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[Jeels]

I kept scrolling expecting the list to be over and it kept on going.

This is why I never believe a word out of Microsoft Execs.

 

[Hindle]

CD2 is Crackdown 2, that was in development by Rare.

But yeah, all prototypes are pre-Kinect. Since then most of the old employees have left anyway, the studios has become smaller. So why bother with non-Kinect games when your team does not have any experience with traditional games but is a first class studio when it comes to Knect?

And well, even their Kinect games get cancelled. They worked on some Kinect prototypes in more traditional genres. In the end, management decided to go for KS3. Just as with MGS Vancouver, a lot of ideas got shot down.

There still no excuse for them simply doing nothing with Rares old back catalogue. I've said it many many times, but they should auction them off.

 

[ec0ec0]

a depresing thread for a depresing day...

 

[Jezehbell]

Damn... Some projects looks very interesting !

 

[Deguello]

They required an investment Microsoft was not willing to make because Rare makes games that barely hit XBOX target audience. They did not buy Rare because they wanted the to make games for their box. They wanted reduce Nintendo's threat. They won't spend much money on Rare because for them is wasted money. It was never the point.

I feel this way as well. MS never really had an idea with what to do with Rare after they ran the headlines and won the mindshare that the developer of one of the hottest shooters of the previous year (2000) was now a MS studio.

A lot of the games MS deigned to allow Rare to make were things directed at Nintendo's fanbase of... well I would say "Nintendo style" games but that's a little vague. You know games like Animal Crossing and stuff.

Rare was not bought to increase Microsoft stable of games. They were bought to deny a competitor a resource. Great for MS, as the loss of Rare was a blow to Nintendo in mindshare (even if until the release of Kinect Sports, Rare's GBA and DS games sold more than all Xbox and X360 games combined, meaning Nintendo was probably making more money off of Rare than MS was, even though MS owned them lock stock and barrel) but it really sucks for the fans.

For those that have daydreams of Nintendo forcing Rare to make Wii Sports clones like Microsoft in order to cover up the real crime of MS's mishandling of a legendary studio, based on Nintendo's history with Rare I'd say that would be unlikely.

Of the Cancelled games, other than the ones that were already being worked on for GC anyway, Nintendo would have mostly likely greenlit Kameo 2 provided Kameo GC was a success, Banjo-Karting minus the bad taste left by Nuts an Bolts, and Sabreman Stampede. Urchin, Ordinary Joe,a nd Arc Angel would have been possible, depending on the quality. The MMO games would have been rejected, more than likely, as MMOs have a tendency of consuming all of a company's resources.

 

[csquared587]

I think it would be cool if they start working on smaller games like Starbreeze did with Brothers. Interesting concept games without a huge budget to help reestablish themselves.

 

[brickarts295]

Damn you Microsoft, just damn you...

 

[IOnEI Falcon]

CD2 is Crackdown 2, that was in development by Rare.

But yeah, all prototypes are pre-Kinect. Since then most of the old employees have left anyway, the studios has become smaller. So why bother with non-Kinect games when your team does not have any experience with traditional games but is a first class studio when it comes to Knect?

And well, even their Kinect games get cancelled. They worked on some Kinect prototypes in more traditional genres. In the end, management decided to go for KS3. Just as with MGS Vancouver, a lot of ideas got shot down.

Yes exactly. This is why there are tons more pre-Kinect era that whatever the count of canned games there have been the past 3 years. Also as I mentioned we know about these games because of the huge amount of people that left pre-Kinect. I am sure in a few years we will get a little more insight to the games that could have been/will be at Rare.

 

[Breakfast at Noon]

look at all those proper games.

 

[GetemMa]

The Kinect is such a horrible gimmick. For Rare to be saddled with it is a tragedy.

I don't love the Wiimote, but in terms of gameplay application and usefulness it absolutely crushes Kinect despite the delusions of MS brass.

 

[Wishmaster92]

It's time for a new proper Perfect Dark Microsoft. Have the game support kinect, and ditch the horrible cartoonish artstyle of pd:z.

 

[Goodacre0081]

wow, look at all those interesting games, IP's and ideas. seriously, MS can go fuck themselves

 

[PixyJunket]

There still no excuse for them simply doing nothing with Rares old back catalogue.

Hmm.

They made a new Perfect Dark, a new Jetpac, a new Banjo and released the original Banjo, its sequel, and the original Perfect Dark on XBLA.

And while not developed by Rare themselves, a new Killer Instinct is being made right now to help kick off Microsoft's new console.

Nothing is an interesting thing to take away from that.

