Tag: Rare - Page 5
News Former Rare Developers Will Show Off Their New Game In March
Playtonic Games to present their first project at this year's EGX Rezzed
Earlier this month, we reported on the news that fledgling studio Playtonic Games - made up of former Rare employees - is currently hard at work on a spiritual successor to the Banjo Kazooie series. It has now been confirmed that the as-yet-unnamed release will be getting its...
News Meet Playtonic, A Studio Of Ex-Rare Staff That Wants To Work With Nintendo
"Spiritual successor" to Banjo-Kazooie on the way
A group of former Rare employees has banded together to establish a new studio which is now working on a spiritual successor to the Banjo-Kazooie series. Speaking to EDGE magazine, the core members of Playtonic - Gavin Price, Chris Sutherland and Steve Mayles - have explained how they recently...
Gallery Imagining What Banjo-Kazooie Might Look Like in HD
Bringing a Rare classic up to date
Rare's classic N64 game Banjo-Kazooie is a fan favourite with retro gamers for good reason; even by today's standards this early 3D game is still incredibly charming and fun to play. Still, 1998 is a long time ago, and there is always room for improvement. Enter UK based 3D artist Neil Goodman, who has tasked...
Anniversary 20 Years Ago Today, Rare Resurrected The Donkey Kong Brand
Donkey Kong Country is now two decades old
Donkey Kong is Nintendo's first major star, having made his début in the arcade game that effectively turned the company into the global monster it is today. However, when Mario decided to become Super on the NES and take his place as Nintendo's number one mascot, DK was bumped down the pecking order and...
Nintendo 64x64 Conker's Bad Fur Day
One mean %&*@% Squirrel…
Only Rare could have taken the cutesy adventure platformer genre and so masterfully warped it into such an hilariously offensive and beautifully vulgar gameplay experience. Enter Conker, a binge-drinking squirrel, whose walk home from the pub quickly turns into an adventure of inappropriate and scatological proportions...
News You Can Now Download The Entire Banjo-Kazooie Soundtrack For Your Listening Pleasure
And we mean the ENTIRE soundtrack
Rare's N64 classic Banjo-Kazooie is one of the best 3D platformers you're likely to find on any console, and its soundtrack was also pretty swell to boot. You can now download every piece of music contained in the game — that's 164 different tracks — over at composer Grant Kirkhope's Bandcamp page. It's not...
News Rare Co-Founder Tim Stamper Is Back In The Games Industry
Listed as a director of UK studio FortuneFish
As any self-respecting Nintendo fan will know, Chris and Tim Stamper are the siblings who formed famous UK studio Rare. Once part of the Nintendo family and responsible for such hits as Donkey Kong Country, GoldenEye 007 and Banjo Kazooie, Rare is now under the wing of Microsoft — and the Stampers have...
News Game Boy Classic Donkey Kong Land Is Coming To The Japanese 3DS Virtual Console
You'll go bananas about this news
Fans of the naked ape wearing only a tie will be pleased to hear the 1995 Game Boy title Donkey Kong Land is being released in Japan on the 3DS Virtual Console early next month. Released a year after the success of the Super Nintendo original, Donkey Kong Land has the Kongs recapturing their banana hoard when...
Month Of Kong Whatever Happened To Donkey Kong Racing?
Former Rare man Lee Musgrave talks about a lost GameCube smash hit
E3 2001 was a joyous occasion for Nintendo fans. The GameCube was nearing its release in Japan and North America and Nintendo had a lot to say and show about it. Super Smash Bros. Melee, Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader and Luigi’s Mansion were just some of the games...
Month Of Kong The Making Of Donkey Kong Country
Behind the scenes on the game that spawned a million-selling series
This month has seen the launch of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, a superb platforming romp starring one of Nintendo's most iconic characters and coded by a western development team, Retro Studios. These days, the notion of an American company doing the heavy lifting on one of...
