Harrison backs Rare
Well, backed them. Pre-Piñata. So he was right, see.
Following yesterday's news that Rare co-founders Chris and Tim Stamper have left the company to pursue other ventures, support for the Leicestershire developer has emerged from an unlikely source: Sony's Phil Harrison.
Speaking to Newsweek last October, in comments which emerged overnight, Harrison said that he felt, "[Rare] became quite insular and quite inward-facing, and they missed some of the trends that were going on in the business generally," as a result of its close relationship with Nintendo. "Now also, if you sell your company to Microsoft and get hundreds of millions of whatevers, currency in the bank, it does tend to defocus management a little bit."
Even so, Harrison expected things to change. "From an industry point of view, I hope they continue to make good games, because they're an inspiration to many of us in the business. I'm sure they'll get their groove back," he said. Then of course Viva Piñata came out, at which point balance was restored. Have we got that bit yet?
Rare has never made a game for a Sony platform, of course (unless you count a Sony-model MSX), but has been synonymous in its time for work with both of the Japanese's company's biggest competitors, Nintendo and Microsoft. Phil Harrison is president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios.