Microsoft to buy Rare?

[Perfect Stu]

Source (http://www.raretopia.com/news/2002/09/06.html)

Rare Buy-Out Imminent

Earlier this week, a report surfaced on Computer and Video Games suggesting that a Rare buy-out might be imminent. According to the magazine's British sources, Activision was looking at acquiring the UK developer but simply could not afford the high price. Instead, the insiders alleged that Rare will be taken over by Microsoft for a price of £350 million.

CVG speculates that the official announcement will be made at Microsoft's X02 event in Seville later this month, which is said to focus on software. It also hints at the next game in the Perfect Dark series heading exclusively to the Microsoft Xbox.

One respected source, who wishes to remain anonymous, has confirmed to Raretopia that Rare is indeed to be bought by Microsoft and estimated the value of the company to be around £250 million. Allegedly, the deal has already been signed and the only thing that could stop it is if Nintendo takes up its option to buy Rare at the offered price instead of Microsoft. However, this seems very unlikely as it could have bought Rare years ago for a lower price but declined. Moreover, we were informed that a full buy-out of Rare will take place, meaning that all of its shares are to be sold to Microsoft.

The Rare-developed Star Fox Adventures will be released by Nintendo later this month exclusively for the GameCube, and it looks to be the last Rare game to grace the console before the company moves on to the Xbox. It is uncertain whether Rare will still bring out its GBA games, but chances are it will keep making games for the handheld as it still has a dedicated GBA team.

[DarkMaster]

whoa......but let's not forget one thing, shiggy does do a lot of supervision to the games that rare makes, without shiggy will rare still have that nintendo touch?

[TheGame]

Originally posted by DarkMaster
whoa......but let's not forget one thing, shiggy does do a lot of supervision to the games that rare makes, without shiggy will rare still have that nintendo touch?

*looks at Conker's Bad Fur Day*

Rare will be great without Nintendo

[Angrist]

*looks at Conker's Bad Fur Day*

Rare will sell terrible without Nintendo.

[Perfect Stu]

for some reason, I doubt 'Shiggy' had much to do with Goldeneye or Perfect Dark...

*looks at what Angrist has to say*

*doesn't give a crap*

[Null]

thought i read someone that he has more help then one would think in Goldeneye.

Nintendo kinda trained them, as time went on they did more on thier own.

they'll use what nintendo tought them and they'll be successful.


My theory on this Rare subject is still the same. I dont think nintendo would be stupid enough to let them go when they have enough to buy them. i dont think rare was unhappy where they were. cuz if microsoft buys them they're in the same spot. exlusive to one console.

nintendo announced a while back that they want to start focusing on Games, instead of hardware races.

My theory. Nintendo is going to stop making Consoles and follow suit with sega and make just games. (imo this has REALLY helped sega. they seem to get a lot more attention and i like more of thier games then before) And because of this. this would be the reason nintendo would let Rare go. they wouldnt need rare if they were going 3rd party. just a theory tho :p


Ah well tho. Back on subject, rare will do fine elsewhere just as they were with nintendo. they just gotta find new characters in certain cases. hehe

[Stonecutter]

A few months ago, this would have really pissed me off, but now I actually think it's a good thing for rare and for gamers. Rare won't have to deal with the usuall nintendo crap and Rare will get to develope for the most powerful system around.

Now for the bad part.

Months upon Months of fanboy bitching. Great, that's just what we need. The best part about this will be hearing the linux/mac users who hate MS. Half of them don't even play console games yet they will all have an opinion on how much MS sucks.

[DarkMaster]

nintendo could have bought rare a long time ago, thats their fault for being stupid. nintendo has done a lot of stupid things in its time (turn down sony to produce a console together, refuse square to develop games for them for almost 6 years).....but on the other hand, they have shiggy, and shiggy be kickin!!

[Null]

1) dont be so jumpy to assume this is true untill rare themselves says it.

