An interesting turn of events pertaining to Rare and its fan community occurred earlier today when the operators of the largest fan community website announced that they would be closing their doors after over 10 years in operations. MundoRare has announced that after repeated denials stemming from multiple attempts to offer support to Rare, they would be shutting down.
MundoRare had been planning to shoot a documentary about the studio for some time now, but Rare responded to the documentary with a flat denial, citing that the documentary would not be “on message.” The documentary was to be shot free of charge, and would have been distributed via Xbox Live and over the net.
"Despite its ambitious scope, we felt it was an irresistible offer," explains the site. "In fact, we are still puzzled over their response. It was a risk-free operation to be carried away with all legal safety measures deemed necessary and full of good intentions. It simply makes no sense. It has changed our perception of Rare forever and leaves us with no other option but to end our support for them."
It's an interesting perspective into the developer/fan relationship for certain; the denial of free support by the fan community has Rare fans disappointed over the decision. Despite the continued problems over franchise reboots and publisher fiascos, Rare fans have been about as faithful as a developer could hope for. As Rare’s “glory days” of dominating the N64 have come and gone, fans have supported the British developer for some time now. The closing of MundoRare is perhaps the worst sign yet for Rare from the fan perspective at least. Going forward, it seems like Rare is more concerned with assisting Microsoft with Kinect (Kinect Sports, for example) than appeasing its (potentially former) hardcore fans.
[Thanks Destructoid]
5 Comments
July 27, 2010
It seems that Rare is still media shy, even with the Stamper brothers gone. It's still surprising, since you'd think that most companies would jump at the opportunity to do this, particularly one like Rare which has been out of the limelight for so long.
July 28, 2010
"Going forward, it seems like Rare is more concerned with assisting Microsoft with Kinect (Kinect Sports, for example) than appeasing its (potentially former) hardcore fans."
First off, Rare is a SUBSIDIARY of (i.e. OWNED BY) Microsoft—it's a part of MGS. So to speak of Rare as if they have any real say in the matter as a separate entity is incorrect.
This is just another Microsoft PR misstep, and an unnecessary one at that. Microsoft's army of lawyers could have arranged an agreement that would have allowed MundoRare to make their film while giving the company the provision to edit or reject the film if it was not to their liking. There are also other ways of limiting access to places, people and information to ensure that the film would stay "on message." (If MudoRare thought it could make a no-hold-barred documentary/exposé, then they were just pipe-dreaming in the first place.)
It's too bad for Microsoft, Rare and Rare's fanbase that the behemoth's PR and marketing teams didn't recognize this as the uniquely grass-rootsy side-campaign it could have been for Kinect and the most prominent in-house developer of Kinect games. Instead, they've got a big slap in the face that will only serve to discredit the company and its exciting new products in the eyes of existing and potential customers. It's a missed opportunity gone wrong.
July 28, 2010
Disappointing. Just another example of how some developers just don't get the new, hyper-social world we're in.
August 2, 2010
To Rare's PR staff: no guts, no glory.
August 31, 2010
Yes, they missed their One Shot at Glory, in the crossfire, overhead...