I really believe if this was ported to switch it would be as big a monster as Animal Crossing.
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Will Rare release anything as impactful as Donkey Kong Country or Goldeneye 007 ever again?
- Thread starter daTRUballin
- Start date
Rare has never stopped being an innovative and impactful company. Goldeneye and DKC weren't even the first games. I think people don't quite understand just how impactful and huge they were on the ZX Spectrum back in their Ultimate: Play the Game days. The Stamper Bros. were/are geniuses and how much they contributed and impacted the industry really shouldn't ever be understated.
I would even consider Kinect Sports to be impactful. It was to Xbox what Wii Sports was to Nintendo. It really showcased what the technology was capable of and put Kinects into homes. Over 10million units sold between the first two games.
I would even consider Kinect Sports to be impactful. It was to Xbox what Wii Sports was to Nintendo. It really showcased what the technology was capable of and put Kinects into homes. Over 10million units sold between the first two games.
It's certainly hard to measure cultural impact, especially compared to games released over 20 years ago. I think it's undeniable that Sea of Thieves is one of their most impactful games, and up there with Banjo and Goldeneye though.
In the age of Game Pass why do copies sold matter, for example? The fact that it sold 4-6+ million copies (you are of course just guessing and it could be higher) is actually even more impressive when you consider there are also millions of people playing it on and paying for Game Pass. Also, more than two years after release, the game is at peak popularity (it's still in the Steam top 10), which likely means the player base is still significantly growing past that 15,000,000 mark. If Xcloud is successful on Android, that could make it do even better. It will be interesting to look back on the game several years from now.
Have you played Rare's Xbox games by the way? I'd say the quality has been consistent with their career output.
This is the first thing that came to mind.
"The Van Hagar Effect"
I voted "No, I doubt it" to be realistic, but I'm always rooting for studios to make great games!
Sea of Thieves probably comes closest to that but it's difficult to really measure. People forget how massive Goldeneye was at the time.
Lots of us are dating ourselves in this thread. GoldenEye 007 was HUGE back in the day. Not just a really good game but completely industry-shaking. They've since made better games, but they've never made something quite that impactful on the industry at large. Which is what the OP was asking.
Can they? I see absolutely no reason why they wouldn't be able to. Will they? I don't know. Those two games really impacted the game industry, so it's quite a tall order. At the same time, in recent years we have had impactful games made by very small groups (Minecraft being the most outstanding, but also things like Journey).
One of the main things you can't do when trying to make something impactful is playing things safe. Rareware isn't being safe with their titles either, so that's a start.
One of the main things you can't do when trying to make something impactful is playing things safe. Rareware isn't being safe with their titles either, so that's a start.
OP
OP
Lol not at all. I have nothing against SoT, but whether it has had the same level of impact as DKC or Goldeneye is a fair question to ask, is it not?
That's a good point that I didn't even think about much. The fact that they've sold that many copies despite the game being available for free IS rather impressive.
That 4-6 million guess comes from the fact that Rare once revealed that about half of the players played the game through Game Pass. I'm not sure if that's the case anymore as that was awhile ago, but if it's still 50/50, then we can assume the game has sold more than 5 million at this point?
I'm probably one of the biggest Rare fanboys on this board, but I'm ashamed to admit I haven't played most of their Xbox games. To be fair, I've never owned an Xbox console, so that's probably a big reason why. I've watched a lot of SoT gameplay though and I'm interested in playing the game for myself at some point!
What you're saying is even more weird considering whether Rare makes another impactful game or not in the future doesn't really have anything to do with who works there at any given time.
And even if everybody that worked at Rare in the 90's still worked there now, that's not a guarantee they'd be releasing games with that kind of impact either.
Sea of Thieves is the biggest thing they've done since getting sold to MS but it's not on the level of either of these games in terms of impact. DKC had visuals that blew the industry's mind at the time and is considered one of those legendary 90s games that was a marquee title for the platform it was on. Goldeneye 007 basically popularized FPS games (especially with split screen multiplayer) on consoles and while modern FPS games don't take much from it in terms of design, the ripple effect it had on the industry in terms of what kinds of games publishers will greenlight can still be felt today.
That being said, Sea of Thieves at least shows that it could be possible, so maybe.
That being said, Sea of Thieves at least shows that it could be possible, so maybe.
