We have received word that UK-based Rare has already assumed ownership of one of the first batch of Xbox 2 development kits. Talk from those close to the Warwickshire studio, strangely lacking in its Fort Knox-inspired security since the Microsoft take-over, tells of a “new Microsoft machine.” With a launch date for the Xbox update practically confirmed for the year 2004, research and development of both games and hardware will, without question, be underway and who better to take early receipt of a development kit than $375 million Rare?
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