Rare News Articles
Thursday31st Jan 2013
News GoldenEye Creator Explains N64 Title's Role In Bringing "Real" Guns to the Virtual World
Brand names weren't licensed, which has changed in modern games.
With gun control and related violence a topical subject in the U.S. and among interested parties and spectators worldwide, the role of video games has faced its own level of scrutiny. Major publishers had a meeting with vice-President Joe Biden as part of his gun control task-force...
Monday17th Dec 2012
News Microsoft's Application For Killer Instinct Trademark Is Denied
New instalment in development at Rare?
Although it's not something that is likely to impact the production of a new Killer Instinct title for Nintendo consoles - the IP is owned by Rare (and, by extension, Microsoft) so that's not going to happen any time soon, sadly - but interesting news has filtered through about a possible new entry in the...
Friday23rd Nov 2012
News Ex-Rare Staffer Explains How He Created A Profanity-Packed N64 Cult Classic
Chris Seavor spills the beans on Conker, the chances of Killer Instinct 3 and why he left Rare
Conker's Bad Fur Day is famous for its bad language, adult themes and profusion of poo, but it didn't start life as a mature-rated piece of software. Originally intended as a direct sequel to the cute and cuddly Game Boy Color title Conker's Pocket Tales,...
Friday12th Oct 2012
News The Truth Behind Donkey Kong Country's Opening Level Theme
It's a stitch-up
Remember the music for the opening level on Donkey Kong Country? Do you recall how it moves from one musical style to another, almost as if it's three different songs that have been fused together? That because it is. In an interview with CVG, former Rare composer David Wise reveals the truth behind the track: I was on holiday in...
Wednesday26th Sep 2012
News Ex-Rare Developers Join Forces To Create A Spiritual Successor To Banjo-Tooie
All hope is not lost
Nothing puts a frown on a Nintendo fan's face like mentioning Rare. The company that once brought Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64, Banjo Kazooie and GoldenEye 007 are currently working on the Kinect Sports series for Microsoft. While most gamers have given up on seeing a new "proper" Banjo Kazooie sequel from Rare, a new glimmer of...
Monday17th Sep 2012
News Ex-Rare Staffer: Exodus Wouldn't Have Happened Under Nintendo
Former employee admits that Microsoft sale has changed the company
In September 2002, Microsoft purchased UK developer Rare for $375 million, effectively ending the firm's long-running association with Nintendo - a relationship which resulted in some of the best games ever created. Fast forward a decade, and Rare is a very different beast. Many key...
Tuesday11th Sep 2012
News Check Out Dinosaur Planet, Before it Was Invaded by Star Fox
Anthropomorphic characters, but different
Star Fox Adventures was the last Rare developed game on a Nintendo system before the company was bought by Microsoft, and it was famously not what had initially been planned. It was going to be a new IP called Dinosaur Planet, with creatures called Sabre and Krystal, sidekicks Tricky and Kyte, as well as a...
Friday7th Sep 2012
News GoldenEye 007 Designer Gives Amazingly In-Depth Post-Mortem On The Game
Martin Hollis talks about creating the perfect Bond game
Famed developer Martin Hollis may have gone on to other projects at the now-defunct Zoonami - creators of the WiiWare classic Bonsai Barber - but he started his career at Rare, where he worked on titles such as Killer Instinct, Perfect Dark and - possibly most famously - GoldenEye 007. Hollis...
Tuesday26th Apr 2011
Rumour Rare Looking Into 3DS Development
Banjo-Kazooie 3D a possibility
The rumour mill has been churning up some pretty exciting stuff lately, and here's a bit that seems plausible considering that Microsoft saw no problem with Rare working on DS games like Viva Piñata and Diddy Kong Racing. Supposedly, the company is in talks with Nintendo to develop games for the 3DS platform,...
Friday3rd Sep 2010
News Original GoldenEye Designer Suspicious of Wii Publisher's Eye for Gold
Though developer Eurocom is in his good books
Whether Activision is all about the money isn't really for us to say, but one thing most will agree on is that it has several franchises in its pockets into which at any given time the company can reach, pulling out a sequel or spin-off. So with the upcoming revival of the GoldenEye name, the publisher's...
