Rare Says Microsoft Support Nintendo DS
Members of the Microsoft-owned developer Rare have spoken out about the computer giant’s support for the critically acclaimed Nintendo DS.
One Rare employee claimed Microsoft “see DS as a very viable platform.”
Rare’s development team is currently working on Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise for the handheld console.
Rare Engineer Jon Humpfrey went on to further explain Microsoft’s decision to let Rare develop the Viva piñata game - originally published on Xbox 360 - for the DS: “They put the Viva Piñata franchise on TV to reach a broad audience, they put it on PC to reach a different broad audience, and they’re doing the same thing with the DS. They’re trying to widen the audience of the franchise, basically.”
After acquiring Rare in 2002, Microsoft has since allowed the studio to keep a handheld development team to work on DS products. Last year the Rare team released Diddy Kong Racing DS, which was published by Nintendo. Viva Piñata is due to be published by THQ.
The real question is, would Microsoft be this happy to encourage users to buy in to the Nintendo DS if it had its own viable handheld games console on the market? Microsoft have never really looked at DS, or Wii for that matter, as competition as they target an entirely different demographic.
If Microsoft’s Zune ever took off in a big way, they may well pull the plug on DS game development, or they may well use Rare to the best of its abilities and let it develop what it wants.
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