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-   -   Rare to restructure. Redundancies possible. (https://www.therwp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26257)

Ice Mario 17th February 2009 12:28 PM

Rare to restructure. Redundancies possible.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by www.rarewitchproject.com
It seems that not even companies under Microsoft's wing are safe from the dire situation we find the video games industry in. Rare's development team are under the microscope amidst a general restructuring of Microsoft owned game studios; a move which could lead to some redundancies at the Twycross developer. In a very familiar move, the company is trying newer ideas to speed up the development process. This means games that don't take years to make but have a higher chance of making money due to the quick and cheaper development cycle.

Mark Betteridge who is Rare's studio manager said, "As the entire industry struggles to address the increasing scale and cost of development, we too have felt a need to restructure our current approach so we can speed development and better manage the scale required to create high quality games,"

"With four projects recently underway, now is the right time to make this change. Throughout its history, Rare has demonstrated a willingness to embrace new approaches and commitment to delivering game-changing experiences to our customers."

"This announcement is no different and builds on that tradition as we work with MGS to make interactive entertainment as culturally relevant in people’s lives as books, movies and television are today," he added.

Rare isn't the first UK developer to feel the sting. Free Radical Design who were founded by former members of Rare were forced into taking a similar approach by developing quick and easy casual games. It was hoped it would help them out of the tough situation they found themselves in. It didn't.

One of the areas Rare intends to focus is adding to the Xbox Live experience. This could come in the form of Arcade titles similar to the much joked about Banjo-Kazooie Bash Buddies. With a quicker development cycle these games afford, this in turn means reduced manpower and Rare may be forced into the difficult situation of letting staff go.

"In order to achieve these goals, the company is reviewing the current composition of its development teams and there is the possibility that a small number of current positions could be lost as a result of these changes."

http://www.rarewitchproject.com/?id=1756

Whyme123 17th February 2009 12:31 PM

So they are going to fire a few people, or stream line the process of making games, so they can either make better games faster, or make bad games fast?

Deebs 17th February 2009 12:41 PM

Redundancies?

This can't be good.

Pies 17th February 2009 12:46 PM

Oh noes :eek:

As long as Rare don't end up making games like Carnival games.

watkinzez 17th February 2009 01:17 PM

Redundancy sucks, no matter how big. :(
My thoughts go to BIGsheep, Pinsey and everyone else at Rare. Hope you all make it through unscathed.

Ice Lightning 17th February 2009 02:15 PM

Well they have always got a backup plan if all else fails, a whole back catalogue of known to be some of the best games made to bring to the XBLA. It's just up to them if they want to live off past glories because once that runs out they're kinda screwed and might lose more credibility as a developer for just being a shadow of their former self and it'd be quite sad if the only way they could make money is by their old games.

Saying that I'd still pay anything for Perfect Dark done in the way Goldeneye XBLA was made, really really want that game :( And they've got a whole engine made for it already so it shouldn't be too difficult. Saying that the fact Goldeneye could never be released doesn't help in any of this actually, considering how much time they must have spent making that game for it to never be released.

B-R-E-T 17th February 2009 02:28 PM

How cheap are we talking here? Cheap games like Pong, or cheap games like Donkey Kong Country?

Personally I'd love to see them make some old school stuff for XBLA, with sleek modern graphics. I honestly can't say I'm disappointed, seeing how things have been going for them lately.

But yeah... the job cuts and stuff. That really sucks. :(

Grimmjow 17th February 2009 04:19 PM

DAMN! I hope it's not fault of the low sales of NaB :(

pirulo 17th February 2009 06:14 PM

Blame NaB for that

Myriad 17th February 2009 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pirulo (Post 522519)
Blame NaB for that

Blame Sony for that.They ruined Nintendo by paying companies to work on the PS instead of the godly N64/GC,so Ninty had to sell Rare to Microsoft which doesn't support Rare very well.And now you can see the final result.:D

Tanjo 17th February 2009 07:45 PM

Oh my god what a fanboyish statement. That was pathetic. Seriously, what was going through your mind when you made that post?

