The 'Shroom:Issue 100/Strategy Wing: Difference between revisions

===Nintendo===

By the early 1990s, Rare solidified itself as one of Nintendo’s key developers, and upon the release of the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]], they had decided to invest their profits from their NES games into expensive Silicon Graphics workstations in order to create 3D-rendered games. Nintendo, after seeing the success of ''[[wikipedia:Killer Instinct|Killer Instinct]]'' and the progress of 3D prototypes that were being developed, purchased a 49% stake in the company and offered their entire catalogue for the team to make a game from. They chose to create a game called ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'', which became one of the highest selling games for the SNES and allowed Rare to expand the series’ universe.<ref>[http://donkeykong.gamebub.com/history_of_donkey_kong_country.php "History of Donkey Kong Country"]. Donkey Kong Megasite. Retrieved 17 July, 2015.</ref> Several sequels within the ''Donkey Kong'' series were developed, and other projects, such as ''Project Dream'' and a James Bond rail shooter, were beginning to take shape and eventually evolved into some of the most iconic games that would be featured on the Nintendo 64.

Some of Rare’s most endearing and revolutionary works saw their release on the Nintendo 64, taking full advantage of advanced hardware and the 3D environments and detailed graphics that could be created at the time. Shifting some of their late SNES projects to the N64, the James Bond rail shooter turned into the free-roaming [[wikipedia:Goldeneye 007|''GoldenEye007'']] and revolutionized the way shooters worked by adding a diverse set of objectives, mapping different proportions of damage taken to different parts of the body, and extensive multiplayer options, among others. ''Project Dream'' also turned into a Super Mario 64-like platformer and changed extensively during its development. Originally about a boy named Edison and his friends taking on the pirate Captain Blackbeard, the focus shifted to a honey bear named ''[[wikipedia:Banjo-Kazooie|Banjo and his sidekick, a red bird named Kazooie]]''. These concepts proved to be extremely successful, and platformer and shooting games became a staple of Rare’s during this time period: ''[[wikipedia:Perfect Dark|Perfect Dark]]'', ''[[wikipedia:Banjo-Tooie|Banjo-Tooie]]'', ''[[wikipedia:Jet Force Gemini|Jet Force Gemini]]'', and ''[[wikipedia:Conker's Bad Fur Day|Conker’s Bad Fur Day]]'' were released in the years that followed, all of them earning large followings and praise from gaming critics.<ref>[http://www.ign.com/companies/rare "Rare, Company Info and List of Games"]. IGN. Retrieved 17 July, 2015.</ref><ref>Eaton, Anthony. 23 December, 2000. [http://www.rareshooters.com/?page=editorials&article=5 "Special: The History of Rareware"]. Rare Shooters. Retrieved 17 July, 2015.</ref> The team also had its sights set on the racing genre, too. The most notable of these titles was ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]'', which starred Donkey Kong’s buddy from ''Donkey Kong Country''; Diddy Kong and friends must race against the evil Wizpig in order to restore peace to their island. The game was another success story, and Rare obtained a license from Disney to create two ''Mickey Mouse'' racing games: ''[[wikipedia:Mickey's Racing Adventure|Mickey's Racing Adventure]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Mickey's Speedway USA|Mickey’s Speedway USA]]''.<ref>[http://www.ign.com/companies/rare "Rare, Company Info and List of Games"]. IGN. Retrieved 17 July, 2015.</ref>

===Current===

In between development for the Kinect platform, a third ''[[wikipedia:Killer Instinct (2013)|Killer Instinct]]'' game was released that rebooted the series for Xbox One. The game itself was received well, but was criticized for the initial lack of content until updates were provided. A third ''[[wikipedia:Kinect Sports Rivals|Kinect Sports]]'' game also saw release on the new platform. Even though its predecessor, [[wikipedia:Kinect Sports|''Kinect Sports'']], was hugely successful, selling upwards three-million units<ref>Gamespot Staff. 12 May, 2011. [http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-360-tops-april-console-sales-kinect-library-to-triple-in-2011/1100-6313539/ "Xbox 360 tops April console sales, Kinect library to triple in 2011"]. Gamespot. Retrieved 17 July, 2015.</ref>, ''Kinect Sports Rivals'' was a commercial and critical flop and resulted in Microsoft conducting mass layoffs and refocusing the software team again.<ref>Parfitt, Ben. 19 May, 2014. [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/layoffs-at-rare-following-kinect-sports-rivals-sales-disappointment/0132636 "Layoffs at Rare following Kinect Sports Rivals sales disappointment"]. The Market for Computer & Video Games, UK. Retrieved 17 July, 2015.</ref> In the meantime, several staff members had left the company in order to start their own teams. [[wikipedia:Gory Detail|Gory Detail]] was formed in 2012 by Chris Seavor, the mastermind behind ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'', and is currently working on ''[[wikipedia:The Unlikely Legend of Rusty Pup|The Unlikely Legend of Rusty Pup]]''. [[wikipedia:Playtonic Games|Playtonic Games]] was formed in 2015 by Chris Sutherland and other important former Rare employees; they have started developing ''[[wikipedia:Yooka-Laylee|Yooka-Laylee]]'', a spiritual successor to the Banjo games which they originally created. After refocusing the team in 2015, Rare itself is currently working on ''[[wikipedia:Rare Replay|Rare Replay]]'', a compilation of its old works; and ''[[wikipedia:Sea of Thieves|Sea of Thieves]]'', a reimagining of the ''Project Dream'' concept of the 1990s into a MMO-adventure pirate game, which have already drummed up increased interest in the company and the Xbox One console overall. Time can only tell how well that interest will translate to sales, and we wish Rare nothing but the best in all their future endeavors.