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[BY2K]

Timesplitters 2 HD was in development:

 

[TreIII]

The DK Racing info is both interesting and depressing.

I'll say. Like someone else said, I remember seeing it on the back of the GCN packaging, and definitely wanted to play that.

 

[SuperAndroid17]

perfect

 

[Sponge]

snip, double post.

 

[Sponge]

Here's the quote from that article about Donkey Kong Racings gameplay:

"It was a pure racing game, the underlying software mechanics were actually based on car physics, but it also incorporated the idea of riders jumping between different animals mid-race, to always be riding the ones that were bigger or faster . . . we had some awesome gameplay in place, and it was lots of fun – we even had a multiplayer version working – and when you fell off, you had to tap-tap-tap (HyperSports style) to run on foot and catch up with an animal. Fun, but it lost some appeal without the DK universe around it, and Microsoft were unsure of its potential with Xbox gamers I think."

I really hate this part, if Rare was so unsure of games they were used to making, why on earth did they buy them in the first placed? Goldeneye and Perfect Dark?

 

[sega4ever]

Why would you want a current Rare game? It's 100% likely to be trash.

viva pinata and banjo nuts and bolts were good games, just not what i wanted. i want a rare kart racer and platformers, not pinata and lego simulators.

 

[Sealda]

Spoiler

How come everytime there is a game not being released, u get tons of these replies:I would so buy an *insert console name* if they release *insert obscure game* or just some other bs, like "Oh, i would so buy ***** if they included *****... like yeah right...if you did not buy a ps3 before now, why would you all of sudden release it, just bcus, they released some crappy obscure jpn rpg etc.

I would so pick up a 360 if they released Timesplitters 2 HD...

 

[Sponge]

Why would you want a current Rare game? It's 100% likely to be trash.

Rare has been mismanaged, and if they weren't they could easily push something decent out. However that is moot considering most talent was fired and now Rare is doomed to Kinect Sports.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

I really hate this part, if Rare was so unsure of games they were used to making, why on earth did they buy them in the first placed? Goldeneye and Perfect Dark?

I think it's an accepted fact that Microsoft was determined to enter the console market no matter the price. During the early Xbox days they really didn't have a clue about what that entailed. Quite often their way of dealing with an obstacle back then was just to throw money at it and hope it would stick.

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

I would buy whatever console I have to in order to play Timesplitters 2 HD or Timesplitters 4. Instabuy.

 

[Sponge]

I think it's an accepted fact that Microsoft was determined to enter the console market no matter the price. During the early Xbox days they really didn't have a clue about what that meant. Quite often their way of dealing with an obstacle back then was just to throw money at it and hope it would stick.

And with that they killed one of the most influential gaming studios in history. This will probably documented sometime in a decade or so. I can only hope Microsoft does justice to these IPs one day, but I doubt that very seriously.

 

[J-Rock]

Timesplitters 2 HD was in development:

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

And with that they killed one of the most influential gaming studios in history. This will probably documented sometime in a decade or so. I can only hope Microsoft does justice to these IPs one day, but I doubt that very seriously.

I'm not sure they are solely responsible for rare's decline, but I agree the purchase was never a good idea.
Yamauchi was probably laughing all the way to the bank

 

[Fox Mulder]

All these Rare interviews about how MS butt fucked them really makes me sad that I even have an xbox.

What a soulless corporation.

 

[jamesinclair]

What I find amusing is that until something as late as 2005, Rare was still releasing more games on Nintendo platforms than MS platforms (thanks to all the handheld stuff).

 

[The Mana Legend]

JUST RELEASE A HALF-ASSED SHITTY PC PORT OF TS2 FOR ALL I CARE. MODS WILL FIX IT. JUST GIVE IT TO ME DAMMIT!

 

[Sponge]

I'm not sure they are solely responsible for rare's decline, but I agree the purchase was never a good idea.
Yamauchi was probably laughing all the way to the bank

Oh totally, it was a mix of some Rare mistakes and a lot of bad retooling from Microsoft.

 

[Oddduck]

This times 1000.

 

[Typographenia]

Timesplitters 2?! : (


This makes me sad.

 

[BD1]

DK Racing :-(

sounds so good. What the hell Microsoft?

