Cerebralbore101 said: Nintendo of Japan had no idea how important Rare was to their software library, and refused to fund them or give them creative freedom. GameCube should have had an exclusive FPS from Rare by late 2002. Instead they just let them go. I think Retro Studios is headed in the same direction. They aren't making Metroid Prime 4, that's Namco. They aren't doing anything right now really. Nintendo of Japan will likely just sell them off or let them go soon enough. |
What do you mean they gave them no creative freedom? Under Nintendo's reign, Rare operated mostly as an independent company. For example, when Nintendo had lost interest in continuing with Goldeneye, the staff at Rare continued working on the game anyway. Nintendo's role within Rare was mostly giving creative suggestions and to handle marketing. There were times when Nintendo had requested that Rare add or remove something from their games, but Nintendo never told Rare what games they could or could not do.
The truth behind Rare is that Nintendo could have bought them at anytime. Even at the 11th hour when the Microsoft deal was almost signed, Nintendo could have swooped in and purchased Rare for less money than what Microsoft was paying. The reason Nintendo did not purchase Rare was because they thought the Stampers were asking for too much money. Back then, this would have sounded ludicrous, but when looking back at it all, Nintendo was right. Nintendo doesn't buy studios for IPs. They buy studios for talent. Rare lost a good portion of its talent back in 1998. They still had good people by 2002, but a large investment would need to have been made in order to get the resources necessary to have a studio who could make games for next generation hardware.
The truth behind Microsoft's acquisition of Rare is that Microsoft had no idea what they were getting themselves into. They thought they were buying a mini Nintendo. They had no idea how vital Nintendo was to Rare's success and Microsoft had no idea how to market Rare's games. Microsoft was still new at the console business and for the first few years, they took a lets throw anything at the wall and see what sticks method. When that didn't work, we got Kinect.