News Donkey Kong Country's Fate Was Determined By A Risky Rare Investment
"The rendering of each 3D model would take ages"
With Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze currently entertaining Wii U owners, it's only natural for those with long memories to cast their minds back to where the franchise began. Donkey Kong Country on the Super NES remains one of the 16-bit system's most iconic games, and sits at the forefront —...
News Rare: Relationship With Nintendo Was Built On Mutual Respect And Benefited Both Parties
Also, explaining Cricket to Shigeru Miyamoto isn't as easy as it sounds
Earlier today we reported on a Red Bull feature regarding the history of UK games studio Rare — the creator of such classics as GoldenEye 007, Banjo Kazooie and Killer Instinct — which revealed that the firm almost released a Game Boy rival
News Rare Originally Conceived Dinosaur Planet As A Racing And Adventure Crossover
Until Miyamoto had his say, of course
If you're familiar with Nintendo's history then you'll know that Star Fox Adventures on the GameCube actually began life as Dinosaur Planet on the N64. Created by UK studio Rare — then a first-party Nintendo developer — the game had progressed quite far before Shigeru Miyamoto decided that it would make a...
News A Decade After Being Bought By Microsoft, Rare Still Wants To Channel The Spirit Of Nintendo
UK studio wants Kinect Sports Rivals to emulate Nintendo classics
As we all know, Rare used to be one of Nintendo's most valuable development studios, but was acquired by Microsoft in 2002 to work on its Xbox console. As the years have passed the company has seen staff come and go, and few remain who can remember the days of the SNES, N64 and...
News Gaze Upon One of the Rarest 3DS Systems
Just five to be produced in Taiwan
There have been lots of limited edition 3DS systems to date, including a good number that have only graced Japan. More are expected, of course, but the blue model pictured is possibly going to be the rarest of them all; only five will be produced and distributed in Taiwan. These models will be part of a promotion...
News Microsoft Execs Thought They Owned Donkey Kong After Acquiring Rare
Conker's Bad Fur Day director tells an amusing tale
Back in 2002 Microsoft forked out $375 million to acquire UK-based developer Rare, which had previously enjoyed a long prosperous period with Nintendo. Of course that meant all of Rare's intellectual properties went along for the ride, including Perfect Dark and Banjo Kazooie. However, according...
News Former Rare Staffer Chris Seavor Hints At Wii U Development
Is the Conker creator working on Nintendo's console?
Chris Seavor — otherwise known as the man who created Conker's Bad Fur Day — has already stated that Wii U development interests him a great deal. However, he's now given his most convincing indication yet that he has something in the works for Nintendo's system. When asked on Twitter if he...
News Happy 15th Birthday, Banjo-Kazooie!
Guh-huh!
It’s hard to believe now, but before 31st May, 1998, no one believed that a bear in yellow shorts and a bird in a backpack could ever make an effective team. A spunky little Twycross-based company called Rare, however, set out to prove the world wrong, and did so with quite admirable results. Today marks the 15th anniversary of the North...
Review Banjo-Kazooie Symphony by The Blake Robinson Synthetic Orchestra
A Rare treat
Rare is a company that is fondly remembered by many Nintendo fans. While it had success on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System with the Donkey Kong Country series, it was during the years of the Nintendo 64 that the development studio truly came into its own. It produced hit after hit, arguably saving the 64-bit system from the...
News Microsoft To Announce Sequel To "Historic" Rare Franchise At E3
Time to get jealous?
In case you hadn't noticed, Microsoft lifted the lid on the Xbox One this week. The new system is the successor to the popular 360 console and will be getting plenty of support from the company's stable of internal developers — one of which is former Nintendo partner, Rare. The UK-based studio was purchased by Microsoft over...
