. I had loads of fun with Nuts (guffaw) and Bolts- great game... frustrating at times- but great. Perfect Dark Zero is the only turkey I can think of that they've released on the 360- and even then I've played a lot worse.
KMakawa on 14 Sep '11 said:
I think the thing I was getting at the most is that, its given the 360 an identity.. just as much as the party system had back in the days of Live on the original Xbox. I 100% agree that they were pushed into this situation, but they had a choice to do it or not.. admittedly if they declined they were off the cliff, if they accepted.. they're saved for a little bit -- but rep takes a hit.
I still think Rare can kick out some smashers if they switch back prioritys, but they seem to be in a niché that they are liking -- otherwise they'd of cut the tape a lot sooner.
Avatars have been a good thing for MS, they are literally everywhere now. (and although its a copy of the mii's.. mii's arent the first ever avatars..)
ricflair on 14 Sep '11 said:
True, but it's the little tinkly sounds that really make them seem to similar to me.
I bloody loved Nuts n Bolts. It wasn't a really good platformer for me, but the vehicle design was so much fun!
verynaughtyboy on 14 Sep '11 said:
He did say that their focus had changed and I'd agree with that. The only thing he seems to use in his defense is that their Kinect game sold 3 million units-weak!
However,give me a sequel to Jet Force Gemini and I'll call my daughter Rare!
basscadet on 14 Sep '11 said:
Girlfriend is delusional. Very often s**te games sell loads. Being the best of a bad bunch is nothing to boast about. Catch a grip! Rare is (sadly) a spent force. Hes going on about avatars when other developers are making REAL QUALITY AAA GAMES!
rbt2 on 14 Sep '11 said:
Blimey, you're right!
What was I thinking of then?
Kezwar on 14 Sep '11 said:
Don't forget Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and Jet Force Gemini, all were top notch games. Damn I used to love Rare, pains me to see what they have become.
MrMoobs on 15 Sep '11 said:
Personally I loved Kameo, Viva Pinata and Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts.
ste hicky on 15 Sep '11 said:
i call bulls**t, mr henson (y'sure it's not jim?). rare are s**te these days and nintendo must laugh their tits off every day that they got so much out of ms for the name.
WHERESMYMONKEY on 15 Sep '11 said:
Ah fun comments from peolpe bemoaning that rare's glory days are behind them, I'm going to make a bet. 90% of you haven't played kinect sports. Most of you didn't play nuts and bolts and half of you weren't old enough to appreciate most of the games you are championing in the first place.
Rare is still a great company, They just don't make games for your demographic anymore.
Barry316 on 15 Sep '11 said:
So if Epic stopped making Gears and Microsoft dropped Halo to start making cooking games together you'd be alright with it, because they aren't going for your demographic ?
Get off your high horse, it's nothing to do with age it's a fact that Rare are a shadow of their former selfs. By all means make another Kinect Sports, but surely they could make another game, one for fans, at the same time. No, they tried doing that with a Kameo 2 and a new Perfect Dark, but Microsoft in their infinite wisdom cancelled them both.
Viva Piņata contained their last bit of magic. They'll be closed down after Kinect Sports 2 with a few members kept to look after the avatar side of things.
kakah on 15 Sep '11 said:
you can say that til your blue in the face! Rare was once one of the top developers. Since it reached the top of the mountain in it's Snes/N64 heydays it is now free falling down a bottomless pit.
This is what happens when you join M$ - look at Lionhead Studios!
Amish McSwegan on 15 Sep '11 said:
WHAT A LOAD OF b*****ks HE HAS JUST COME OUT WITH. VERBAL DIARRHOEA!!
ste hicky on 15 Sep '11 said:
sorry monkey, they are s**te these days with all those things taken into acount. oh, and i'm certainly old enough to remember when they were exceptional.
Desert Fox on 15 Sep '11 said:
Can we have a new, proper Banjo Kazooie game, or another Jet Force Gemini please? I really couldn't give two turds about your high flying Kinect adventures. Rare has done a Nintendo and stopped catering for their long-time fans in favour of the money vomiting casual market. I just hope they continue to follow Nintendo's trend and come back with bigger offerings for their original audience.
Vampyre on 15 Sep '11 said:
Rare dropped a b0110ck when they sold their soul to Microsoft. They became a eunuch when the Stamper brothers left.
I know some will still defend them, but for me what was once the shining light of the British dev community (along with Bullfrog) has become a pale, pale shadow of their former illustrious selves. From JetPac to Jet Force Gemini they were magnificent. Now just another has-been.
Lady Gagagged on 15 Sep '11 said:
I'm more than old enough, at the tender age of forty, to remember all the games I've mentioned, and I have played the the 360 games that I've criticised even though I don't own one. The hit to miss ratio from Ultimate/Rare used to be astounding, with an incredibly diverse portfolio. In the N64 days they started to repat themselves with an alarming regularity, and it shows. I didn't mention Goldeneye earlier as I wondered if people would still care considering how badly it has aged, great game in its day, but not the bona fide classic it was once considered. Jet Force Gemini sucked balls and I hope there is never a sequel as I know curiousity will get the better of me.
Perfect Dark though is another example of just making the same game with a few tweaks. I will say for them that since they joined Microsoft they have produced an outstanding range of new IPs, but they aren't all that. Nuts and Bolts felt like a great game waiting to get out, Kameo was OK but could have been better, and Viva Pinata is probably the best they have done for Microsoft.
Picnic12 on 16 Sep '11 said:
You don't use the word 'innovate' in the same interview as talking about Kinect Sports, an evolution of Wii Sports.
I think that Rare should try to make a fast moving adventure game like Uncharted but with homages to their past of creating epic 3D platform games. i.e they include imaginative and fun themes and set pieces. Even Uncharted doesn't really do that - it sticks more or less to what you would expect in those types of settings.
Lady Gagagged on 16 Sep '11 said:
I quite agree Picnic, but I don't think Nintendo have done a game of that genre yet that Rare can rip off.
Darkwun on 19 Sep '11 said:
In other news, Henry Winkler reprises his role as the Fonz in the Happy Days revival. Commenting on the opening threesome scene with Megan Fox and Jessica Alba, 67 year old arthritic Winkler replaces his nebulizer and says "Aaaaay! I still got it!"