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Reddit rumor: Insomniac almost worked on Conker reboot, Banjo + PD reboot in 2016/17

MrBadger

Member
Where's that Jon Tron Conker gif?

Right here

a16c51ce3335db78403e4c886b28d2e4.gif
 

FoeHammer

Member
Sounds sketchy at best even before Jason's info.

If Microsoft wanted to shit out Rare IP's quickly, why wait until now to do it? They've had these IP's for almost/over 10 years right?
 

a.wd

Member
A quality pd, with real stealth, really awesome multiple path levels (that make sense, possibly with maps on smart glass) and an awesome bondesque (or kingsman) story is fucking needed.
 

CorrisD

badchoiceboobies
The guy who wrote this Reddit post reached out to us last night. I've been exchanging e-mails with him, but as of right now he has not been able to corroborate any sort of employment with Microsoft. (Assuming what he sent me is also what he sent to the Reddit mods -- well, I'm not sure what they're thinking calling it "verified.")

I was going I suggest the same thing, we have no idea what Verified means to some mods of a subreddit, and if my time on Reddit has shown anything it is that I rarely trust anyone "verified" because they have a terrible track record for verifying people. I can't say I have seen the same problem here on Gaf.
 
Sounds fake tbh

Yah - doesn't make sense as MS has teased conker in the past (not to say its going to happen but they have.)

Also, PD for 2016/2017...wasn't there recently a interview with Ken Lobb about PD and nothing is on the table atm but they will revisit the franchise when the time is right?

Doesn't seem to fit what MS has been doing lately (rebooting Phantom Dust - a game that had little interest back when it launched on original Xbox/battle toads/etc). Looks like a nice fabricated piece of work. *shrugs*
 

Noobcraft

Member
Also, PD for 2016/2017...wasn't there recently a interview with Ken Lobb about PD and nothing is on the table atm but they will revisit the franchise when the time is right?
Yeah Ken Lobb said no perfect dark until at least 2020 because there were no plans for it currently.
 

Cornbread78

Member
I can believe part of this, however, the IP surely cannot be dead. Reviving old IPs appears to be a priority to them to get more exclusive titles out the door...
 

Sami+

Member
I'm not even sure Insomniac still has it in them to make a good Ratchet game tbh, let alone Conker.
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
I can believe it. MS were in a mad scrabble to hit those "REMEMBER THIS?!" notes at E3's post the big Xbox One blowback, trying to use any and everything they could from old memorable IP land.

Killer Instinct at launch was weird because I still find it hard to believe that franchise has many fans at all. Then we get the CGI only announcements of Crackdown (can totally understand, was popular) and Phantom Dust (was happy to see it, but talk about a stretch). Then Conker was tacked on to that Build a Game, and now theyre teasing Battletoads of all things. Oh and of course buying up Gears the second they could and scrapping an original IP in the process.

I could see MS throwing money short-term at devs to silence the "just Halo" accusations, even if it meant resurrecting incredibly mediocre IP just for one blast.
 
I don't understand the obsession for 90s IPs. Let's move forward and create new IPs. The whole crash bandicoot and Conker obsession will not reflect on the masses.

Yes. Conker should stay dead unless they have a banjo nuts and bolts style new idea that makes sense to be attached to the IP.

The n64 game was a product of its time and sold almost entirely on its novelty.

The humor was OK, but I honestly think conker bfd is a bad game all around.

I can kind of see a banjo or crash bandicoot reboot because there are so few 3d platformers and high quality kids games, but let conker make cameos in other games. He doesn't need his own for any reason.
 
I'm going to call fake because that is a lot of talent to throw at franchises that may just not work today. Doesn't make business sense. Perfect Dark!? C'mon!

If MS and Sony want to reboot older franchises they should hire an indie studio and give them a shot at it. The cost will be low and the end result could be much more unique than anything a big studio house would do who would probably do the obvious thing.
 
Yeah Ken Lobb said no perfect dark until at least 2020 because there were no plans for it currently.

Ugh. The perfect dark name is poison and rare has no capacity or talent to make a good one.

Why dont they just make an original game if they have a good idea???

Why does it need to be tied to some barely recognizable IP from almost 15 years ago??
 
I believe in most of it, but I don't know, the part about Conker not happening because MS wanted to rush it just screams bullshit to me. Conker is not a heavy hitter in term of sales by any means, why would MS screw their relationship with a third-party developer that just released an exclusive on their platform?
 

