Their main talent poached and shipped to a different or brand new development house? Because that' s what I' m starting to think.

Like many of you, I too grew up addicted to Rare for the obvious reason their games rocked. And they continued to rock all the way till the N64. Then something went horribly wrong. At some point they stopped being the uber gods of gaming they once were mere years ago. The excitement around them sizzled out. Just saying the name “Rare” used to make the tongue salivate. Now Rare tastes like spoiled leftovers.

And before I continue, let me clear any confusion, I still think Rare can make good games, but great games? Doubtful. And I surely don’t think Rare should be allowed to consistently delay their games till no end (Conker) or constantly switch products until they’re nothing more than bits and pieces lying on the cutting room floor (Kameo).

Perhaps the Rare of old had this amount of pull, but today’s Rare hasn’t shown a single shred of evidence as to why they should be this pampered. Anyone would agree that Bungie was one of MS’s most important developer this gen and even Bungie had a deadline. What has Rare done to prove they are above deadlines? IMO, nothing.

You can easily dismiss Grabbed by the Ghoulies by saying it was a leftover Gamecube game. . . it was rushed. . . it was meant for children. . . etc etc. But what about their only other title this generation – Starfox Adventures?!

It appeared on the Gamecube early in the Cube’s life and was quite good IMO. Earthshaking? No. But it was still a solid game worth playing. However, what SA wasn’t was any sort of indicator Rare was worth the money MS spent. Just look at their accomplishments (or lack of accomplishments) from this gen.

You have a average game in Starfox Adventures.
A below average game in Grabbed by the Ghoulies.
Rare still hasn’t finished Conker.
No one knows what the heck is going on with Kameo.
And PD0. . . there’s no reason to even bring that up.

That to me looks like a developer on the decline. Not a phoenix arising from the ashes. Sure Conker should be good, but all Rare is doing is taking a winning formula and polishing it up. Both SA and GbtG proved Rare can’t make the same magic when forced to work with original ideas.

Even Kameo showed Rare has lost a couple steps as even Rare themselves admitted the gameplay wasn’t up to snuff by halting development mid way to revamp the game. Which worries me because if Kameo wasn’t up to snuff, what makes Rare thinks SA and GbtG was? And like I said, SA was good, but it wasn’t “Rare of old good”.

Rare, to me, is the personification of a lazy developer. They do what they want to when they feel like doing it. And since they have the Rare name behind them, no one has stepped up to challenge this.

That is why I think MS should just close the doors at Rare for good. Ship the hardworking and talented developers to a new development house and leave the dead weight behind.

There is no point to keeping Rare alive if Rare is not going to produce. Plain and simple. And with recent cuts MS has been making in their gaming division, I can easily see MS cutting Rare off next generation if Rare doesn’t shape up. Rare hasn’t proved they have what it takes to compete anymore. The past couple years and the upcoming years point to nowhere else. And it’s about time Rare felt the sting of deadlines like everyone else. Otherwise poach the talent and close Rare down.

Yeah, I grew up loving Rare. And still like, and look forward to a lot of their IP’s. But with development time looking to increase next gen, coupled with Rare already being painfully slow, I don’t have time to wait for Rare to release a sub par game, because that’s all they’ve released lately.