TowerOfTragedy 17th February 2009 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pirulo (Post 522519)
Blame NaB for that

^ This.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myriad (Post 522520)
Blame Sony for that.They ruined Nintendo by paying companies to work on the PS instead of the godly N64/GC,so Ninty had to sell Rare to Microsoft which doesn't support Rare very well.And now you can see the final result.:D

^ This makes no sense whatsoever.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanjo (Post 522529)
Oh my god what a fanboyish statement. That was pathetic. Seriously, what was going through your mind when you made that post?


^ This.


I hope Rare shuts down. Blame it on NaB, traitors.

Gold Jinjo 17th February 2009 08:40 PM

Tanjo, I know. Almost seven years later, people still won't accept Nintendo dropped Rare like a bad habit :P

Actually, I think one of the reasons was because they took so long to make games.

shadowbulba 17th February 2009 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiesAreBlueGuy (Post 522457)
Oh noes :eek:

As long as Rare don't end up making games like Carnival games.

Were talking about Rare though, I'm pretty sure Rare can't **** up with Carnival Games.

Anyway this is bad news but to be honest I doubt they'll let any staff go. "Thank you for making games now go **** yourself" just doesn't sound right. I would acctually love to see some Arcade games by Rare. Nothing stupid though.

TowerOfTragedy 17th February 2009 08:56 PM

Well yes, Rare definately takes their time developing a game.. 8 years to come up with NaB after 2 ditched idea's.. But most of the time the wait was worth it.


Was.

Myriad 17th February 2009 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanjo (Post 522529)
Oh my god what a fanboyish statement. That was pathetic. Seriously, what was going through your mind when you made that post?

That was just sarcasm.In fact,I like the Sony Consoles (although I think that they did something wrong with the PS3) as much as the Wii or the 360.
I just wanted to respond to the idiotic,nonreasonable argument above me in a similar way.;)-A single game can't affect a company's future that much.

Banjoman 17th February 2009 10:32 PM

I blame NaB. I don't know what else to say.

TowerOfTragedy 17th February 2009 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myriad (Post 522573)
A single game can't affect a company's future that much.

You must be drunk...

Myriad 17th February 2009 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TowerOfTragedy (Post 522595)
You must be drunk...

UbiSoft ist still sucessful although they released BG&E...and Kameo didn't sell much units,but Rare was still alive-(hopefully not) until now.There are other examples,but all of these prove that a single game couldn't affect the continuation of the company that much.A little bit,yes,but it has to be a series of such things to ruin a company.

Banjoman 17th February 2009 10:44 PM

Banjo-Kazooie is a pretty big name, and Banjo WAS going to be Rare's mascot. I don't see that happening now, this game really screwed them over, but I also think that alienating their own fan bases in favor of new ideas did it as well.

Rare isn't a big name anymore, and I think they failed to realize that. They took a HUGE gamble with all these new concepts and ideas for games they wanted to create when they already had it good in the first place. Simple matter of not fixing something when it was never broken, and this goes for most of the games they've recently made. Not just Banjo.

In a way they turned on their own fan bases, doesn't matter if they listen to the fans or not, because the bottom line is very much apparent at this point.

I hope BigSHEEP and the others make it out of this alright though.

Tanjo 17th February 2009 10:52 PM

I would like to develop an arcade game for Rare. Of course, that's assuming I am provided with the appropriate resources and a mainstream release. If a very entertaining, A+ game is not produced, I will eat every bit of negative words I've ever said about Rare. My offer will remain open for as long as you like. This is a challenge, Rare.

That being said; it won't happen, but regardless, my offer will symbolically always be open with this post to mark my words.

Banjoman 17th February 2009 11:02 PM

I really don't want to blame NaB for this recent news, but it seems incredibly likely since this was supposed to be Rare's shining moment, and a LARGE majority of the general audience begged for Banjo-Threeie or at least a platformer.

Stupid timing to try something new, especially for reviving a franchise after 8 years of sleep with a fan base that was still growing over time from the very first two games.

TowerOfTragedy 17th February 2009 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Banjoman (Post 522607)
I really don't want to blame NaB for this recent news, but it seems incredibly likely since this was supposed to be Rare's shining moment, and a LARGE majority of the general audience begged for Banjo-Threeie or at least a platformer.