Salty Hippo

Member
Yes. Conker should stay dead unless they have a banjo nuts and bolts style new idea that makes sense to be attached to the IP.

The n64 game was a product of its time and sold almost entirely on its novelty.

The humor was OK, but I honestly think conker bfd is a bad game all around.

I can kind of see a banjo or crash bandicoot reboot because there are so few 3d platformers and high quality kids games, but let conker make cameos in other games. He doesn't need his own for any reason.

wat
 

Freeman

Banned
The desperation to have games out so soon doesn't make MS look good at all.

I think they were really unprepared for what happened in the begging of Xbox One life, their invesment in Kinect since the later half of last gen really backfired.
 

SgtCobra

Member
I don't understand Insomniac Games, they went multiplatform so that they would keep their IP's and more people could play their games.
Yet they almost were making two Xbox One exclusives (if this rumor is true)
It's a bummer though, I love me some Conker and that project Spark reveal was a slap in the face.
 

MSI

Banned
Insomniac would have been perfect but it wouldn't make sense for either company. Insomniac probably didn't want to do a small project quickly and MS doesn't think a game like that would sell a ton these days so they don't want to pay for a long development cycle . . . they should get a good indie team to handle it.
 
I wonder how well Conker actually holds up today. I remember loving it when I played it on N64 (especially the splitscreen multiplayer for some reason), but I wonder if the jokes hold up. The Matrix level would probably be worth playing again regardless :).

As for Banjo potentially coming back - awesome!
 
I wonder how well Conker actually holds up today. I remember loving it when I played it on N64 (especially the splitscreen multiplayer for some reason), but I wonder if the jokes hold up. The Matrix level would probably be worth playing again regardless :).

It holds up like rewatching Scary Movie or something holds up. Some of the jokes are still funny, most of the references are dated and mean nothing to people who weren't part of that zeitgeist.
 
So why has Rare been ruled out for developing Conker? We havn't seen Rare work on a traditional game in quite a while so whose to say they couldn't handle it.
 
I don't understand the obsession for 90s IPs. Let's move forward and create new IPs. The whole crash bandicoot and Conker obsession will not reflect on the masses.
Funny you should say that. You have some prototype of NPD: Futurists Edition™ in use to make these bold claims?

It holds up like rewatching Scary Movie or something holds up. Some of the jokes are still funny, most of the references are dated and mean nothing to people who weren't part of that zeitgeist.

All things considered they could just rewrite the jokes that don't work. Make them more subtle, change the topic (still needs to match up with the big story points or be somewhat related to what's there visually), maybe even Working Designs-the script if they felt it necessary.
 

Salty Hippo

Member
So why has Rare been ruled out for developing Conker? We havn't seen Rare work on a traditional game in quite a while so whose to say they couldn't handle it.

I don't understand this either. If the rumor is true, then by the time they decided to make a new Conker Rare was completely free. They had just shipped KSR to abysmal sales and then started working on prototypes. There's absolutely no reason they couldn't do it other than Microsoft's complete lack of trust in them to work on anything that isn't a Kinect game.
 

Chris1

Member
Fake lol, it's already known that Perfect Dark isn't even being considered right now.

Plus he posted this comment:
Banjo wasn't really 'on the table' just yet. Personally, I think Banjo should've been the first game to come out, but they were dead set on Conker leading the way. There was some talk of Insomniac taking on Banjo after Conker, but you can see where those conversations ended.

Yet, Kampfheld hinted here at a Banjo being shown @ E3 2015 a few month back, so that would mean it's been on the table for quite some time and with a developer attached to it.. I think I'll take kamp's word over this random guy.

Not to mention reading his post just sounds like one huge troll, he doesn't feel confident at all... "apparently" MS wanted to rush it out by 2015? That doesn't sound like a comment with much confidence at all.. If he worked at MS and was overseeing these games, I think it's safe to say he'd know the rough timeframes they'd be working in to see how well they are getting on.

Yeah. I don't believe this one bit.
 

Majanew

Banned
Could be fake, but this:
However, Insomiac turned MS down too. Apparently MS wanted Conker to hit store shelves by the end of 2015, and Insomiac refused because of the short dev cycle. MS wanted Conker out the door really quickly

Sounds exactly the idiots running the Xbox Division.
 

kevin1025

Banned
If they want to have a fast turnaround Conker game, remaster Live and Reloaded, test the waters and then see if there should be a new game in the series from there. Microsoft should be trying to bolster their Xbox One library with past Rare games, bringing the XBLA games to the new console and continue bringing other classics to a new generation.
 
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