Rare
Type	Private
Founded	1982
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Key people	Tim Stamper Chris Stamper
Industry	Computer and video game industry
Products	Video games
Owner	Microsoft
Website	http://www.rareware.com/

Rare, Ltd is a United Kingdom-based video game development company. It was founded in 1982 by brothers Tim and Chris Stamper as Ashby Computer Graphics (ACG). Publishing as Ultimate Play The Game, they developed games for 8-bit platforms such as the ZX Spectrum^[1] and Commodore 64, before the name was sold to U.S. Gold in 1985. Rare then became a second-party developer for the Nintendo gaming platforms, but in 2002 was acquired by Microsoft. In fall 2003, the company's "Rareware" logo (which had been used since 1994) was discontinued and was replaced by a newer, similar logo with the name "Rare". Current (2005) Rare Logo This work is copyrighted. ... A private company is a company that is independently owned. ... Tim Stamper is of the Stamper brothers who founded Rare (the other is Chris Stamper). ... Chris Stamper is of the Stamper brothers who founded Rare (the other is Tim Stamper). ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about computer and video games. ... Microsoft is one of few companies engaging itself in the console wars Where they are up against sony, nintendo, and of course sharps new console which may cause a threat. ... A website (or Web site) is a collection of web pages, typically common to a particular domain name or subdomain on the World Wide Web on the Internet. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tim Stamper is of the Stamper brothers who founded Rare (the other is Chris Stamper). ... Chris Stamper is of the Stamper brothers who founded Rare (the other is Tim Stamper). ... 8-bit refers to the number of bits used in the data bus of a computer. ... The ZX Spectrum is a home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd. ... The Commodore 64 is the best selling single personal computer model of all time. ... // US Gold Corporation - Gold Mining U.S. Gold is a gold exploration company focused on Nevadas Cortez Trend, which is home to some of the worlds largest gold deposits. ... In the video game industry, a second-party developer is a developer who, while being a separate entity from any console manufacturer, is tied to a specific one usually through contract or partial ownership and makes games specifically for that console manufacturer. ... Nintendo Company, Limited (任天堂 or ニンテンドー Nintendō; NASDAQ: NTDOY, TYO: 7974 usually referred to as simply Nintendo, or Big N ) is a multinational corporation founded on September 23, 1889[1] in Kyoto, Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Microsoft is one of few companies engaging itself in the console wars Where they are up against sony, nintendo, and of course sharps new console which may cause a threat. ...

The company is notable for having created an unusually large number of original hit games, and for the company's price tag: Microsoft paid US$377 million for the company, a record for a video game developer.

On January 2, 2007, it was announced that Tim and Chris Stamper have left Rare to pursue 'other opportunities.' Neither Microsoft, Rare, nor the Stamper brothers have stated specifically what they intend to move onto post-Rare. January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ...

Company overview

Rare is located in Twycross, Leicestershire, England and is the company behind many of the most famous games for Nintendo's various gaming systems: Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country (and its sequels), Killer Instinct, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Blast Corps, GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, Jet Force Gemini, and Star Fox Adventures and most recently, Diddy Kong Racing DS. Twycross is a small village in Leicestershire, UK on the A444. ... Nintendo Company, Limited (任天堂 or ニンテンドー Nintendō; NASDAQ: NTDOY, TYO: 7974 usually referred to as simply Nintendo, or Big N ) is a multinational corporation founded on September 23, 1889[1] in Kyoto, Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. ... Battletoads was a video game franchise by Rare Ltd. ... Donkey Kong Country (Super Donkey Kong in Japan) is a video game developed by Rare and Nintendo, featuring the popular arcade character, Donkey Kong. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Banjo-Kazooie is a 3-D platform/adventure video game for the Nintendo 64. ... Banjo-Tooie (Japanese title: バンジョーとカズーイの大冒険2, Rōmaji: Banjō to Kazūi no Daibōken 2, English translation: Banjo & Kazooies Great Adventure 2) is the sequel to the 1998 Nintendo 64 game Banjo-Kazooie. ... Blast Corps (or Blast Dozer in Japan) is a video game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rareware that was released in 1997, in which the player must clear a path for a truck carrying a pair of defective nuclear missiles. ... For the film, see GoldenEye. ... Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game for the Nintendo 64 game console. ... Conkers Bad Fur Day is a Nintendo 64 video game made by Rareware that was marketed as an adult platform game. ... Diddy Kong Racing is a racing game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rareware. ... Donkey Kong 64, often abbreviated DK 64, is a 3D platformer video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64. ... Jet Force Gemini, or Star Twins ) in Japan, is a science fiction third-person shooter game for the Nintendo 64 developed and published by Rare that was released on October 11, 1999. ... Star Fox Adventures is a Nintendo GameCube video game and part of the Star Fox series. ... Diddy Kong Racing DS is a racing game developed by Rare for the Nintendo DS. It is Rares first Nintendo DS game, and was released on February 5, 2007. ...