Stupid timing to try something new, especially for reviving a franchise after 8 years of sleep with a fan base that was still growing over time from the very first two games.

It was Rare's biggest game since they have moved over to Microsoft. They blew it, and need to pay the price for it.

I'm pretty sure that at least 40% of Banjo hardcore fans have left the Fanbase after the release of NaB, or are disappointed.


Make that 95%

Tanjo 17th February 2009 11:08 PM

I wish Joesus was here to respond to us :(

Banjoman 17th February 2009 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TowerOfTragedy (Post 522611)
It was Rare's biggest game since they have moved over to Microsoft. They blew it, and need to pay the price for it.

I'm pretty sure that at least 40% of Banjo hardcore fans have left the Fanbase after the release of NaB, or are disappointed.


Make that 95%

I already have. I'm sticking with the classic games, NaB practically killed present day Banjo for me. Threeie would bring my fandom back, but we all know that will never happen.

Just like KI3 and Battletoads. They need to put up or shut up already, all this teasing and their apparent big ego they have is really annoying. To be honest, the last Scribes angered me and didn't surprise me in the least.

Keegan 17th February 2009 11:09 PM

Banjo-Kazooie: Bash Buddies :D

In all seriousness, I hope Rare doesn't turn into SEGA and Banjo doesn't turn into Sonic.

TowerOfTragedy 17th February 2009 11:12 PM

Banjo already got turned into Sonic. They both died aprox. 10 years ago.

@Banjoman, agreed. The teasing was fun in the beginning, but after so many years, quit ****ing around and release some good ****, Rare.

... I swearded.

Banjoman 17th February 2009 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanjoBoy123 (Post 522616)
Banjo-Kazooie: Bash Buddies :D

In all seriousness, I hope Rare doesn't turn into SEGA and Banjo doesn't turn into Sonic.

To be honest, I don't think Microsoft will even let the name "Banjo-Kazooie" onto shelves ever again.

I think the franchise is done for, really. Rare dug themselves two big holes now. Splitting the fanbase and the very possible death of one of their biggest franchises ever.

TowerOfTragedy 17th February 2009 11:17 PM

"One of"

Their 2 biggest had to be Conker and Banjo, Perfect Dark also died with the release of Perfect Dark Zero. Funny fact: A Conker game was in the making, but it got canceled. What's left for Rare now? "Viva Piñata: Pokémon-styled-but-not-how-you-would-expect!?"

What could they be working on right now?

Banjoman 17th February 2009 11:20 PM

It's probably like day 3 in Majora's Mask over at Rare right now. This sucks.

samf 17th February 2009 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Banjoman (Post 522626)
It's probably like day 3 in Majora's Mask over at Rare right now. This sucks.

Then lets pray they remember the song of time before it's too late.

Seriously, they should make like 10 XBLA games. Then they should sell out and make a quality, grimmy grey shooter like all the other top selling games. They shouldn't really be allowed to think for themselves at this point, just make what everyone obviously wants and has been done repeatedly.

Myriad 17th February 2009 11:29 PM

Rare doesn't deserve to die.Imo,it has still the quality and the special "feeling" in it's games that other companies hadn't,even on this era,although some may don't agree (anyway,my opinion).

@Banjoman:Good metaphor.:)

Banjoman 17th February 2009 11:30 PM

Innovation is something I support, but Nuts and Bolts was like improving oxygen. Adding more chemicals to the air most people would get sick from but it's much easier to breathe and cleaner for a small majority.

Terrible analogy, but you get it.

Tanjo 17th February 2009 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samf (Post 522631)
Then lets pray they remember the song of time before it's too late.

Seriously, they should make like 10 XBLA games. Then they should sell out and make a quality, grimmy grey shooter like all the other top selling games. They shouldn't really be allowed to think for themselves at this point, just make what everyone obviously wants and has been done repeatedly.

Protip: when being sarcastic on the internet, don't say "seriously" before your statement.

