by Paul on Feb 2nd, 2012

Here we are then, a new year and with it comes the renewed belief that this year – finally, hopefully – it’s all going to come up roses. No, I’m not talking about England’s chances in the football, I’m referring to Rare and the opportunity for new game information, however small, that would provide us with that one small crumb of comfort to make all the waiting worthwhile. Anything would do; even a “yes we are, please be patient” would make me a happy man.

Don’t get me wrong, I really liked the Kinect Sports games. They were good fun and over the Christmas period my family and I had a great laugh with them, but ultimately that’s all they are good for; a good party game for family get-togethers. What I really wanted at the end of the day was a game that I could sit down with, on my own, to invest some proper time in. Not having to run, jump and sway about the room; just sit quietly in my chair, controller in hand, as I made some on-screen character (googly eyes optional) do my bidding. Is that really so much to ask?

Rare-Elite ventured forth onto Twitter to appeal to their followers to come up with some ideas for articles. Are we really at the stage where there’s so little activity surrounding Rare that there’s nothing to write about? I don’t necessarily agree, there’s always something to write about but it normally involves wistful looks back to the dizzy days of the N64 and I make myself all angry thinking about it.

So, here we are in 2012. One month gone, eleven to go … Most of you will know that I’m amongst the most patient of Rare fans. I’m the first to leap to Rare’s defence and give them the benefit of the doubt, just as I know that these things take time and there’s the argument that Rare don’t want their ideas being broadcast too soon so that copycats can’t get in on the action, but please, pretty please with a Jinjo on top, give us some kind of clue. It’s not about demanding the release of a certain game or insisting that Rare resurrect one of their long-forgotten franchises (although I am guilty of asking for Jet Force Gemini to be re-released on XBLA more than once). It could be a completely new idea as far as I’m concerned. All I’d like is an acknowledgement that titles are being worked on that do not have the words ‘Kinect Sports’ in the title and that news will be on the way. This is not too different to the Half-Life 3 campaign going on over on the Steam forums. They have my complete sympathy; Valve have kept schtum about HL3 for years! In comparative terms us Rare fans have had it easy because at least we’ve had a steady stream of Kinect Sports news and info. Doesn’t make it any easier to tolerate though while we wait for new games, does it?

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