Developers that are, though technically still around, disappeared off the Earth?

My choice? Treasure. The thought occurred to me after NitroRad's recent video when he covers Mischief Makers and questions if they are still even around. I checked their recent history and... they haven't released a game since 2014! Holy hell!

For those who don't know, Treasure was a dev who mainly did shmumps (Gunstar Heroes for SEGA which had two games, Sin and Punishment for Nintendo which had two games, Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun, among others), but have delved into other genres like fighting games (two based on the Bleach anime and manga for DS, one being named 'Dark Souls' before Bandai Namco and From Software used it for their games) and platformers (Mischief Makers on N64, Wario World on GameCube).

The fact that they've been so quiet for so long has me way too curious.

What's your choice?

Yeah, been wondering what Treasure has been up to from time to time. Really enjoyed a number of games from them. Most notably Gunstar Heroes, Guardian Heroes, and Gradius V being favourites of mine.

Rare.

JapanStudios, Sony be just making the same movie junk nowadays.

What have Sony done to you to constantly lie about them?

Mistwalker, did Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon on 360 and have all but disappeared.

MS need to get them to do sequels.

Hmmm can't think of any actual developers, just more individual contributors and big names.

Folks like John Carmack, who while is still involved with hardware and software, doesn't really do anything to make games.

John Romero is also still around; I think for a while after Daikatana he went to make children's games or learning games--low effort, good business, good pay--and chaired a position on some game development board or something.

Canceled one of the best games ever made in Shadows of Colossus. What has Sony done for you to continue to dick ride them?

We need a proper Banjo-Threeie, and not with that LEGO Kart thing they called Nuts & Bolts. Been asking for this since I was like 10.

**** Rare. Never forgave Microsoft crushing my childhood dreams by acquiring this studio and then turning them into a Kinect development team.

This was way before the Microsoft we got today, but what they made of Rare really provides insight how they've destroyed many of their once great IP's or the ones they've acquired for the drive of making content over the craft of quality video games.

SEGA AM2. Still waiting for their new Virtua Fighter, Virtua Cop, Daytona USA and Afterburner games to arrive at my local arcade. I don't need any more Hatsune Miku games from them.

Is Konami still in business? The company ruled da world during the NES, SNES, PS1 areas with Contra, Castlevania, Silent Hill and more.

Oh, and AM2. Sega's developer was the king of the arcade and graphical advancements. But since the arcade is more or less dead, I guess AM2 went the same way. What's Yu Suzuki doing these days?

they switch to mobile market.

Can't think of any other I like besides Treasure and Rare.

Rare still works on Sea of Thieves. It's like they are only 15 people or something.

@last_lap: Wouldn't get my hopes ups, they've only been making mobile games for the past 10 years.

I don’t, I’m just love pointing out the foolery in one’s post.

I think Aki is still around, but haven't done much worth mentioning since Def Jam FfNY.

You can blame Nintendo for not buying Rare when they ask them to and Nintendo didn't want them. Sad but MS was the only company to do it. I also do want a new Banjo/Kazooie game but one of the ex-developers from Rare said there's just no demanding audience for a new game and here's the article about it: Former Rare Dev Say There's Not An Audience For A New Banjo-Kazooie

It’s obvious that old-school fans still fondly remember and miss Banjo-Kazooie. Rare has long since been completely gutted, with basically none of the team who worked on Banjo-Kazooie/Banjo-Tooie left Rare. Banjo-Kazooie devs are all part of Playtonic Games, the developers of Yooka-Laylee, a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie. (I have yet to play that game despite I have it on PC. Just never could find the right time to play it)

Nintendo may have not bought Rare but that does not change the fact that Microsoft destroyed its legacy.

Also I call bullshit on there not being demand for Banjo-Threeie, because people lost their minds when a new game was announced for the 360, that ended up being Nuts & Bolts. N&B turned out to not be the game fans wanted and people felt duped over it. It's like Rare hates its own IP's and their fans. There was a lot of demand for it back in the day, but Rare turned a blind eye to it for so long; so long that it has now faded into obscurity because everyone got over it and moved on after the N&B disappointment, and entire generations now are unfamiliar with the IP as a result.

This lack of demand is a product of the studio's own doing.

Wow Treasure is a great choice for this topic and I'd just echo that. They make incredible games and I've really enjoyed most of them but they just sorta stopped. As much as I hate consolidation, I actually think they make a perfect aquisition choice to fill out either PS extra or gamepass because they make quality games that people don't buy on low budgets; so if they make quality games on a sub service they end up being games people actually try and enjoy and probably in theory could add a decent count of decent quality games at a low development cost.

Still really enjoy Rare myself. Would certainly love a proper sequel for Banjo-Kazooie of course but still very much enjoyed Nuts & Bolts. Had a lot of fun with that game. Also really enjoyed Kameo and Viva Piñata as well.

Just admit it: the Great Mighty Poo is high-art; Kinectimals, not so much.

And you better not come back with "I quite enjoyed Kinectimals myself."

