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[daTRUballin]

On September 24th 2002, Rare was wholly purchased by Microsoft for $375 million (yes, I know I'm making this thread a day early. I have legit reasons for doing so too. ). It has now been 15 years since the purchase, and a lot has sure happened since then.

As one of the more major and infamous acquisitions in gaming, other acquisitions tend to be compared to it. Especially ones from first party console manufacturers. It definitely has affected all parties involved in various ways (Rare, Microsoft, Nintendo, gamers) and Rare's output over the last 15 years has been received in mixed ways.

Here's a complete list of all the games they've released on Xbox consoles since the acquisition:

Grabbed by the Ghoulies (Xbox, 2003)

Conker: Live & Reloaded (Xbox, 2005)

Kameo: Elements of Power (Xbox 360, 2005)

]

Perfect Dark Zero (Xbox 360, 2005)

Viva Piñata (Xbox 360, 2006)

Jetpac Refuelled (Xbox 360/XBLA, 2007)

Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise (Xbox 360, 2008)

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (Xbox 360, 2008)

Kinect Sports (Xbox 360/Kinect, 2010)

Kinect Sports: Season Two (Xbox 360/Kinect, 2011)

Kinect Sports Rivals (Xbox One/Kinect, 2014)

Rare Replay (Xbox One, 2015) Normally I don't count this one since it's a collection of previous games, but for the sake of a complete list, I'll include it here.

And finally, their current project:

Sea of Thieves (Xbox One, 2018?)

Looking at this list of games, what games did you like versus not like? What's your opinion on their Xbox output? What do you think of Rare in general these last 15 years? Was the purchase worth it for any party involved? What was your reaction when they were first bought? Did everything pan out the way you expected? What do you think of the company's future? What would you want them to do? Let's discuss anything and everything that has to do with the acquisition.

On a related note, this also means it's the 15th anniversary of one game in particular.......

.......So, there's that too.

(Hopefully this thread turns out well enough. I put a lot of effort into making this. )

EDIT: Fixed the images. Now they're actually showing. Sorry about that.

 

[Your Entertainer]

Honestly nuts and bolts was a solid game

 

[MrMatt555]

I liked the latest banjo

 

[Panaphonics]

Its Not 15 years. Its 14 years and 364 days.

 

[funkystudent]

Honestly nuts and bolts was a solid game

I feel like its the one truly good game I would recommend to people that has come out of rare since they got bought.

 

[Spukc]

Well it's the apocalypse today so who knows

 

[norm9]

Poor Joanna.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I thought Perfect Dark Zero was fine for a launch title.

It's interesting that while EA is widely criticized for buying studios and shutting them down, what MS does is often ignored even though what they do is not much different.

 

[meppi]

.

 

[kswiston]

I feel like its the one truly good game I would recommend to people that has come out of rare since they got bought.

The Viva Pinata games were fun if you like stuff like The Sims or Zoo Tycoon.

 

[Cess007]

The dead of Perfect Dark series after Zero bothers me in ways it shouldn't but it does. It's tragic I tell you.

 

[ToyMachine228]

Conker absolutely needs to come back and include multiplayer once again.

Viva Pinata 3 should be a thing.

Perfect Dark should be rebooted by another studio.

 

[Jigorath]

15 years and Kameo is the only game they've made that I care about.

 

[shoreu]

I hope their next project will be Fable or something.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

Time flies.

Its Not 15 years. Its 14 years and 364 days.

This was noted in the OP.

 

[LowSignal]

Honestly nuts and bolts was a solid game

I thought it was good, Not the best but enjoyable to the point that I play a lot of it.

 

[DangerMouse]

Kameo is the one I really liked.

 

[gamz]

Awesome buy and great run. Bring on SoT!!!

 

[VanCityGamer]

Disastrous output IMO. Could have and should have been so much better.

Conker's the only one I enjoyed at all from that list (on Rare Replay).

Oh, nevermind. It was the Nintendo Conker that I played on Rare Replay.

I also don't like the direction they're going with Sea of Thieves at all.

 

[oti]

Conker absolutely needs to come back and include multiplayer once again.

Viva Pinata 3 should be a thing.

Perfect Dark should be rebooted by another studio.

God no.

It would be a F2P mobile game.

Eh. I don't see a market for that tbh.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

Bring back Perfect Dark damnit

 

[bluexy]

One of the biggest examples of mismanagement of talent in this industry.

It really feels like Rare's never been able to spread its wings and make something special in these 15 years. That's not to say they haven't made good games since the acquisition, as they're obviously a very talented studio. I'm a big fan of both Viva Pinata games myself.

I'm hoping Sea of Thieves is that game for Rare. A new age... of piratesI don't doubt that Microsoft's made its expectations clear -- microtransactions, expansions, cross-play, 4K scalability. But maybe these expectations are broad enough to give Rare the freedom it needs to make something special, where requirements like Kinect, kid-friendly target audience, or development output has been too limiting.

 

[Camjo-Z]

As a huge Rare fanboy the buyout is basically the only reason I care about Xbox. I bought a 360 solely to play Viva Pinata and Nuts & Bolts and I bought an Xbone solely to play Killer Instinct. People like to say Rare died after Nintendo but I'm still a big fan of their MS output, aside from the Kinect Sports games the only real stinker in the bunch is Perfect Dark Zero.