2) nintendo did not do anything stupid with sony, and they were not making a console together. they were making an addon, and that addon would have failed. as all do.

3) they did not refuse square for 6 years. Square did NOT want to make games for N64, thats the reason they left, they wanted to make games on CD.
Nintendo turned them down for a couple years from the GC and AGB, but it gets them new games instead of remakes like square was planning.


But this still doesnt help Rare out if this is true, they wanted to be 3rd party, not exclusive. and if they wanted to be exclusive and sell more games they woudlnt goto nintendo or ms.

i personally think they're going to be 3rd party.

But hey, this could very well be true, stranger things have happened before.

[Tombor]

I don't see Rare sticking with Nintendo for much longer. This seems to be a lot dissention in the ranks on Rare's side. Does anybody remember that cryptic Christmas card with a snowman holding packages conspicously resembling a PS2 and Xbox? I think Rare will continue to be a great company though it may have some pains early on: they've been doing Nintendo license stuff for a decade now outside of Conker and Perfect Dark and Jet Force Gemini and a few others.

If Microsoft buys them, for a while it sounded like Activision was going to do a publishing deal with them, it could be a BIG coup for MS and Xbox. Perfect Dark going Xbox and whatever else Rare has up their sleeve will definately strengthen MS's 1st and 2nd party stuff THAT much more.... though, with a nonexistent Japanese marke, I personally see a buyout of a recognizable Japanese company, Enix or Game Arts or something like that, would make a bit more sense.

As I said before Rare has ALWAYS been a great software (Battletoads, Captain Skyhawk, Wizards and Warriors, and Solar Jetman anyone?) company: "Shiggy" breathing down their backs or not. They've been around for 20 years and it wasn't until recently Nintendo bought a stake in them. It'll be nice to see Rare either free of just one hardware platform, they've done nothing but Nintendo since 1985, or, save that, at least more powerful different hardware for once....

[gekko]

Null, why are you telling people not to be jumpy. Aren't you the one who thinks Nintendo will stop making consoles after what? No evidence leading to that. Ever since Sega stopped making consoles people are being jumpy assuming Nintendo will. Just remember, Nintendo is not the one is trouble. Microsoft is in dead last, Nintendo isn't.

Secondly, I don't expect Rare to stay. If MS buys them, it'll be a waste of money. I got a feeling Nintendo doesn't want Rare, and Rare wants to take their name elsewhere. Problem is, all they have is their name. Rare's games, hands-down, suck ass. They have been good, yes, but lately, they sucked ass. Conker, PD, Banjo-Tooie, Mickey's Speedway, etc. Rare has nothing without Nintendo.

[Null]

I dont think nintendo is in trouble in the slightest.

they make the most money on thier stuff. They are far far farrrr from needing money or being in trouble.

I think they WANT to become game only.

Its just a theory, im not tryin to force it as being a fact or saying it will happen.

so i dont need any evidence. and im just jumping at it. im just saying thats the feeling i get from everything. didnt say it was bad either.

[DarkMaster]

Originally posted by Null
1) dont be so jumpy to assume this is true untill rare themselves says it.

2) nintendo did not do anything stupid with sony, and they were not making a console together. they were making an addon, and that addon would have failed. as all do.

3) they did not refuse square for 6 years. Square did NOT want to make games for N64, thats the reason they left, they wanted to make games on CD.
Nintendo turned them down for a couple years from the GC and AGB, but it gets them new games instead of remakes like square was planning.
Square did not want to make games for N64 because it wasnt CD based. why wasnt it CD based? beacuse nintendo did not want to use sony's CD installed base addon for the N64. why did nintendo not want to use sony's CD addon? because apparently nintendo was afraid that the CDs load times would dis-satisfy their customers. Square needed a CD based console to make their games because cartidges couldn't handle the extreme amount of information and graphical powress (FMVS, pre-rendered backdrops) that they use in almost all of their games. a few years later square offers to make some games for nintendo, wut does nintendo say? piss off, thats wut they say. Nintendo's president was too stubborn to allow square to develop games for their console, "I don't care about Square, they chose Sony over Nintendo years ago so they can stay with Sony!!" the arrogant words of the Nintendo president. Either way, this really has nothing to do with Rare leaving nintendo. I'd rather Rare just stay with nintendo, it'll be less crap i'll have to read from arrogant Xbox fanboys.

