The Future is Here; Rare is Not
Xbox 360 gets a successor in the form of… the Xbox 360
There were a lot of things shown in the recent E3 Microsoft Press Conference: The Beatles: Rock Band looks as pretty as it should, Facebook and Twitter on Xbox Live have the potential to destroy our social lives further as we know it, and Project Natal is taking Nintendo’s idea of motion sensing to the next level, complete with a burn towards the concept by Microsoft’s higher-ups during the show. As the hosts said, Microsoft’s future is here.
Rare, however, doesn’t seem to be on the same boat.
Just like E3 2007 before it, there was no mention of any games regarding the company whatsoever. Even with the revelation of the body-controller known as Project Natal, none of the prototypes shown were mentioned as belonging to Rare. Admittedly, the existence of Natal brings forth some interesting concepts that Rare can use: specifically, that “revolution” that Gregg Mayles has gone on record stating in terms of making a Killer Instinct 3. How they’ll use it is another story entirely, and one that would be nice to see at E3 2010, or even before that.
While it’s incredibly disappointing to not see anything that has been rumored confirmed or denied in some shape or form, Project Natal may change the way we’ve played Rare titles in the past.
Somehow related news
- Nick Burton imagines the future ()
- Xbox Originals and Backwards Compatibility come to an end ()
- Banjo and Kazooie confirmed for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing ()
- Killer Instinct on Wii? ()
- Natal provides incentive to investigate Rare classic IP ()
12 Comments
R for Rare or R for retard? Is Stop n’ Swap involved in this conspiracy?
Comment by Girby — 02.Jun.09 @ 12:26 am
wow rare. way to deliver! 
not.
I have a funny feeling they’re saving Rare’s games for a later time, but not long down the line. A month or two?
Remember, both Banjo and Viva Pinata were revealed not at any big event, but when Rare were good and ready. Revealing in their own time allowed their games to get a little more exposure, rather than being lost in the ton of game announcements during the big events.
I’m disappointed. But I won’t rule out a special ‘reveal day’ chosen by Rare and Microsoft in the future. Rare’s website redesign may coincide with any new game announcements, too, should I add.
Comment by Rinx — 02.Jun.09 @ 3:20 am
Rare could still announce a new title or two. E3 hasn’t even begun yet (June 2nd-4th). Microsoft wont be fitting everything into their press conference, they announced the on demand game service after their conference and the likes of Mario and Zelda have been known to be announced after their Nintendo conferences. Calm down, there’s plenty of time remaining. Also, IGN has an unannounced Microsoft exclusive in their E3 schedule for today.
Comment by Adam — 02.Jun.09 @ 11:08 am
I was looking at IGN’s schedule for today.
2:00 PM Pacific: 2:00 pm
Unannounced Microsoft Title — Find out what MS will unveil at this year’s E3.
In the booth. Just saw Perfect Dark on XBLA running 1080p. It is coming to XBLA this winter. Free theme coming tomorrow!9 minutes ago
posted on majornelson’s twitter, http://twitter.com/majornelson/status/2008690137
Comment by whitenite — 02.Jun.09 @ 11:41 pm “Banjo was revealed at X06. That was a big even for Microsoft when they were doing those yearly.”
True, but all we could gleam from that trailer was that a Banjo game was coming. There was no actual gameplay, or even any information released on the game. The character models weren’t even the final ones that made it into the game.
The real reveal was when they revealed Nuts and Bolts in early 2008. We got the game’s title, gameplay bits divulged and proper footage.
As for the Perfect Dark Arcade thing – and I don’t mean to sound like an ass – it’s a game we’ve been playing for ten years. I can’t get excited about that.
Comment by Rinx — 03.Jun.09 @ 1:38 am
Systems like Natal are a waste of time, space and money. Since when is it an improvement in gameplay to make a fool of yourself while at the same time the actual game content gets simpler and simpler. Wii is at the edge of the bearable, so I hope this still expanded system goes down.
Comment by Felix — 18.Jun.09 @ 3:10 pm
The guy in orange who introduced project natal had an R on his jacket.
Comment by DS_Nadine — 01.Jun.09 @ 11:46 pm