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Editorials   Why Nintendo Must Grin and Rare It
- By Ryan Eid [Senior Editor]

It's no surprise that Rareware Ltd, a large and successful developer located in England, would want to expand its horizons, and make the leap out of Nintendo's arms and into the world of multiplatform developing. Yes, it can be argued that Nintendo made Rare what it is today, by giving them the funds, and characters, they needed to be the popular stud- developer they've become in the past 10 years. But, if internet rumors are to be believed, and Rare is going to flock from the Nintendo nest, what does it mean for Rare, and more importantly, what does it mean for Nintendo?

Rareware was a moderately successful developer on the NES and Genesis back in the early 1990s, with titles such as Battletoads and Snake Rattle N Roll. However, it wasn't until Nintendo took a chance, and put a large, brown monkey on their back, that Rare truly soared into superstardom. Donkey Kong Country, released in 1994, not only stunned people with its amazing CGI-style graphics, but with its fast and fun gameplay. It proved the SNES could still compete with the newer systems on the way, and that Nintendo had found a diamond in the rough with Rare.

That success continued in the mid 90s, with sequels to the DKC series, and a fun arcade fighter, Killer Instinct. However, it can be argued that Rare's pinnacle as a developer was reached in 1997, with three stellar releases on the Nintendo 64, Blast Corps, Diddy Kong Racing, and of course GoldenEye 007. It's no secret that these games, especially GE007, propelled the N64 into success in North America, at a time when many had written off the system as a never-was. The game was a multi-million seller and still more proof that Rare was an amazing and innovative developer.

Things clouded up a bit after that for Nintendo's fair-haired developer. In 1998, only one game was released by Rare, that being Banjo-Kazooie, and although the title was excellent, it wasn't enough. 1999 was the year of delays again for the British developer, as Perfect Dark, GoldenEye's anticipated follow-up, was pushed into the 21st century, Jet Force Gemini saw numerous delays, and Conker was seemingly tossed into the abyss. Add to all of that, Donkey Kong 64, Rare and Nintendo's big holiday game, was met with harsh criticism by fans and media alike, despite high sales of the game.

2000 seemed to be a bit of a rejuvination for Rare, with the release of Perfect Dark, and the follow-up to Banjo-Kazooie, entitled Banjo-Tooie. Still, the developer was plagued with delays, as Dinosaur Planet has once again been pushed back, and Conker was still off the radar screen. In 2001, Conker finally surfaced, as a crude, foul-mouthed platformer that both stunned and delighted audiences everywhere.

Since that time, 13 months ago, Rare has failed to release a home console game, and their next one, Dinosaur Planet, has been pushed back yet again into the fall of this year. So this begs the question, can Rare survive as a cross-console developer? With the company's super-high standard when it comes to games, is one or two releases (tops) per system going to be enough to sustain the developer as a big time player?


There have been rumors going around that Nintendo and Rare have had some inner conflicts, and that Perfect Dark 0 has been much maligned in getting out of the starting blocks of development. The question is though, does Nintendo need Rare more than Rare needs Nintendo?

True, back in the early days of the N64, this would seem like the case. Rare could do no wrong, and if not for them, the N64 would have been in serious trouble. But with the GameCube, it's uncertain this is the case. The GameCube has been out for eight months now, without a trace of Rare anywhere, and, for the most part, is selling at a solid pace.

And even though it may hurt Nintendo a bit to see Rare give other competing systems their time and resources (and stellar games), the fact remains that Nintendo still has a stronghold on any Nintendo-bred characters, so don't expect to see Star Fox or Donkey Kong on your PlayStation 2 anytime soon. Another valid question to ask though, is Rare going to develop GCN games, and port them to the PS2 and Xbox, or will they develop games specifically and exclusively designed for certain systems? It's entirely possible that a game like Kameo: Elements of Power could simply be ported to all systems, or be in development for one system exclusively (it's been rumored Rare has had development kits from Sony and Microsoft for about three months now).

Nothing is set in concrete as of yet, this is all heavy, yet seemingly accurate, rumor. E3 should shed much more light on the situation and how, or if, it will affect Nintendo in the long run. Rare has been an intricate cog in Nintendo's machine for the better part of ten years, but how much impact will it have on Nintendo if they decide to turn to other systems?