Tag: Rare - Page 5

  • 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...