Rare not developing new DS titles at present
The company denies to have "closed down" its handheld division
After some time with no gossip activity, some details regarding Rare’s future plans for Nintendo DS have been spotted on GamesTM magazine; and the news is that… there are no plans at all. On a side note from a special article on Diddy Kong Racing, the classic racing title from Nintendo 64, GamesTM states that “Rare’s handheld division was closed down in 2008,” immediately after the release of Viva Piñata Pocket Paradise. Things aren’t that clear, though, and Rare’s community manager, George Kelion, immediatly came to give further details on this matter.
When Rare was acquired by Microsoft in 2002, it was quite surprising to discover that the company was still allowed to develop new software for any Nintendo handheld system. But Microsoft argued that, as long as they didn’t want to compete in that market, it was all right for them to have Rare working for the Game Boy Advance and, later, Nintendo DS. That way, and thanks to a publishing agreement with THQ, Rare could not only release four Game Boy Advance titles, and remakes of all the three Donkey Kong Country games, but also two Nintendo DS games. The last of those was a handheld adaptation of one of the most critically acclaimed titles of the British studio in the last five years: Viva Piñata. But Pocket Paradise, as this version was finally named, had been put on hold for quite so long since it was finished until the new agreement with THQ was signed.
It’s safe to state now that, since Piñata DS was finished in late 2007, the company haven’t been working on any new DS titles, in spite of what Rare’s man in charge on the handheld division, Paul Machacek, made us believe in an exclusive community interview some months ago. Yeah, we misinterpreted his words, so our apologies if any of you have been longing for a DK64 remake since then; the project he was working on wasn’t a new DS title and, thus, there isn’t either a cancelled third DS game.
But, if Rare haven’t been working on any new DS projects for quite some time, can we all understand that the DS division no longer exists as GamesTM says?
On a brief note over Rare Witch Project forums, Rare’s George Kelion states that “the handheld team wasn’t “closed down” quite as you put it – you’ll be pleased to hear that we still have all the talent [from the DS Team] on-site (even if they’re not all in the same barn) and they’re all hard at work on new projects. What I can confirm is that none of these projects are for handhelds, so it’d be true to say that at present, we’re currently not developing any handheld games. Might we return to that field in the future? Well, we’re certainly not ruling that out. However, to the best of my knowledge there’s nothing in the pipe at the moment.”
So, there you have it: no more handheld plans in the horizon. But hopefully they will be already developing some of their “strong ideas” for Xbox Live Arcade.
Somehow related news
- Rumours on new titles being announced in March ()
- Yet another Viva Piñata rumor comes to the limelight ()
- 4J Studios developing Banjo XBLA, Stop ‘n’ Swop reconfirmed ()
- Rare’s secret titles go smart ()
- Jet Force Gemini Portable was in the works in 2000 ()
7 Comments
^^exactly my thoughts billy
shame that one of the two DS titles they made was a remake and the other viva pinata which im not overally excited about. But here’s hoping for some great 360 games in the future
Comment by harry — 04.Feb.09 @ 10:53 am
Microsoft is going to have to make a huge splash with Windows Mobile 7 to stay competitive in the phone market. I think part of that splash is going to be an app store like Apple’s and Google’s, which will involve a lot of games. Once that happens, “as long as they didn’t want to compete in that market” goes right out the window. Maybe it already has, and that’s why they kept all the handheld talent but aren’t doing anything handheld-related with them right now.
Comment by raindog469 — 04.Feb.09 @ 3:27 pm
Just make DKC4
Comment by B.O.B. — 11.Feb.09 @ 11:31 pm
i wish rare ltd. would come out with something good for ds, they made ‘Super Mario 64 DS’ and ‘Diddy Kong Racing Racing DS’ from n64 mods, they should do some other popular games for the n64 to DS, like ‘Banjo-Tooie and ‘Banjo-Kazooie’, or ‘Donkey Kong 64″. It’s not like were making them publish ‘Perfect Dark’ or ‘007: Goldeneye’ just a nice game for n64 and a good gameplay game for DS…I just wish they would make a good original, classic game for DS.e’.My choice is “Donkey kong 64′ or ‘Banjo Kazooir
Comment by JW — 22.Mar.09 @ 6:16 pm
Perhaps this ‘halt’ is due to MS’s (possible) decision to enter the handheld market, and announcing this at E3? Perhaps the handheld unit is still there, but making games for the XBOX Portable? Sounds likely to me.
Comment by WZ678 — 28.May.09 @ 2:02 pm
urgh the beginning of each year is always so frustrating. the year always takes sooo long to unfold… i can’t wait to hear/see what rare is working on for this year… even though im half sure whatever it is, im not going to like (based on the past few games and the fact that rare has stated their going to do things “different” for now on)yet still i cant wait until they start releasing details!!!
Comment by billy — 03.Feb.09 @ 11:52 pm