Rare

Rare
Type	Private
Founded	1985
Founders	Chris Stamper Tim Stamper
Headquarters	Twycross, UK
Key People	Chris Stamper Tim Stamper Gregg Mayles Mark Betteridge
Industry	Video Game
Employees	~200
Parent	Nintendo (1994-2002) Microsoft (2002-Present)
Website	http://www.rareware.com/

Rare Ltd. (formerly Rareware) is a British video game making company created by two brothers- Tim and Chris Stamper.

Overview

Rare is known for making a variety of games, most notably for the Nintendo 64 and later the Xbox. Some of the company's most well-known titles are the Donkey Kong (starting with Donkey Kong Country) and Banjo-Kazooie series, along with Viva Piñata and the Conker series. The company is currently signed to Microsoft, but still develops games for the Nintendo DS.

Cameo

Rare is also known for its numerous cameos and references from other Rare games.

History

Rare's first game was Jetpac. Rares logos had changed during the time. One of Rare's best characters was Banjo-Kazooie. Donkey Kong was never owned by Rare but Nintendo, so when Rare went to Microsoft, Donkey Kong was not there as they were not allowed to take the franchise with them. Microsoft had paid US$375 for 100% of the company

Logo Gallery

Rare's first logo, during the NES era.

Rare's logo during the Nintendo era.

Rare' s New Logo, during the Microsoft era.

Current logo as of 2010.

Rare's logo sprite in Conker's Pocket Tales.