RareRare might be a Microsoft-owned company these days, but there aren’t many who don’t continue to associate the third-party developer with Nintendo, thanks to the fact that the studio developed some of the N64’s best games, including GoldenEye 007, Banjo Kazooie, and Donkey Kong 64.
I mean, just look at the how the internet lost its collective mind when Banjo was announced as a DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros Ultimate during E3. Even though Rare and Microsoft have been together longer at this point, it’s Rare and Nintendo that most of us consider the better couple.
RareGiven that most of us spent the majority of our childhoods sat in front of the TV absolutely sweating GoldenEye 007 with mates, not to mention all those wonderful 3D platformers Rare made, it’s incredible that none of us ever really picked up on the true nature of Rare’s logo, which would appear on the screen before any of its games loaded up.
As it turns out, that iconic stylised “R” is actually supposed to represent a roll of golden toilet paper. I must have put hundreds of hours into Rare’s games, and I can honestly say I had no idea. Now I’ve seen it, however, I will never be able to unsee it.
This shocking revelation isn’t just the result of some stoned guy on Reddit who spent a little too long staring at the logo, either. It’s actually been confirmed by ex-Rare artist Kevin Bayliss, who created the “toilet roll” logo.
I did the Gokden Toilet roll, on the blue background, and then the updated simpler ‘R’ logo which appeared years later.
— Kevin Bayliss (@FulgoreAndMore) June 25, 2019
I feel like an idiot for not putting two and two together sooner – especially because the intro to Conker’s Bad Fur Day literally fades the Rare logo into a roll of toilet paper. I was so blind. I’m sure there’ll be people out there who either already knew this or will lie about having already known as some kind of weird, pointless flex.
At least now I know. Now I can see everything clearly. I can’t wait to tell all my friends and family about this Rare revelation at the earliest available opportunity, so I can drink in the blank, uncaring expression on their faces.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.