Thursday2nd Sep 2010
News Rare Reveals Nintendo Wanted to Cancel GoldenEye
The Bond title nobody wanted but everybody loves
Ahh, GoldenEye 007: so many wasted hours, so many headshots, so many arguments over Oddjob. It all could have been so different had Rare acted on a letter sent by Nintendo that pulled the plug on the shooter. Speaking to British magazine EDGE, Studio Director Mark Betteridge revealed the team's...
Wednesday28th Jul 2010
News MundoRare Shuts Down After Losing Faith in Rare's New Direction
Operators of long-running fan community saw no other choice
When you have a fan community website that has been up and running for almost a decade, you'd think that it would stick by the developer through thick and thin, right? Apparently not, if that developer is Rare. It appears that MundoRare has run out of reasons to support the creator of such...
Saturday19th Jun 2010
News Turns Out Shigeru Miyamoto Does Like Donkey Kong Country
Miyamoto clears things up once and for all
Following on from the E3 announcement of Donkey Kong Country Returns, it seems that something Shigeru Miyamoto had said in the past about the SNES original has re-surfaced. In a recent interview with IGN, Miyamoto cleared up the situation surrounding claims that he didn't like Donkey Kong Country, despite...
Friday4th Jun 2010
News Rare Confirms It is Not Working on Activision's Rumoured GoldenEye Game
Not what fans want to hear
Rare was undoubtedly one of the brightest stars back in the Nintendo 64 era and with two top-quality first-person shooters alone tucked under its belt, a selection of compelling 3D platformers and of course, the much-loved Donkey Kong 64; it must have been difficult for Nintendo to let go and eventually sell its stake in...
Friday19th Feb 2010
News XBLA Perfect Dark Getting GoldenEye Maps and Weapons
Another nail in the coffin of Virtual Console GoldenEye?
Although it's pretty obvious to all but the most blinkered Rare fans that the N64 game GoldenEye has about as much chance of hitting the Wii Virtual Console as Tiger Woods keeping his club to himself, there's always been a part of us that held out hope. However, Microsoft's Ken Lobb (the...
Tuesday6th Oct 2009
News Rare May Return to Nintendo Consoles
Don't think you've seen the last of them...
Rare used to be Nintendo's behemoth, their go-to guys when it came to crafting first-party masterpieces. They really made their name on the N64, but afterwards their relationship with the Big N got a little more complicated and they now reside under the Microsoft umbrella. However, last year they released...
Monday21st Sep 2009
News Rare: Fate Was Against Us With Goldeneye
UK developer sees little chance of a Virtual Console release
A while back we got rather excited about the prospect of seeing the N64 classic Goldeneye on the Virtual Console. Such enthusiasm was perfectly understandable - it's still one of the best FPS games you're ever likely to play - but sadly legal wrangles between Nintendo, Microsoft and...
Monday15th Jun 2009
News Molyneux: Nintendo Made Rare Too Secretive
Lionhead boss intends to give the UK developer an "identity"
Lionhead boss and newly appointed creative director of Microsoft Europe Peter Molyneux has been speaking exclusively to Gamesindustry.biz about his role in assisting Microsoft's internal development teams - with Rare being one of them. Molyneux - who founded legendary UK software house...
Thursday14th May 2009
News GoldenEye Designer Backs Virtual Console Release
Martin Hollis would love to see 007 on the Wii...but also admits it's a legal minefield
The man behind GoldenEye - one of the most beloved N64 games of all time - has admitted that he'd love to see the game make it to the Virtual Console download service. Martin Hollis, formerly of Rare and now plying his trade at his own company Zoonami (Bonsai...
Tuesday5th May 2009
News Prepare To Gnash Those Teeth: Perfect Dark May Be XBLA-bound
Leaked screenshot suggests that Rare is porting the classic N64 FPS to the 360
Website Destructoid has been sent an image from an undisclosed source that gives a pretty solid indication that former Nintendo cohort Rare is porting its beloved Nintendo 64 title Perfect Dark to Microsoft's console. Given that Microsoft owns Rare now, this is hardly a...