At that rate I'll throw my phone out the window.

We know the games Rare and Retro Studios are working on, but it’s been so long its easy to see why people would think them dead.

@jaydan: I never played Kinectimals and have zero interest to do so. 😅

Played Conker’s Bad Fur Day and did not enjoy it. Found it unfunny and lame.

Not the answer I was expecting, but you have spared my phone from being thrown out the window, for today.

@jaydan: I’m sure you’re phone is thankful then. 😅

@lebanese_boy: I get that, but MS is over in Japan talking to Square and other devs about games from Asia when he has 2 banger rpgs just sitting there waiting for sequels. Spencer is such a dropkick.

@firedrakes: Oh I know, that's why I said "all but" disappeared. If you're on mobile you may as well be gone & forgotten, shame really as Lost Odyssey & Blue Dragon are some of the best rpgs.

The guy that makes Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and Last Guardian. So much hype around his works yet the guy is seldom in the news.

Rare was mediocre. Take off those musty glasses.

most of cost to dev and no funding for it.

Phil should use some of that money he's throwing around to fund these games, like they did for the originals.

Instead of wasting money flying to Japan to stand on stage next to the Square guys to announce an old arse Final Fantasy game that came out in 2010 that no one on Xbox cares about is making its way to Xbox 13yrs after the fact.

One of the biggest games on Xbox is Sea of Thieves. Everwild is one of the most anticipated games announced for Xbox.

What exactly are you looking for???

Sad, real sad. Microsoft has killed the studio from the second it was acquired. The fact that you're coping with Everwild being one of the most anticipated titles, a game not only us, but Rare themselves don't even know what its supposed to be like, that is just sad.

What am i looking for? For Microsoft to remove their shackles, and let them go. Rare has been in Microsoft basement for far too long.

LOL. That's weak-a$$ copium because you can't play Rare games anymore. Sea Of Thieves had 15 million active players at launch, and has regular updates since then. Sea Of Thieves DLC has been making it into MS's yearly presentations, including big movie tie-ins.

Your interpretation is laughable in the fact of the facts.

What the hell do you mean i can't play their games? They're all on pc you scrub. Not to mention that their first game when MS acquired them was the dogwater Nuts n Bolts, a pathetic attempt at a new Banjo game.

Microsoft has completely ruined them. For almost a decade, their only goal was to create clothing for the xbox avatars. Who does that? What kind of person punishes a developer this much? Microsoft, that's whom.

Sea of Thieves is a game made for kids. I cringe hard when you're even mentioning that thing.

Still supporting a game that had 15 million players at launch, and their next game is one of the most anticipated games for Xbox.

You: Oh, Rare is ruined!

Your argument is pathetic and weak.

/thread

Why are you even mentioning SoT launch? It was one of the most pathetic launches in history. Zero content. Took them 3 years to have what they should have at launch😐Stop making a fool out of yourself and accept the fact that Rare is long gone, otherwise Everwild would've been released years ago.

Rare really turned things around with Sea of Thieves from its launch and turned it into something quite good. Kudos to them for that. Have no idea what Everwild might turn out to be but I am definitely interested in keeping an eye on it.

BioWare went from making some of the best games in the medium consistently to non existent.

I’m glad Rare is still around, and I’m willing to wager their games have been consistently decent since the Xbox 360 days. Their N64 output, though, was absolutely golden (no pun intended). The N64 is my retro console of choice to explore this year, and Rare’s offerings hold up very well. I’d like to check out their other, later games via Rare Replay and perhaps give Sea of Thieves a chance one day as well.

Rockstar releasing games every year then just stopped when GTAV came out

sorry i cant here you thu my bed made of 100s and same goes with my house...

that gta dev mind set now

@dabear: I've always said wenzen is like a lem plant to make cows look bad, i'm starting to think you're a cow plant to make lems look bad.

Rare while not the same as when MS bought them as a lot of the talent left, have shit the bed on games. SoT was bare bones when it released, and they have made nothing since except righting the ship (pun intended) SoT ever since, and wasn't even present at MS E3 show, so they have nothing to show for god knows who's when.

Rare have fallen off the cliff.

Couldn't agree more, the dabear part.

@hardwenzen: Of course you would, but you don't realise that you're his cow doppelganger 🤣

I am as genuine as you will find on this forum. I consider myself 100.2% Cow. Only have a pc so i can annoy hermits with inferior pc's.

Nah, the problem you have is that you on occasion criticise Sony, that automatically disqualifies you. Guys like solid who will never criticise Sony are 110% pure cow.

Let me tell you something. I am a cow with incredibly high standards. When a cow ascends, standards skyrocket, and when this happens, you have no choice but to criticize trash, be it from Sony, or someone else. The only level above an Ascended Cow is the Matrix, a Matrix Cow to be exact, and they're so rare that we simply have never had one on SW. Don't ask me the difference because i myself have no idea, they're too rare. Rumors say that their Cow Levels are approaching 170%. Can you imagine that?

Drunk posting again I see.