SECOND UPDATE: July 8th, 2005, 10:48 PM
With the recent re-confirmation of our report from last year, Microsoft has come out and said that they have no plans to publish any Nintendo DS titles. In fact, Microsoft has gone as far to give a direct denial of any plans to publish any titles for the GBA or DS. “We have no plans to publish games for GBA and DS,” a Microsoft spokesperson told CVG.
Even if Microsoft isn’t publishing any GBA or DS titles, it does not mean that Rare is not working on DS titles. Rare has said that it is “creating key DS titles.”
Interestingly, Microsoft also told CVG that only the “majority” of Rare’s teams are working on the Xbox and Xbox 360, which leaves the other teams open to be working on DS projects. “Whilst Rare has a long history of developing great hand-held games, the majority of their teams are focused on the Xbox business… Rare’s top priority remains next-generation game development,” the spokesperson said.
It is not uncommon for a developer to begin work on — or even finish – a title before having a publisher. If Microsoft is not going to publish any Rare-developed titles on the DS, then another publisher could. With the Game Boy Advance, Rare’s titles were published by THQ, and with the DS, it is possible that THQ, Nintendo, or any other publisher could publish a Rare-developed title. (It should be noted that no publishers have yet said they will be publishing any Rare-developed titles on the DS, nor have any publishers publicly expressed interest in doing so.)
Microsoft also spoke out with regards to unconfirmed reports and rumors that there could be some sort of connection between the Xbox 360 and/or Nintendo DS, and the images from E3 that gave some credibility to the reports. “At E3 Microsoft only announced that there would be the possibility for other devices to connect to Xbox 360,” the spokesperson told CVG.
The Advanced Media Network has contacted both Nintendo and Rare for comment. We don’t expect to hear anything until Monday, at the earliest. If we do recieve comment from either company, we’ll let you know.
UPDATE: July 7th, 2005, 3:05 PM
Microsoft has commented on this most recent re-confirmation of Rare developing for the Nintendo DS, by saying that they have nothing to announce.
“At this time, we have nothing to announce in regards to Rare developing titles for the DS,” a Microsoft representative told GameSpot.
The statement by Microsoft is interesting. as it can clearly be seen on Rare’s website that they are hiring for Nintendo DS development. We’ll continue to keep you updated.
ORIGINAL STORY
Rare today announced that it is looking to hire for Nintendo DS development. The company is currently looking for game programmers and experienced 3D artists.
The information was posted on Rare’s website, under the “Join Us” section. The descriptions for the two positions are as follows:
GAMES PROGRAMMERS (NINTENDO DS)
Must be motivated, enthusiastic and skilled in C/C++ to join our dedicated handheld team, recently nominated for a Develop Industry Excellence Award. 3D skills also an advantage in creating high-profile titles for this unique system.
EXPERIENCED 3D ARTISTS (NINTENDO DS)
Good understanding of 3D packages (preferably Maya), strong modelling and texturing abilities, imagination and motivation are all required from anyone hoping to join our Develop award-nominated team in creating key DS titles.
It was previously confirmed that Rare was working on Nintendo DS projects and had DS development kits when Ken Lobb exclusively spoke to the Advanced Media Network at E3 2004. We reported the news in a over a year ago on May 17th, 2004 in a story titled “Rare Working On DS Titles”. While Microsoft and other outlets shortly debunked our report as rumor, speculation, and even an outright lie, the posting of openings for jobs related to Nintendo DS development is a clear re-confirmation that Rare is indeed working on something for the Nintendo DS. We’ll keep you updated.
