A portion of an NES interview with former RARE employee, Donnchadh Murphy...
NES: Originally, Conker began development as a family game called Conker’s Quest/Twelve Tales, and then changed into a violent platform game with raunchy humor. Was Nintendo supportive of Rare’s decision to make such a dramatic change to the game? Or did they distance themselves from the project?
DM: Back in those days Rare was the golden child, so when they announced that we were changing direction there was no objections, none that I knew about anyway. I’m so glad it did change, because “Twelve Tales”, to put it politely, was not a good game. Chris Seavor took the reins in BFD and took it a direction nobody expected.
Full interview here
NES: Originally, Conker began development as a family game called Conker’s Quest/Twelve Tales, and then changed into a violent platform game with raunchy humor. Was Nintendo supportive of Rare’s decision to make such a dramatic change to the game? Or did they distance themselves from the project?
DM: Back in those days Rare was the golden child, so when they announced that we were changing direction there was no objections, none that I knew about anyway. I’m so glad it did change, because “Twelve Tales”, to put it politely, was not a good game. Chris Seavor took the reins in BFD and took it a direction nobody expected.
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I miss the old RARE...
I want to thank Mr. Murphy for doing the interview with me if he's reading this.
In the interview, he mentions how Rare wants to make Killer Instinct 3 but Microsoft wouldn't allow them.
Also, there's new details on Savannah in the interview that aren't at Unseen64.net
God I hope Nintendo somehow gets the rights to RARE's old franchises... they NEED to be revived. Especially Conker. One of my favorite games of all time
"Back in those days Rare was the golden child..."
Back before they demonstrated that they weren't up to making quality gameplay anymore...
Even if the developers from the old rare came back to microsoft, it would be like:
Rare: Hey what about...
Microsoft: NO, SHUT UP AND MAKE MORE KINECT GAMES!!!
Rare: kay :c
The best Rare game is Anticipation.
Or Goldeneye. Whatever, they're both great games.
On topic: I was a bit upset at the change. I didn't care if they created a new character, but they just corrupted a sweet character for cheap laughs. Turned into a game that wasn't cohesive at all.
Just goes to show that Nintendo has definitely gone beyond just giving up their censorship policies after learning their lessons from the SNES Mortal Kombat 'no blood' fiasco. And with M-rated games such as Geist and Eternal Darkness that Nintendo published for the Gamecube and allowing even more M-rated third-party games such as MadWorld and No More Heroes on the Wii, i'm very glad they changed their direction. ^_^
Since Microsoft isn't using Rare to their full potential, I'm in favor of this. I'd love to see a new Banjo-Kazooie game made by either Retro or EAD Tokyo (the Mario Galaxy and 3D Land devs), and if Jetpac is a part of the deal then we can finally get DK64 on the VC.
If only the Stamper Bros. realised the mistake they made back on 2002.
There weren't any objections because it was coming out late in the console's life, and Nintendo didn't give a crap anymore about the old console.
Banjo-Kazooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day were Rare's two best N64 games.
I'm glad they changed Twelve Tales to BFD. Twelve Tales just looked so bland.
Great interview with loads of stuff. Rare back in their day literally made revolutionary games in multiple genres every year (especially platformers). It was absolutely incredible. It still is. There are very few companies of that size (200 or so employees) that have ever had such a mastery over making great games, influence over the future of gaming, and changed game on a routine basis.
I imagine Retro Studios, a company that we often compare to Rare (although they produce a lot less games), is similarly allowed to do just whatever they want. Heck, Miyamoto gave them permission to make a Zelda game. Pretty much the only thing they couldn't get permission to make would be a canon Mario, Smash Bros., or Pokémon game! XD
They are even publishing Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge for the Wii U which has added in decapitation and dismemberment.
I would love to see Super RC Pro Am come back.
People often overlook the fact that barely a year later, Nintendo let Mortal Kombat II come out on the SNES entirely uncensored. Nintendo learned their lesson on censorship very quickly.
I'm pretty sure that if Jetpac were the only thing holding it up, they'd switch it with something else and have done with it. My guess is that they're in no rush because the game wasn't very well received.