 

[Nibel]

Really good interview; didn't expect that much insight into Rare/Free Radical. They seemed to be comfortable to talk about everything and this is a great change from the PR poisened answers which we get in almost every single interview.

I liked the Lee Musgrave part the most, especially this paragraph:

Back in the day, Rare was an incredible place to work. I owe it an awful lot for the education it gave me and I learned an immense amount from some truly world-class people. I’d been there for 17 years by the time I left and by the end, the Rare I joined had gone. I don’t really attribute that to anything that Microsoft did, but the simple migration to becoming part of a mammoth organisation inevitably changes the atmosphere of a hitherto insular place like Rare. Some of the people embraced the corporate culture whilst others, like me, felt that there was not enough emphasis being placed on real attention to detail or iteration of ideas/features in order to make them great, rather than just being ‘done’ and able to be ticked from a list.

In all the projects I work on, it’s the obsessive attention to detail that makes the difference between just doing stuff, and doing good stuff. They are a rare breed (no pun intended), but if I can find and work with people that share the viewpoint that if we try hard enough, we can do things better. It’s motivating.

 

[Ban Puncher]

Remember when people lost their shit when Microsoft bought Rare, proclaiming that Nintendo was insane to sell them off and were doomed?


Good times.

Spoiler

But remember - Nintendo is never not doomed.

 

[The_Lump]

Really good interview; didn't expect that much insight into Rare/Free Radical. They seemed to be comfortable to talk about everything and this is a great change from the PR poisened answers which we get in almost every single interview.

I liked the Lee Musgrave part the most, especially this paragraph:

...but the simple migration to becoming part of a mammoth organisation inevitably changes the atmosphere of a hitherto insular place like Rare. Some of the people embraced the corporate culture whilst others, like me, felt that there was not enough emphasis being placed on real attention to detail or iteration of ideas/features in order to make them great, rather than just being ‘done’ and able to be ticked from a list.

Spot on Nibel, that bit also stuck put for me.

This sums up a lot of the current problems with the gaming industry in a nutshell: Too many examples Corporation smothering Innovation, to put it poetically.

 

[The_Lump]

Even compared to other early-GC games the animation looks sloppy.

Well, obviously. It's a hastily put together E3 trailer to demonstrate the concept.

 

[Chanser]

WTF?

 

[Risgroo]

FUCK

 

[Jawmuncher]

Timesplitters 2 HD was a thing....MOTHER FUCKER
That shit needs to get back up off the ground, if I can't get both 2 and 3 in HD.
I'll take 2 at least.

 

[Jackano]

So DKR was possibly to be refurbished as a Sabreman/whatever Xbox game but Microsoft basically shut it off? Man, it seems MS had good calls about Rare from the beginning... They had their Mario Kart in 2002 and now they just have this avatar racing game (I can't even remember the name)!

 

[Waldo Lydecker]

MS is bad for gamers confirmed....

 

[Shard]

A Diddy Kong Racer spiritual successor existed!?

Yea, that has since been uncovered to be a cancelled Xbox game called Sabreman Stampede.

 

[tamaster92]

We had a “HD” downloadable version of TimeSplitters 2 in development at Free Radical in 2008. I don’t know what happened to that but yes, I’d love to see it released at some point. Maybe it could be the catalyst that is required in order to raise enough interest in TimeSplitters 4 that a publisher might want to fund it.

I need this in my life. Please crytek please!!

 

[Bluemercury]

What about PerfectDark GC images???i've been told there's images of the GC version around..

 

[Stronghammer22]

What bothers me about the Rare talk is people's insistence on their output being terrible since joining Microsoft. We get it, you wanted a Banjo Kazooie platformer, not a car building/racing game. However, that doesn't make Nuts & Bolts a bad game, infact, it's one of the best exclusives on 360. Their other games are great too, they just didn't sell well. Except for Kinect Sports which was quite successful... Even then, it is an extremely solid game and to me, is the best use of the Kinect so far (most accurate tracking also).

I still support Rare and look forward to whatever they have lined up for the next Xbox.

 

[big_z]

how did Killer Instinct have licensing issues?

yeah that makes no sense and sounds like an excuse.

