Topic: There Was A 'Severe Culture Clash' Between Microsoft And Rare

Phil Tossell, a former Rare developer who's now working on Wii U-bound indie title Tengami, has spoken about the 'severe culture clash' when Microsoft bought Rare.

"I think most of the people who worked at Rare at the time were Nintendo fans and we loved working closely with Nintendo. Rare was also a close knit family and so it was something of a shock to suddenly become part of such a huge organisation as Microsoft. There was a severe culture clash which perhaps didn’t become apparent at first as Microsoft mostly allowed us to continue as we had always done.

"However as time passed and there were staff changes at MGS, together with Tim and Chris (Stamper) leaving, the culture changed and it began to feel more Microsoft and less Rare. While Rare continues to put out high quality games, for me it lost some of the spark that had made the company special."

However, Tossell does end his observations by noting Rare seems to be on the upward curve again.

"I think at the moment the company is going through something of a rebirth as there are lots of new people and most of the old staff have left, so I’m excited to see what they do next. Whatever Rare does it will always hold a special place for me."

Thanks NeoGAF and NOW Gamer

The tragedy.

Sigh Microsoft, what are we going to do with you?

Ignoring them as much as possible?

There were more revealing stories in the past like...
Former RARE composer - Microsoft 'f@#$ed' RARE over, ruined t...

Who Killed Rare?

Rare Wanted To Make Killer Instinct 3 But Microsoft Canned It

The man who made Conker - Rare's most adult game

The only thing I got from those links was that the former Rare composer appears to have some serious emotional problems that he probably should be medicated for.

Well, not much news here. Everybody that mattered left when MS bought them out. To add insult to injury, after Kinect they made them their go-to developer for Kinect shovelware garbage. Maybe they could go upwards again, but with freemium Kinect Killer Instinct (Not by Rare now, but just shows what MS is doing with Rare's old IPs), and more Kinect shovelware, I highly doubt it.

R.I.P Rareware
1985-2002

Why? Because he cares? That is what it means to be human, to have emotions, to be passionate. Without emotions there would be no creativity.

There's some metaphor somewhere I can make right now about Rare dissolving right now... Though the best I've got is a sheep and a shepard...

Boy, some people take everything seriously.

!

Alright, I've had to clean this thread up. Please keep it on topic and stop with the snarky attitudes. Thanks.

People need to remember that it's the people behind the company that makes it great, not the company name. Most of the original members of Rare are long gone so the company will never be quite the same.

I'll give Microsoft this. They're just using Rare as a brand name at this point instead of actual developers beyond Kinect Sports or whatever if the new Killer Instinct is any indication. Obviously, I'd prefer Rare being good again but at least they are using their titles for something potentially good.

I have to agree. Once everyone from the SNES/N64 era left Rare it just wasn't the same.

I still tink Rare made good games after the Microsoft buyout. Now though beyond Kinect Sorts I don't have a lot of faith in them and they'll have to impress me at gamescon if they have something else in the works. I wouldn't mind their IP being revived under new dev teams however.

The post-Nintendo Rare games I played were Grabbed by The Ghoulies, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Kameo and Perfect Dark ZERO. I actually liked these games on one level or another. It's just knowing in the back of my mind that these games would've been certified classics if they were crafted in a different work environment. (i.e. in conjunction with Nintendo)

Gamecube developed Kameo:

I think Rare would have fell apart either way.in my eyes. The Stamper Brothers Planned to leave regardless and a Fullly Nintendo owned Retro after Star Foz and other projects not being able to be made in time (PDZ/Kameo), Modern Da Rare would probably end up like Retro. (a one studio at a time game with limited development opportunities.)

For better or worse under Microsoft Rare put out
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Conker: Live and Reloaded
Kameo
Perfect Dark Zero
Viva Piñata
Jetpac refueled
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Kinect Sports
Kinect Sports: Season 2
Kinect Sports Rivals

Every thing up to the Kinect Stuff are atcally pretty varied in the same way Nintendo 64 games where we got
A Mascot Platformer
A first person Shooter
A 2D platformer
A build your own vehicle racing platformer
Animal Simulation games

Than Kinect Sports came out and sold more than all those games making them focus on avatars and Kinect. The Kinect games are good but apparently Rare was three teams so here's hoping they're working on other games or will pull a Killer instincts and just have the IP used.

LOL
http://mynintendonews.com/2013/06/30/microsoft-thought-they-o...

Seavor on twitter:

"To be fair, it was actually a bland , grey exec out for a free jolly to UK who said it, rather than MS as a whole."

https://twitter.com/conkerhimself/st...39786113155072

please at least get the information from the actual source. Apparently it was an executive who was there but wasn't apart of the games division or the actual Microsoft/Rare deal.

don't ruin the joke