Its games have always employed some of the latest graphics technology. One of its most critically acclaimed and popular series was the Donkey Kong Country series on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, due to its use of pre-framed 3D graphics on a 2D console. GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 is considered by many to be their biggest success, known even today as one of the gold standards for console first-person shooters, eventually selling 7.8 million copies. Rareware's Killer Instinct added several features to the fighting game genre such as autodouble combos, combo linkers and ultra combos. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES (pronounced either as a word or acronym), is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Brazil, Europe, and Australia. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) and by techniques specific to them. ... Nintendo 64 ) is Nintendos third home video game console for the international market. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Screenshot of Kung Fu Master (1984, Irem). ... Liu Kang after performing a 7-hit combo on Scorpion in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. ...

Key members of the GoldenEye development team left Rare soon after beginning work on Perfect Dark. Head of Software Martin Hollis was the first to leave in 1998, working at Nintendo of America on the GameCube, and in 2000 he started his own company, Zoonami. Other members such as David Doak left soon after he did and formed Free Radical Design. Martin Hollis, founder and CEO of Zoonami, is a renowned game industry veteran of over 19 years and director/producer of the critically acclaimed first-person shooter GoldenEye 007 which has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide. ... Nintendo Company, Limited (任天堂 or ニンテンドー Nintendō; NASDAQ: NTDOY, TYO: 7974 usually referred to as simply Nintendo, or Big N ) is a multinational corporation founded on September 23, 1889[1] in Kyoto, Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. ... The Nintendo GameCube , GCN) is Nintendos fourth home video game console, belonging to the sixth generation era. ... Zoonami is a video game development company, founded in 2000 by Martin Hollis. ... The companys original logo (1998-2006) Free Radical Design is a video game developer, based in Nottingham, England. ...

The Classic Rare Logo (Used from 1994-2003).

However prior to both of these events, Rare had already publicly lost staff from other teams. In 1997 a small number of employees (Oliver Davies, Oliver Norton, Steve Patrick, Jeff Stafford, Christopher Gage, and Adrian Smith) left and formed a new studio to be known as Eighth Wonder. They were signed with Sony Computer Entertainement Europe (who made sure this defection was well publicised in the games press) and were all set to develop a new PlayStation title. There were high hopes that this would produce an amazing game; provisionally titled "Popcorn". EDGE magazine even profiled the project, showing a game that looked like a 3D version of Bomberman. However, despite being shown by SCEE at the 1998 ECTS [1], the game and the studio seemed to disappear as the months went by. Eighth Wonder no longer exists and there are no confirmed reports of the game ever being released, thus making it likely that SCEE ended up cancelling the project in a very quiet fashion. Image File history File links Old rareware logo. ... Image File history File links Old rareware logo. ... SCE redirects here. ... The Sony PlayStation ) is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid-1990s. ... Sonic is a strategic, maze-based computer and video game franchise originally developed by Hudson Soft. ... European credit transfer system (ECTS) is a method that is used to compare the marks (US: grade) given in education across European Union. ...

