DKC Atlas Forum

[Blaziken257]

I don't know if many people realize this, but today is September 24, and it has now been 10 years since Microsoft bought Rareware. This, as I'm sure most people will agree, had a huge impact towards Rareware fans, and towards video games in general. I know the topic title is a bit extreme, but Rare was a significant part of my childhood, and the purchase of Rareware, and the consequences of that, meant a lot to me. And I'm sure it meant a lot to others, too. After all, almost no company could top Rare in the 1990's, and now it has turned upside down.

I, in particular, loved the Donkey Kong and Banjo games, and I know that some of Rare's other games, like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Battletoads were also popular and important parts of people's childhoods. (I liked Star Fox Adventures too, and I know that some other people did too, but at the same time, I know that people love to bash it too, since it wasn't originally a Star Fox game, and it was released the day before Microsoft bought Rare, so basically it's a mixed opinion game.)

When I first found out that Microsoft bought Rare, 10 years ago, I didn't know what to think. I initially thought I was going to have to get an Xbox just to play Rare games, and indeed, I think the GameCube would have fared better if Nintendo kept Rare, and if Rare maintained their quality from the SNES/N64/GB days. But I played several of their GBA games (namely the DKC ones and the Banjo ones), and I noticed their quality slipped. Since I didn't have an SNES at the time, I got the GBA versions of the DKC games first, and repeatedly heard on forums that the music/graphics suffered, and I didn't like some of the new additions (like the scrapbook, mini-games, etc.). It frustrated me that I felt like I was only playing watered-down versions of DKC games, and when I later got an SNES and the DKC games, I instantly liked those all better. As for the Banjo games, I felt little effort was put into them: BK:GR was far too short (it can be beaten in about 2 hours), and Banjo-Pilot was dull compared to Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Super Circuit, where the tracks were uninspired, and the characters were imbalanced, among other things. To add insult to injury, BK:GR was going to be longer, but two levels ended up being condensed into one.

Really, after playing the Banjo games on GBA, it didn't surprise me one bit that BK:N&B was nowhere near as popular as the N64 Banjo games. I was just waiting for the negative reaction to happen. And needless to say, I don't have an Xbox or an Xbox 360, either.

And during this past decade, many people left Rare, such as the Stamper brothers, David Wise, and Grant Kirkhope, to name a few. Worth mentioning: Grant Kirkhope has blamed Microsoft for Rare's decline.

And of course, Rare pretty much alienated everybody after the Kinect Sports games, which seem too similar to Wii Sports, released years before (and I haven't even played Wii Sports itself in years). Heck, it alienated MundoRare, who had long been loyal to Rare.

But looking back, Rare's decline might have been years in the making before Microsoft bought them. Years prior, there were rumors of Rare being bought (one company interested was Activision). In addition, back in 1997, some employees were discontent with Rare, and left (start with the 2nd paragraph under the Banjo-Kazooie image). And the GBC version of DKC was released in 2000, which is by far my least favorite version for reasons that I explained here.

So, in essence, I can't completely blame Microsoft for turning Rare upside down, but it sure amplified the problem significantly.

And now, we can only hope to see more Wii Sports-like games from Rareware for years to come. The sad part is, I doubt the target audience of their Kinect games even knows who Rare is, much less their history in the 1990's. Really sad.

I'm not a big fan of change, especially when it's for the worse. Especially when it's something nobody expects. It pretty much shows that anything can happen... but hey, we have Retro Studios (which, interestingly enough, became significant just after Microsoft's purchase of Rare), which is essentially the new Rare, right?

How do you all feel about Rare 10 years later?

[Gaz]

Depressed, just depressed. Thanks for reminding me about this though. I kinda forgot.

[Phyreburnz]

I'm not going to lie, I think about this quite often. And although I know Microsoft wasn't completely to blame, I still take out my frustrations on them by constantly bitching about how much I hate Microsoft... it is just easier to blame them for the bad, rather than Rare, because I loved Rareware so much that it still seems impossible that the best gaming company that made my favorite game of all time could go out so badly. Almost like having a hard time being mad at an ex you broke up with, because you still hold the hope that they're sill the same person you fell in love with.... cheesy analogy, but you get what I'm saying... Because I'm such a retro gamer, it really weighs heavily on my mind. I constantly think of how games now just aren't as good as they were in the 90s (along with everything else... I'm stuck in the 90s, what can I say?), and how we won't have any more games like Donkey Kong Country ever again, except by our small, but super amazing and talented community here dedicated to bringing back the golden days of gaming.

I also have to say that it upsets me that some people won't get the chance to play the games we grew up with and loved. Yeah, you can buy them on the Wii, but, well, it's just not the same, and some people still don't get it. Some of these people don't even know the origin of Donkey Kong, or know that Mario was originally Jumper Man, or that Princess Peach used to be Princess Toadstool, and before that she was Pauline. But history, in general, will always have a special place in my heart. My dad is a history teacher and I always try my best to learn about the past. It worries me that, years from now, people won't know what records, tapes, and even cds are. They won't know how they worked, or how to use them, or even have the ability to use one unless a great-grandparent had one and passed it down or something. Hell, some people don't even know what Pong is. One thing that happened to me more recently was in my photography class. I'm the only one that couldn't afford the $500 camera, so I used my dad's old film camera from either the late 70s or 80s. I felt like a complete moron for not remembering how to put film in a camera.

Anyway, that's beside the point... it just all depresses me. I'm just glad that we have this small community that cares enough to make fan games and better editing tools.

Sorry for the long-winded post.

[Super Luigi!]

What she said! Since the Blaziken257-Phyreburnz team combo had already said what I had been thinking, there's not much more of this discussion cake that I can bring to the table for others to eat. Yep, pretty soon we'll all become Cranky Kongs, ranting on and on about the old days, yearning to return. However, just like Cranky did with DKC, we shouldn't overlook the gems right in front of us.

[Katastrophe Kong]

There's a video about a man asking people on the beach why Americans celebrate the fourth of July; none of them could answer.

This new generation is going to kill me.

[Qyzbud]

Very well written, Blaziken257... I agree with you about all of that.

Rare was the bee's knees in the mid-nineties, but the past decade has had me lose interest in them almost entirely. It's a bit sad, but times change, and new developers are growing strongly out of the.. er... fertiliser... Rare has left us with.

[Super Luigi!]

Great Qyzbud, just what we needed, fertilizer in the discussion cake. On that note, it sure makes for some interesting topics. By the way, do you think We, the People of the United Atlas, in order to form a more perfect community union, should hold these truths to be self-evident and take action?