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[Gowans]

just watched the Gamesvideos Banjo trailer, the vechile stuff looks like it really could be a tonne of fun just to mess around, never mind playing.

Looks great.

 

[Francias Castiglione]

It seems like they played too much of Kingdom Hearts and just stole its Gummi ship construction idea, which I don't know anyone actually enjoyed to begin with.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but isn't the "Gummi ship" stuff just for rail shooter sections and nothing more? Banjo is more like a proper construction kit for vehicles that can be used however you want.

 

[WrikaWrek]

Where is my ninja....

....

So, aside from incompetence, which we can hardly NOT expect from Silicon Knights, what other factors could have resulted in the removal of local co-op, and a reduction of 4 player online co-op to 2 players?

A release date.

 

[MCD]

I don't get all the Banjo hating. I understand people have different taste in game, but you can't compare THIS to Kingdom Hearts! This is so much more integrated and is essential to the game. I do feel sorry for people who just expected the old BK in HD, but while I won't go on the line saying this is better, you should see it as something else, set in the BK universe, and enjoy it for what it is...

i love what i see and i am a banjo fan but...

what's up with that framerate in gamevideos trailer...

 

[fin]

Right when I get excited for Too Human again they go and fuck it up again.

QFT

I was really looking forward to the 4 player COOP.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I don't get all the Banjo hating. I understand people have different taste in game, but you can't compare THIS to Kingdom Hearts! This is so much more integrated and is essential to the game. I do feel sorry for people who just expected the old BK in HD, but while I won't go on the line saying this is better, you should see it as something else, set in the BK universe, and enjoy it for what it is...

Like I said, I'm really curious to see an explanation how this mechanic is any different than a Bee Suit or a Ghost Suit, except in that it is so much more versatile, customizable, and (I guess in that case) better?

 

[ManaByte]

Blowing up the Mario head was the best part.

 

[Xyphie]

Does MS release more than one XBLA game each week? If they don't that means no BCR until late May.

 

[schuelma]

Kohler has hands on of Banjo: http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/hands-on-banjo.html#more


and VP2:

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/hands-on-viva-p.html


As well as interviews with the Banjo and VP teams:

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/qa-banjo-kazooi.html#more


http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/qa-viva-pinata.html#more

 

[FFChris]

So, aside from incompetence, which we can hardly NOT expect from Silicon Knights, what other factors could have resulted in the removal of local co-op, and a reduction of 4 player online co-op to 2 players?

Processing power, and...incompetence.

Mostly incompetence.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Out of curiosity, do you guys dig the video press releases more than the written ones?

I can nitpick all the little things that annoy me in the video (my evil/maniacle finger pyramid for example), but is the idea of a 2 minute video w/ footage more compelling than text with a cheezy intro punchline?

Nope, these are great. Delivery was good and the video of course, is always welcome.

Though I gotta ask, were you wearing shorts again?

 

[Francias Castiglione]

I don't get all the Banjo hating. I understand people have different taste in game, but you can't compare THIS to Kingdom Hearts! This is so much more integrated and is essential to the game. I do feel sorry for people who just expected the old BK in HD, but while I won't go on the line saying this is better, you should see it as something else, set in the BK universe, and enjoy it for what it is...

I think some people were genuinely hoping for platformer only gameplay, others just like to be disappointed by everything.

 

[Blimblim]

No time to check if new or not, Too Human coop screens and trailer:
http://www.gamersyde.com/news_6468_en.html

 

[FrankT]

I don't think they ever mentioned local co-op which was why i've always been not as interested but i'm still looking forward to it.

Well perhaps they never did mention local co-op., but it is digging at me a but. I'll take the 2 player online co-op, but 4 player just would have made it all the more nicer.

Still day 1.

 

[S1kkZ]

i love the trailer but the framerate and video quality are really terrible.

 

[Ghost]

Is this right?

Gears (UE3) September(ish) 2008 = 4 Player Co-op
Too Human (Not UE3) August 2008 = Not 4 player co-op


Edit: oh wait sorry I thought 4 player coop was confirmed for gears, oops. Never mind.

 

[mr_bishiuk]

Processing power, and...incompetence.

Mostlyincopetence.

LOL

 

[hiryu]

Hmm that Banjo video looks pretty awesome. I'm warming to the idea that this isn't going to be a 3d platformer.

 

[PhatSaqs]

During the demo, a towering statue of Mario, which one of the testers made, was shown off -- and you can apparently drive it, though we're just treated to seeing his head cheekily blown off to demonstrate how the vehicles are made of individual objects.