[Null]

wasnt sonys CD addon for SNES? sony never had anything for 64.

less you mean something else. wasnt quite sure what you meant.

[Bond]

Originally posted by Null
wasnt sonys CD addon for SNES? sony never had anything for 64.

less you mean something else. wasnt quite sure what you meant.
Yes, it was. Cancelled a day before it was going to be shown. Actually Sony pulled out at the last minute.

[DarkMaster]

Originally posted by Bond
Yes, it was. Cancelled a day before it was going to be shown. Actually Sony pulled out at the last minute.
yeah, i remember hearing that nintendo was giving sony problems with their addon so sony left at the last minute to try to make their own console and beat nintendo. since PSX was a CD based system and N64 was cartidge based, most developers found it easier and more efficient to develop games on CD. therefore PSX had WAY more games than N64 and a WAY bigger user base too.

[Null]

i thought nintendo dumped them because nintendo didnt want to go thro with an addon. they wanted to make a new console.. that being the only way sony could make thier own console, because the contract they had sony couldnt leave and make it themselves. Nintendo broke the contract by canceling it. then allowing sony to make it themselves as a full console.

[DarkMaster]

i thought sony was making a part for the console, not just some addon...

[Null]

no, to my knowledge the whole thing with nintendo and sony was they wanted to make a CD addon for the SNES. cuz sega was experimenting with CD addon for the Genesis. (then 32x you know the story) Nintendo cut it cuz they saw how the Addons sell. it would of been suicide for them to continue it.
which is why the original Sony controller did look like the SNES one, (dont get me wrong, sony made it better)

but sony had nothing to do with the N64. thier idea's were differnt.

Nintendo wanted another Cartridge console. Sony still wanted to go thro with a CD one, so they took the Addon, and completed it into its own system.



Thats somewhat the way i remember it.

[Bond]

Sony pulled out at the last minute. That is the 'official' word. Although the whole situation is very secretive.

[DarkMaster]

but still, if nintendo would have kept the addon they would have been the #1 system for sure, they would have like 100% user base and 100% of the developers making games for them. that would have been sweet

[Bond]

Doesn't only $350 million dollars for a Rare buy out seem a little low to anyone? I mean I would have thought Rare was worth more than that, or Rare would have wanted more than that. Then again it is just a rumor.

[Null]

Originally posted by DarkMaster
but still, if nintendo would have kept the addon they would have been the #1 system for sure, they would have like 100% user base and 100% of the developers making games for them. that would have been sweet


actually no. in all likly hood the thing would have flopped. there has never been an addon to do well. you cant just say nintendo woulda had the psx and therefor done well. the psx would have been totally differnt. Nintendo might have been #1 cuz no sony to compete with......... on the other hand Sega coulda made out much better and overdone nintendo.

And bond, where was that offical word? i thought that sony couldnt of quit the idea and then made it themselves cuz of the contract they had with nintendo. i thought the reason they could was cuz nintendo broke the contract. ??



Actually bond. isnt it 350 million POUNDS ? cuz thier british. soooo hmmmm oh now i just messed my self up thinkign about currency. DAMN YOU CURRENCY!!!!

[GameKinG]

Nintendo broke away from sony because they didnt have enough control over the project, or so it is to my understanding. Anyway, at the Nintendo.com chat, a NP editor hints to not take this news to seriously, and that the guys at Rare screw around a lot (i.e. Rare.com mailbag). So...

