Rare rebrands for its 25th Anniversary
The new logo is “both modern and classic,” according to Microsoft
Change is a very, very fickle thing in our lives. Some accept it easier than others; some utterly despise the concept. It depends on what it is that’s being changed. In recent Rare news, that change is the Rare logo. After seven years of the slim and sleek Rare logo taking away the “Ware” and blue color, we now have these, thanks to Spong:
According to Microsoft, “the new logo is both modern and classic, adjectives that could be applied equally well to Rare itself.” The rebranding will also appear on the website “soon,” according to Spock. If we’re lucky, maybe there will be another edition of Scribes to dissect.
“Both Rare and the games industry have seen massive changes over the past 25 years, and right now it feels as if both we and the industry are continuing to evolve at an ever-increasing pace. With this landmark anniversary coming up, and knowing that we have a really exciting future ahead, we felt now was the time to have a new image more in keeping with an innovative and creative entertainment company which aspires to be around for at least the next 25 years!”, said Mark Betteridge, Head of Studio.
Now, let’s get personal here; we’re not fond of it. As someone that has a bit of experience with graphic design, it looks a bit simple. No, the issue we have is that the name is being dominated over the logo we’ve become adjusted to for nearly a decade. While the logo itself could be a sign of the times (where everything they did before 2001 was great, as opposed to games that ranged from “great,” like Viva Piñata, to “okay,” like Banjo-Pilot, at the least after that), the Rare logo being a 3rd of the size of the full logo is a bit sad.
Of course, it makes perfect sense to change it, what with the comments and Rare’s committal to Project Natal and controller-free gaming (of which the jury’s still out). Enough about us; what do you think of this latest change?
Somehow related news
- Rare’s teaser website is online ()
- Art For Art’s (and for video games’) Sake ()
- Will Lag in Kinect Sports be an issue? Rare says no ()
- You only play twice ()
- It’s-a-Me, Banjo! ()
8 Comments
VERY COOL LOGO!!! Good job Rare and Microsoft.
Comment by 1994 cain — 04.Jun.10 @ 12:50 am
Bollocks to that logo. It’s just a bit too dull for my taste. They say it’s both modern and classic, but the more I look at it it looks more classic than modern. Maybe a bit too classic. I just prefer the old logo better. I know it’s their 25th Anniversary so it makes sense to do something new, but really what’s the point of this? What was wrong with the other colorful logo? It was plain, simple, presentable and symbolized Rare’s uniqueness. This logo just takes the uniqueness away. Bottom line I don’t like this logo at all. Nothing else to say, but Happy Anniversary Rare. May the future be kind to you despite working for a slave drivin company.
Comment by Hamilton — 04.Jun.10 @ 2:28 am
The 25th anniversary is the silver anniversary, maybe that explains the silver color?
Comment by matt — 04.Jun.10 @ 6:36 am
I think they look fine. Hopefully there won’t be too much backlash… Some interesting points:
1) The presentation is similar to mac and wii.
2) Are these just “examples” or are they the final versions?
3) The word Rare will now be on the front, which will provide a perceptible meaning to new consumers.
4) What’s with all the colors and shapes? Will they represent different game genres?
On the Rare website they say, “to clarify that the logo has been designed with versatility in mind, hence the colour and shape variations” and it also says, “Examples of the new Rare branding” when linking to the logos. So there are more variations of the logo we haven’t seen yet. I’m guessing guessing each variation could represent teams for retail, XBLA, Natal, and Windows 7 phones.
Comment by matt — 04.Jun.10 @ 6:04 pm
oh sweet, so i was spot on
Comment by billy — 04.Jun.10 @ 9:34 pm
Those logos look awful. Gone are the days of the iconic Rare branding 
i wonder why some of them will have different shapes? perhaphs they’re going to have different teams tied to different logos kinda like rockstar, for instance the honey comb shaped one could be for the platforming team, the circle for natal, the octogon for fps’s.. etc. idk. that could possibly be good news… they said rare is classic and modern, so hopefully they will do more than JUST natal? who knows, all i do know for sure though is, we probably will not see a “classic” rare title for some time, e3 will definetly be natal only.. shame, but hopefully what they make will be cool
Comment by billy — 03.Jun.10 @ 9:14 pm