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Forums - Microsoft - Former RARE composer - Microsoft 'f@#$ed' RARE over, ruined the company

MrBubbles on 09 July 2012
happydolphin said:
Dodece said:
I actually did a comparative analysis of Rare a couple years ago, and I would rather not do so again. I have far more productive things I could be doing with five or six hours of my life. Then running down decade old ratings. Followed by tedious number crunching. That said if memory serves me right, and it usually does serve me right. The Rare of the 64 generation had a average score in the mid eighties, and in Xbox generations it has had a averages score in the low eighties.

Microsoft basically still has what it got when it bought Rare. A slightly above average to good developer. The only real change has been in the area of volume, but that is explained by the fact that Rare doesn't just develop games for their platforms. They aren't simply a dedicated game developer anymore, and it is likely that Microsoft always intended to have them doing more anyway.

Rare started out strong in the 64 generation, but as the tempo increased the quality decreased. This isn't any kind of a opinion on my part. If you want proof go pull up a release list, and go down it chronologically cross checking the review scores for the games. This is a developer that went from making a Blastcorps early in a generation to making a Mickeys Speedway near the end of the same generation. My point being that Microsoft had nothing to do with that at all.

Look I was a avid Rare gamer, and I can tell you those reviewers weren't wrong. The games near the end of that generation were not as good as earlier in the generation. Hell in a lot of ways they were pretty bad, and yeah at the time I was pretty disappointed in Rare. You can argue it was Nintendo that caused the problems, or Rare did it all to itself, or even in some twisted way it was the press and players that were wrong. What is not right however is blaming the guys who weren't even remotely involved.

I suspect that a lot of this commentary is coming from players that only played the early games on the 64, and for whatever reason didn't stick around to watch the second half. I also suspect that most commenting in this thread were oblivious to the fact that Rare was still developing games for Nintendo platforms as late as 2008. I am not saying these things to defend Microsoft, but I am sick of the rose colored glasses some members on this forum insist on wearing. Microsoft didn't destroy Rare. The studio was pretty much destroyed by the time they got there.

The Rare you adore wasn't there anymore when the company changed hands. That isn't saying it cannot become something great in the future. It just hasn't been great for a time longer then Microsoft has owned it outright. It also should be said you probably shouldn't put too much stock into what former employees have to say, because chances are a lot of them had a lot to do with bringing the developer down in the first place. If you were likely a big part of that. Wouldn't you try to distance yourself from your own personal failures, or even try to blame that other guy for what went wrong. It is kind of strange that it is always somebody else who is at fault.

Anyway yeah Rare is just one great game from being back, but that has less to do with a fair appraisal, and more to do with the attention span of gamers. How many times do we read comments like this developer is just a great developer. Even though they have only made all of one game. I mean as a group we don't necessarily have the highest of standards.

But you're wrong. I personally knew that rare worked on a few games for GBA after the split, these being iirc Sabrewulf, Diddy Kong Racing (GBA) and Banjo Kazooie (GBA). These were needless to say way inferior to their N64 counterparts where applicable.

Also, no I personally was there from the beginning to the end watching their every release. You can be certain their last AAA games did not stumble in quality way on the contrary. Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64 and Conker's Bad Fur Day are some of my most beloved memories of the era. Also, Dinosaur Planet was in the works and it looked very promising for an N64 game. Things changed there. I remember seeing the screens of Dinosaur Planet early on and being very excited. It just never got finished and instead turned into Starfox Adventures.

Kameo Elements of power looked great for a Gamecube game, but it never followed through I find to deliver the classic Rare charm. It's no surprise since the project was not completed with Nintendo.

I think your disregard for some of us is what's backfiring on you. You think you're on some other untoucheable cloud but little do you realize many of us were avidly following the news when it actually happened back then. Me, I'm 27. You can be sure I was on ign64 just as much as I'm on vgchartz today.

So most of your post has just been demolished, I think it's time you changed your stance and actually debated rather than talking from bias.

the self congratulation on your ramblings is patently absurd and certainly unflattering.  



"I like my steaks how i like my women.  Bloody and all over my face"

"Its like sex, but with a winner!"

MrBubbles Review Threads: Bill Gates, Jak II, Kingdom Hearts II, The Strangers, Sly 2, Crackdown, Zohan, Quarantine, Klungo Sssavesss Teh World, MS@E3'08, WATCHMEN(movie), Shadow of the Colossus, The Saboteur

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Dodece on 09 July 2012

@happydolphin

I see this isn't going to end up well. Your obviously getting upset, and I am starting to get pissed off. Continuing on is not going to change that, and it isn't going to change our positions. All it is likely to do is get one or both of us banned. So I am just going to step out right now, and hope that you will do the same before we make a big fucking mess of things. We have to agree to disagree.



http://live.xbox.com/member/Dodece

craighopkins on 09 July 2012

they need to stop making kinect stuff and work on real games



happydolphin on 09 July 2012
Dodece said:
@happydolphin

I see this isn't going to end up well. Your obviously getting upset, and I am starting to get pissed off. Continuing on is not going to change that, and it isn't going to change our positions. All it is likely to do is get one or both of us banned. So I am just going to step out right now, and hope that you will do the same before we make a big fucking mess of things. We have to agree to disagree.

Okay



o_O.Q on 09 July 2012

i remember playing playing dk 64 and conkers multiplayer against my buddies when i was younger, that was fun as hell... i just hope that rare eventually gets back to making games of that caliber again



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Dark_Lord_2008 on 10 July 2012

The good old days of Rare on SNES with DKC trilogy, Killer Instinct, N64 with Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, DK64, Diddy Kong Racing, Conker, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo Tooie are long gone. 10+ AAA games were produced by Rare on SNES and N64..

A few average/mediocre games have been released by Rare on XBox and XBox 360 including grabbed by the Ghoulies, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts. I can not think of any others. Rare are now focused on Kinect games and avatars.

The acquisition of Rare by Microsoft in 2002 was a cynical business move to disadvantage Nintendo. The $100 million acquisition of Rare  has been a very poor business investment.