In 2002, Microsoft bought Rare. Things could have gone very differently, though: Ed Fries, formerly of Xbox, has told IGN that Activision actually outbid Microsoft for the British studio, and it was only a larger offer “at the very last minute” from Xbox’s Robbie Bach that sealed the deal.

As Rare continues to roll out behind-the-scenes videos, they’ve now given us a look at the making of Perfect Dark. I didn’t realize how close this game was to being another Bond game, or how the Game Boy Camera was almost used to let players map their faces onto characters! (It was scrapped over fears of dongs.)

Track: King K. Rool’s Theme Song | Artist: David Wise | Album: Donkey Kong Country Original Soundtrack

If you were having trouble with Jet Force Gemini in Rare Replay, you’re weren’t alone. As Stephen pointed out in his review, the controls suck. Fortunately, the studio’s patched in modern controls, bringing it up to speed with a standard third-person shooter.

Rare’s creative director, Gregg Mayles, has been going through the company’s dusty drawers pulling out old design documents to share on Twitter.

As we told you this morning, Microsoft is releasing a compilation of Rare games for Xbox One. It’s called Rare Replay and it’ll cost you just $30. For 30 games. Not bad!

Remember Perfect Dark? The N64 spy shooter that was a lot like Goldeneye because it was basically a sequel to Goldeneye? Someone's gone and made it into a horrifying glitched out hellscape.

The entire 164 track Banjo Kazooie soundtrack is available on Bandcamp. Ex-Rare audio maestro Grant Kirkhope put up the whole thing, which includes everything from level themes to cheerful, five-second victory chimes. You can name your price. Go revel in glorious bird/bear nostalgia and the happiest main theme ever.

Video Games New York is a tiny, cramped gaming store that is full of all sorts of treasures (we even used to host a video segment there!). Every nook and cranny is full of ultra-rare oddities that you can buy. Here are some of them:

Stand in front of the next-gen Kinect, the one that can read your heartbeat just by looking at you (it's true; I tried it), and in theory it can scan your face. In the Xbox One game Kinect Sports: Rivals, Kinect 2.0 should be able to turn you into a video game character. But can it really?

Tekken isn't the only major fighting game series with a sequel that starts off costing nothing. The Xbox One's launch day fighting game Killer Instinct will also be free. You'll get one character, Jago, to play against anyone.

Rare's fan-favorite fighter Killer Instinct, which released 18 years ago on the Super Nintendo, will be rebooted as an exclusive Xbox One edition once the console launches.

Kinect Sports Rivals, the third edition of the Kinect Sports franchise from Rare, will be coming to Xbox One this holiday season. Jet-ski races, rock climbing, bowling, target shooting, tennis and soccer were among the activities shown for the game.