02-17-2003, 02:03 PM
Even if MS had bought Rare prior to the production of SF:A, then the game would have still wound up on the Gamecube, possibly either developed wholly by Nintendo, or passed on to another developer.
Simple fact is this: While Rare might have been producing games, Nintendo owns the characters. When Microsoft bough Rare, they were forced to leave all the liscences for Nintendo characters behind. By that, I mean the SF cast and Donkey Kong. What characters Rare managed to keep are, at best, supporting characters - Diddy Kong, the rest of the Kongs, Banjo, Kazooie, Conker, etc. Nintendo simply leased their characters to Rare and gave them free reign to create any supporting characters they wanted. Regarding the extended cast of the SF series... I don't know who gets to keep them, but I have a feeling that it will be Nintendo.
Bungie? They were bitches to the almighty Mac⢠before Microsoft bought them out. All these people griping about how Halo would not be making it to a PC format have conveniently forgot that if it was financially possible, Bungie would have made Halo a Mac-exclusive game. Microsoft were (and I am in no way defending them by the way) pretty shrewd in buying them out, as it at least guaranteed that Halo would be making it to more than one format.
Honestly though, I pray that Microsoft doesn't buy Vivendi's game division, but if they do then so what? Microsoft is a business and it doesn't make good business to make potential multi-million dollar games Xbox exclusive. There isn't a person in the company dumb enough to make, say, Half-Life 2 or SC2 an Xbox-exclusive, despite common public opinion (Buy netizens who are hardly the prime example of intelligence). Possibly the biggest change such a buy-out would bring is the elimination of the Mac market for Blizz games.
Simple fact is this: While Rare might have been producing games, Nintendo owns the characters. When Microsoft bough Rare, they were forced to leave all the liscences for Nintendo characters behind. By that, I mean the SF cast and Donkey Kong. What characters Rare managed to keep are, at best, supporting characters - Diddy Kong, the rest of the Kongs, Banjo, Kazooie, Conker, etc. Nintendo simply leased their characters to Rare and gave them free reign to create any supporting characters they wanted. Regarding the extended cast of the SF series... I don't know who gets to keep them, but I have a feeling that it will be Nintendo.
Bungie? They were bitches to the almighty Mac⢠before Microsoft bought them out. All these people griping about how Halo would not be making it to a PC format have conveniently forgot that if it was financially possible, Bungie would have made Halo a Mac-exclusive game. Microsoft were (and I am in no way defending them by the way) pretty shrewd in buying them out, as it at least guaranteed that Halo would be making it to more than one format.
Honestly though, I pray that Microsoft doesn't buy Vivendi's game division, but if they do then so what? Microsoft is a business and it doesn't make good business to make potential multi-million dollar games Xbox exclusive. There isn't a person in the company dumb enough to make, say, Half-Life 2 or SC2 an Xbox-exclusive, despite common public opinion (Buy netizens who are hardly the prime example of intelligence). Possibly the biggest change such a buy-out would bring is the elimination of the Mac market for Blizz games.
When in mortal danger,
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.
BattleTag: Schrau#2386
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.
BattleTag: Schrau#2386