News Grant Kirkhope Wishes He Could Make Banjo-Kazooie 3 For Nintendo
Explains why Rare chose to make Nuts & Bolts
Banjo-Kazooie is revered by many as one of the best games to ever grace the N64. The platformer, which starred a docile bear and a wise-cracking bird, could have ended up being something completely different as it was originally set to be a highly ambitious venture known as Project Dream. Speaking as a...
News GoldenEye 007 Multiplayer Took Just Six Weeks To Make
Rare staffers put it together right at the end
In 1997, Rare released GoldenEye 007 on the N64 and it became an absolute classic that arguably redefined the first person shooter genre and revolutionised the way multiplayer was done on home consoles. It all nearly never happened though as according to Grant Kirkhope, the composer behind the game's...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
News Conker's Bad Fur Day Madness and Vulgarity The Work of "Twisted Genius"
Warning: poo references
Although Nintendo systems are notorious for censoring and toning down adult or vulgar content, there have been various mature games released on its consoles. A recent example, to name just one, is Madworld on Wii, which had enough violence and bad language to keep any mature gaming fan happy. If you want to go back to retro...
News Wait, There's a Spectrum Emulator in GoldenEye?
Secret agent
Of all the cheats and secrets tucked away in GoldenEye 007, we never suspected Rare's N64 classic harboured a fully functioning ZX Spectrum 48k emulator. Rare began a coding experiment to see if the N64 could support a Spectrum emulator, even embedding old-school Rare games Sabre Wulf, Jetpac and more in the code. Clearly the experiment...
News Ex-Rare Staff Talk Nintendo, Microsoft and Where It All Changed
Going places
Many long-standing Nintendo fans have a special place in their hearts for Rare, the British developer responsible for Banjo Kazooie, GoldenEye 007, Jet Force Gemini and more. In 1994 Nintendo bought a 49% stake in the developer, guiding it to create hit after hit, but in 2002 the studio was bought outright by Microsoft, spelling the end...
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,...
News GameCube Tech Demo Shows Banjo Threeie in Action
What could have been...
N64 adventures Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo Tooie made plenty of fans back in their 64-bit heyday, but they never appeared on the GameCube. A threequel was planned but never released, but now unreleased game-finders par excellence Unseen 64 have posted a short video of the project. Shown off at Spaceworld 2000 before the...
Talking Point Why Nintendo and Rare Should Reunite
Is now the right time for Rare to come back home?
Last week wasn't the best of times for the UK games industry. We reported that indie dev The Code Monkeys shut its doors after 23 years and on Friday Bizarre Creations – who produced the brilliant Project Gotham Racing for Microsoft, as well as the criminally underrated Blur – finally closed...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Feature The Making of Jet Force Gemini - Part Two
In the second and final part of our N64-themed making of, we look at the critical and commercial impact of one of Rare's best action titles
One of the most refreshing aspects of Jet Force Gemini was the way in which the player’s progression throughout the various levels was handled; initially, the only character available is Juno, but eventually...
Feature The Making of Jet Force Gemini - Part One
In the first of a two-part feature, we go behind the scenes on what is regarded by many as the N64's finest action title
Back in the late ‘90s being an N64 owner was a testing experience. Having to listen to your Playstation-owning chums constantly droning on about Lara Croft and Solid Snake was enough to put any Nintendo devotee in a bad mood,...
Feature The Making of the Nintendo Game Boy
Last year the machine turned 20, but what was it like to work with? We speak to the developers who made this legendary handheld sing
Every now and then a product comes along that is so groundbreaking that it becomes synonymous with its function. The Hoover, Cellotape, Pritt-Stik…these names and many more like them have become so intrinsically...
News Old Cart on the Block Has the Right Stuff
Rare prototype NES box surfaces on eBay
Every now and then, eBay turns up a real find, something you never thought you'd see in your natural life: a rare console edition, a forgotten classic, a badly beaten prototype box for an unreleased NES game. If you're a fan of the latter, you'll be thrilled by this story that a scuffed box for the sadly...
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...
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...
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...
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...
