"Chief of ideas" Gregg Mayles - still at Rare
"Other ideas" George Andreas - left for Sony
Lead programmer Chris Sutherland - still at Rare
programmer Morten Brodersen - left Rare long ago
programmer Paul Machacek - still at Rare
programmer Graham Smith - don't know, probably left Rare after Starfox Adventures
programmer Kieran Connell - still at Microsoft, though I think not at Rare
programmer Rhys Lewis - left for Retro Studios (where he is not anymore)
programmer Mark Wilson - don't know, probably left Rare
"Chief scribbler" Steve Mayles - still at Rare
"Catoony bits and more scribbling" Ed Bryan - left Rare for Creative at Nosy Crow
"Scene Crayoner" Steven Hurst - left Rare for Flippin Pixels
"More Sketching" John Nash - credited for Micky Epic 2, so most likely not working at Rare
"Other Doodling" Chris Peil - left Rare
music Grant Kirkhope - freelancer, could probably be hired for new Banjo music
Rest is business and test players. The major losses from the Banjo-team are probably Kirkhope and Hurst (I guess Scene Crayoner means level designer), but considering the small team size of the Banjo team, there still is a lot of potential left for a nice follow-up (especially considering the Mayles brothers are still there), provided they were motivated for it.
I can't help but to look at MS. If Phil is your spokesperson for the studio every time someone mentions them, there's some ball squeezing going on. To me, that'd be like if Hirshberg spoke up every time someone mentioned Bungie.They have many good franchises that they don't out to good use. Goddamnit Rare, use your brains!
Maybe...Kirkhope isn't necessarily "gone." He's just a freelance dude now. He could work on another Rare project if he and they were both willing to.
This reads like MS is going to close the studio.
It does a bit, doesn't it?
Truly one of the strangest developer histories, Rare's. Going from an edgy, free-spirited independent developer in the wild west that was the UK game market, to being one of Nintendo's most loved and prized second parties in the N64 days (even playing a crucial role in that console's reception), to eventually becoming an almost invisible studio in the Microsoft fold that only seems to make (kinect) games nobody (here at Gaf) seems to care for. Now that their old IP's like KI are actually dusted off and being worked on again due to some kind of small miracle, it only makes their story, and their lack of involvement in that, weirder I feel.
I for one do hope they find their way again and surprise us with something cool. Why not a new Viva Pinata or Banjo Kazooie? Or something new entirely that has the charm of their old work? (And yes, I do know that Rare is mostly Rare in name only now for the most part - but it is a name that still carries weigth and stands for pedigree for many.)
I hope they're gonna make a Banjo-Kazooie game, if not, then I hope they're gonna sell that IP to Nintendo so they can put Retro to work.
I hope they're gonna make a Banjo-Kazooie game, if not, then I hope they're gonna sell that IP to Nintendo so they can put Retro to work.
The year 2014, and there are people still thinking MS is in a position to sell an IP.
It's funny when you really think about it.
What? They're totally in a position to do it. They obviously won't, because a dead IP one year could become a money fountain the next, and there's no point giving your competition ammunition... but there's nothing besides common sense stopping them.
The bolded is what I was implying.
Yeah a new Conker would be great.
Actually got myself a partly working Xbox recently. Fixed it up just for Live and Reloaded.
Great game. An HD-remake would actually be great. Together with a resurrected multiplayer mode.
Does anyone wanna play it over Xlink Kai?
Honestly, a new Perfect Dark might be the only game to sway me over to Xbox One at this point. It used to be Halo but that's not the case any more, although I will pay close attention to the new one. I also loved Perfect Dark Zero and thought it was over looked, probably the art style.
Battletoads Returns, Conker's Horrific Fur Week, Perfect Dark Zero.Five, and Banjo-Threeie all incoming.
jk. it'll be Kinect Sports 3
If Rare doesn't have two games coming out in 2015, they need to be let go.
KINECT SPORTS 2015!!!
WE TOTALLY WANT TO DO IT GUYS. NOBODY'S FORCING US. CERTAINLY NOT MICROSOFT. WE REALLY WANT TO. THE HOUSE OF BANJO CONKER DKC PERFECT DARK JET FORCE GEMINI BATTLETOADS WANTS TO DO NOTHING BUT KINECT SPORTS FOR THE REST OF THE STUDIO'S EXISTENCE
Are they still as big as before? I think i heard they got smaller but unsure.
So I take it Rare won't have anything for E3?
conker.com
Registrant Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Updated Date: 2014-03-01
CONFIRMED
Wait seriously!?conker.com
Registrant Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Updated Date: 2014-03-01
CONFIRMED
conker.com
Registrant Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Updated Date: 2014-03-01
CONFIRMED
conker.com
Registrant Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Updated Date: 2014-03-01
CONFIRMED
Yeah, I'm going to need a link or something to confirm this before I get my hopes up...
conker.com
Registrant Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Updated Date: 2014-03-01
CONFIRMED
conker.com
Registrant Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Updated Date: 2014-03-01
CONFIRMED
Another Perfect Dark by this new Rare would be awful.
Give it to Crytek UK or something.
Make that shit now!