 

[VibratingDonkey]

In terms of force, I know people probably don't believe it when I say this: I don't force Rare to do anything. Like, forcing a studio to do something is a very short-term ambition as the head of studios because, in the end, people will vote with their feet, and they'll just go work somewhere else.

Ordinary Joe is a cancelled prototype for a new survival horror game, that was in early development for Xbox 360 at Rare LTD, designed by Chris Seavor.

Arc Angel is a cancelled futuristic racing game prototype that was in development in 2003 for the Xbox, by a team lead by Chris Seavor at Rare LTD.

Rare’s management decided to hand the PD franchise to the developers of Conker, a team led by Chris Seavor.

In view of your twitter, you are a person who speaks openly. Recently you left Rare for whatever reason, and many people too, even the Stamper have left the company, and everyone can see that the games that Rare make now are not, either in quality or quantity, comparable to what Rare make a few years ago. What happened there?

Unfortunately i’m not really at liberty to talk about where Rare is now or where it’s going and tbh, i have no idea where it’s heading in terms of portfolio anyway (but i suspect the word ‘Sports’ figures largely in that picture). Rare has a rich , extremely rich IP pool on which to draw, and this in no small way defined the type of person who applied to work at the company.. They wanted to work at Rare not because they paid the best cash, or the hours were good, or for the local night life (Tasha’s excluded). It was because they were fans of the games and wanted to be part of making more of them. Personally, I don’t think that motivation applies so much nowadays.
http://gamikia.com/interview-with-chris-seavor-conker/

Wikipedia says somewhere on his Twitter he says he was fired.

 

[Caayn]

Seeing all those great titles canceled

To be fair Rare created some fun games while they were under Microsoft: Viva Pinata, Kameo, Banjo Nuts & Bolts, Conker, Perfect Dark Zero.

 

[nin1000]

Damn that hurts ! So many great concepts just thrown under the bus
DAMN YOU MS!
Its heartbreaking to have witnessed the rise and fall of such a "once" great studio :I
Looking at those concepts makes it even worse.

 

[Kinyou]

Seems to make sense that those last two games got canned. Savannah seems to be exactly the same as Sony's Africa. And the Xbox camera game was probably the ancestor of all those kinect games.

 

[PixyJunket]

Seeing all those great titles canceled

Most of the stuff listed in the OP probably never made it to anybody's eyes to be "cancelled," most of it is just concept art.

There's some neat stuff in there for sure, but the crux of the thread title is horribly inaccurate.

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

I still want a new perfect dark.

I know people talk shit about perfect dark zero and I agree it has not aged well gameplay wise, but it was a solid launch title. I had a lot of fun.

Microsoft has so many great ip's under their belt. It really sucks that they don't put them to use.

Fuck, if they don't want to open/buy studios, then pay studios to make games out of their ips.

 

[Terrible Majesty]

Wii U could use some of those games. jussayin

 

[Axass]

I loved everything Rare in the N64 days. That list is soul-crushing.

 

[Dueck]

Kameo 2, Urchin, and the new Perfect Dark would've all likely been games I'd have purchased. Guess how many Kinect games I'll ever buy? Zero.

 

[SMZC]

Instead of funding projects like these, Microsoft uses their money to keep PlayStation users from playing Titanfall.

This.

This right here is why I will never support Microsoft as a company.

 

[Shiggy]

Most of the stuff listed in the OP probably never made it to anybody's eyes to be "cancelled," most of it is just concept art.

There's some neat stuff in there for sure, but the crux of the thread title is horribly inaccurate.

All of those had playable prototypes.

 

[SapientWolf]

So is it safe to say that Nuts & Bolts is the greatest bait and switch of this or any other generation?

I was expecting an outdated collect-a-thon and I got an awesome Lego game, so yes.

 

[PhatSaqs]

Can't be good for morale at all......

 

[Amir0x]

This is a fantastic thread. Very insightful and informative. I never was a RARE fan, but some of these projects did look quite promising.

 

[Shiggy]

Can't be good for morale at all......

Which is also evidenced by the incredible turnover rates in recent years.

 

[grosvenor_92]

No wonder so many people left almost everything they worked on was cancelled

 

[erawsd]

Honestly, it was probably because the games were no good; and based on everything we've played from them I don't think thats a far fetched statement.

 

[Kinyou]

All of those had playable prototypes.

I doubt that much of it was playable. Look at the Kameo 2 stuff for example. That's just a model and some animation cycles.

 

[Rad-]

Let's be honest. If they got cancelled, it means the games most likely weren't that promising.

 

[IOnEI Falcon]

Most of the stuff listed in the OP probably never made it to anybody's eyes to be "cancelled," most of it is just concept art.

There's some neat stuff in there for sure, but the crux of the thread title is horribly inaccurate.

