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Rare reportedly working on Wii Fit clone

Psychotext said:
What if they allow people to host rooms which end up with naked XBL gamers performing squats?

...

/goes slightly green


Unless you can undress your Avatar (BAM! :lol ), I don't think that would be a problem.
 
Yeah I really don't get why they'd even ask Rare to make such a game. A Natal fitness game is a given; Wii Fit sells a ton, and Natal is perfectly suited for it. But why pick Rare? I'm sure they can do a good job (because, despite GAF consensus, their output on the 360 has been far from shit) but any number of studios could do a fitness game easily (and I'd bet a good few are).

The only way I can see this making sense is if it's not strictly a typical fitness game in the way that we're thinking or it's combined with a Wii Sports-like mini game collection and it'll be coupled with Natal. Nintendo's biggest two Wii franchises are undoubtedly Wii Sports and Wii Fit, so it'd make sense for Microsoft to have one of their biggest studio's combine the two for Natal's launch. I can just see the marketing...

The idea of competing with friends online to see who can lose the most weight, or to lose weight for achievements would be pretty clever.
 
op_ivy said:
i wouldnt call rare a aaa studio these days, but i have enjoyed most of their recent titles. this sounds like wasted potential to me
I dunno...if anyone's going to look at a Ninty product and learn from it while creating a worthy follow-on that can still distinguish itself with its own flavor, I think it's pretty much Rare. Yeah, it's not ideal to see them do this, but it's hard to not see how this couldn't be in the cards given Wii Fit's success and the low-hanging fruit possibilities of the new input. Besides, Rare's a large studio that can handle multiple titles concurrently...I'd be absolutely surprised if all they're doing is Ninty Wii-style stuff for them...
 
InaudibleWhispa said:
Yeah I really don't get why they'd even ask Rare to make such a game.

Because if it sells millions of copies (like MS is banking it to--if the game is being worked on), it will be a good addition to the 1st party software stable.
Plus I'm sure Rare (and the rest of MS' 1st parties) had a heads up on Natal tech at least a year ago..

MightyHedgehog said:
Besides, Rare's a large studio that can handle multiple titles concurrently...I'd be absolutely surprised if all they're doing is Ninty Wii-style stuff for them...

Just let them believe that all of Rare is now committed to making Wii game clones indefinitely. :lol
Rares pretty big..they got guys working on NXE/Live stuff, Natal stuff, and most likely 1 or 2 other 'gamers' games..
 
abacab driver said:
Because if it sells millions of copies (like MS is banking it to--if the game is being worked on), it will be a good addition to the 1st party software stable.
Oh I get that, I just don't see why it has to be Rare. It isn't going to sell millions of copies because it's Rare, it'll be because it's a fitness game. Unless the game plays to Rare's strengths, I don't see why it had to be made by them in particular when their time could be better spent on other, more unique projects. As I said though, if this is more than just a standard fitness game and Microsoft intends it to be a big deal for Natal, then it makes sense to hand it to a major studio. We'll just have to wait and see how necessary it was for that studio to have been Rare.
 
InaudibleWhispa said:
Oh I get that, I just don't see why it has to be Rare. It isn't going to sell millions of copies because it's Rare, it'll be because it's a fitness game. Unless the game plays to Rare's strengths, I don't see why it had to be made by them in particular when their time could be better spent on other, more unique projects. As I said though, if this is more than just a standard fitness game and Microsoft intends it to be a big deal for Natal, then it makes sense to hand it to a major studio. We'll just have to wait and see how necessary it was for that studio to have been Rare.


Well if you understand that the (possible) success of the game would benefit them most if it were 1st party, who else from MS 1st party would you honestly give that task to?
Rare designed Avatars and NXE..so it's only logic that a WiiFit clone would follow the mii/avatar continuity of the game they're cloning.

Plus like I mentioned above, MS 1st party probabaly had a heads up on the tech and know it at least a little better than 3rd party developers at this point in time.
 
InaudibleWhispa said:
Oh I get that, I just don't see why it has to be Rare. It isn't going to sell millions of copies because it's Rare, it'll be because it's a fitness game. Unless the game plays to Rare's strengths, I don't see why it had to be made by them in particular when their time could be better spent on other, more unique projects. As I said though, if this is more than just a standard fitness game and Microsoft intends it to be a big deal for Natal, then it makes sense to hand it to a major studio. We'll just have to wait and see how necessary it was for that studio to have been Rare.

You kinda answered your own question. Rare's making it because they're the Swiss-Army-Studio: They've made top down racers, 3d kart racers, puzzle games, 3rd person and 1st person shooters, platformers both 2d and 3d, beat'em ups, fighters, action-adventure games, garden sims, they've developed for consoles, handhelds, and digital downloads, and whatever genres Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts and Blast Corps fit into. The main reason why MS bought Rare was because they could go places none/few other studios have gone before. Every one of their other studios pretty much stick to what they know (with a few exceptions).

