Rare’s PR told the site its proposed documentary wouldn’t be ”on message”, with MundoRare still ”puzzled” by their attitude. Rare love gone.
”Early in May, we showed Rare our most ambitious project to date,” posted the dedicated fan community of MundoRare, who opened in January 2001.
”We planned to film an hour long documentary about their 25 years of history, to be shot on location in England, presented in HD and ready to be distributed freely via Xbox Live and Internet.” It would have been handled solely by MundoRare.
”Unfortunately, some days ago, Rare’s PR department finally denied our permission to shoot arguing that the film wasn’t going to be “on message.” That’s PR speak for - you’ll make us look bad by bringing up how great our past was compared to now.
”Despite its ambitious scope, we felt it was an irresistible offer. In fact, we are still puzzled over their response. It was a risk-free operation to be carried away with all legal safety measures deemed necessary and full of good intentions,” they continued.
”It simply makes no sense. It has changed our perception of Rare forever and leaves us with no other option but to end our support for them.” It’s never good to kill fansites. Activision recently learnt this when they forbid a fan-made King’s Quest remake.
”Despite the circumstances in which we leave, we will always remember MundoRare fondly. Over these nine years and a half, we made new friends and started partnerships that forged our professional future. We also met excellent people from Rare itself and we wish them the best in their lives,” read MundoRare’s farewell.
”While we may disagree with Rare’s direction as a company at the moment, we still believe many talented artists work at their studios in England. We sincerely expect to see more great games coming from them in the future, released either as Rare titles or under the seal of any other developer.”
Rare is currently developing Kinect Sports, which is too close to Wii Sports for some. ”Kinect Sports may have been Rare’s biggest artistic disappointment in years, but it’s far from being their only misstep.” MundoRare was critical of the game and so now gets the cold shoulder from Rare PR. Corporate doesn’t like when you exercise opinion.
Farewell MundoRare - the Internet and Rare fans of yore salute you.
