Topic: David Wise Leaves Rare.

[STM]

If I remember, Microsoft was doing a serious restructuring of Rare after Banjo-Kazooie NaB proved to be a commercial flop (Sonic Unleashed, a rival platforming adventure title released a little after NaB, demolished the game on 360 alone.) Pretty much, think of Rare being on probation with Microsoft. Another botched effort on a major title and I guarantee you that you'll be reading on your preferred news site that Microsoft will dissolve the studio entirely and be done with it. That time is getting pretty close unless Rare pulls out a Hail Mary of a title.

Failing that, it makes me wonder if Microsoft will begin to offer Rare's franchises in a fire sale to other developers.

[Fxeni]

If I remember, Microsoft was doing a serious restructuring of Rare after Banjo-Kazooie NaB proved to be a commercial flop (Sonic Unleashed, a rival platforming adventure title released a little after NaB, demolished the game on 360 alone.) Pretty much, think of Rare being on probation with Microsoft. Another botched effort on a major title and I guarantee you that you'll be reading on your preferred news site that Microsoft will dissolve the studio entirely and be done with it. That time is getting pretty close unless Rare pulls out a Hail Mary of a title.

Failing that, it makes me wonder if Microsoft will begin to offer Rare's franchises in a fire sale to other developers.

... Is it bad that I got annoyed when I saw "Rare" and "Mary" in the same sentence? Anyone who's played Tooie will know exactly what i mean.

They should just redo all their old games with new graphics and such, much like Conker. That would be guaranteed money for them.

[Jericho]

... Is it bad that I got annoyed when I saw "Rare" and "Mary" in the same sentence? Anyone who's played Tooie will know exactly what i mean.

[STM]

... Is it bad that I got annoyed when I saw "Rare" and "Mary" in the same sentence? Anyone who's played Tooie will know exactly what i mean.

...So many painful memories, all reawakened by the 360 version.

[HokutoNoBen]

Finally, if I remember correctly, didn't Miyamoto release SMW2 against the higher ups wishes to make it more like DKC2? I remember that much clear as day because it was Miyamoto who called DKC "vapid" stating that while the graphics were top notch, the gameplay left much to be desired. It escalated to a point where he said that he didn't like what Rare was doing with Donkey Kong, but then the two dueled it out with Donkey Kong Country 2 (a MUCH stronger entry) and Yoshi's Island.

Actually, if I remember correctly, the story goes that while they wanted Miyamoto's project to get all rendered like DKC, Miyamoto decided to go an entirely different tangent, by utilizing the FX2 chip to craft the awesome pastel artstyle that we ended up getting today. Before that, YI's actually was supposed to be little more than just a "relatively slight upgrade" of SMW's graphic style, which is why the higher ups wanted him to change the art style in the first place.

It's true, "Shiggy" didn't really care for what Rare was doing, but in any case, it served as nice impetus that actually forced him to push YI forward, and utilize the FX2 chip to great avail. So, yeah, everybody was a winner, including Miyamoto, because he at least didn't have to "compromise" his vision.

[Satoryu]

You know, when racing Canary Mary on 360, I had WAY less trouble, cause I found an AI bug with her. If you're ahead of her, she'll speed up, but if you're behind, she'll slow down. So just tail her until the final stretch, then mash like hell. I wonder if it works on N64 as well.

[Jericho]

You know, when racing Canary Mary on 360, I had WAY less trouble, cause I found an AI bug with her. If you're ahead of her, she'll speed up, but if you're behind, she'll slow down. So just tail her until the final stretch, then mash like hell. I wonder if it works on N64 as well.

It does, but good lord is it hard to pull off mashing on the A Button to keep her in check. If you don't keep a certain distance behind her, she'll blitz off and the game auto disqualifies you.

[Satoryu]

Perhaps a year or so of Shield Dashing and SDCing helped me mash better.

[STM]

I still had trouble with that. It wasn't much of a glitch as much as it is just exploiting her rubber band system. Still, you have to time it right because she still speeds up at the end.