 

[lexi]

I really loved Rare games back in the day. DKC's were the best platformers on the SNES, Banjo Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing were the betters of Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 too, imo.

 

[z0m3le]

Really good interview; didn't expect that much insight into Rare/Free Radical. They seemed to be comfortable to talk about everything and this is a great change from the PR poisened answers which we get in almost every single interview.

I liked the Lee Musgrave part the most, especially this paragraph:

I'll make sure Emily reads this comment, she has been trying really hard to make sure her questions are interesting. Also about the paragraph you grabbed, it makes me really excited about what this company is going to do in the future, hopefully Crash labs brings us some truly amazing pieces of work, and from this interview, I think they have a very good base to work from.

 

[Izayoi]

I want a new JFG game. I wonder if Rare still has the license to that.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

I don't think that MS would have made a deal out of renewing the trademark for KI if they didn't have the rights full-stop.

Microsoft bought the rights for Hydrothunder off Midway's corpse, maybe they did the same for any residual KI rights?

 

[BassForever]

Timesplitters 2 HD was in development
Timesplitters 2 HD was in development
Timesplitters 2 HD was in development
Timesplitters 2 HD was in development

OMG
OMG
OMG

into my veins

Why don't I have this? ;-;

 

[Bluemercury]

All these Rare interviews about how MS butt fucked them really makes me sad that I even have an xbox.

What a soulless corporation.

What else is new?

 

[Jackano]

What bothers me about the Rare talk is people's insistence on their output being terrible since joining Microsoft. We get it, you wanted a Banjo Kazooie platformer, not a car building/racing game. However, that doesn't make Nuts & Bolts a bad game, infact, it's one of the best exclusives on 360. Their other games are great too, they just didn't sell well. Except for Kinect Sports which was quite successful... Even then, it is an extremely solid game and to me, is the best use of the Kinect so far (most accurate tracking also).

I still support Rare and look forward to whatever they have lined up for the next Xbox.

I guess it's not terrible for a Xbox/Xbox360 owner, but it's simply laughtable compared to their SNES/N64 days. Donkey Kong Countries and Banjo Kazooie/Tooie were along the best platformers at their times, only comparing to Mario himself. No one will thought about comparing Nuts & Bolts to Super Mario Galaxy, or Perfect Dark Zero to CoD. Even Kinect Sports is just a me-too...

 

[Kokonoe]

So who do we email to get this HD Timesplitters 2 started?

 

[Diprosalic]

seems like the best thing for microsoft in that rare deal was that nintendo don't have them. that's pretty much it.

they bought them for Perfect Dark / Shooters but they only let them make one which sold decently i think. what happened there?

 

[bomma_man]

Really good interview; didn't expect that much insight into Rare/Free Radical. They seemed to be comfortable to talk about everything and this is a great change from the PR poisened answers which we get in almost every single interview.

I liked the Lee Musgrave part the most, especially this paragraph:

Whatever you think of the actual gameplay in Rare's games, you can never fault the, for their attention to detail. It's probably why they manage to feel so Nintendo like.

edit: and give me fucking ts2 now

 

[Danneee]

Would buy Time Splitters 2 HD in an instant!

 

[WillyFive]

A Diddy Kong Racer spiritual successor existed!?

That would be Banjo Pilot.

Donkey Kong Racing looked to have been very innovative.

 

[ColdBlooder]

Do we even know WHY the F- MS needed rare? Except to make a statement? Or was that the whole point?

 

[Shard]

Do we even know WHY the F- MS needed rare? Except to make a statement? Or was that the whole point?

They were to be the centerpiece of the Microsoft Game Studios, they were supposed to churn out 5 games per year. Yeah, obviously none of that panned out as intended.

 

[Oddduck]

They were to be the centerpiece of the Microsoft Game Studios, they were supposed to churn out 5 games per year. Yeah, obviously none of that panned out as intended.

Microsoft expected Rare, the company that delayed their N64 games like crazy, to churn out 5 games every year? Craazzzyy haha.

 

[Shard]

Microsoft expected Rare, the company that delayed their N64 games like crazy, to churn out 5 games every year? Craazzzyy haha.

Yes, yes they did and yes it was crazy.