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Stamper Brothers leave Rare

Paul van der LaanPaul van der Laan
edited January 2007 in Sinclair Miscellaneous
Eventually, Microsoft bought the name but the talent has left now...
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=71389
Post edited by Paul van der Laan on

Comments

  • udgoverloadudgoverload
    edited January 2007
    Well, clearly they're now going to go back to what they do best and start releasing some new Spectrum games... :-)
  • DonkeyPongDonkeyPong
    edited January 2007
    udgoverload wrote:
    Well, clearly they're now going to go back to what they do best and start releasing some new Spectrum games... :-)

    Cookie 3d for the Nintendo WII.
  • udgoverloadudgoverload
    edited January 2007
    Mire Mare for ANYTHING.
  • Ian HamiltonIan Hamilton
    edited January 2007
    I wonder how much of their back catalogue the Stampers took with them, i.e. are the Ultimate games owned by Rare or the Stampers since it was a different company.

    Necros.
  • udgoverloadudgoverload
    edited January 2007
    Necros wrote:
    I wonder how much of their back catalogue the Stampers took with them, i.e. are the Ultimate games owned by Rare or the Stampers since it was a different company.

    Necros.

    Interesting question... I always assumed the Ultimate games rights were bought by the company that took over the Ultimate name when Rare was formed (the company who published disappointing stuff like Martianoids).

    But now that I think about it, Rare did use the Sabrewulf characters and name on a GBA game that they published, so maybe they own at least some rights to material from their back catalogue.

    Does anyone know who it was that bought the Ultimate name and did the later Ultimate-branded games? What happened to them?
  • WinstonWinston
    edited January 2007
    Necros wrote:
    http://www.myspace.com/nomen_luni

    How did I know when I clicked on that link, somewhere...just somewhere, there'd be the text "We must perform a quirkafleeg" :-)

    I'd love a t-shirt with that on, in ZX 8x8 font.
  • RandySparksRandySparks
    edited January 2007
    udgoverload wrote:
    Interesting question... I always assumed the Ultimate games rights were bought by the company that took over the Ultimate name when Rare was formed (the company who published disappointing stuff like Martianoids).

    But now that I think about it, Rare did use the Sabrewulf characters and name on a GBA game that they published, so maybe they own at least some rights to material from their back catalogue.

    Does anyone know who it was that bought the Ultimate name and did the later Ultimate-branded games? What happened to them?
    Didn't US Gold buy out the Ultimate back catalogue. If so, US Gold was bought by Eidos, and Eidos were recently bought out by SCi.

    TBH, the Stampers have always been very savvy, so I reckon that the deal with US Gold was soley to sell the back catalogue, while they retained the rights to the characters themselves.
  • ADJBADJB
    edited January 2007
    RandySparks wrote:
    TBH, the Stampers have always been very savvy, so I reckon that the deal with US Gold was soley to sell the back catalogue, while they retained the rights to the characters themselves.

    That is almost definatly correct I would say or they wouldn't have done a Sabre Wulf on the gameboy, They would have created a new charactor rather than buy licensing on a (nowadays) quite obscure game design/concept.

    ADJB
  • ewgfewgf
    edited January 2007
    udgoverload wrote:
    Interesting question... I always assumed the Ultimate games rights were bought by the company that took over the Ultimate name when Rare was formed (the company who published disappointing stuff like Martianoids).

    But now that I think about it, Rare did use the Sabrewulf characters and name on a GBA game that they published, so maybe they own at least some rights to material from their back catalogue.

    Does anyone know who it was that bought the Ultimate name and did the later Ultimate-branded games? What happened to them?

    Wasn't it U.S. Gold who bought out Ultimate, and then released very substandard games like Martianoids and Bubbler, without anyone knowing that the games weren't really from Ultimate? Well, I didn't know it, and I suspect few games players did, either.

    And Rare did include a full, authentic version of Jetpac in their N64 game Donkey Kong 64. It was extremely authentic, you would swear it was Jetpac running on the Spectrum, even the slate grey instead of black, and the menu screen and everything.

