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Banjo Kazooie Spiritual successor revealed on this month's EDGE
- Thread starter James Scott
- Start date
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
The humorous way they're posting news alone has me feeling really confident about this. It definitely feels like Rare.
Shotgun Kiss
Member
Damn, I was hoping we'd get Leigh Loveday as their writer/web editor. He was the guy who maintained Rareware's site back in their glory days, and he did a stellar job of interacting with fans in their letters section ("Scribes"), and their gameplay hints/help section ("Ask Uncle Tusk"). He also wrote manuals for old Rareware games, the scripts of certain games, and it was him who created the character Mr. Pants, who served as a mascot for Rareware's website, had a couple of Easter Egg appearances in Banjo-Tooie, and got his own game when Rare lost the Donkey Kong IP, and had to rebrand "Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers".
We have Leigh to thank for a lot of the cheeky humour Rare is/was well-known for. It's great that Playtonic have adopted this sense of humour, but it would have been even better if Leigh himself had also been on board.
We have Leigh to thank for a lot of the cheeky humour Rare is/was well-known for. It's great that Playtonic have adopted this sense of humour, but it would have been even better if Leigh himself had also been on board.
ElzarTheBam
Member
YES YES YES
Interview with Chris Sutherland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yIiBCgWdOg&feature=youtu.be
Xane
Member
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
EGX Rezzed presentation of Ukulele.
I think, as long he still is at Rare, it's a good thing. I want Rare to make a great Banjo game and his writing will serve the game well (provided they make a Banjo game, that is). Playtonic has a good sense of humour, too, so why not have two teams with great humour hopefully working on a collectathon instead of one
?RobotNinjaHornets
Banned
Man, this is something I always wanted to have happen more after Diddy Kong Racing
I'm probably the only person in the world who wanted a game where Bumper was the main character
Milpool
Member
This is really good, so glad they got him to say "Act your age Joanna..." Also glad they're planning more games/characters that live in the same universe somewhere down the line.
Nocturnowl
Member
you are not alone, Bumper was the guy in DKR, flight goggles badger cannot be ignored.
Shogun_of_Truth
Member
Article about Playtonic up on the Guardian.
Good read, and includes a new piece on concept art I haven't seen before.
I have haven't been this excited for a video game since Dinosaur Planet was announced for N64. The wait is going to be painful.
Good read, and includes a new piece on concept art I haven't seen before.
I have haven't been this excited for a video game since Dinosaur Planet was announced for N64. The wait is going to be painful.
-MD-
Member
"We’ve very purposefully set up the company to feel like old Rare,” says Price. “People are in close proximity to each other, we have conversations not documents going back and forth. We chat stuff through, we bounce ideas off each other. We haven’t got this grand design document that spells out what the end product is going to look like. Nothing like that. It goes back to what Tim and Chris Stamper used to do - they just trusted everyone.
“And we don’t have to earn each others’ trust – we’ve been working with each other for so long. I didn’t have to say anything to Chris about how our character should feel – I just turned round after about a day and I looked at Chris’s screen and he’s there controlling the character, running around. Straightaway it just felt amazing.”
To facilitate this sense of freedom – this focus on design, rather than technology – Playtonic is using the Unity engine, a game creation system used by independent studios all over the world (“I was blown away by it,” enthuses Sutherland. “Things that it used to take me weeks to do, I can do in minutes”
“Players won’t know who the star of our next game is, but they’ll already of met them in Project Ukulele,” says Price. “We’re going to have a massive cast and we’re purposely putting characters in there who could have their own games in the future, potentially in any genre that takes out fancy. It’ll be great to have competitive multiplayer games where the whole roster comes together. Then, if we have an idea for maybe a little 2D platformer with one character, we can just go and do it, or a fun shooter with another one. They’re all capable of meeting up in each other’s titles. I always thought we should have done more of that at Rare.”
This was the most interesting bit to me.
Byronic Hero
Member
That all sounds great. If they can pull this off, Playtonic could become one of my favorite developers.
Shuggananas
Banned
This makes no sense ?