Rare's main purpose within MS isn't just to make high quality games, it's to expand the Xbox demographic with the kind of games that MS doesn't have a lot of, like Viva Piñata, Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts, and now, it would seem, the casual, Avatar stuff and Natal games.
 

Kunan

Member
Even ignoring the fact that there were ps2 and xbox games like it, this just came out:
gc-2009-your-shape-images-20090820000732838_640w.jpg
Your-Shape-for-Wii.jpg
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I'm guessing the "something else there you can guess at" is a Wii Sports clone as well. Might as well combine them into one game.
 
The Awkward Wizard said:
You kinda answered your own question. Rare's making it because they're the Swiss-Army-Studio: They've made top down racers, 3d kart racers, puzzle games, 3rd person and 1st person shooters, platformers both 2d and 3d, beat'em ups, fighters, action-adventure games, garden sims, they've developed for consoles, handhelds, and digital downloads, and whatever genres Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts and Blast Corps fit into. The main reason why MS bought Rare was because they could go places none/few other studios have gone before. Every one of their other studios pretty much stick to what they know (with a few exceptions).

Rare's main purpose within MS isn't just to make high quality games, it's to expand the Xbox demographic with the kind of games that MS doesn't have a lot of, like Viva Piñata, Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts, and now, it would seem, the casual, Avatar stuff and Natal games.
Yeah, as I said I can understand it if it plays to their strengths. Not if it's a traditional fitness game. Though it seems silly to use the word 'traditional' -- it isn't exactly a genre brimming with titles or creativity. I guess we just don't know enough about it to comment either way.

Plinko said:
I'm guessing the "something else there you can guess at" is a Wii Sports clone as well. Might as well combine them into one game.
That's my thinking. Combine Nintendo's two biggest Wii franchises, put Rare on the task, sell Natal coupled with the game and [hopefully] watch the money roll in.
 

J-Rzez

Member
What a crazy gen this is. On one hand you have a dev forced into making all this odd stuff that Rare has been doing. On the other, you have Kaz basically doing whatever the hell he wants without Sony being able to do anything about it. :lol

It's a shame to see one of the few resources MS has as far as first-party goes going to waste.
 

watership

Member
ShockingAlberto said:
What's sad is that this will probably flop and Rare's time and energy will be wasted on a black mark on their record.

Flop? The exercise game will probably ship with Natal. That will be the wii sports of the product.
 
This is as close as it gets to a perfect storm of everything GAF hates without invoking the Wii itself.

Sorry, but this can not be quoted enough.

If it were any other studio making the inevitable WiiFit/WiiSports clone, it would be "Meh..doesn't interest me but I wonder what they'll do with the tech to make it less gimmicky."

Rares making it, and its "OMG HERE WE GO AGAIN, RARE SUCKS THEY COPY NINTENDO, DIE ALREADY, WHY, RARES DONE" :lol
 

Somnid

Member
watership said:
Flop? The exercise game will probably ship with Natal. That will be the wii sports of the product.

But that's the point. Who exactly is MS trying to capture? Anyone interested in this stuff would have a Wii and anyone with a 360 probably wanted it for what 360 does best, which isn't this.
 

Eggo

GameFan Alumnus
Cosmonaut X said:
Judging by some of the responses here and elsehwhere, is it time we coined a term for how some 360 owners are going to be feeling later this year?

Post-Natal Depression? ;-)

Brilliant, good sir. If this catches on, it all started here.
 

Pistolero

Member
Why is MS trying so hard to transition RARE into a studio they really are not

In case you haven't noticed it, Rare is way past the transition phase. It's but a shell of its former self now.
Anyway, regarding the info...Too late in the game I think, for either Microsoft or Sony, to be aiming for Wii-fitness clones. That large (in both senses) market has already adopted the wii...
 

Gomu Gomu

Member
abacab driver said:
Sorry, but this can not be quoted enough.

If it were any other studio making the inevitable WiiFit/WiiSports clone, it would be "Meh..doesn't interest me but I wonder what they'll do with the tech to make it less gimmicky."

Rares making it, and its "OMG HERE WE GO AGAIN, RARE SUCKS THEY COPY NINTENDO, DIE ALREADY, WHY, RARES DONE" :lol
I think you're missing the point here. This isn't about Rare copying Nintendo. It's about Rare not doing quality games because all resources are dedicated to make this shit, when it's possible to get any other developer to do it.
 
watership said:
Flop? The exercise game will probably ship with Natal. That will be the wii sports of the product.
But anyone who wants Wii Sports bought Wii Sports. Same with Wii Fit.

There is not a huge contingent of people out there who really desire Wii Sports but need it in 720p and with a new accessory they have to buy.
 