Still, I do hope someday all the rights can get sorted out. Not having some of the most popular N64 games like Goldeneye, Banjo Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing on the Virtual Console is a bit of a glaring hole.
[edit] Probably worth pointing out that Nintendo didn't actually publish Conker's Bad Fur Day (or even the very un-mature GBC Conker game). It was self published in the US and published by THQ in the EU. Obviously Nintendo still owned a stake in Rare, so they were involved on some level, but you can't say with any degree of certainty that it had Nintendo's full blessing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but was the first mature game Nintendo actually published Eternal Darkness?
Retro is NOT the new Rare. Like you said Rare made revolutionary games in multiple genres every year, Retro has made 4 games in 10 years. 3 of those 4 games are the very similar Prime games and the other Donkey Kong Country only borrowed on what Rare had created 20 years earlier. Retro didn't even come up with Metroid in first person, Miyamoto did. Retro gets told what to do from Nintendo, Rare was given loads of money to make what ever they wanted.
Its not that Retro's games are bad but they are no where near as talented as Rare was.
You're not wrong. Eternal Darnkess was indeed the first M-Rated game published by Nintendo. Geist was the second.
i like retro as much as the next guy , but rare was and probably will stay the biggest 2nd party ever for nintendo . For once , retro doesn't produce a lot , ten years four games , and probably only two games top for the next generation . That's lower than rare . Of course Rare also had the benefit of doing imo official good but still clone ish nintendo game . After nintendo shocked the world with the best 3d platformer , they made great one , and after the four player 3d madness of mario kart , same thing .
But apart from the undying support of miyamoto , they were fully in control of goldeneye/perfect dark. No they were just great .
Bottom line is retro made less games and i want them (and sakurai) to double their output . Rare is the past now , it's never coming back for anyone . Both studios are always compared only because some guys like to think that they both owe nothing to nintendo and would do a better job elsewhere . See the armature debacle : only game helping to port on vita . It's too bad they didn't see that the praises they receive was also a jab at nintendo
i really don't think banjo or donkey4 would have been in production at any point , wishful thinking or badly assemble pitch ideas just like kid icarus
Hey, they gotta start somewhere, right? The Prime games represented top quality on the GCN and Wii, and DKCR was an excellent revival. I'm thinking they would do a fantastic job if allowed to do what they want, and I feel as though their next game will be a new IP
Unsurprising. After all, Nintendo did not object to the terrible gameplay either, and that was far more offensive than the shift to the more adult tone and humor.
I hate to burst your bubble but most of Rares offering across all systems including the non Nintendo systems were nothing special.
They were decent games but nothing noteworthy.
They made 20+ NES games, only Battletoad series and Solar Jetman were worth remembering.
They made 15+ games on Sega Genesis and SNES, we only remember them for Battletoads series and DKC trilogy.
They made 10+ games on N64 as a second party, we only remember them for Donkey Kong games, Goldeneye, Conkers, Banjo and Perfect Dark.
They made 15+ games for the original GB, can you name one off the top of your head that isn't a Donkey Kong game or the Conkers spin off?
Also Rare made most of their money off of the games they made with Nintendo as the publisher.
Nintendo only funded games they were interested in or were made using Nintendo IPs.
Nintendo managed every game they funded including controlling the development teams at Rare.
Rare's greatest games were great because Nintendo told them what to do and controlled the process and teams.
By 1999 Rare's owners and Nintendo were fighting over how to manage the company.
Rare had fallen behind in game development and development process became more turbulent.
Thus Rare began to bleed employees until the owners got Microsoft to pay their asking price.
The point is Rare was at its best when Nintendo was calling all the shots, all the games Rare developed on their own were not as good.
To date Retro has made 4 games and co-developed Mario Kart 7 with EAD.
Their 4 games as first party studio have reviewed higher than literally any Rare game to date (even those Nintendo called the shots on).
I'll take Retro over Rare any day of the week regardless of games (Ok the original Goldeneye maybe the exception).
Rare made most of
@ M1
Either way I think they are the two most over-rated development studios I know and get way more credit than they deserve. Still I don't think Retro is as good as Rare "in their prime"
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