[Jonbo298]

Here's what I have to say. If it happens, it happens. I dont think Rare has supported the GBA much yet(correct me if I'm wrong). Even though they do have a few games coming up. Rare has yet to release SFA in certain regions.(or all areas, Im not sure). So basically, as far as I know. Rare hasn't really done much support for Nintendo like back in the '64 days. But who knows, I guess if Rare goes exclusive to XBox, I won't miss them that much. PD0 was one of the top games I was waiting for, but now I really don't care too much. Since no new info. on the game has been released in over a year now I think. meh

[Shadow_Link]

Actually Bond, £350,000,000 = over $525,000,000.

I'm tired of this subject, it's like butter being scraped over too much toast.

Instead of asuming this or that, can't we just wait until something is said to contradict the rumours, or until something has happened to validate the rumours.

Apparently it is something so obvious, that no one has really guessed it, so my take on the situation is, don't use up too much brain power on the subject, and use it for something more constructive :D.

[Angrist]

Hmm... we've seen that Nintendo can survive and make profit without Rare. I mean the GCN and AGB have been out for years and they're doing great! Rare has yet to release SFA, their first GC project. While Nintendo has made... over 5 games, Left Field 2, EA a lot, Sega over... 5 I think, Lucas Arts almost 2 or 3 and so on. There is definately something wrong with Rare.

And if they don't want to work for Nintendo, what will you do about it??
I hope that they will fail miserably on the X-Box and go bankrupt. :D :unsure:

Oh yeah, M$ has already lost soooo much money on their X-Box.... and now this! :D

[Jonbo298]

Originally posted by Angrist
Hmm... we've seen that Nintendo can survive and make profit without Rare. I mean the GCN and AGB have been out for years and they're doing great! Rare has yet to release SFA, their first GC project. While Nintendo has made... over 5 games, Left Field 2, EA a lot, Sega over... 5 I think, Lucas Arts almost 2 or 3 and so on. There is definately something wrong with Rare.

EA doesn't count:D They just slop over a ****ty looking PS2 version to all 3 systems of just about every sports game they make. Keyword: Just About

[GameKinG]

"Nintendo takes up its option to buy Rare at the offered price instead of Microsoft. However, this seems very unlikely as it could have bought Rare years ago for a lower price but declined. Moreover, we were informed that a full buy-out of Rare will take place, meaning that all of its shares are to be sold to Microsoft."

According to other articles like this, Nintendo owns 49% of Rare. Now, I dont know what others have to say, but it seems Nintendo would have to sell most of that stock by choice if they were not getting any games.

[Bond]

Originally posted by Angrist
Hmm... we've seen that Nintendo can survive and make profit without Rare. I mean the GCN and AGB have been out for years and they're doing great!
I don't believe the GameCube has even been out for a year Angrist...

[Angrist]

I believe the GameCube has been out for over a year in Japan Bond... Not that it had a good launch in Japan but at least it was better than X-Box'.

I would say that GCN has been doing better than X-Box without Rare so it wouldn't make a difference, but I know that M$ will expect Rare to make games for them.... so you can't say that yet. :)

I still wonder if Nintendo owns the license of Perfect Dark... I'll check the boot-up screen the next time I play it (prolly within 15 mins).

[Perfect Stu]

Nintendo does not own Perfect Dark...

and even if they did, Rare could make a new line of FPS's...it's the gameplay that counts, certainly not the character "Joanna Dark"

[GameKinG]

Nintendo doesnt own it (though, their name is probably there), but its not like the game is hard to make. The most challenging part is the story. Then it has a basic GE engine.

[-apu-]

RARE should make a new donkeykong game for GCN:D:D:D

[Jonbo298]

Originally posted by -apu-
RARE should make a new donkeykong game for GCN:D:D:D

I can't remember if its Rare or Nintendo making that semi-new DK game. The one where you build the levels and whatnot. Build it to look somewhat like the classic levels back in the Atari days.