That's pretty badass. Didnt realize the Mario was a vehicle :lol

 

[FrankT]

Gears (UE3) September 2008 = 4 Player Co-op
Too Human (Not UE3) August 2008 = Not 4 player co-op

What?


MEGATON, or you playing with my heart.

 

[tanod]

Gears of War 2 screens I definitely need to finish the first game. Can't wait.

Banjo Threeie - Screens look good and the vehicles and customization sound neat but it's also RARE, and I haven't seen video yet. If it's as smooth and nice looking as Ratchet Future, that might give me a nice platforming fix this year.

Alan Wake is MS's version of Kill Zone 2 except we know even less about it. Kind of disappointing.

Too Human getting pushed back to August is much later than I was expecting. I wanted it in May or June. I think the BioShock release window might work out well for the title sales-wise. I wonder if MS is planning a repeat of their strategy last year and will drop the price in August right before Madden and Too Human come out. Lack of 4-player coop won't affect me since I don't have Live but that's also disconcerting considering the development history. It makes me wonder what else they're taking out to get it to ship.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

No time to check if new or not, Too Human coop screens and trailer:
http://www.gamersyde.com/news_6468_en.html

AHHH the more I see of Too Human the less I like it. Luckily its quickly being overshadowed by far greater stuff. We dont have a release date for Banjo and VP2 do we?

 

[faberpach]

no dates on fable 2 yet?


What interesting games are scheluded for june and july prior august where i will be albe to finally enjoy too human.

 

[rod furlong]

There's also a Rare Studio tour on GameVideos, but it isn't working...

as noted in this thread, first gameplay footage here: http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/18831

Studio tour to come a little later, after we iron out a technical difficulty.

 

[stotch]

Like I said, I'm really curious to see an explanation how this mechanic is any different than a Bee Suit or a Ghost Suit, except in that it is so much more versatile, customizable, and (I guess in that case) better?

I would've like if the game had players make custom FLUDD packs, and preserved the jumping and climbing, but the trolling would have been terrible, and I guess packs don't offer the same options (multiplayer).

 

[FIREBABY]

We're talking about this vid here, right?

Yep that vid. Did you see something different?

 

[super-heated plasma]

I've never played a Banjo game before, but I gotta say, that trailer definitely persuaded me to a possible day 1 pickup.

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

i love what i see and i am a banjo fan but...

what's up with that framerate in gamevideos trailer...

Early build probably. Viva Piñata's framerate wasn't all that good either when it first shown and Rare fixed that when they released the game.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Gears (UE3) September 2008 = 4 Player Co-op
Too Human (Not UE3) August 2008 = Not 4 player co-op

OMG has that been confirmed or you just saying its likely?

 

[adelante]

There's gonna be a Gears campaign demo by Epic? I did not know this.....AWESOME! cant wait for previews

 

[keiji]

A F*****G LIVE BLOG??????????????????????????????

 

[Quazar]

I wish I could share the same excitement as everyone else. Banjo and VP look good graphically but I doubt I'll be buying them. Hopefully we get some NB news, as that sounds more up my alley.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

RELAX

A long-jump event is presented, where you simply have to hurtle down a ramp. The machine's power is then cut, and it's a test of how far you can make it roll. First, a vehicle covered with rocket-thrusters takes the mark, a seemingly ideal machine for the task. It rockets forth and gets a decent enough score. The next contender seems unassuming, with only a fraction of the obvious thrusters... but as it takes to the air, its secret is revealed. The whole chassis is ejected away, revealing a much smaller sphere which speeds through the air without the enormous mass, before rolling ever-onwards after hitting the ground.

Almost everything else about this game pales beside this innovation. Yes, Nuts & Bolts is a technical heavyweight: Rare stresses that the hub-city is the single largest game asset they've ever constructed by far. But the vehicle building eclipses anything else they could say. It's such an enormous, game-shifting change that the whole thing will clearly stand or fall on its strength or weakness.

And actually getting hands on with the thing, it doesn't just stand. It seems it flies.

Before I played it, there was the nagging doubt that the actual process of stopping and tweaking a machine would lead to a disjointed feeling. But the actual process of constructing something proves both accessible and enthralling.

Before being thrown into a multiplayer game (and, yes, all this works in a multiplayer environment, which may make Banjo gaming's closest equivalent to Robot Wars) I set about making an enormous monster-truck wheeled beast. It starts as a bicycle, but proves somewhat unstable. It becomes an odd three-at-back-one-at-front bike. Then another two wheels at the front. And a small one at the back. And about six rocket launchers, which when I initially fired in an early version, pretty much flipped the contraption.