Im honestly starting to feel like it too. Slopping with my nine year old son in SoT every night rivals or tops the best times on Goldeneye split screen.
Still some there but the core of the team behind Goldeneye went on to found Free Radical Design and make TimeSplitters.
User Banned (3 days): port-begging, a history of port-begging
Rare were at their prime in the snes to n64 days. Sadly they will reach that golden age again. I wish they release all their games on the other consoles, so everyone can enjoy them. Would love to play rare replay on the switch especially
How is sea of thieves influential? I feel like alot of people forget the extended development cycle of that game and how much of a shitshow it was at launch. No Man's Sky came in years before with the overpromise and under deliver template, so you can't even give that to Rare.
People who wack off old Rare and cry that they don't make endless sequels to their classic games is super annoying. If you're an actual caring fan you'd understand SoT. Personally I love this new, inventive Rare. Everwild looks fantastic.
I don't think Rare will.
However I should state, there's a big difference between "SoT has 15 Million players" and "Goldeneye shaped console FPS".
So Rare is definitely still capable of making big games, and popular ones at that too. But I think the days of them being trendsetters are over, as their entire catalog for the past 5+ years has been seeing other things that are successful and going after that.
I really hope i'm wrong with this when Everwild comes out.
However I should state, there's a big difference between "SoT has 15 Million players" and "Goldeneye shaped console FPS".
So Rare is definitely still capable of making big games, and popular ones at that too. But I think the days of them being trendsetters are over, as their entire catalog for the past 5+ years has been seeing other things that are successful and going after that.
I really hope i'm wrong with this when Everwild comes out.
You are missing out man. Buying an Xbox is no small investment, but Rare Replay + Sea of Thieves + Everwild is worth it for sure if you are a big fan. Viva Pinata and Sea of Thieves are two of the greatest Rare games of all time imo. Rare Replay is an amazing collection, the meta-games they have on-top of the main games are a brilliant touch, and all X360 era titles are 4K on X1X.
Banjo Nuts and Bolts may not quite reach Banjo 1 levels, but it's way better than Banjo 2 and very ambitious/creative. Perfect Dark Zero's single player is weak, but its multiplayer is great. Sea of Thieves on the other hand, is something else. It may have been thin at launch, but it has probably had the single best post-launch DLC of any game I've ever played. The game has always had a brilliant center, but now it's fleshed out into one of the most unique, riveting, constantly entertaining, and genuinely funny games. If you have a friend to play with, it could be some of your most memorable gaming.
This is the answer — it was a different era. The industry is wider and has a lot more participants competing at high levels for people's attention than ever before. To expect repeats from that era is frankly an unrealistic expectation and I feel like it devalues the work of current teams for not living up to something that is extremely unlikely to happen given the way things are now.
This really is just a shit on Rare thread. Not a single developer has delivered something as influential/impactful as Goldeneye in the last decade
Rare has never been a company to focus exclusively on a specific genre. Going all the way back to their Ultimate: Play the Game days in the early 80s to the present day, they've made games for just about every genre you can think of. They've always made different types of games, so I'd say Rare is just the same today as they have always been. It's just that people are so fixated on the fact that every employee that was working there 35 years ago isn't still there today and that somehow makes them a worse and lesser company. Not the case at all.
Which studio from the 90s makes games that are as influential as the ones they made back then?
And making a new Banjo definitely wouldn't set the world on fire. So even if all the people from back then would still work at Rare, I don't think their games would be as influential as Goldeneye.
And making a new Banjo definitely wouldn't set the world on fire. So even if all the people from back then would still work at Rare, I don't think their games would be as influential as Goldeneye.
Everwild could be pointing that way. We just have to see how the gameplay turns out because the design, artstyle and theme looks incredibly good.
Not that I disagree with the point, but there are a few. Nintendo, Sony, Rockstar, Bethesda, Treyarch, Bungie and Epic just of the top of my head.
It should be. It takes all of the concepts pioneered by Goldeneye and advances them.
It's also easily less influential than Goldeneye.
Not even close. Goldeneye literally brought the fps genre to consoles. None of those studios have done anything remotely similar anytime in the past decade.
Maybe Fortnite. But that's about it.
lol
Firstly the post I responded too asked which studios were making games as influential as the ones they were making in the 1990s, not which companies is making games as influential as Goldeneye (all of them have nevertheless made games as influential as Goldeneye in the last decade).
