Remember Rare? That company that helped shape the N64 era with games like Goldeneye, Killer Instinct, Conker and Perfect Dark? Yeah, that awesome company that was sort of like what Rockstar is today. Well, one of the former employees speaks candidly in a new interview about a number of things, and he certainly doesn't hold back in being honest about why Rare went down the crapper this gen.
In an interview with graphics-centric gaming website Not Enough Shaders, graphics art designer Donnchadh Murphy (also credited as Don Murphy) pretty much confirmed what a lot of people already knew: Rare's current-gen crappiness is mostly attributed to Microsoft.
When asked what game Rare should remake in HD for the XBLA, Murphy stated the following...
Probably the same game every Rare fan wants to see and that’s KI3 (Killer Instinct 3). We all wanted to make KI3, but Microsoft [was] more interested in broadening their demographic than making another fighting game. So it never got made, I doubt it ever will.
According to Murphy, Microsoft only wanted Rare for their kiddie games, hence the Banjo spinoffs and no follow-ups to Perfect Dark outside of the niche fan-favorite Perfect Dark Zero. Don stated that it was Rare's versatility covering kids and adult games throughout the N64 and GameCube era that helped them stay relevant, but having a lot of their mature themed games shotdown created a negative atmosphere within the studio, causing a lot of key talent to part ways with the company.
For instance, Kameo 2 was also canned because it, too, took on a darker edge that the Microsoft suits weren't quite feeling. As stated by Murphy...
Kameo 2 was definitely taking a darker turn, which I personally think would have been a good thing. The graphics were looking great, but I never saw any examples of game play.
Based on Donnchadh's recount of his time at Rare under Microsoft, it strangely sounded a lot like...Peter Molyneux's tenure at Microsoft, where the legendary designer stated that it felt like he was trapped in a “creative cell” while working under MS.
Murphy is no longer with Rare or Microsoft, and instead he's working under Disney on a Dublin-based kids TV show. He wished Rare best of luck in their feature endeavors but we all know that the company is pretty much stuck in the gutter until Microsoft officially guts them for good.
You can read the entire interview over at Not Enough Shaders.
(Main image courtesy of Wizo)
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