Rare: Natal gives opportunity to investigate classic IP

Rare: Natal gives opportunity to investigate classic IP
Wesley Yin-Poole Updated on by

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Great news for Rare fans: The legendary UK developer has said Microsoft’s motion-sensing technology Project Natal provides it with an opportunity to investigate some of its older classic games.

Not only that, but Rare reckons it could do an “absolutely phenomenal, world-beating” Natal version of one classic IP in particular.

Speaking exclusively to VideoGamer.com, design director George Andreas, who has been with the company for 15 years, said “there are IP that we have looked at and are looking at and will be looking at in the future”.

Rare has one of the most impressive back catalogues of any developer in the world. In the 90s it created some of the greatest games of all time, including Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct, GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Conker’s Bad Fur Day and Diddy Kong Racing.

After being purchased by Microsoft in 2002, Rare moved on to creating games for the Xbox 360 console, including Kameo: Elements of Power, Perfect Dark: Zero, and more recently Viva Piñata and, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts.

Andreas said: “Natal as well gives us an opportunity to maybe at some point in the future investigate some of those older IPs. I won’t name names.

“One in particular actually I think we can do an absolutely phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal version on with Natal. The interface, the way you interact with it – I think it would be an absolutely world-beating product. But we need to explore a little bit more in that direction.”

Rare is knee deep in secret Natal projects at the moment, and recently advertised for designers to help it create experiences for the technology. Rare was also behind the New Xbox Experience Avatars, which launched last November.

Andreas added: “Yes, there are IP that we have looked at and are looking at and will be looking at in the future as well. So, never say never. Nothing is dead in the water. There is always scope to bring something back if we feel it’s the right time.”

When asked what classic franchise he was referring to, Andreas replied: “I’ll keep that to myself for now.”

Food for thought, Rare fans.

What classic Rare IP could George Andreas be on about? What classic Rare IP would you like to see the company create for Natal? Let us know in the comments section below.