Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Often during a game’s creation, developers have to scrap various elements. It could be due to a lack of time, or a completely different reason.

In the case of GoldenEye 007, Rare originally intended to have four different Bonds included. Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan would have all been playable in the end. Unfortunately, this was left on the cutting room floor, though some elements were left behind in the original code and files.

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Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 16 Comments

Rare split from Nintendo many years ago, but the company is nonetheless an integral part of the big N’s history. Some of the most memorable titles came from the studio. Without Rare, we wouldn’t have Donkey Kong Country, GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, and many other classics.

A new book from Dark Horse will let you take a trip down memory lane. Rare Treasures, tentatively slated for the end of August, will contain “the history and highlights of the iconic studio Rare, from birth to present day”. It’ll come with art, commentary, and new insights from the team, and more.

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Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 5 Comments

Donkey Kong 64 has been around for nearly two decades. Nintendo published the 3D platformer way back on November 22, 1999. 17 years later, a new secret has been found within the game.

Speedrunner Isotarge discovered a new coin in Fungi Forest. Previously, it went undetected in tall grass. Players can obtain rainbow coins once a slam attack is performed on dirt piles, but Isotarge came across a new pile in Fungi Forest.

As Kotaku explains:

“Isotarge first noticed something was amiss after looking at how the game formats its save data. They were looking at the flags in Fungi Forest and noticing that the information for the rainbow coin was incomplete. They used analysis tools to shoot right to the dirt patch and discover the coin.”

So Donkey Kong 64 doesn’t have 976 coins to collect as once though. Instead, there are actually 977 coins in the game.

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Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 19 Comments

Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic has added two new staffers who have a long history with Rare. Andy Wilson is joining the team as producer, and Gary Richards will be a part of the design team.

Wilson was a tester on Diddy Kong Racing and lead tester on Banjo-Kazooie. He eventually became a part of the design team on Donkey Kong 64, and also worked on Banjo-Tooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and more.

Richards led the way on Donkey Kong Land 3. He was also the Head of Handheld department at Rare and lead design on all portable titles, such as Conker’s Pocket Tales, Sabre Wulf, Banjo Pilot and Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise.

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Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, General Nintendo, News | 11 Comments

Kevin Bayliss left a huge mark on Rare during his nearly 20-year run at the studio. As a designer and art director, he contributed to Donkey Kong Country, Diddy Kong Racing, Star Fox Adventures, and much more.

UK magazine GamesTM spoke with Bayliss (who is now at Playtonic) this month, and asked him plenty of interesting questions about his time at Rare. The topics we’re mainly interested in focus on Nintendo specifically. Bayliss commented on the process of redesigning Donkey Kong for Donkey Kong Country, the initial changes that Star Fox Adventures went through, meeting Shigeru Miyamoto, and more.

We’ve included Bayliss’ comments below. You can pick up GamesTM now for the full interview.

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Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 5 Comments

The “Rare Revealed” video series continues, this time focusing on Jet Force Gemini. Below you’ll hear the studio share more about the classic N64 title with insider facts.

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Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GBA, General Nintendo | 1 Comment

It’s Mr. Pants is a very interesting game. Banjo-Kazooie developer Rare created the Game Boy Advance title back in 2004. As some of you may know, Mr. Pants started out as the studio’s mascot on their website.

Rare recently shared a feature in which the making of It’s Mr. Pants was discussed. Check out the 10-minute video below.

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Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 12 Comments

Nintendo’s stake in Rare was sold to Microsoft in 2002. However, history almost went down a different path.

Xbox co-creator Ed Fries told IGN that Nintendo’s stake almost went to Activision. Activision outbid Microsoft originally, and it seemed like the latter company would lose the deal. Microsoft ended up increasing its offer at the last minute though, which allowed them to acquire Rare.

Fries’ full words are in the following video:

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Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 11 Comments

The “Rare Revealed” series continues with a new video dedicated to Perfect Dark. Below, you can see some facts pertaining to the game that you might not have known otherwise. It’s worth a watch!

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Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 3 Comments

This month’s issue of RetroGamer has an interview with a number of former Rare employees. One section has some staffers reflecting on the studio’s relationship with Nintendo, which was a two-way street.

Chris Seavor told the magazine that Rare came up with jet skis in Wave Race 64 while Shigeru Miyamoto suggested ties in Donkey Kong Country:

“Bottom line, everybody won: Wave Race 64 was originally with boats until Tim suggested Jet Skis and in Donkey Kong Country he didn’t have a tie until Miyamoto added one.”

Another ex-Rare staffer, Chris Sutherland, also noted that Miyamoto’s input was crucial when it came to another element of Donkey Kong Country:

“The ground slap that Donkey Kong performed in the DKC series originated as a suggestion from Miyamoto.”

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