Rare Ltd.

Rare

Type: Former Second Party Developer

Founded: 1982

Status: Developing for Microsoft

Bestselling Game:

Notable Members

Chris Stamper - Tim Stamper

Key Franchises

Battletoads - Banjo-Kazooie - Conker

Donkey Kong - Killer Instinct - Perfect Dark

Rare is a former Nintendo second party company that is now owned by Microsoft. While working with Nintendo, they worked on the Donkey Kong and Star Fox franchises, along with creating a few of their own. They are based in Twycross, Leicestershire, England.

History

Ultimate - Play the Game

Rare was founded by Tim and Chris Stamper in 1982 as Ashby Computer Graphics. Under the label "Ultimate Play the Game," they published games for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. They struck gold with Jetpac, which the critics loved. They went on to release 14 games Spectrum. In 1985, they sold their name to U.S. Gold and took on the name "Rare."

Rare and Nintendo

Seeing the Nintendo Entertainment System, the brothers knew that was the future of gaming and developed games for it. They impressed the company president of the time, Minoru Arakawa, with a demo and he agreed to publish some of their games. They created almost 60 games for the NES.

During the early days of the Super Nintendo, Rare didn't produce much besides a few Battletoads games. They were determined to create something that would blow people away. This came in the form of Donkey Kong Country with 3D graphics.

After Donkey Kong Country, Rare came up with the arcade game Killer Instinct. Nintendo was so impressed with the upcoming home version of the game that they bought 25% of the companies shares and made them a second party developer.

On the Nintendo 64, Rare continued with Donkey Kong, but made a name for themselves with their own franchises. Banjo-Kazooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Perfect Dark all enjoyed their audiences. Their most groundbreaking work, however, was Goldeneye 007.

In 2002, Rare released their last game for Nintendo: Star Fox Adventures.

Rare and Microsoft

In 2002, the Stamper brothers left Rare and sold their 51% of the company's shares to Microsoft. Nintendo, realizing that Microsoft now controlled the company, sold their shares to Microsoft as well.

Since then, Rare has continued it's own series with Perfect Dark Zero and Conker: Live and Reloaded. It has also created original games for Microsoft including Grabbed by Ghoulies and Viva Pinata.

Though they now work for Microsoft, they still develop games for Nintendo's handhelds. Currently, they are working on Diidy Kong Racing for the Nintendo DS.