The brother and brother team of Chris and Tim Stamper, two-thirds of the founding fathers of developer Rare, are saying "adios" to the Piñata factory and moving on to greener pastures. A
1up article about the departure pointed out that Rare's 360 games, including the colorful Viva Piñata, have not sold as well as expected. A Microsoft rep told 1up that the slow sales of Rare titles had nothing to do with the breakup.
The brothers Stamper have been with the company since the beginning and served as Studio Director and Creative Director. Microsoft purchased Rare four years ago and hoped the $375 million price would help extend Microsoft's ability to produce powerhouse exclusives. Rare produced two of the Xbox 360's launch titles, Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero, though some of their most notable games originally appeared on Nintendo consoles.
A company as old as Rare knows how to keep on humming, even in the face of major change. I don't want to take advantage of the turmoil, but I'd like to tell the new senior staff that I'm pretty sure one of the Stamper's promised me a free copy of Viva Piñata.
