Rare Franchise Xbox One E3 2013 Reveal

At today's Xbox One event, Microsoft delivered a presentation that was as much about hardware, services, and new features, as it was games. In fact, one might argue that the presentation was decidedly short on games, despite an announcement the console will support 15 exclusives in its first 12-months.

However, now that the first introductions have been made, gamers can hopefully look forward to an E3 2013 presentation that is full of games. While it's hard to know what to expect next month, Microsoft's Phil Spencer has revealed one fan favorite developer will be making an appearance: Rare.

After focusing on Kinect games for the past few years, Rare is apparently jumping back into core game development with a new entry in a "historic franchise." Spencer wouldn't say which franchise that might be, but he did say fans will be pleased.

"Fans of Rare and Rare IP I think will be pleased with what we're going to show at E3. We had a limited amount of time today and a lot of story to tell. But Rare remains an incredibly important part of our development capability…that historic IP that they've built I think can play a real important role on Xbox One."

Although Rare has been responsible for titles like Kameo: Elements of Power, Viva Piñata, and Kinect Sports, given the use of "historic" we have to figure the potential franchises can be narrowed down to three culprits: Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, and Killer Instinct. All three have a rabid fan base (some more than others), and each have been out of the limelight for quite a while.

Killer Instinct Screen

In September of last year, Microsoft renewed their Killer Instinct trademark, sparking speculation the classic fighting series might soon return. So, when coupled with this announcement, Killer Instinct seems as good a candidate as any.

That isn't to say Banjo-Kazooie or Perfect Dark rumors haven't surfaced, only that the timing between the trademark renewal and this tease makes sense. Still, if either Banjo-Kazooie or Perfect Dark sequels were announced, we would be perfectly satisfied.

Even so, one has to figure Banjo-Kazooie would have an easier time competing in the platformer genre than Perfect Dark would in the FPS genre. When Perfect Dark Zero hit, Call of Duty wasn't a phenomenon and Halo didn't yet have a stranglehold on the title of de facto Microsoft FPS.

Which Rare franchise would you like to see on the Xbox One? Which do you think has the greatest shot at success?

Microsoft's E3 Press Conference is June 10th at 1PM EST/10AM PST.

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Source: Polygon