TowerOfTragedy 17th February 2009 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Banjoman (Post 522635)
Innovation is something I support, but Nuts and Bolts was like improving oxygen. Adding more chemicals to the air most people would get sick from but it's much easier to breathe and cleaner for a small majority.

Terrible analogy, but you get it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanjo (Post 522182)
Look at it like this: You're really in the mood for some pie. You haven't had pie in so long, you can hardly contain your lust for the flaky pie goodness. Then, your grandmother tells you she's going to bake you a pie, and shows you all the un-prepared ingredients. You get excited, you can't wait to endulge upon it. You wait in the living room, oblivious to what kind of pie your grandmother is making you. But you can't wait to find out. Your grandmother comes in and says "Your pie is almost ready!" your face lights up with glee. "But" says your grandmother, "There is a twist to the pie". You give her a confused look. "It's still a pie, and I just know you're going to love it! But it's a different kind of pie."

She opens the oven and shows you. Hmm, looks like a pie. It's got crust, it's in a tin, everything that's supposed to be there is there. But it smells odd. "What's that smell?" you ask your Grandmother. "Why it's the eggs dear!" says your grandmother. "...what?" you respond. "The eggs! I've been baking fruit and meat pies all my life, I decided to spice things up and make something different. An egg pie!" You give her a blank stare. "Ohh don't worry dear, it's still a pie! It's just a little different. I'm sure you'll love it!" You reluctantly say "...alright, I guess I'll try it."

A little while passes and your grandmother brings the pie to the table. A little less excited now, you're still hungry, and hope the pie will be good. Your uncle and your cousins come to the table, and your grandmother begins to slice the pie and give it to everyone. You stare at your slice. It's a pie on the outside...but on the inside it's an omlette...You prod at it with your fork. It's got crust, it's warm, it's got filling, but it's not the filling you expected. You cut off a piece and take a bite. Hey, it's not that bad. You take some more. Nah, this is actually pretty good. Yeah, this is an okay pie! You're beginning to like it. You finish the pie, for some reason you are unsatisfied. But your uncle grins and asks for another slice. Your cousins seem blurry, and confused. They like it, but they would rather have a normal pie.

You begin to realize that you still crave a fruit pie. You wish your grandmother would've made you one in the first place. Then you get food poisoning and chronic diarrhea. On your death bed, you say to your Grandmother "please, just make me a one of your world famous regular pies", but she responds "I'm bored of making regular pies, I think I might make egg pies from now on. Your uncle seems to like them." You say "but I'm on my death bed! Surely you could make me one more apple pie, or blueberry pie, please!" Your grandmother looks at you and says "I might, I'm not ruling it out. I'm just really happy with the pies I make right now." Then you crap your pants, puke, and choke to death on your own vomit.

That's how I feel with Nuts and Bolts.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts gave me chronic diarrhea.

EDIT: OH, AND THE PIE IS ALSO BAKED SQUARE INSTEAD OF ROUND. I HATE YOU RARE, I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW. WRITING THIS POST MADE ME DEPRESSED ;_;

lol'd.

Banjoman 17th February 2009 11:34 PM

It's like grandma took the **** oxygen and put it in Tanjo's pie.

RawkHawk2010 17th February 2009 11:46 PM

With N&B having just graced the earth a few months ago, I think we all know that the Banjo Team is in no need of restructuring.

As for the Conker, PD, and Kameo teams... they've been known to spend half a decade on projects, which MS most likely intends to change.

TowerOfTragedy 17th February 2009 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RawkHawk2010 (Post 522643)
As for the Conker, PD, and Kameo teams... they've been known to spend half a decade on projects, which MS most likely intends to change.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TowerOfTragedy (Post 522551)
Well yes, Rare definately takes their time developing a game.. 8 years to come up with NaB after 2 ditched idea's

Yes, Banjo didn't take long to develop either, now did it?

Ice Mario 18th February 2009 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadowbulba (Post 522550)
I doubt they'll let any staff go. "Thank you for making games now go **** yourself" just doesn't sound right.

That's business.

Twi 18th February 2009 12:25 AM

So it's all NAB's fault?

Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

Ghoulies flopped. BAD. But Rare is still here eight years later, right?


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