Nintendo & Rare Break Up
I was about to post an article on the official details or the Rare / Nintendo split. And then I realized, why post a fourth news article concerning the break-up in a one week time frame. Let’s try something new. An editorial maybe. Yes, that sounds good. Insight, not repetition. The details are out. Plain and Simple, Here's the scoop:
Nintendo had previously owned 49 percent of Rare. Because of the fact that Rare had not been creating as much revenue as they had hoped (because SFA took forever,) Nintendo received that percent of the company back from Rare, and was then sold in it’s entirety to Microsoft, along with numerous licenses: Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini, Conker, and Banjo-Kazooie.
Nintendo, however, retains all of its titles that it let Rare develop, like Donkey and Diddy Kong and Star Fox. To show that Nintendo Will be OK, they’ve already got Namco working on a new Star Fox, as they have since about June or July, and Nintendo is working on a Donkey Kong title Internally. This should be a breath of fresh air for all those still disgruntled about how much DK64 promised, and how much less it delivered.
However, it is no doubt that Rare helped – when it put games out. Here are all the games Rare put out for the Nintendo 64:
- Conker’s Bad Fur Day: IGN Rating of 9.9
- Perfect Dark: IGN Rating of 9.8
- James Bond: 007: IGN Rating of 9.7
- Banjo-Kazooie: IGN Rating of 9.6
- Banjo-Tooie: IGN Rating of 9.4
- Star Fox 64: IGN Rating of 8.7
- Diddy Kong Racing: IGN Rating of 8.4
- Jet Force Gemini: IGN Rating of 8.1
As you can see, their ratings proved amazing, an average of 9.2. Additionally, according to IGN, only 2 games are better then Conker’s BFD: the Zelda titles. In most gamer’s minds, the Zelda games will always be the best out there anyway, so basically, Rare did a good job when it delivered, which almost never happened. 8 games in 5 years. Take into consideration that they knew about the system well before it came out, maybe 3 years. So we’ll say 1 game per year. Nintendo has put out 4 games in the first 2 months of their system, while Rare hasn’t delivered their launch title, but nearly a “launch anniversary title.”
Well lets see. I didn’t really want to bore you with statistics, so lets get to some ideas. First off: we all have our opinions (as, after all, they’re like assholes,) about who made out better in this deal. We4’ve got Nintendo, Rare, or Microsoft. Who did the best?
Stated Simply, Rare did the worst. While you may not think so, they did terribly in this deal, tossed like a rag-doll from Nintendo to Microsoft. Why? Well lets look at what they could have had going for them. They are currently not affiliated with Nintendo any longer, and so, their GameCube games in development such as Kameo: Elements of Power, and of course Perfect Dark Zero, will all have to be either scraped and re-coded or just modified. Knowing Rare’s high standards, they’ll be scraped.
But what about the Game Boy Advance. Rare had three games planned, whether you knew or not. Diddy Kong Pilot, and since the license is owned by Nintendo, the work on that game is worthless, Sabre Wulf, and then Banjo Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge. Most definitely, whether Microsoft will make GBA games or not, those games are doomed too. These games will surely cause loss of revenue for the company, making it nothing more then a better business deal for our favorite connoisseur, Bill Gates.
Microsoft made a half decent Business deal as it has been doing since 1975 when it opened as a 20 man firm. They acquired an in house second party, and are still striving to make it in the gaming industry. I’ve heard rumors about the console being bought out by the end of the fiscal year, but that doesn’t need to be true. Either way, we know for a fact that Steve Ballmer said they would display a new console at E3 2004. Sad. Nintendo would never do that.
Nintendo made out best for tons of reasons. A profit maker of 1.5 percent was gotten rid of, purchased for obviously some good bit of money from another company in the gaming industry who looks to be failing, and so, I view it as Microsoft admitting defeat. “We need one of those good companies you ingeniously invested in so long ago or we’re screwed Nintendo – PLEASE?!” says Bill Gates. “Yung-Hi, Shling yabatto lit-nee agavootu.” Says Miyamoto-san, “Sure.”
Nintendo is also slimming down a little working on more in house development over second parties. The parting of not only Rare, but Left Field Productions is proof, and the full purchase of Retro Studios ensures Metroid for many years to come. But how will all these changes affect some of the games Nintendo makes internally?
Super Smash Brothers… Hmm, well we never saw Banjo, or Joanna, or any other Rare characters. Maybe that would have been a possibility for the third game in the series, but oh well. Who cares. What’s done is done, now move on. Also, lets consider this real fast. Before we get our boxers or thongs up in a knot, remember that Halo and Perfect Dark will be on the BOX now. What one do YOU think XBOX fans will buy? HALO. More so then PD0 at least.
Well now, nothing to be worried about. Everything’s fine. Nintendo got more money. Microsoft lost some, and we’re still getting SFA. So sit down and shut up. And go play Animal Crossing. It’s good for you.