    Edit: are there any documents/interviews etc anywhere detailing what the Stamper brothers did on what particular games? It would be interesting to know exactly what they were responsible for.
  • udgoverloadudgoverload
    edited January 2007
    RandySparks wrote:
    Didn't US Gold buy out the Ultimate back catalogue. If so, US Gold was bought by Eidos, and Eidos were recently bought out by SCi.

    TBH, the Stampers have always been very savvy, so I reckon that the deal with US Gold was soley to sell the back catalogue, while they retained the rights to the characters themselves.

    That sounds about right, offload the back catalogue once they had no further use for it but retain the characters who might be used again in future games.

    So they could in theory release new Spectrum games, but Eidos/SCI would retain the rights to the older titles?
  • mheidemheide
    edited January 2007
    The US Gold wiki says "Eidos sold off CentreSoft and maintained Core Design as a developer but decided to discontinue the U.S. Gold brand."
    So perhaps some other company now holds any of those rights?
  • mel the bellmel the bell
    edited January 2007
    ewgf wrote:
    Wasn't it U.S. Gold who bought out Ultimate, and then released very substandard games like Martianoids and Bubbler, without anyone knowing that the games weren't really from Ultimate? Well, I didn't know it, and I suspect few games players did, either.

    And Rare did include a full, authentic version of Jetpac in their N64 game Donkey Kong 64. It was extremely authentic, you would swear it was Jetpac running on the Spectrum, even the slate grey instead of black, and the menu screen and everything.

    Edit: are there any documents/interviews etc anywhere detailing what the Stamper brothers did on what particular games? It would be interesting to know exactly what they were responsible for.

    dammit and i remember i never unlocked the original jetpac in that game
    i did manage to unlock the original donkey kong game mind.

    good job ive still got the game and machine in the loft still :D
    one day
    Professional Mel-the-Bell Simulator................"So realistic, I found myself reaching for the Kleenex King-Size!" - Richard Darling
  • rich_chandlerrich_chandler
    edited January 2007
    mheide wrote:
    The US Gold wiki says "Eidos sold off CentreSoft and maintained Core Design as a developer but decided to discontinue the U.S. Gold brand."
    So perhaps some other company now holds any of those rights?
    And whats the betting that the Stampers own THAT company?
    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
  • Malc74Malc74
    edited January 2007
    I may be completely wrong here, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that US Gold only bought the rights to the Ultimate name and to re-release some of the back catalogue for a limited period. I can't remember for the life of me where I read it though.
  • udgoverloadudgoverload
    edited January 2007
    Malc74 wrote:
    I may be completely wrong here, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that US Gold only bought the rights to the Ultimate name and to re-release some of the back catalogue for a limited period. I can't remember for the life of me where I read it though.

    That would make sense too...

    Gosh, wouldn't it be cool if the Stampers had somehow taken the Ultimate IP with them and set up a games company called Ultimate Play The Game? I don't think they're that kind of people though, somehow.
  • ArjunArjun
    edited January 2007
    ewgf wrote:
    And Rare did include a full, authentic version of Jetpac in their N64 game Donkey Kong 64. It was extremely authentic, you would swear it was Jetpac running on the Spectrum, even the slate grey instead of black, and the menu screen and everything.

    Gosh! I didn't know that! Must fire up the Project64 emulator and see for myself!
    Zero - A modern Spectrum emulator for Windows.
    Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
  • chop983chop983
    edited January 2007
    what is it 15 banana medals then off to see Cranky
  • chop983chop983
    edited January 2007
    anyway now the Bro's are gone isn't it time to fire off another E-mail
  • MinerWillyMinerWilly
    edited January 2007
    Not that it will bring any light into the matter but as a curiousity one of the characters in the Killer instinct 2 arcade was called Sabrewulf. And the xbox game Grabbed by the ghoulies had an intro that showed off some of Ultimates back catalogue.
  • MinerWillyMinerWilly
    edited January 2007
    They should have named Viva pinata Pssst 2 instead.
  • Uros ZupanUros Zupan
    edited January 2007
    Paul van der Laan wrote: »
    Eventually, Microsoft bought the name but the talent has left now...
    http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=71389

    ...yes, official Rare site also holds press release....
    http://www.rare.co.uk/company/news.html
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