There's no source for that, because he was just making stuff up.

What's true though is that several key members of the Goldeneye team left Rare to found Free Radical, a studio that was responsible for the Timesplitters series. A few other employees also left in the late '90s and early 2000s.

But ultimately Nintendo lost Rare, because the Stamper brothers (founders of Rare) wanted to sell their company. They did let several companies bid, but Nintendo still had the option to buy first. Meaning that if they paid as much as the company that made the highest bid, they could keep Rare as an exclusive developer for their platforms. Microsoft knew this, so they issued a very high bid (around $350m). That was too much for Nintendo, so they passed.

At a similar time, Nintendo acquired Retro Studios for a tiny $1m. In hindsight there's no doubt what was the better investment.

There's no source for that, because he was just making stuff up.

What's true though is that several key members of the Goldeneye team left Rare to found Free Radical, a studio that was responsible for the Timesplitters series. A few other employees also left in the late '90s and early 2000s.

But ultimately Nintendo lost Rare, because the Stamper brothers (founders of Rare) wanted to sell their company. They did let several companies bid, but Nintendo still had the option to buy first. Meaning that if they paid as much as the company that made the highest bid, they could keep Rare as an exclusive developer for their platforms. Microsoft knew this, so they issued a very high bid (around $350m). That was too much for Nintendo, so they passed.

At a similar time, Nintendo acquired Retro Studios for a tiny $1m. In hindsight there's no doubt what was the better investment.