Anyone who owned an N64 back in the day knows that Rare was one of the greatest developers of a generation. They popped out games like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Diddy Kong Racing, and Banjo Kazooie like it wasn't even a big deal—like it was the easiest thing in the world for them.
Then something happened. The Gamecube happened, the Xbox 360 happened, and then no one giving a crap about Rare's games happened. But who's to blame?
That's what Eurogamer asks in their latest feature, and the interviews with former Microsoft and Rare staffers really shed some light on the events. They don't blame any one person or company, instead contending that Rare simply failed to evolve with the rest of the industry, with bigger teams and budgets and less risk involved at every turn, and without Nintendo's guidance.
Keep in mind that Rare is still happily chugging away as a Microsoft-owned studio; the Viva Pinata series was great, and more recently they've done some alright Kinect games. Maybe there are some glory days still ahead for them. We hope so. Tell us if you agree (or disagree) in the comments or on Twitter.