Big One

Banned
You know honestly I do not feel Rare is really bad nowadays more-or-less than they have hardly improved over the years. Viva Pinata, Nuts & Bolts, Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, and a lesser extent the Conker remake (for the multiplayer alone) were pretty solid games, but the main problem is that they really aren't as great as the Rare's pre-Microsoft in any fashion whatsoever. It's bad though because Rare probably would've ended up making the same games regardless if Microsoft bought the studio or not. I guess I'm one of the few in the camp that still thinks Rare is a pretty good developer and is in no way compared to other shit stains like Sonic Team.

Now this is just a plain waste of talent. Whatever, I just hope it gives them an opening to make games and possibly improve upon their mistakes this and last gen.
 
Man, you guys are ridiculous in your hyperbole when it comes to Rare, especially when I was assuming that no one gave a fuck about them to begin with these days. As a platform treatment, there is the need for launch software to help it sell and appeal to a broad audience right from the start. Rare is with MS because MS wants someone to appeal to a broad audience beyond the traditional MS fare. Rare has been doing that through their work on avatars and other bits as well as their title releases. If you don't set up expectations across the board from the launch with a nice variety of software appealing to a broad selection of potential buyers as well as the group you've already got, you're failing your duty as a platform holder.
 
Gomu Gomu said:
I think you're missing the point here. This isn't about Rare copying Nintendo. It's about Rare not doing quality games because all resources are dedicated to make this shit, when it's possible to get any other developer to do it.

Thats purely baseless assumption.
A company as big as Rare doesn't pour their resources into one project.

These guys did NXE/Avatars, Viva pinata 2 and Nuts and Bolts in the same time period for christ sake.
And right now they are probably working on at least 3 things for 2010-2011 release.
 
abacab driver said:
Sorry, but this can not be quoted enough.

If it were any other studio making the inevitable WiiFit/WiiSports clone, it would be "Meh..doesn't interest me but I wonder what they'll do with the tech to make it less gimmicky."

Rares making it, and its "OMG HERE WE GO AGAIN, RARE SUCKS THEY COPY NINTENDO, DIE ALREADY, WHY, RARES DONE" :lol

:lol

Nailed it, but you forgot "JUST MAKE A REAL BANJO ALREADY BECAUSE ALL YOUR 360 GAMES HAVE BEEN SHIT!"
 
Watching 360 fans defend the choice to allocate a good developer's resources towards fitness and camera games makes me sad. You guys might think you're happy about this now, but as someone who has ridden the Wii rollercoaster from the beginning... trust me, you won't be.
 
Segata Sanshiro said:
Watching 360 fans defend the choice to allocate a good developer's resources towards fitness and camera games makes me sad. You guys might think you're happy about this now, but as someone who has ridden the Wii rollercoaster from the beginning... trust me, you won't be.

I'm not happy about it or defending it. I'm just (as per usual) lining up to laugh at the misguided Rare hatred.
 

Ten-Song

Member
Considering the differences between Natal and the Wii Fit stuff, this could actually be an interesting move for them. If anything I imagine it'll have more character and imagination than the Wii whatever stuff, which all tends to be really boring, visually.

Also I'm just really supportive of Rare's attempts at new stuff lately. I loved the Viva Pinata games, and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts seemed to have garnered a lot of praise, at least critically. I'm not one for fitness games, but I'll certainly keep my eye on this, at least.
 
Segata Sanshiro said:
Watching 360 fans defend the choice to allocate a good developer's resources towards fitness and camera games makes me sad. You guys might think you're happy about this now, but as someone who has ridden the Wii rollercoaster from the beginning... trust me, you won't be.
Hindsight seems to be a recurring theme lately... Having the benefit of seeing how various publishers and developers failed to really capitalize on the Wii's possibilities early on, I think, gives Natal an advantage in avoiding the bigger missed opportunities and mistakes. Rare isn't well-liked these days, anyway...yet, they've helped to make the older and colder feel of the X360's interface and lack of personality go away pretty quickly with their non-game specific work and, like it's been pointed out before, they've still delivered fresh quality titles to market at the same time. Few studios, I think, can match their track record for multi-tasking and overall quality of execution. Since Ninty clearly isn't ever going to be available to them, I think Rare is the best thing MS could hope to have on their side with something like Natal. Glass half empty, half full...not long before we get a better look.
 
HybridCircle said:
wut?

makes no sense. It's not hard to distinguish myself as hardcore gamer type or not.

You shouldn't have to self proclaim something if you are that.

Kind of like saying "I'm a fucking badass".

Those that are(though I am not exactly sure what one is) let it speak for themselves, don't speak themselves for it.

He could have meant something totally different though and if so, I am the most unperceptive person of all.........oh wait.
 

linsivvi

Member
wizword said:
Why does Rare have to spend the time to make this game when any other game studio could do this.

They were at their best when they were making clones of Nintendo games. They are just going back to their roots.
 
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