As the race kicks off, I'm left with a glorious twisted mad-machine that can barely move, let alone compete. And I'm laughing very hard indeed at my obvious over-reaching ambition and the unalloyed joy of creation. An aborted creation, admittedly, but still joy.

 

[hiryu]

So, aside from incompetence, which we can hardly NOT expect from Silicon Knights, what other factors could have resulted in the removal of local co-op, and a reduction of 4 player online co-op to 2 players?

Don't you know? Blame it all on the Unreal Engine.

 

[Stat Flow]

Gears (UE3) September 2008 = 4 Player Co-op
Too Human (Not UE3) August 2008 = Not 4 player co-op

WHAT

SEPTEMBER?!?!?!?

4 PLAYER?

 

[NeXuSDK]

I think some people were genuinely hoping for platformer only gameplay, others just like to be disappointed by everything.

But how is this not platformer-like gameplay? Does that really have to rely on the characters abilities? Or can it actually rely on vehicle abilities... abilities you construct yourself.

 

[Francias Castiglione]

Kohler has hands on of Banjo: http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/hands-on-banjo.html#more

That's a Kieron Gillen write up...

This is only the start. A tester tells me about that during an internal competition to see what was possible, he constructed a functioning space shuttle, complete with ejectable boosters. When they were sent spinning into the ether, a pair of wings slid into place, allowing you to fly the titan.

A long-jump event is presented, where you simply have to hurtle down a ramp. The machine's power is then cut, and it's a test of how far you can make it roll. First, a vehicle covered with rocket-thrusters takes the mark, a seemingly ideal machine for the task. It rockets forth and gets a decent enough score. The next contender seems unassuming, with only a fraction of the obvious thrusters... but as it takes to the air, its secret is revealed. The whole chassis is ejected away, revealing a much smaller sphere which speeds through the air without the enormous mass, before rolling ever-onwards after hitting the ground.

Anyone not truly excited by this is dead inside, or had no Lego (or equivalent) as a kid!!!

 

[Lykathea]

If it is true that TH has been reduced from 4 to 2 player co-op I and I am sure others will be extremely disappointed. Didn't SK learn anything from Mr. Molyneux, don't announce significant features that have a high probability of getting cut!!!

 

[gregor7777]

Holy shit!!

 

[Nolan.]

I thought gears would be November, also this years line-up assuming everything comes out this year is better than last.

 

[Righty10]

Gears (UE3) September 2008 = 4 Player Co-op
Too Human (Not UE3) August 2008 = Not 4 player co-op

Apples and Oranges...

 

[C4Lukins]

They really need to just delay Too Human again. If you are going to remove the most compelling thing about the game and the most compelling aspect of that particular genre then do not release it unitl you are ready. This is as dumb as it gets.

 

[tak]

But the screenshots are only going to tell part of the story. This is a complete Lego experience, and you can keep on clicking those blocks together. During the demo, a towering statue of Mario, which one of the testers made, was shown off -- and you can apparently drive it, though we're just treated to seeing his head cheekily blown off to demonstrate how the vehicles are made of individual objects.

WAT!

 

[Systems_id]

Well damn, Banjo 3 and Fable II, along with Ninja Gaiden, might make me buy another 360 this summer. All of them look fantastic.

 

[Doodis]

No 4 player online for Too Human? If thats the case then the bio engineer is just not important for getting through the game, healing must not be important like in PSO.

I've been following this game since day one, and if there really is no 4-player co-op, it's a gigantic let-down. The whole point of having the different classes to me was that you could work together MMO-style. Major disappointment.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Vp2 Looks absolutely gorgeous in motion I think I like it more than Banjo but only from a animation pov.

 

[gkryhewy]

Kohler has hands on of Banjo: http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/hands-on-banjo.html#more

I said WOW:

This is only the start. A tester tells me about that during an internal competition to see what was possible, he constructed a functioning space shuttle, complete with ejectable boosters. When they were sent spinning into the ether, a pair of wings slid into place, allowing you to fly the titan.

 

[Busty]

So, aside from incompetence, which we can hardly NOT expect from Silicon Knights, what other factors could have resulted in the removal of local co-op, and a reduction of 4 player online co-op to 2 players?

Seems to me Denis my boy, that you should have hegded your bet and had SEGA show off The Crucible: Evil Within at their Gamers' Day.

Poor ol' Denis.

Poor ol' filthy rich Denis.

 

[Dever]

Yeah, not really feeling the Banjo trailer... Probably because of the framerate and animations. Also not really sure about the way the vehicle combat looked. Making your own contraptions still looks awesome though.

 

[RSTEIN]

lol, it's almost an exact replica!