Sunday, August 5, 2012

(Rumor) Nintendo is Buying Rare Back

Check this out. It's a rumor which briefly raises the hopes and dreams of countless Rareware fans. If you believe the anonymous email (and alas, you probably shouldn't), Nintendo is currently in the process of attempting to purchase Rare and its various Intellectual Properties.

It goes on to say that Retro Studios is already developing a Banjo Kazooie game. That strikes me as a tad odd. It would be unusual for them to develop a game that they don't even own. Heck, it would be copyright infringment! The only way I can rationalize that is that Retro Studios is making a generic 3D platformer on which they will tack Banjo and Kazooie in the event that the purchase is successful. To me, that seems rather unlikely.

But as the initial publisher of the rumor Zelda Informer did, I'm inclined to humor the speculation. With the Wii-U coming up, Nintendo is trying to target the 'hardcore' gamer types. Producing types of games Rare used to make would do just that. Hypothetical games like Killer Instinct 3 (which need not be developed by Rare if Nintendo owns the whole thing) and Perfect Dark 2 would do wonders for their effort to regain their traditional market. I would buy a Wii-U to play a new entry into the Perfect Dark franchise or even some of Rare's more off the wall games like BlastCorps.

Of course, the people who made Rare great are no longer there. If it's happening (and it's not), the move is just to gain those Rare game IPs which aren't doing anything for Microsoft right now. If Microsoft would just have Rare try and make a few traditional Rareware games, this rumor wouldn't have any traction.

At any rate, a google search for "nintendo buying rare back" revealed this petition. A noble endeavor, even if it will probably never happen. Sign it if you're so inclined.

http://www.petitiononline.com/petitions/f42f5ved/signatures