Dev comment re-opens Rare on DS rumours

Questions over whether Microsoft-owned studio Rare is working on titles for the Nintendo DS platform have been raised again by a throwaway comment made by a member of the firm's handheld team in an interview.

Speaking with US website IGN, an unnamed spokesperson for the team said that "personally, I would love to do a sequel to either Blast Corps or Sabre Wulf on the DS" in response to a question about projects the team would like to undertake.

While it's certainly far from being a conclusive statement, the comment has reopened the question of whether the team is working on titles for the Nintendo DS - something which parent company Microsoft has, if not actually denied, at the very least avoided confirming.

Rare has continued to develop titles for the Game Boy Advance since Microsoft bought it in an unprecedented $375 million deal in 2002, and is now also working on the Windows CE based Gizmondo platform, with a version of GBA puzzle title It's Mr Pants planned for the new handheld.

It's been widely rumoured that the team has had DS development hardware for some time, but as yet this has not been confirmed. Microsoft is certainly favourable towards Nintendo's handheld, however; recent comments from Xbox chief Robbie Bach revealed that the firm is hopeful that the looming battle between Sony and Nintendo over handhelds will "distract" Sony from the home console business, where Microsoft is hoping to continue to win market share from the Japanese giant.