Rare talk

From their inception in the early 80s to their peak on the N64, game developer Rare hardly put a foot wrong. Whether it was Alien 8 on the Speccy or Goldeneye on the N64 you always knew you were playing something special. But then it all went a bit wrong. A failure to adapt to the gaming world post N64 saw the developer bought by Microsoft in 2002, yet the slump has only continued. Grabbed by the Ghoulies and an updated Conker game failed to set the Xbox alight and were probably not what Microsoft had in mind when they splashed the cash. And the 360 has seen little improvement, with Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero, while nice enough to look at, both blindingly average. But judging by what I've played so far Viva Piñata, Rare's latest, could be a return to late 90s form (anyone else enjoy Jet Force Gemini?) Today's Technology supplement has an interview with Piñata's lead designer who struggles manfully to downplay the Pokemon comparisons. Elsewhere Keith argues that the Wii could be highly destructive.