Wow…I never heard about the incident where Microsoft thought that purchasing Rare meant they owned Donkey Kong, but that part made me laugh more then I expected 🤣.
Yeah, the Xbox 360 era was the last time I was able to spend with the then-current Rare games. I remember purchasing Kameo along with the 360 console close to launch. I think I got Perfect Dark Zero pretty soon after.
The 360 was my first experience playing games online, and I had so much fun playing PDZ with other all over the world. It’s too bad that Rare seems to be a mere shell of itself these days. But I’m glad I was at least there front and center for Donkey Kong Country in their heyday.
I heard that story a long time ago and found it just as funny lol. It was because Microsoft visited their campus and they still had a Donkey Kong statue from Nintendo and they flipped out. I wonder how it looked when they explained to them the big ape was not theirs lol.
The fact that Microsoft executives believed that they owned Donkey Kong by buying Rare is one of the best examples of big companies not knowing what they are buying until it's too late. Recently, I worked for a company that suffered from the same fate by being bought by a holding with complete different values and culture. I thought this was a more recent problem in corporate world, but I guess it's older than I think.
Thank you so much for writing such a thoughtful piece about one of my favorite studios of all time.
This was great to read because I loved the Rare games during the N64 timeframe, Goldeneye was the sole reason I got the console. It's also a big coincidence that I've been spending the week writing my own post about Rare, but focusing on the "good old days" instead (so I hope that doesn't look like I'm copying you). I hadn't actually considered I would be writing about them on their 40th anniversary because it's such a non-event - as you've rightly pointed out.
Beyond their N64 output I never really played anymore of their games except Conker Live and Reloaded, which I realised later was a mistake since it was an even more censored version of the single player game I already played, and a multiplayer mode which I saw absolutely no point in. I've watched from the sidelines and realised, like you, the old magic is never coming back. Which is why it's important to keep their old games alive somehow in collections or maybe remasters, because they still actually play so well considering they must be nearly 20 years old or more now.
What you've written is great, it's just a shame it's a sad post overall.
Great article and overall writeup. However, I'd argue that Square making the Final Fantasy games for Nintendo, and not Sega, ALSO really helped Nintendo win the 16 bit battle. 😉
Wow…I never heard about the incident where Microsoft thought that purchasing Rare meant they owned Donkey Kong, but that part made me laugh more then I expected 🤣.
Yeah, the Xbox 360 era was the last time I was able to spend with the then-current Rare games. I remember purchasing Kameo along with the 360 console close to launch. I think I got Perfect Dark Zero pretty soon after.
The 360 was my first experience playing games online, and I had so much fun playing PDZ with other all over the world. It’s too bad that Rare seems to be a mere shell of itself these days. But I’m glad I was at least there front and center for Donkey Kong Country in their heyday.
I heard that story a long time ago and found it just as funny lol. It was because Microsoft visited their campus and they still had a Donkey Kong statue from Nintendo and they flipped out. I wonder how it looked when they explained to them the big ape was not theirs lol.
It looked like this…🤦🏾♂️
The fact that Microsoft executives believed that they owned Donkey Kong by buying Rare is one of the best examples of big companies not knowing what they are buying until it's too late. Recently, I worked for a company that suffered from the same fate by being bought by a holding with complete different values and culture. I thought this was a more recent problem in corporate world, but I guess it's older than I think.
Thank you so much for writing such a thoughtful piece about one of my favorite studios of all time.
This was great to read because I loved the Rare games during the N64 timeframe, Goldeneye was the sole reason I got the console. It's also a big coincidence that I've been spending the week writing my own post about Rare, but focusing on the "good old days" instead (so I hope that doesn't look like I'm copying you). I hadn't actually considered I would be writing about them on their 40th anniversary because it's such a non-event - as you've rightly pointed out.
Beyond their N64 output I never really played anymore of their games except Conker Live and Reloaded, which I realised later was a mistake since it was an even more censored version of the single player game I already played, and a multiplayer mode which I saw absolutely no point in. I've watched from the sidelines and realised, like you, the old magic is never coming back. Which is why it's important to keep their old games alive somehow in collections or maybe remasters, because they still actually play so well considering they must be nearly 20 years old or more now.
What you've written is great, it's just a shame it's a sad post overall.
Great article and overall writeup. However, I'd argue that Square making the Final Fantasy games for Nintendo, and not Sega, ALSO really helped Nintendo win the 16 bit battle. 😉