[GameKinG]

Rare is making Donkey Kong Racing. But I think he wants more of a platformer.

[Mechadragon]

So uhhhhh...does this mean no more Kameo or DK racing?

[Null]

Originally posted by Mechadragon
So uhhhhh...does this mean no more Kameo or DK racing?

if its tru that would be right.
you cant actually say you were lookin foward to dk racing were you?

i think tho rare will be 3rd party... dk racing will prolly goto GC, figures. and kameo will most likly go to all consoles.

just my guess.

[GameKinG]

Well, I would be fine with a third party at most. I know then that all of their games would go to cube as well. They just have that kind of relationship with nintendo. But they arent good enough for me to buy an xbox.

[Mechadragon]

Originally posted by Null
you cant actually say you were lookin foward to dk racing were you?Nah, Kameo looked pretty good though.

[-apu-]

Did rare make any other good games other than all the donkey kong stuff?????

[GameKinG]

PD and goldeneye...though most of the goldeneye team left and went on to make Time Splitters. And that was pretty craptacular in my opinion. Makes you wonder about rare independantly.

[Angrist]

Yup it sure does... but they're doing better with TS2.

I think 3rd party would be a nice solution... the Nintendo licenses to the GC and AGB, the others multi-platform but GC first. :)

[Jonbo298]

If they did go 3rd Party, I think Nintendo might get a deal where they get a certain game for X amount of time before it goes to other consoles like a few XBox games have been lately. meh

[GameKinG]

Well yeah. With gamecube its a sure thing to sell almost because nintendo fans ussually buy up Rare games. I imagine with nintendo owning that big chunk that Rare would release every game they made on the cube system. Maybe some first...maybe not...

Oh, and I doubt they will try to harness any one systems power....just port each other....but you never know.

[Mechadragon]

Argh! I keep thinking Turok is made by Rare. Weird...

[Ironfoot]

People-

Remember that Nintendo still owns a 49% share in stock with Rare. The Stamper Brothers holds a 51% share. Since the Stamper Brothers are the one's selling the stock, Microsoft would get their stock if they win the bid. Since Nintendo still holds the 49%, Microsoft won't fully own Rare, it'll be more like Nintendo owning half and Microsoft owning the other half.

So, now you ask about the fate of PD0. It's really hard to tell which console it'll end up on, maybe both. :D

[GameKinG]

I thought the other half was divided among two groups. One being rare itself, and one independent. At least that what I read in their company info somewhere...

[Old Skool]

In fact Nintendo does not own 49% as Rare Ltd owns 19% and the brothers own 51% so at most it could only own is 30% and I think after reading there site it’s more like 25% but Nintendo does have a buy out option on the company if it is sold! So Nintendo if they want could buy the company for under Microsoft as they have first offers on Rare but the fact it has gone this far would say Nintendo have already said no to them as it is likely the owners are going to move on after the company is sold.

[Angrist]

If M$ would buy Rare, 25% of that money would go to Nintendo, right?? That's a lot of money... :D Enough to buy some new talentfull companies and train them to become the new Rare... and then M$ comes to buy them too.... ;)

[Professor S]

I MS were to buy 100% of rare, then Nintendo would recieve 25% of the money. But if they were to only buy the Stamper Bros and Rare Ltd. shares, I don't think Nintendo would receive anything.

Then again, seeing that Nintendo is an investort in Rare, they might receive a portion of the revenue from the sale if it is deemed profits made by the company.

I'm not sure on any of this as this stuff can get REALLY complicated.

[GameKinG]

If their contract was up and they said no by now, Im sure some story would have been said...at least a mention.

[Angrist]

Hmm... just another rumor???

Perhaps Ric was right and they're playing with us. Perhaps they'll announce Perfect Dark Zero next week and it will be launched at Xmas. DK Racing spring 2003, Kameo summer 2003, Banjo Three-ee in autumn.
Yeah right. :rolleyes: