I am the oracle of Rare. It seems appropriate that I should take this one on, seeing as it's one of the only subjects on Wikipedia in which I have genuine professional knowledge about. To make this even more special, this is my 400th GA review! I'll make this one as detailed as can be. JAGUAR15:20, 29 January 2016 (UTC)reply
Initial comments
Lead
Remove either 'England' or 'United Kingdom' from the infobox, seems a bit cluttered as it is
"During its early years, Rare kept an air of secrecy" - this sounds slightly informal. Furthermore, I don't think they were secretive only in their early years, they will still by far a seclusive company even after Microsoft's 2002 buyout. This could be reworded slightly
"the company's focus shifted to Xbox Live Avatar and Kinect" - the Xbox Live Avatar
"In 2015, Rare released Rare Replay to celebrate their 30th anniversary" - a bit more should be added about Rare Replay. Like In 2015, Rare released Rare Replay, a compliation of 30 games produced by the company to celebrate their 30th anniversary or something similar
"Rare was widely recognized" - recognised
Founding
"and founded in Ashby-de-la-Zouch by former arcade game" - I know I added this part, but I would write out the full location and founded in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, by former arcade game
"Rare also developed Battletoads, a beat'em up inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise," - full stop instead of comma
"The game became known for its extreme difficulty, and seeing success, publisher Tradewest published multiple ports for the game" - and upon seeing success
"Tradewest also gave their own home Double Dragon license to Rare" - home licence? How about own licence? And also, 'licence' is British spelling
"and Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, an action platform game with Tim Stampers" - Stampers? Stamper. This problem is also in the quote box ("Tim Stampers, founder of Rare")
"Several Battletoads games were also ported to Sega Genesis" - Mega Drive. Please, I beg you!
"and the third instalment of the Jetpac series, Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warship. [10]Rare" - spacing is wrong here
"When the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was conceived" - abbreviate this to (SNES) after the full name, as done with the NES before
"However, despite the huge catalogue of games" - 'huge' is a tad informal, try large instead
Partnership with Nintendo
"Rare, using the SGI systems, created a boxing game game demo " - repetition
"making Rare a Nintendo second-party developer" - might sound better as making Rare a second-party developer for Nintnedo (minor)
"The Stampers asked for Donkey Kong" - this link would be more appropriate as
Donkey Kong (character)
"The resulting game was Donkey Kong Country which was developed" - comma needed in between 'Country' and 'which'
"and Rare moved out from their headquarter at the Manor Farmhouse" - headquarters
"A large-scaled platformer was set to be released afterwards but was delayed" - wait, what's this about? Even I don't know what this is referring to. It can't be Project Dream because that's mentioned later in the section?
"New elements, such as stealth, headshot mechanic" - headshot mechanics or a headshot mechanic
"GoldenEye 007 was the first console first-person shooter" - this means the first console first-person shooter released by Rare?
"Banjo-Kazooie was released in June 1998 to critical acclaim. A sequel, Banjo Tooie, was released several years later" - no, it was released in 2000. Two years later (to critical acclaim as well, it might be worth mentioning that it also sold more than Banjo-Kazooie)
Microsoft era
"Game-development costs gradually increased" - no need for the hyphen
"and Nintendo did not provide Rare with more capital or purchase the company's remaining stake" - may sound better as and Nintendo did not provide Rare with more capital nor did they purchase the company's remaining stake
"According to Rare founders, they were surprised" - elaborate this to According to Rare founders Tim and Chris Stamper, they were surprised
"but the deal collapsed and on 24 September 2002 Microsoft paid $375 million for the company" - this can be ignored, but I think the original figure was in pounds. I don't know how to work out the 2002 exchange rate, so maybe it's better off being ignored for now
"Character trademarks from games developed by Rare for Nintendo consoles" - unlink 'Character'
"a humorous action adventure game set in a haunted house full of crazed creatures" - a humorous action-adventure game set in a haunted mansion full of supernatural creatures
"Originally intended as a free-roaming game, it was significantly streamlined in design and concept" - I would add that the reason why it was streamlined; it was simplified in order to attract a larger, more casual audience (evidence is in the article itself)
"a prequel to the first Perfect Dark, was originally intended for Nintendo GameCube before its redesign as an Xbox 360 game. Rare removed several features to meet the game's release deadline.[44] Kameo: Elements of Power was also intended for the Nintendo GameCube" - remove 'Nintendo', no need for it here
"Nuts & Bolts received significant criticism from player due to its focus on" - players
"Despite good reviews, the company's Microsoft titles sold poorly" - Despite generally positive reviews, the company's titles for Microsoft sold poorly
"Originally titled Sports Star, a more-complex sports sim" - simulation?
"A new game, Sea of Thieves, which was marketed as "The Best Game That Rare Has Ever Made"" - this doesn't mention that it's a multiplayer game (like the lead does)
Culture
"The film, to celebrate Rare's 25th anniversary, would have been distributed on the Internet" - de-capitalise internet
"This sparked controversy about Rare's current direction with Microsoft and shut down MundoRare" - this sounds like Microsoft shut them down, when they shut themselves down
"Rare's secrecy was criticized by Hardcore Gamer's Alex Carlson" - criticised
Related companies
I would recommend splitting this into two paragraphs
"Former Free Radical and Rare staff also formed Crash Labs, a studio specialized in developing iOS games" - specialising in
"Chris Seavor, director of Bad Fur Day" - full name needed; Conker's Bad Fur Day
"Chris and Tim Stampes joined FortuneFish" - Stamper
"a mobile game company founded by Tim Stampers' son, Joe Stampers" - Stamper's, Stamper
Awards
"Rare was awarded the B.A.F.T.A." - just BAFTA
On hold
Well done with all the work and effort put into this article. Regarding the references, I could find
no dead links and no issues with them. The review is quite long, but I wanted to ensure that something like this gets the best treatment. I was always thinking about bringing this up to GA but I never got around to it, due to lack of motivation. Still, I think this is a fitting 400th review. JAGUAR20:49, 29 January 2016 (UTC)reply
@
Jaguar: Thank you very much for the review, and congratulations for achieving a new milestone! I've addressed the issues you raised above, besides the part about $375 million, which I think is important to mention (especially when it comes to the later part, talking about how Rare products failed to become profitable). Thank you once again!
AdrianGamer (
talk)
12:14, 30 January 2016 (UTC)reply
Thank you for working on this Adrian. You've done an excellent job. By all means, promoted. I hope the Stamper brothers are smiling at us right now. JAGUAR15:16, 30 January 2016 (UTC)reply
I am the oracle of Rare. It seems appropriate that I should take this one on, seeing as it's one of the only subjects on Wikipedia in which I have genuine professional knowledge about. To make this even more special, this is my 400th GA review! I'll make this one as detailed as can be. JAGUAR15:20, 29 January 2016 (UTC)reply
Initial comments
Lead
Remove either 'England' or 'United Kingdom' from the infobox, seems a bit cluttered as it is
"During its early years, Rare kept an air of secrecy" - this sounds slightly informal. Furthermore, I don't think they were secretive only in their early years, they will still by far a seclusive company even after Microsoft's 2002 buyout. This could be reworded slightly
"the company's focus shifted to Xbox Live Avatar and Kinect" - the Xbox Live Avatar
"In 2015, Rare released Rare Replay to celebrate their 30th anniversary" - a bit more should be added about Rare Replay. Like In 2015, Rare released Rare Replay, a compliation of 30 games produced by the company to celebrate their 30th anniversary or something similar
"Rare was widely recognized" - recognised
Founding
"and founded in Ashby-de-la-Zouch by former arcade game" - I know I added this part, but I would write out the full location and founded in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, by former arcade game
"Rare also developed Battletoads, a beat'em up inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise," - full stop instead of comma
"The game became known for its extreme difficulty, and seeing success, publisher Tradewest published multiple ports for the game" - and upon seeing success
"Tradewest also gave their own home Double Dragon license to Rare" - home licence? How about own licence? And also, 'licence' is British spelling
"and Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, an action platform game with Tim Stampers" - Stampers? Stamper. This problem is also in the quote box ("Tim Stampers, founder of Rare")
"Several Battletoads games were also ported to Sega Genesis" - Mega Drive. Please, I beg you!
"and the third instalment of the Jetpac series, Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warship. [10]Rare" - spacing is wrong here
"When the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was conceived" - abbreviate this to (SNES) after the full name, as done with the NES before
"However, despite the huge catalogue of games" - 'huge' is a tad informal, try large instead
Partnership with Nintendo
"Rare, using the SGI systems, created a boxing game game demo " - repetition
"making Rare a Nintendo second-party developer" - might sound better as making Rare a second-party developer for Nintnedo (minor)
"The Stampers asked for Donkey Kong" - this link would be more appropriate as
Donkey Kong (character)
"The resulting game was Donkey Kong Country which was developed" - comma needed in between 'Country' and 'which'
"and Rare moved out from their headquarter at the Manor Farmhouse" - headquarters
"A large-scaled platformer was set to be released afterwards but was delayed" - wait, what's this about? Even I don't know what this is referring to. It can't be Project Dream because that's mentioned later in the section?
"New elements, such as stealth, headshot mechanic" - headshot mechanics or a headshot mechanic
"GoldenEye 007 was the first console first-person shooter" - this means the first console first-person shooter released by Rare?
"Banjo-Kazooie was released in June 1998 to critical acclaim. A sequel, Banjo Tooie, was released several years later" - no, it was released in 2000. Two years later (to critical acclaim as well, it might be worth mentioning that it also sold more than Banjo-Kazooie)
Microsoft era
"Game-development costs gradually increased" - no need for the hyphen
"and Nintendo did not provide Rare with more capital or purchase the company's remaining stake" - may sound better as and Nintendo did not provide Rare with more capital nor did they purchase the company's remaining stake
"According to Rare founders, they were surprised" - elaborate this to According to Rare founders Tim and Chris Stamper, they were surprised
"but the deal collapsed and on 24 September 2002 Microsoft paid $375 million for the company" - this can be ignored, but I think the original figure was in pounds. I don't know how to work out the 2002 exchange rate, so maybe it's better off being ignored for now
"Character trademarks from games developed by Rare for Nintendo consoles" - unlink 'Character'
"a humorous action adventure game set in a haunted house full of crazed creatures" - a humorous action-adventure game set in a haunted mansion full of supernatural creatures
"Originally intended as a free-roaming game, it was significantly streamlined in design and concept" - I would add that the reason why it was streamlined; it was simplified in order to attract a larger, more casual audience (evidence is in the article itself)
"a prequel to the first Perfect Dark, was originally intended for Nintendo GameCube before its redesign as an Xbox 360 game. Rare removed several features to meet the game's release deadline.[44] Kameo: Elements of Power was also intended for the Nintendo GameCube" - remove 'Nintendo', no need for it here
"Nuts & Bolts received significant criticism from player due to its focus on" - players
"Despite good reviews, the company's Microsoft titles sold poorly" - Despite generally positive reviews, the company's titles for Microsoft sold poorly
"Originally titled Sports Star, a more-complex sports sim" - simulation?
"A new game, Sea of Thieves, which was marketed as "The Best Game That Rare Has Ever Made"" - this doesn't mention that it's a multiplayer game (like the lead does)
Culture
"The film, to celebrate Rare's 25th anniversary, would have been distributed on the Internet" - de-capitalise internet
"This sparked controversy about Rare's current direction with Microsoft and shut down MundoRare" - this sounds like Microsoft shut them down, when they shut themselves down
"Rare's secrecy was criticized by Hardcore Gamer's Alex Carlson" - criticised
Related companies
I would recommend splitting this into two paragraphs
"Former Free Radical and Rare staff also formed Crash Labs, a studio specialized in developing iOS games" - specialising in
"Chris Seavor, director of Bad Fur Day" - full name needed; Conker's Bad Fur Day
"Chris and Tim Stampes joined FortuneFish" - Stamper
"a mobile game company founded by Tim Stampers' son, Joe Stampers" - Stamper's, Stamper
Awards
"Rare was awarded the B.A.F.T.A." - just BAFTA
On hold
Well done with all the work and effort put into this article. Regarding the references, I could find
no dead links and no issues with them. The review is quite long, but I wanted to ensure that something like this gets the best treatment. I was always thinking about bringing this up to GA but I never got around to it, due to lack of motivation. Still, I think this is a fitting 400th review. JAGUAR20:49, 29 January 2016 (UTC)reply
@
Jaguar: Thank you very much for the review, and congratulations for achieving a new milestone! I've addressed the issues you raised above, besides the part about $375 million, which I think is important to mention (especially when it comes to the later part, talking about how Rare products failed to become profitable). Thank you once again!
AdrianGamer (
talk)
12:14, 30 January 2016 (UTC)reply
Thank you for working on this Adrian. You've done an excellent job. By all means, promoted. I hope the Stamper brothers are smiling at us right now. JAGUAR15:16, 30 January 2016 (UTC)reply