Rare being bought up by MSFT???

**Posted:** Wed Sep 11, 2002 5:39 pm

Anyone can find a solid link to this? Even Geek.com has posted up this "rumor"... This might explain why Nintendo contracted Namco to make Star Fox Armada a while ago... The only title I'll miss is the possiblity of having played Killer Instinct and Perfect Dark on the GCN. -_- I think those are the only two titles who's characters are not owned by Nintendo... Bye bye, Orchid!!! I'll miss you!!! You too, Maya! And lastly, you too, you little Janet-Jackson look-alike, Kim Wu!!!

**Posted:** Thu Sep 12, 2002 12:17 am

Most of the talent in Rare is leaving anyway to form other companies...There's not going to be much left when MS gets 'em. <TABLE BORDER=3 CELLSPACING=3 CELLPADDING=%3 ALIGN=LEFT><TD ALIGN="center" COLSPAN="3">Shenmue has a lot of Joy.<TR><TD ALIGN="center"> <IMG SRC="http://davincontrol.netfirms.com/fastah.jpg"></TD></TR></TABLE> <A HREF="http://sidequest.keenspace.com">Read SIDE QUEST</A> <TABLE STYLE=filter:GLOW(color=green, strength=+1)>True Greatness:</TABLE> ||<A HREF="http://pub21.ezboard.com/bzeldawalkthroughmessageboard">Free SeXors</A>||<A HREF="http://www.reikitantei.net/">Reikitantei</A>||<A HREF="http://pub34.ezboard.com/bzealpalace">Zeal's Board</A>||<A HREF="http://pub23.ezboard.com/bcolony195animeboard">My Board of Doom and Disillusionment</A>|| Seeing a glass as half empty doesn't mean you're a pessimist; It just means you're thirsty. -Ricky <MARQUEE direction=left>There was a time when random inane comments were rare...then people started copying me. Bastards.</MARQUEE>Proclaimed by:

**Posted:** Thu Sep 12, 2002 9:57 pm

they just want the rights to make those games. <center><img src="http://www.hackersplayground.org/aol.gif"></center>

**Posted:** Fri Sep 13, 2002 5:07 pm

thats pretty shitty, i mean, c'mon. They just want rare's name on there list of developers. lame. <img src="http://holyknight.homestead.com/files/magnatag.gif">

**Posted:** Sat Sep 14, 2002 4:53 am

I'm sure you've already found the solid links already but just in case: <a href="http://www.planetgamecube.com/news.cfm?action=item&id=3396">www.planetgamecube.com/ne...em&id=3396</a> I'm more optimistic after reading some of the comments that follow the short article though. Now that Nintendo has solid Third Party commitments, and has increased the strength of it's other 2nd party companies, Rare's importance to the Big N has been on the wane. Also, Rare has faced a talent drain which further erodes its capabilities. It may yet have a chance to right the ship with the horde of Microsoft money that will no doubt be pumped into it, but I think Nintendo will do fine in the end. At the very least, they can sell their shares of Rare, and make some cash that way. Additionally, Starfox and most of Donkey Kong will remain solidly in the Nintendo arsenal. ZL

**Posted:** Sat Sep 14, 2002 9:01 am

Yup, I've found several links by now. ^_^ I'm also relieved to have read some of the comments of the sites as to teh talented workers having left Rare some time ago. ^_^ However, does that mean that SFA won't be good because the good talent was not there to work on it??? I'll wait reviews. ^_^ Because I've read that Timesplitter 2 was made by some of the guys that worked on Goldeneye, I'm now looking forward to it. ^_^

**Posted:** Sun Sep 15, 2002 3:28 am

Rare is a crappy company anyway ^_^

**Posted:** Sun Sep 15, 2002 9:47 am

Hey, Zeth! ^_^ Long time no see! ^_^ Wow...I'd never thought I'd see the day that we actually agree on something! ^_^

**Posted:** Sun Sep 15, 2002 4:28 pm

I have played the demo and it is so-so. I have played the demo like 5 times so far. The thing i hate about these types of games is they have like no fault tolerance! If you dont play the map exactly they way the dev's planned it you are basicly a dead man.

**Posted:** Mon Sep 16, 2002 1:31 am

Rare did have its moments with nintendo back in the 16bit era. Ah, the old days. <img src="http://holyknight.homestead.com/files/magnatag.gif">

**Posted:** Thu Sep 19, 2002 7:31 am

To be truthful, I still think all those rumours are rubbish, and the evidence the Rare seem to be producing, like removing Nintendo related titles off release sheets, etc, is just them leading everyone on a jolly old ride, since they have almost heard the rumours, and find them amusing...