-MD-
Member
You will come across the main character(s) of Playtonic's next game inside Project Ukulele, they'll be supporting characters in the game or NPCs.
They're trying to create a world full of characters that they can just choose from and make whatever kind of game they want.
Diddy Kong
Banned
in the vein of Diddy Kong Racing! Love it
Yeah, and they could also make a new racing game in the vein of Diddy Kong Racing !
I can't wait to see the characters in Project Ukulele, and imagine them in other genres.
I want to throw money at them just on the intentions that they want to build out a universe of new characters. That is so exciting!
-MD-
Member
If you have a 360 or a PC you should try and get your hands on Banjo-Kazooie asap.
pretty extraordinary really, that rare has been so badly mismanaged by MS that a lot of its key players left, created another studio, and are now working on the kinds of games that rare used to make
it does rather make it completely transparent where the roadblock has been for the past seven or eight years
it does rather make it completely transparent where the roadblock has been for the past seven or eight years
I'm trying to find Nuts and Bolts. I know it's not the same design language as the two former games, but it looks a little bit interesting to me anyway. And I will make sure to get the 2 originals on XBLA as well. I have a PC but I they're not out for that format I'm sure.
he meant emulation
which uh, if you haven't got the original cart, is a definite grey area.
the 360 version is amazing though. especially tooie's one - no slowdown!! dual analog fps controls!
Professor Renegade
Banned
Early access? I loved Banjo-Kazooie, but I'll wait until it's finished.
Yeah, I don't have the original cart, but will eventually buy it for Nintendo 64. I do think I'm gonna play them through on Xbox 360 though. Right now, I'm going through the Ratchet & Clank series, so that'll take some time.
What are they supposed to reveal tomorrow anyway?
I haven't followed the whole progress of the studio.
Icyflamez96
Member
my man
Mind you, I'm a Jak & Daxter fan. I got The Precursor Legacy as the #2 best game on my overall list. But I am growing very fond of Ratchet & Clank, which I wouldn't have said years ago. Playing R&C1 HD and love it.
Clearly.
What I wonder about is the 5-6 years between the date of the acquisition and when they shifted to Kinect development. They released a lot of definitively "Rare games" from 2003-2008, none which really became big sellers on Xbox. Did they have creative freedom in the early years and then lose it because they failed to produce a hit?
Whatever the case, I'm glad to see some of the old crew getting back together. I hope they still have the right touch.
All three games are available on the Xbox 360 marketplace. Pretty cheap last I checked.
Aren't there also still some old Rare folks at the Crytek team that got sold off?
Yup, I'm probably gonna pick them up soon. Though I'm looking for a physical version of Nuts & Bolts.
TheUnsunghero26
Member
This is a really fantastic interview.
cyberheater
PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
3 more days.
I'm looking forward to being completely underwhelmed...
That Rare were able to make so many prototypes would indicate there was creative freedom to work on a lot of new ideas, but it seems that MS management had a different idea of what they should be making.
I also want to note the overlap in that list such as Quest and Cascade being the same thing, and Banjo Kazoomie and Banjo Karting both being kart racers. Savannah sounds interesting, but sounds pretty much like Kinectimals, so cancelling that one made sense. Soul Catcher and The Fast and the Furriest don't sound great. Perfect Dark Core morphed over time into something that wasn't even set in the PD universe any more, so I'm not torn up about that one. Still, the variety of ideas is impressive.
It's a shame Sabreman Stampede wasn't released given Rare's amazing work on Diddy Kong Racing. It looks like MS definitely had a hand in changing the creative focus on that one and ultimately killing it. I'd love to see it or Banjo Karting resurrected.
In any case, hopefully that spirit of creativity is better realized at Playtonic. I can't wait to see their first game and how they evolve afterward. : D
Icyflamez96
Member
Are you talking about graphically or
Always-honest
Banned
Very interested to see it.
Having a bunch of your games take place in the same universe ala Mario + DKC + Wario is great! I always wanted a Timber game but that never came to be, but now a character I end up liking in this game could have a shot at their own starring role!
Nah, it should have been Timber the Tiger.