Rare to go 3rd-party?

[Raging Fuel]

There's a lot to talk about as we head directly into the big E3 2002 show, of course, which is why I've been called back by the ambiguously homosexual duo to write one of these dog-slapping Rumor Reports. But I'm going to keep it short and sweet -- and focus my time, your energy, on one of our most beloved second-parties.

What's Going on at Rare?
You want to know. I want to know. Everyone wants to know. What in the hell is up at UK based second-party Rare? There have been literally dozens of rumors about the company in recent weeks and months, all of them questioning its allegiance to Nintendo, its future business model, and its ties to big-name third-party publishers. No solid confirmations, though. Well, hardly any.

Earlier today, however, I chatted with a source very, very close to the company, who was kind enough to fill me in on some very gritty dirt. Apparently Rare is indeed exploring a third-party structure and is determined to release many of its upcoming games across multiple consoles. An insider comments, "[Rare is] definitely, absolutely, 100% doing Xbox and PS2 development down here. They've had [Xbox and PS2] kits for three months or more."

Yikes. But it gets even worse. Some previously announced titles such as Donkey Kong Racing may not materialize as planned. Sources allege that after deciding to develop the racer for multiple platforms, Rare was asked by Nintendo to remove any and all likenesses to its licensed characters from the game. What will it be then, Monkey Racing? Not quite as compelling.

Development on the hotly anticipated Perfect Dark 0, finally, is allegedly moving along very slowly. "Team members keep quitting and it's a very small group now," revealed one leak close to the developer. Rumors abound suggest that the title won't be playable at E3 -- and in fact may not even be shown on video. Apparently Rare has been toying around with a cel-shaded look for the project, though this is not confirmed.

What the hell does all of this mean? Well, if true, it means that Nintendo's premiere second-party has decided to dabble around on other systems. In the end, GameCube owners are still likely to receive first dibs on Rare's biggest projects, but without exclusivity it's going to be a whole different ball game.

Expect more detailed announcements regarding Rare's future at E3 and beyond.

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hmm...

 

[Macca]

/me chants "please be rumors"

 

[Slougi]

Hmm.... I wish they would to PC stuff. I see a few big flops on the console market coming up.......

 

[blizz]

If I remeber rightly Nintendo owns part of Rare. much like how Sony owns part of Square.

IMO it wouldn't be the end of the world, Rare have done some good games, such as Goldeneye but that team left and is doing Timesplitters.

the only way it would be big is that Nintendo would lose the main supporter of the N64, and since a few of their games are seen as clones of Nintendo games (Banjo = Mario, Diddy Kong Racing = Mario Kart), Goldeneye/ Perfect Dark and Conker are effectively all they're worth

also Rare games are only considered good because they spend so much time on them, Halo took three years and that's a paragon of a well polished game,

if Rare is going third party they're going to have to get into the habit of getting games out on time.

 

[Redah]

Strong rumours of a possible relationship between Rareware and Activision have been circulating around the net in the past few weeks. Computer and Videogames got hold of an industry insider and discovered a few important details. ''It's definite," said CVG's source. "It's a publishing deal, not a buy-out. Can you honestly see Nintendo intellectual properties appearing on other formats when they're making billions from exclusive IP's on Nintendo hardware?"

We certainly hope that this source is talking sense. But rumours are also escalating that Rare are set to release the sequel to Perfect Dark on the PS2. But why would Rare decide to code the game for the ageing and hard-to-program-for PS2? More money of course, but Nintendo own a major share in Rareware (49%) and I can't see them selling this gem of a development house anytime soon - and Nintendo surely wouldn't allow PD2 to be released on a rival console.

A Gamespot interview with Nintendo of America's very own Perrin Kaplan has delivered the strongest indication yet that Rare are not set to leave Nintendo. When talking about the designers on board at Nintendo, she commented 'We have lots of great artists and developers inside the company. HAL is a great company, Rare is great and Retro Studios-we've got some great talent.' All first party developers - and no hesitation about Rare being strongly allied with Nintendo.

When replying to a question concering Rare's alliance with Nintendo, Perrin replied 'Our good relationship with them continues and there aren't any changes at this time. Star Fox is well on track to come out and they're continuing to do their good work. We'll see what the future holds, but we've stayed very close to them and they to us and they definitely have done good work with us over the years.' 'So you don't see them making games for the PlayStation 2 or Xbox over the next couple of years?' Gamespot responded. 'You'd have to ask them. I don't foresee it, but you'd have to ask them.' No sign of a rift there.

Can you honestly see Nintendo giving up one of their prized assets to run-of-the-mill developer/publisher Activision? I really can't see it happening - but with enough dosh I wouldn't totally dismiss such an occurence. Highly unlikely. But where are these rumours coming from? I strongly doubt the rumours - but stranger things have happened. The official word from Nintendo is that Rare is very much a Nintendo first-party. So believe it until any, if any, contradictory statement is issued by the Big N or Rareware.

 

[Redah]

 

[Quackat0r]

Yeah... cos PSM2's a reliable source... *cough*

 

[sk8bloke22]

woohoo...good news for ps2 owners if its true.

 

[blizz]

also from the "I read it in a book/magazine so it must be true." philosophy:

"Next up on the discovery channel why the world was made in six days, followed by '1984 The Worst Year in History' a historical documentary based on the diary of George Orwell."

I've always wanted to use that line

I love the phase "slew of 'Halo-beaters", professional journalism at it's best , remember this was written at at least one month (if not two sometimes) before the publishing date.

I have a rumour for you though, the PS3 is actually the Gamecube

 

[Jaz]

I have a rumour for you though, the PS3 is actually the Gamecube

*Jaz dropkicks blizz*

 

[blizz]

/me dropkicks Jaz

hehe

 

[pj64er]

*Jaz dropkicks blizz*

/me dropkicks Jaz

hehe

at the same time? i dont see how this is physically possible???

anyway, why would Rare leave (err...go multiplatform) nintendo now? if they were smart, they would have left during n64's lifetime, when the going was bad. right now, GC has a pretty good (forseeable) future, whats the point?

 

[Quackat0r]

There isn't one. The only reason they would do it is because they got greedy and wanted more money.

 

[Tesla-Guy]

One word NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 

[Raging Fuel]

I really can't see Nintendo allowing this, since they own 49% of the company, but who knows?

 

[Slougi]

I really can't see Nintendo allowing this, since they own 49% of the company, but who knows?

They own 49% , so they cannot decide that. I think the rest is owned by one person alone, meaning he still makes the decisions.

 

[Raging Fuel]

I don't know who owns the other 51% of Rare (I'm assuming it's one or both of the Stamper brothers) but owning 49% of a company gives you a huge say in how things are going to be run. Just because you don't own the majoroty doesn't mean that nothing you say has any sway, even if the rest is owned by one person. The only way that Rare will be making games for other consoles is if Nintendo sells their share to someone else.