Also, this thread reminded me that Kameo remains the one 360-era Rare game I've never put more than a couple of hours into. Guess now's as good a time to remedy that as any.

 

[Electret]

Conker absolutely needs to come back and include multiplayer once again.

Viva Pinata 3 should be a thing.

Perfect Dark should be rebooted by another studio.

I'd be fine with that. But inb4 "turn it into a third person stealth action game". NO! OG PD is a first person game with an emphasis on shooting, and plays quite differently from pretty much any other FPS in the last five or ten years. A new game should be build on its foundation - make it objective-based and allow completion in different orders and pathways, and include a deep roster of guns and gadgets with alternate modes of operation.

 

[UnlimitedRulebook]

Really makes you wonder what could of been if they stuck to Nintendo.

 

[Kayhan]

And not a single good game since.

 

[Zojirushi]

I think Perfect Dark could totally be a Deus Ex type game, too bad that genre seems dead right now.

 

[Yazzees]

Is that "Do we own Donkey Kong now?" story true or nah

Because if so, it really speaks to the managerial hands that Rare found themselves in

 

[Paladin CL]

I really liked Conker and Cameo

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

RIP Rare

 

[butalala]

Rare's absence felt strongly in the Gamecube days. I think I had some anger at Nintendo for not holding onto them to fill in some of the software gaps they had back then.

I haven't played a game they released after Star Fox Adventures. I felt some pull to try Nuts & Bolts, but now I just don't really care. Rare was once my favorite developer. It's sort of sad, but enough time has passed that I've moved on.

 

[Novocaine]

Viva Piñata!

There are more Rare games I like post acquisition than pre acquisition.

 

[Corpsepyre]

I think it's safe to say that it's been 15 years since Rare was fucked.

 

[Ahasverus]

And it's been 15 long, sad years.

No vg company that cares about the artistic merits of tits work should let itself be bought by a publisher, period. Except Sony, maybe.

 

[Geno Breaker]

RIP

I really miss the old type of games they use to make for Nintendo platforms. Shame they started going downhill at the end of the N64 era.

 

[Damn Silly]

Viva Pinata's the best thing Rare have done, and as someone who only played Kazooie and Tooie a few years back, I prefer Nuts & Bolts.

 

[Jumeira]

Viva Pinata is as good as anything Rare put out during thier golden days. Theyve not made a bad game, even though some games were disappointing.

Sea of Thieves is getting extremely strong previews and impressions, it looks like its going to be something special, and ive witnessed lots of the old Rare magic in there.

BUT im hoping we do see some effort focused on quality SP games and perhaps a Perfect Dark revival as a 3rd person shooter. Going by the interview with Rare's head posted earlier, looks like they're still thinking up new ideas for these games, but they shouldn't ignore there is alot of fans still that want to replay some of the franchises they've got stored away.

 

[TannerDemoz]

RIP Laptop gun
RIP exceptional staff members who are now gone
RIP an amazing legacy
RIP Perfect Dark (please hand this to another studio)

It's a shame. Although it massively sucks with the Kinect - I dont believe that Rare 'chose' to focus their main power on this? Must have been a day from higher ups, only to have the peripheral completely die on its arse years later! (Anyone got more of an insight into this from an industry perspective?)

 

[nickgia]

I like the new Banjo and love Viva Pinata, but overall, I wish Rare was independent.

 

[Renna Hazel]

Definitely the worst thing to happen in gaming for me. Rare was such a huge part of the industry for me and losing them really stings. Hopefully I get them back one day

 

[Jawmuncher]

Can't really say it has been all that worth it for MS yet.

 

[Shifty]

Whoof

Depressing stuff

 

[Peltz]

And it's been 15 long, sad years.

No vg company that cares about the artistic merits of tits work should let itself be bought by a publisher, period. Except Sony, maybe.

Lol. Artistic merit of tits

 

[Jafku]

Pretty poor output. Luckily Sea of Thieves seems to be one of their better projects. It's at least better than the dark days of Kinect Sports games

 

[Camjo-Z]

I'd be fine with that. But inb4 "turn it into a third person stealth action game". NO! OG PD is a first person game with an emphasis on shooting, and plays quite differently from pretty much any other FPS in the last five or ten years. A new game should be build on its foundation - make it objective-based and allow completion in different orders and pathways, and include a deep roster of guns and gadgets with alternate modes of operation.

I'm always bewildered when people suggest a new Perfect Dark should take a completely different route from the original. This isn't some Jet Force Gemini where the original was a bit rough to begin with, if the finely crafted PD gameplay is going to be completely thrown out the window why even bother reusing the name? You might as well just make a new IP that's not shackled to fan expectations lest we get another Nuts & Bolts-esque "good game but not a good PD game".

 

[SinCityAssassin]

Is that "Do we own Donkey Kong now?" story true or nah

Because if so, it really speaks to the managerial hands that Rare found themselves in

It was an offhand comment from a random executive who had been visiting the newly acquired studio. It was never a reason for Microsoft to buy Rare but it's still funny.

 

[Dabanton]

I feel like its the one truly good game I would recommend to people that has come out of rare since they got bought.

Viva Piñata and yes Kinect Sports are good games.

 

[Vinc]

Conker, Banjo, and Kameo are the only games I liked, and none of them live up to the company's name.

They were my favorite company in their Nintendo days

 

[opticalmace]

It'd be cool to compare it to their output pre-acquisition.

 

[Strangelove77]

That's a lot of mediocrity.