They don't need to be another Rare. I do want to see how they could fare with their own IP, but it's not like it has to mimic one of Rare's series.

Well, it's either them or Playtonic Games. Most people would say the current Rare isn't really the same as Rare in the 90s. And most of their original IPs are dormant now.

I say yes, because both start with R.

I've long thought the transition from Rare to Retro was amazingly smooth and successful.

Rare was hemorrhaging talent in 2000-2002, and was proving too expensive to fund or to buy. So Nintendo strikes a deal with former Iguana employees to satisfy the market Rare had previously served. The result: one of the best games ever made in Metroid Prime.

I never understood why folks bemoaned Nintendo passing on Rare in 2002, when Retro proved a perfect substitute. Seriously, Nintendo went from Banjo-Tooie and Perfect Dark in 2000, to Conker in 2001, to Metroid Prime in 2002. That's amazing.

Retro has proved remarkably durable over the last 15 years, producing great game after great game. Meanwhile, Rare has become mired in mediocrity. I think it speaks volumes to Nintendo's stewardship, and how it's essential for Retro's success and how it was vitally important to Rare's golden age -- along with, of course, the leadership of the Stampers and some of the best game designers, programmers, and composers in video game history.

If by that you mean they've been missing for too long on the Nintendo scene, yes they have replaced them.

Retro has made better games than Rare ever has. Though to be fair, the N64 days were the early days of 3D gaming.

I'd hesitate to call them a new Rare, because they approach things very differently. While Retro has been mostly focused on revitalizing and putting a new spin on established Nintendo IPs, Rare was more about making entirely new franchises. Banjo Kazooie, Killer Instinct, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Battletoads, Perfect Dark, etc. Even the games that did involve a pre-established franchise, like DKC or Star Fox Adventures, played nothing like previous entries in the series, and in the case of DKC, basically created the Donkey Kong universe that exists currently. And Star Fox Adventures wasn't even going to involve Star Fox at all until Nintendo intervened.

Perhaps put it simply, Retro has been what Nintendo has turned to to bring a forgotten franchise back to prominence, while Rare was more of a creative bucket for entirely new ideas.

Playtonic replaced Rare. Same people similar logo, same kinds of games so far. Retro is almost 20 years old so they have not replaced them. Rareware put out new IP's constantly and released more games on N64 alone (forget ZX Spectrum and NES) than Retro has released in it's 19 year history. Retro has only made new games for 2 existing IP's.

They don't really make the same types of games though.

LMAO! To think you actually ask this question is the most offending thing I've read all week. You're comparing a studio that only made Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong, to a studio that that made tens of different types of games.

What did Retro do since Metroid Prime? Only Donkey Kong, and helped a Japanese Nintendo team making assets for some courses in Mario Kart 7. Yeah this "sound oddly similar" to Rare in the 90s:

30 games alone in the Rare Replay bundle