I love those bar charts, they look nice! I liked your thread and I'm here to tag it to my buddy.

Didn't like Rare's games all that much, to be honest, and other than PD and Goldeneye, they didn't fill any gaming niches that Nintendo EAD didn't do better. I would have traded Rare for Square (or Capcom or Namco) on the N64 in a heartbeat. The N64 needed more RPGs and good fighting games rather than more platformers.

by the late 1990's, Rare was definitely one o the best developers on the planet. That being said, I think the Stamper brothers had trouble finding a buyer for Rare because they were asking too much. They thought all their mega hits would justify the asking price. Most potential third party buyers probably understood the symbiosis that Nintendo and Rare had and understood that Rare wouldn't be the same without Nintendo. I think Nintendo understood this too. Also, with much of the Goldeneye team gone, Nintendo probably felt the buyout price was too high. Then came Microsoft. They were desperate for talent. Unlike others, they never knew what made the Nintendo/Rare relationship work. They thought by buying Rare, they would get a mini Nintendo. Boy were they wrong.

Also, to clear up a common misconception, Nintendo didn't sell Rare to Microsoft. Microsoft bought the controlling interest from the Stampers and Nintendo went ahead and sold their 49% stake because it became useless. However, it must also be said that Nintendo could have stopped the sale from happening at any time.

Here's something intersting:

As much as the internet likes to claim its Eternal Darkness, the first Nintendo published M rated game is actually Perfect Dark, albeit only in Japan, Rare self published everywhere else.

Great read. Would be interesting to compare how rare did in terms of games and sales since going over to microsoft.

I hope that everyone is already aware that Rare is rising from the dead, but for those who don't, check THIS out:
http://playtonicgames.com/

Best UK dev ever... Banjo

Sumo Digital's A team really gives them a run for their money. As did Criterion RIP :(

However, I'm sure a lot would argue RockStar North s the "best" UK developer.

OP is a great read!  Would be nice if you could also look at the pre Nintendo ownership Nintendo games such as Captain Skyhawk (one of my favourite NES games ever!) Pin.Bot and Solar Jetman.

You can run, but you can't hide.. >:)

Awesome read. That collaboration between Rare and Nintendo is one of the best in gaming history, imo. Amazing how many good games Rare made. I wonder if Retro Studios can fill their shoes eventually.