Rare in Turmoil | Nintendo to Benefit?

Add this to the fact that the company has only so far released one XBOX game, the 'good, but not Rare good' Grabbed by the Ghoulies that actually died at retail in the worst possible way, and matters begin to look rather bleak. There is even trouble surrounding the two forthcoming projects for Microsoft's home system, Conker: Live & Reloaded (an N64 remake of Bad Fur Day with L!VE capabilities tacked on) and Kameo: Elements of Power (a former GameCube 1st Generation title), with them being "paraded like drunk supermodels at E3 2004". And those are not our words, but those contained within the pages of the company's very own website! Oh and the less said about Perfect Dark Zero, the better!

Recent news across the Internet has been revealing that members of Rare have been up and leaving for pastures new due to 'company politics' and the general direction that the various in-development projects are heading. Apparently some have moved on rather hastily to the likes of fellow Brit-houses Codemasters and Eidos.

It is unknown if any of the leavers were from Rare's dedicated handheld department that has been far more productive, releasing the brilliant-but-short Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge last year, the superb Sabre Wulf in March of this year and has completed at least two other GBA games in the form of newly-remade Banjo Pilot (due to the loss of the Kong licence) and It's Mr Pants (which THQ is holding back from releasing at the moment). Then there is the talk of another GBA game in Gnomeman, DS games such as a port of Perfect Dark and maybe even a Killer Instinct-related title.

So, Nintendo might have sold the development team to 'the enemy', but the output for Microsoft has been nothing compared to that produced for Rare's former owners. Oh the irony...

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