[UncleNoName]

IGN - Ed's Rumor Report

What's Going on at Rare?
You want to know. I want to know. Everyone wants to know. What in the hell is up at UK based second-party Rare? There have been literally dozens of rumors about the company in recent weeks and months, all of them questioning its allegiance to Nintendo, its future business model, and its ties to big-name third-party publishers. No solid confirmations, though. Well, hardly any.

Earlier today, however, I chatted with a source very, very close to the company, who was kind enough to fill me in on some very gritty dirt. Apparently Rare is indeed exploring a third-party structure and is determined to release many of its upcoming games across multiple consoles. An insider comments, "[Rare is] definitely, absolutely, 100% doing Xbox and PS2 development down here. They've had [Xbox and PS2] kits for three months or more."

Yikes. But it gets even worse. Some previously announced titles such as Donkey Kong Racing may not materialize as planned. Sources allege that after deciding to develop the racer for multiple platforms, Rare was asked by Nintendo to remove any and all likenesses to its licensed characters from the game. What will it be then, Monkey Racing? Not quite as compelling.

Development on the hotly anticipated Perfect Dark 0, finally, is allegedly moving along very slowly. "Team members keep quitting and it's a very small group now," revealed one leak close to the developer. Rumors abound suggest that the title won't be playable at E3 -- and in fact may not even be shown on video. Apparently Rare has been toying around with a cel-shaded look for the project, though this is not confirmed.

What the hell does all of this mean? Well, if true, it means that Nintendo's premiere second-party has decided to dabble around on other systems. In the end, GameCube owners are still likely to receive first dibs on Rare's biggest projects, but without exclusivity it's going to be a whole different ball game.

Expect more detailed announcements regarding Rare's future at E3 and beyond.

It looks like Rare is probably going 3rd-party (but this is a "Rumor Report"). It's better for them to go multi-plat though, more money to be made...