Allard: "Rare Xbox to Xenon Conversion Within Three Weeks"

Now you see why Nintendo passed on these guys 2 years ago. Hows that big hole in your pocket feeling M$?

I agree, Rare is not the power house developer it once was, The golden eye team left a long time ago to start Free Radical, and the guys who worked on Donkey Kong Country and Banjo are also long gone. Only a few remain who were on the original staff, and they have become a lackluster 3rd party developer in my opinion, The only reason Microsoft acquired them was because of the few measly IP’s they still claim the rights to ( Perfect dark, Banjo Kazooie, Killer Instincts), as well as the nostalgic factor that will surley draw a few fans towards Microsofts side. But I think Nintendo did the right move by ending the relationship.

I agree, Rare is not the power house developer it once was, The golden eye team left a long time ago to start Free Radical, and the guys who worked on Donkey Kong Country and Banjo are also long gone. Only a few remain who were on the original staff, and they have become a lackluster 3rd party developer in my opinion, The only reason Microsoft acquired them was because of the few measly IP’s they still claim the rights to ( Perfect dark, Banjo Kazooie, Killer Instincts), as well as the nostalgic factor that will surley draw a few fans towards Microsofts side. But I think Nintendo did the right move by ending the relationship.

I totally agree.

The current situation with Rare has kinda finished them off as a gaming superpower.

Maybe it's because Rare has, in the last four years, only managed to write a couple of thousand lines of code for Kameo.

A blind quadriplegic could "manually" complete the conversion in that time. Prolly could play a mean pinball, too.

I agree, I think the problem with Rare is that they take SOOOO long to finish a game that by the time they finally do people have completely lost intrest, maybe a bigger staff would be a solution.. Perfect Dark for example, was a pretty good game, but by the time it was done the Nintendo 64 had long been “dead” and obsolete. The same happened with jet force Gemini, that game was delayed for years, and by the time it was finished nobody cared, they had moved on to bigger and better things. I think its funny how the only thing people want to see from Rare is a new perfect Dark, but rather then focus on system selling killer aps, they pump out titles like that grabbed by the goulies, and kameo.. although the later kind of looks like it may be somewhat entertaining. Its not what we want to see. I applaud them for trying new things, but they should stick with what they are good at. Its just disappointing that developers take so long to release triple A games.. if Nintendo had released the “new” Legend of Zelda game earlier in the systems life, and Resident Evil 4 would have been a launch title instead of all those remakes we got I think Nintendo’s Gamecube would be in a much, much better position then its in.

Ummm, they did release a new Zelda at the perfect time in the GCN's life, called Wind Waker. Maybe you didn't enjoy it, but just like any other Zelda game, by frocing yourself through one or two rough patches, the experience of the game is made even better because of your installed determination. And if Resident Evil 4 was released earlier, it would still be about ghosts and guys with hooks, and would lack the thrill and polish that has made it one of THE best games this generation, totally owning the Halo twins and Grand Theft Auto: Rehash. Your desire for instantaneous gratification is the difference in wanking yourself, and getting some real b00ty, you want something great, you work and wait for it, you want it now and you'll be laying all alone with a sticky hand. Or something...

The problem with Rare is not that they arn't operating well, but that their entire staff and management is in complete shambles. I look forward to seeing a "behind the scenes" coverall about Rare sometime in the future. The Stamper brothers have completely destroyed the company.

That’s not what I meant, what I meant is that the gamecube lacked a killer ap on day one, and it frustrates me. Because that system is so overrated. The game cube is so much faster and more technologically advanced then Playstation 2 , but you’d never know if because the developers put half assed ports on it left and right. The Wind Walker to me was not worthy of the Zelda name.. Don’t get me wrong. It was good, but not great; traveling back and forth to all the different islands was monotonous. That’s why I said the “NEW” Zelda in my previous post, something that will make the masses remember that Nintendo is probably the best game developer on the planet, something that makes grown men weep. That’s what Nintendo needed at launch. Just like Microsoft, they had Halo, Dead or Alive 3, and Project Gotham, one day ONE. And that’s why they are second place right now, and Nintendo is lagging behind (in America at least).

Resident Evil 4 is the first game I could be bothered to complete since Fable. I've put countless hours into Halo 2 online, because the maps and weapon balance is outstanding, and the human element adds that random factor. But single player just bored me after a couple of hours. RE4 was (is, Pro level next) just so invloving and satisfying. The way set-pieces vary each time, with enemies attempting to get at you in varying ways, really blew me away.

The old adage of "It's worth buying the console for" is usually bullshit. But in this instance, quite possibly.

I agree rare has been slipping since they went with microsoft. I mean when they were with nintendo from snes to n64 they made killer instinct, donkey kong 1-3 (not 64 that was crap), perfect dark and conker's bad fur day (greatest M rated game since gta). Since joining the big M they have had their creative freedom taken away. Microsoft loves to control everything, nintendo on the other hand let rare do anything they wanted. They should leave micorsoft and be multiplatform.

Is the Wind Walker a new hack?

*Adam M switches into OoT bashing mode*

You may have found the sailing in The Wind Waker monotonous, but I found walking around a bloody field with nothing at all to do much more boring.

The Wind Waker was the closest Zelda game to A Link to the Past, it had innovative graphics, excellent controls, good dungeon design and above all a SENSE OF HUMOUR and a plot - two things they left out of OoT that make games for me.

*Adam switches out of OoT bashing mode*

Well, anyway, back to the real subject matter.

With the number of staff Rare employ and the amount of resources, including an R&D lab, that Rare have it's amazing that hey still haven't produced anything of note. It wouldn't surprise me if, in the coming few years, they're closed down or aquired by the likes of EA.

Not sure that's entirely accurate. I imagine a company of Ninty's high standing have very tight development and QA standards.

I read an interview with Miyamoto a couple of years ago before Rare were bought by Microsoft, he said that Nintendo trusted Rare and that they were a secrative developer that prefered to do their own things.

The gist of it was while Nintendo monitored the output and checked their franchises were being used correctly, they didn't have that tight control over Rare's activities.

Yeah sure, in terms of game design I'm sure Rare had free reign (within reason). But Ninty would never published a game unless it was solidly built, and thouroughly play-tested to their own standards.