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Matt Casamassina spoke to some Rare/Microsoft people at GDC last week and got confirmation that most of Rare’s intellectual properties won’t be showing up on the Revolution’s Virtual Console. That includes titles such as Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day.

While I want Banjo-Kazooie and Jet-Force, I don't think it's that big of a loss(And games like Diddy Kong Racing and Blast Corps should still show up). It's just kind of confusing, since Rare will be developing DS games. Does MS have the rights to those franchises now?

Yes, Microsoft owns Rare and thus owns all of Rare's IPs. They allow Rare to develop for the GBA and DS as they are not currently competing in that market.

Originally Posted by shipwreck Yes, Microsoft owns Rare and thus owns all of Rare's IPs. They allow Rare to develop for the GBA and DS as they are not currently competing in that market.

Oh, I thought that Nintendo was still doing that insane liscensing structure in the N64 days in which they owned the rights to the characters and such (like during the SNES days). Oh well. Banjo Kazooie would've been sweet as hell .

No big lost to me, The only decent Rare games in my book were the ones where they used someone elses franchise.

I wonder about Killer Instinct, I just did a quick look up in the US Trademark Search and found that Nintendo holds the Trademarks to the series.

What about Goldeneye?

Originally Posted by DrunkTigerWoods What about Goldeneye?

That will be a huge ommission, IMO. Imagine a graphically enhanced Goldeneye that otherwise plays EXACTLY the same... mmmm.... that would be sweet...

Originally Posted by DrunkTigerWoods What about Goldeneye?

That would be extremely messy. EA currently holds the Bond license, so I don't think Nintendo can touch that one either without EA somehow having a say.

edit: javeryh, you're a lawyer... make it happen.

Originally Posted by shipwreck That would be extremely messy. EA currently holds the Bond license, so I don't think Nintendo can touch that one either without EA somehow having a say.

It's probably a messy situation but nothing that couldn't be worked out once all parties recognized the potential to make some money with little or no effort.

I don't think the Bond license qualifies as a "material contract" for EA because I didn't see it filed as an exhibit to their last 10-K. Too bad - I'd like to take a look at it just for fun. Maybe if I dug around a little I could find it. After looking at last year's 10-K (for FY 2004) it appears that they are doing great. Their next 10-K (for FY 2005) isn't due until the beginning of June because their fiscal year-end is March 31. Their last quarterly report looks pretty nice too - they are making tons of money.

Wait - so even though Rare owns the IP could their games come out on XBLA even though they were launched exclusively for a Nintendo console?

i dont think killer instict belongs to nintendo...

rare has mentioned that theres a possibility it will revisit the series on 360

I guess I shouldn't hold my breath for Donkey Kong Country 4.

Originally Posted by Ecofreak Wait - so even though Rare owns the IP could their games come out on XBLA even though they were launched exclusively for a Nintendo console?

It depends on the terms of the license.

Originally Posted by javeryh It depends on the terms of the license.

Yes. The official legal term for this centers on the level of ghey present in the license MS and Rare currently hold. Right now we're hitting a magnitude of 7.3 or so on a scale of 10 - enough to irk some, but not a dealbreaker.

The level of ghey can elevate and/or decrease through judicial practices such as "calling MS ghey," "egging Rare," and "cockslapping J. Allard in the eye."

I tend to prefer finer, more elegant methods, which may or may not include the use of walruses, Roman candles, and superglue.

In legal terms, this is called a "shitstorm non gratis e plurbius unum et cetera ghey."

Originally Posted by willardhaven I guess I shouldn't hold my breath for Donkey Kong Country 4.

you know that never crossed my mind... i guess nintendo could continue the series!!

I just want Perfect Dark with a decent framerate and be able to use the Rev controller on it. Is that too much to ask?

I know a lot of people, some of my close friends here included, are really bummed about this. But for me, it's no big deal. Goldeneye was fun, but doesn't hold up in the face of today's insane twitch shooters. The Banjo games were entertaining, but it was much of anything that Mario 64 didn't do (better) as well. And Perfect Dark? I get ill every time I try to play that game.

I think between Nintendo's, Sega's, Hudson's, and the gimme announcments of Konami's and Capcom's backlog, the VC will be a smashing sucess even without Banjo Tooie.

Originally Posted by daroga I know a lot of people, some of my close friends here included, are really bummed about this. But for me, it's no big deal. Goldeneye was fun, but doesn't hold up in the face of today's insane twitch shooters. And Perfect Dark? I get ill every time I try to play that game.

Perfect Dark > Goldeneye Also, isn't a twitch shooter a side scrolling/Top down shooter?

The Rare N64 games will be a huge loss (especially with Perfect Dark being my favorite game ever - chop or no chop), but there's one thing I want to know:




Will there be Battletoads?

will there be blast corps? It has been my number 1 game to download on day one since the virtual console was announced. It will be a huge gaping hole in my downloads if it is not there, but i also realize there will be plenty to keep me occupied. Uniracers on Rev!!!

Originally Posted by Kendal Perfect Dark > Goldeneye Also, isn't a twitch shooter a side scrolling/Top down shooter?

You could describe 2D shooters as such, and probably is a bit more accurate.

In terms of FPSs, though, Twitch is usually the faster paced game (UT, etc.) whereas a non-twitch is a little bit more methodical (HL2, I guess those unending WWII games). I think on the whole, I didn't mean twitch shooter so much as the whole of modern FPS games, which to be perfecty honest, since beating Half-Life 2, bore me to death.