Up from the end of 2000, people from Activision and Microsoft visited Rare. In November 2001, Microsoft trademarked the name It's Mr. Pants, the name of a game which was released three years later. In September 2002, the Stamper brothers sold their 51% interest in Rare to Microsoft; following this, Nintendo sold their 49% stake in the company as well. Microsoft paid a total of $377 million for the company. Because of this, Rare is now a first-party developer for Microsoft's Xbox and its successors. The trademarks of the characters from the games that Rare made for Nintendo consoles (such as Conker of Conker's Bad Fur Day) were retained by Rare (apart from IP originally developed by Nintendo, i.e. Donkey Kong and Star Fox). Despite the acquisition, Rare still develops games for Game Boy Advance, and is now also developing for the Nintendo DS. Rare has never developed for Sony platforms. Activision, Inc. ... Microsoft is one of few companies engaging itself in the console wars Where they are up against sony, nintendo, and of course sharps new console which may cause a threat. ... Its Mr. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Microsoft is one of few companies engaging itself in the console wars Where they are up against sony, nintendo, and of course sharps new console which may cause a threat. ... Nintendo Company, Limited (任天堂 or ニンテンドー Nintendō; NASDAQ: NTDOY, TYO: 7974 usually referred to as simply Nintendo, or Big N ) is a multinational corporation founded on September 23, 1889[1] in Kyoto, Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards. ... In the video games industry, a first-party developer is a developer who is part of a company that actually manufactures a video game console. ... Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. ... A trademark or trade mark[1] is a distinctive sign of some kind which is used by an individual, business organization or other legal entity to uniquely identify the source of its products and/or services to consumers, and to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities. ... This article is about the video game character named Donkey Kong. ... The Star Fox series ) is a video game franchise published by Nintendo. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... NDS redirects here. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Between 2000 and the final acquisition of Rare Ltd, more than 50 people left the company. After the acquisition was complete, at least 30 more left. Commentators have noted that Rare's first Xbox title, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, was not a commercial success. This article is about the year 2000. ... Grabbed by the Ghoulies was a video game released in 2003 by Rare for the Microsoft Xbox gaming console. ...

August 2003 brought news that Rare and Microsoft had made a deal with THQ to publish Rare's Game Boy Advance games, which as of December 2004 have included Sabre Wulf, a game based on its Ultimate character, Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge, a "midquel" to the two Nintendo 64 games, and It's Mr. Pants!, a puzzle game that was originally developed as "Donkey Kong: Coconut Crackers", and featured the company's unofficial mascot. January 2005 saw the completion of this deal, with the release of Banjo Pilot (which prior to being acquired by MS, was in development as "Diddy Kong Pilot"). Rare also ported and extended the Donkey Kong Country series, which was published by Nintendo. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sabre Wulf is a video game for the Game Boy Advance starring Sabreman from the Sinclair Spectrum series of games. ... Nintendo 64 ) is Nintendos third home video game console for the international market. ... Its Mr. ... Mr. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Banjo-Pilot is a video game for the Game Boy Advance featuring characters from the Banjo-Kazooie series of video games. ...

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2004, Microsoft's Ken Lobb stated that Rare had obtained Nintendo DS development kits and was working on two titles for the Nintendo DS [2]. Shortly after, Microsoft issued a statement saying that the company and its studios had no plans for Nintendo DS development. However, on July 8, 2005, Rare posted job openings for Nintendo DS development on its official website, and stated that it was "creating key DS titles." The first of these games is an online-capable port of Diddy Kong Racing. However, it is unknown if Rare is developing any more titles for the DS, and if they are, it is not known who will publish those titles. E³ logo The Electronic Entertainment Expo (or Exposition), commonly known as E³ or E3, is an annual trade show for the computer and video games industry. ... Ken Lobb is a video game designer. ... July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 176 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Diddy Kong Racing DS is a racing game developed by Rare for the Nintendo DS. It is Rares first Nintendo DS game, and was released on February 5, 2007. ...

On January 2, 2007, Rare founders Chris and Tim Stamper left the company to "pursue other opportunities"^[2]. Previous lead designer Gregg Mayles reviews as Creative Director and Mark Betteridge replaces as Studio Director at the company, replacing the brothers on a permanent basis. January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ...

Media-shy nature

During the Ultimate - Play The Game years, the company gained an international reputation for being media shy. The company itself being understaffed, didn't commit themselves to trade shows and only granted interviews once their current project was completed. Tim Stamper said in a CRASH interview that the only time off they had during the Ultimate years was two Christmas mornings. They worked all seven days a week, and the only hours in which they didn't work were 2:00-8:00 am.[3] CRASH was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. ...

