ferricide,
You're missing the point of Microsoft purchasing Rare. Rare was purchased because there was no market for the kinds of games it makes on the Xbox. The Xbox is purchased by older players with tons of disposable income and hardcore gamers. It has failed to hit the young and casual markets. In order for the next Xbox to be successful and knock Sony off the block, Microsoft is going to have to attract players from all age groups. Rare wasn't purchased on the idea that it would sell two million copies of Kameo, Conker, and Grabbed by the Ghoulies. It was purchased so that when the Xbox 2 launches it will have more than just a handful of first-person shooters and a smattering of GTA clones available. It's a long-term strategy that Microsoft knows it won't see the fruits of for quite some time. Is Kameo going to bomb? Probably. Will that have anything to do with its quality? Probably not. It's a smart move, if you ask me. The next Xbox will never be the top dog with the same software library the current Xbox has.