"In September 2002, the Stamper brothers sold their 51% interest in Rare to Microsoft; following this, Nintendo sold their 49% stake in the company as well. Microsoft paid a total of $375 million to own 100% of the company."
It amuses me that "ULTIMATE PLAY THE GAME" is still a carefully-shepherded trademark; that's what Rare was called back in the 80s when they got their start making games for 8-bit home computers.
"In September 2002, the Stamper brothers sold their 51% interest in Rare to Microsoft; following this, Nintendo sold their 49% stake in the company as well. Microsoft paid a total of $375 million to own 100% of the company."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_(company)
They actually released some games for Nintendo platforms after the acquisition, which must have made for some interesting negotiations.