Continuing this tradition, Rare has always kept the media at arms length, though in part this may be due to their close involvement with the game industry's other famed recluse: Nintendo. The Japanese office of this company has always tightly controlled press access to developers working on its titles (as studios such as DMA, Factor 5, Monster Games, Retro Studios and former members of Argonaut Software can attest). However, Rare's reticence to deal with the media may also relate to an incident in which they traded-off two UK television series (Gamesmaster and Bad Influence) against one another. This backfired on Rare, with the presenter of one, Dominik Diamond, branding Rare's management as "the physically unattractive Stamper brothers". Rockstar North Limited (formerly DMA Design Limited) is a Scottish developer of computer and video games founded by Dave Jones in Dundee and presently located in Leith Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Factor 5 is a software and video game developer that is best known for the Star Wars series Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. ... Monster Games, Inc. ... Retro Studios is an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas, USA. It was founded in 1998 by Jeff Spangenberg as a second-party developer to Japan-based video game company Nintendo. ... Argonaut Games PLC is a British video game producer. ... GamesMaster was a British show, screened on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998, and was the first-ever UK television show dedicated to computer and video games. ... Dominik Diamond (born 1969) is a television and radio presenter from Arbroath, Scotland. ...

In November 2006 Rare granted video game website Eurogamer a "rare" look around their studio. Eurogamer homepage Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news and reviews. ...

Future Titles

Banjo-Kazooie 3 was announced at Microsoft's X06 event in Barcelona, Spain. The official title of the game has not been confirmed by Rare. Banjo-Kazooie 3 is the working title for the next game in Rares Banjo-Kazooie franchise, announced at the X06 Media Briefing [1]. Banjo-Kazooie 3 is the fifth game in the franchise to be released. ... For other uses, see Barcelona (disambiguation). ...

On March 5, 2007 Rare announced Jetpac Refuelled for Xbox Live Arcade [4]. It's an update of the original Jetpac and will be Rare's first game on the service. March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... Jetpac Refulled is an upcoming Rare title for the Xbox 360 arcade. ... Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is an online service operated by Microsoft that is used to distribute video games to Xbox and Xbox 360 owners. ...

Absence of Rare titles for Virtual Console

On March 26, 2006, Matt Casamassina, Editor-in-Chief of IGN Wii, had announced in his blog that Nintendo's Virtual Console service, a feature which allows players to download games from the history of Nintendo, will be "Rareless". He stated that he had "met with some Rare/Microsoft staff" while attending the 2006 Game Developers Conference, who confirmed once and for all that the Virtual Console will not see any Rare-owned licenses. This means that classic Rare titles such as Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini, and Banjo-Kazooie (to name a few) may be absent from the download service; GoldenEye 007 may be a possibility as the James Bond video game license is held by Activision and would require Activision's, not Rare's, permission to be released on the system. The Donkey Kong and Star Fox games that were developed by Rare remain unaffected, since Nintendo retain the rights to both the Donkey Kong series and Star Fox. March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Matt Casamassina as depicted in Cubetoons. ... A logo from Nintendos Virtual Console website Virtual Console, sometimes abbreviated as VC, is a video game download service that is currently offered by Nintendo for its Wii gaming console. ... The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual gathering of video game developers. ... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond 007 is a fictional British agent [1] created in 1952 by writer Ian Fleming, featured in several novels and short stories. ...

However, despite the blog post, Rare recently stated that Rare games on the Virtual Console is "possible."

List of games

Main article: List of Rare Ltd. games

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z This is a list of video games by the company Rare Ltd. ...

References

1. ^ Martijn van der Heide. Sinclair Infoseek: Ultimate Play The Game. World of Spectrum. Retrieved on 2006-08-19.
2. ^ 1UP.com. Rare Founders Leave to 'Pursue Other Opportunities'. Retrieved on 2007-01-02.

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Official Rare website
• Kikizo's interview in Feb 2002 with the Stamper brothers just after they were bought by Microsoft (includes a video of the Q&A)
• Rare Ltd at the Open Directory Project (suggest site)
• Rare profile on MobyGames
• Next Generation: A Short History of Rare
• RareWiki A Wiki dedicated to Rare made games and characters.