[awill]

>>Rare was acquired in 2002 and their list of games since doesn't look like shovelware to me

I don't know.... Honestly Rare was just as good if not better than Nintendo themselves. And that's a nearly impossible feat.

The n64 did as well as it did because of Rare. GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Banjo, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, Jet Force Gemini etc.. post-acquisition, Rare didn't made the same sort of games. So maybe they found new fans, but the old fans hated it. Myself included.

[sylens]

There was a run of excellence on the N64 (Goldeneye, Banjo Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark) but Banjo Tooie and Donkey Kong 64, in retrospect, are very bloated games. As a kid, I loved them because there was more content for my money, but I can't imagine replaying them now.

[xtracto]

Shit I'm old. To me Rare were definitely one of the best game studios for NES and SNES: R.C. Pro-Am, NARC, Battletoads, Killer Instinct, Donkey Kong Country. I got into University when the N64 came out, so I did not play it .