Secondly, one of those studios in the last decade has made the biggest and most successful piece of media ever made by human beings.
Sea of Thieves alone has reached a much larger audience than Goldeneye or DKC on their respective platforms. So I think they already did the thing.
Also, Viva Pinata my dudes. Is a tactical nuke to your heart impactful? You decide.
Also also, DKC is not even a particularly good game.
Also, Viva Pinata my dudes. Is a tactical nuke to your heart impactful? You decide.
Also also, DKC is not even a particularly good game.
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I assume you mean Fortnite? I edited my post. But that really is it.
I honestly don't think Rare is the studio anymore that most devs will look at and go "wow we need to do that" I think they are just a studio who makes fun games now, which there is nothing wrong with but I don't get all this pressure on Rare when it's obviously been the case for such a long time.
No, I mean GTA V. Which is more successful than any book, movie, film, game or album ever released.
But the fact that you came to a different game makes my point too.
GTAV is straight up not as revolutionary as Goldeneye.
Though, I guess "impactful" is synonymous with sales right🤷♂️ (you sure seem to think so)? Then Sea of Thieves easily fits the question posed by the OP. Surely you agree?
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Vague terminology is a good start.
Questions of impact aside, I do think Era has a habit of underestimating SoT re: quality and inventiveness, perhaps because it's an MP game. It's genuinely bold for a major publisher, and genuinely unique, and is very well made. And fun as fuck.
Questions of impact aside, I do think Era has a habit of underestimating SoT re: quality and inventiveness, perhaps because it's an MP game. It's genuinely bold for a major publisher, and genuinely unique, and is very well made. And fun as fuck.
From the ones you listed I would only agree with Epic, Bungie, Rockstar and maybe Naughty Dog.
Most Nintendo games except Zelda have stayed mostly the same and a new Mario Kart or Smash is not as influential anymore as the first entry in the series. The last influential Bethesda game was Skyrim.
I guess influential can mean a lot of different things apart from successful in this context. You have to answer for yourself whether the game that innovates or the game that popularizes. Is Wolfenstein the influential PC shooter of the 90's or was it Doom?
Either way I think runaway success is always going to be heavily influential in that it's going to reshape industry practice. Goldeneye opened up a whole new world for console shooters and was very successful for it's day, but Halo was a step beyond that in both mechanics and popularity. So which is more influential? Likewise was H1Z1, the first game shaped to be a BR and have success, more influential than Fortnite because it first influenced Fortnite. I don't think so, because Fortnite ultimately popularized it to another level.
I have no problem whatsoever asserting that GTA V, Fortnite and Skyrim are at least as influential as Goldeneye and probably moreso.
Skyrim wasn't even as influential as people want to claim it was. It was a rift off of Oblivion, which was a rift off of Morrowind. A game influencing other games isn't the same as bringing an entire genre to consoles (Goldeneye).
Were you born in 2005 or something? If you seriously can even compare or even put in the same sentence of the completely garbage SoT to freaking Donkey Kong Country, then wow people's perception of quality sure has changed.
I suppose then you get down to the finer details. Goldeneye really did bring the 3D console shooter to life, while Halo defines the control and mechanics of modern FPS titles. I don't think you'll find anything similar these days outside of Fortnite or (and I suppose I missed this one) Destiny. Every other developer you mentioned; from Naughty Dog, to Rockstar, to Bethesda, hasn't done something similar since the early 2000s.
They already have.
They created a mainstream multiplayer game where there are virtually no rules, no hand holding. You choose what you want to accomplish and create your own adventure and every time you play is different. It has the highest highs and some pretty tragic lows and I have never had experiences in any game like I have had in SoT.
It's been out for well over two years and is still selling extremely well and has had over 15million players. Whether or not you care about the game or not is irrelevant, it's done extremely well and deserves all of its success.
They created a mainstream multiplayer game where there are virtually no rules, no hand holding. You choose what you want to accomplish and create your own adventure and every time you play is different. It has the highest highs and some pretty tragic lows and I have never had experiences in any game like I have had in SoT.
It's been out for well over two years and is still selling extremely well and has had over 15million players. Whether or not you care about the game or not is irrelevant, it's done extremely well and deserves all of its success.