As Shiggy said already they all had playable prototypes. And how can David Wise, the man famed for the music in DKC and DKR, for 7 years of his career at Rare work on only handheld games. No way. He was working in these prototypes.

 

[J-Tier]

Let's be honest. If they got cancelled, it means the games most likely weren't that promising.

In the eyes of a business man perhaps.

But probably not the opinion of a gamer or developer.

 

[PixyJunket]

Instead of funding projects like these, Microsoft uses their money to keep PlayStation users from playing Titanfall.

This.

This right here is why I will never support Microsoft as a company.

I have just a tiny little hunch that you probably don't have the same "moral standing" regarding games that are PlayStation exclusive or regarding the studios Sony send out to Eye/Move/Wonderbook development.

All of those had playable prototypes.

My bad, it doesn't really change much of what I'm trying to get across though.

Besides, if they're the promising prototypes people seem to think they are from people that have since left Rare, why aren't they pitching them (or offshoots of them, if needed) to all of the kind-hearted publishers that the people in this thread seem to think would have handled Rare better?

Let's be honest. If they got cancelled, it means the games most likely weren't that promising.

Oh you.

 

[Dorygrant]

No wonder there are so many passive aggresive comments thrown around all the time.

I'd be cheesed to if my games were cancelled 24/7

 

[Deguello]

Let's be honest. If they got cancelled, it means the games most likely weren't that promising.

There is sort of as "Grass is greener" thing going on with cancelled games like this. Similar things were said of the cancelled Retro games for the GameCube and Wii's Project Hammer, even though the only thing that made some of these games interesting was the very fact of their cancellation.

However, considering the low quality of the Kinect Sports games (despite the high sales of the first installment) and the insufficiency of the Kinect as an actual controller, I'd say that all of these prototypes would have to be somehow worse than Kinect Sports, which seems pretty unlikely.

 

[PixyJunket]

I'd be cheesed to if my games were cancelled 24/7

Don't ever work for a big developer or publisher then.

 

[BigDaddyFatSack]

We need a proper secret agent FPS desperately. I'm all for the next Perfect Dark

 

[MikeE21286]

Hmm. So Rare is just not good is what that tells me

 

[Neuromancer]

Well that's a fucking bummer. What a wasted opportunity. Oh well at least we got Viva Pinata.

 

[J-Tier]

Besides, if they're the promising prototypes people seem to think they are from people that have since left Rare, why aren't they pitching them (or offshoots of them, if needed) to all of the kind-hearted publishers that the people in this thread seem to think would have handled Rare better?

Isn't the former team all over the place now? Iirc, they all left at different times, each ending up elsewhere.

 

[-MD-]

No wonder Seavor left, they canned all his ideas.

Fuck Microsoft though for real, I will avoid giving them money whenever possible.

 

[Sydle]

Not sure it's fair to say these are 20 canned games. Seems most of these were protoypes or just ideas.

I don't care for the PD Core concept.

Urchin and Sabreman Stampede seem like they could have been great XBLA releases. Would have been nice to see Rare with yearly XBLA games.

I'm fine with no Banjo karting since we have Sonic Racing and Rare just doesn't have a great roster of well known characters.

I still want Kameo 2, but not with a realistic makeover. Better combat, level design, art fantasy direction...there was a lot to work on.

The Fast and Furriest looks really awful.

Pretty sure Banjo is coming back in some form. I would like to believe it's going to be an adventure game like the originals...

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

To be fair Rare created some fun games while they were under Microsoft: Viva Pinata, Kameo, Banjo Nuts & Bolts, Conker, Perfect Dark Zero.

Nope.

 

[Hero of Legend]

I'm making a thread about Rare's GC history and canned output.

if anyone wants to contribute, PM me with assets and you will of course be credited, it'll be easier than me looking everywhere.

 

[Duxxy3]

I am a combination of pissed and sad.

 

[Plywood]

Kameo 2 should happen, but it should also not happen in that style.

 

[Doug Heffernan]

Good riddance. Most of those prototypes sound horrible.

With the exception of Urchin, that art style is pretty sweet.

Maybe if they come up with better prototypes Microsoft will actually approve them.

Hint: Banjo 3!

 

[Hindle]

Hmm.

They made a new Perfect Dark, a new Jetpac, a new Banjo and released the original Banjo, its sequel, and the original Perfect Dark on XBLA.

And while not developed by Rare themselves, a new Killer Instinct is being made right now to help kick off Microsoft's new console.

Nothing is an interesting thing to take away from that.

One Perfect Dark since MS bought Rare is still terrible, same with Banjo.

The fact theyve bought back Killer Instinct is the reason why I have hope, MS will do more with Rares old IP this gen, so I will give them credit for that.