**Posted:** Sat Sep 21, 2002 3:37 am

It's pretty much confirmed now. Rare is 100% owned by Microsoft. Right now though, all Microsoft really gets is the name, since much of Rare's talent has been sucked off by other companies, and since Nintendo keeps most of the key franchises that Rare worked on (see below). Nintendo also made a nice amount of money with the sale of its 49% stake in Rare...and Microsoft will have to pour a ton of cash into Rare in order for it to become a powerhouse development company for them (especially since there will be a significant delay for any games to come from Rare, as their developers will need to learn to develop for the X-box...and, all things considered, they (RARE) did a pretty lousy job developing for Nintendo's easy to develop for system...especially since they were one of the first companies with Gamecube development kits). I mean, only one game for Nintendo in 2 years??? I don't blame Nintendo for selling off their shares. <a href="http://news.com.com/2100-1040-958821.html?tag=fd_top">news.com.com/2100-1040-95...tag=fd_top</a> Microsoft buys game developer Rare By David Becker Staff Writer, CNET News.com September 20, 2002, 1:57 PM PT update Microsoft has acquired British game developer Rare, a Nintendo executive confirmed Friday. Nintendo said in a statement that it has sold its 49 percent interest in Rare--developer of games based on popular Nintendo franchises such as Donkey Kong--but declined to name the buyer or price. But Peter MacDougall, executive vice president at Nintendo of America, confirmed to CNET News.com that the sale was part of Rare's acquisition by Microsoft, which now owns Nintendo's 49 percent stake and Rare's majority share. "The entire company has been sold to Microsoft," he said. Microsoft has not announced the Rare purchase, and a company representative declined to comment on the deal. The acquisition has been the subject of numerous reports, estimating the buy at anywhere from $400 million to $540 million. Schelley Olhava, an analyst for research firm IDC, said the type of family-friendly games Rare creates are exactly what Microsoft needs to broaden the appeal of the Xbox beyond hardcore gamers. "They need to get into the mass market," she said. "Rare has a reputation for developing very solid, high-quality franchises, something that's been really lacking for the Xbox...Rare is very good at developing characters; they made Donkey Kong what it is today." Nintendo minimized the effect of the sale, saying Rare-developed titles only accounted for 1.5 percent of Nintendo's worldwide software sales during the 2002 fiscal year. "Looking at the company's recent track record, it became clear that its value to the future of Nintendo would be limited," MacDougall said in the statement. "In other words, we passed on this opportunity for very good business reasons." Nintendo said it will retain all rights to Rare franchises such as Donkey Kong, Star Fox and Diddy Kong. "Those properties are still owned by Nintendo, and we will continue to make new games based on them," MacDougall told News.com. P.J. McNealy, an analyst for research firm Gartner, said that the deal will mean a delayed payoff for Microsoft. "It's a much less appealing deal for Microsoft without the Donkey Kong franchise," he said. "It makes it more of a long-term investment. It's possible the goal is really to build up a portfolio for the later years of the Xbox, when they're going to need to appeal to the kiddie market even more." Edit: About the last paragraph in the article...does anyone know of a Microsoft attempt to even TRY to appeal to the kiddie market yet? They may have done so, but I haven't seen evidence of it...though admittedly, I haven't really followed X-box news very closely. Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub19.ezboard.com/btenchimuyo79943.showLocalUserPublicProfile?login=zhugeliang>Zhuge Liang</A> <IMG SRC="http://www.ezboard.com/ezgfx/gicons/black_greenspot.gif" BORDER=0> at: 9/21/02 2:44:39 am

**Posted:** Sun Sep 22, 2002 8:58 am

Interesting! ^_^ Frist they go and say that the GCN is kiddie and now they buy Rare to appeal to a broader audience. Which really means that the Xbox' audience was quite narrow to begin with. ^_^ Long term investment indeed. ^_^ Starting from scratch now really... Learning new hardware, rewritting the codes... I'd say Rare won't come up with a new title before at least a whole year, if not two. ^_^ Hmmm...Nintendo has now quite chunk of spare change after having sold Rare, at a good price as well... ^_^ I wonder if they'll buy a company...oh like Capcom... ^_^ Capcom and Nintendo seem to have gotten pretty cozy together lately... ^_^ hehhehe ^_^

**Posted:** Sun Sep 29, 2002 4:52 am

Of course, if you're an X-Box fan, this doesn't apply...well, it would make you happy...but if you're a Nintendo fan... <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/pics/articles/x02/03b.jpg">www.eurogamer.net/pics/ar...02/03b.jpg</a> I assume this is from a press conference...I got it off another message board, so I didn't see the actual article or description of the event. ZL

Rare being bought up by MSFT???

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