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

TKR92

Member
I took a picture the other day....

hnCCjqZ.jpg

CBOAT, a Sun Devil confirmed?
 

harSon

Banned
I am guessing one reboot is BS then.
My guess is Banjo.

If anything, the Perfect Dark reboot comment is BS. Didn't Ken Lobb straight up say that while Microsoft certainly has classic Rare IPs in the pipelines, that PD was not one of those franchises currently being revived?
 

Sponge

Banned
I could imagine the headlines if this had happened "Old Nintendo IP revived by old Sony developers for Microsoft."
 

Sydle

Member
Conker with Insomniac wouldn't have been my first pick. I'd much rather they work on something like Jet Force Gemini, because it seems like they could make a great alien hunting space adventure somewhere between Ratchet and Resistance.

I think a new Conker could do very well if done right, especially with the larger Xbox One + PC audience. Games have become so movie-like that I think the game could be built on parodies of The Last of Us, Tomb Raider, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto, Gears of War, Halo, Lego, etc. The multiplayer would find an audience.

I hope another dev picked up Conker and MS has backed off on the tight deadline.

If anything, the Perfect Dark reboot comment is BS. Didn't Ken Lobb straight up say that while Microsoft certainly has classic Rare IPs in the pipelines, that PD was not one of those franchises currently being revived?

Yes, he confirmed recently that it wasn't being worked on, but that they talk about it often.

This is the last comment I will make in a Rare thread prior to E3:

1) if there ever was a chance old-school Rare fans will be satisfied with current Rare-work, this time is this year.
2) that rumor has two legit and one wrong points, which leads me to the impression he just guessed. I don't know for sure tho. Things can change pretty fast in this industry so I can't make a final comment on this one.
3) Classic Rare IPs will return. Yes, more than just Killer Instinct.
4) If you guys aren't somewhat satisfied after E3 .... Kill me with fire.

Battletoads and Banjo are a good start for Rare to bring back classic IP, and I hope Viva Pinata isn't far behind. It seems like those three IP are serviced the most on their Twitter account, and they just released a long-overdue tepid seat for VP, so I'm hoping they are wave 1 of Rare's post-Kinect revival.
 

MAX PAYMENT

Member
If insomniac turned it down because of time, MS should've just given them the damn time.

1. We get a conker game
2. We get an actual good conker game.

Sure, it missed it out on being part of this little rare reboot big deal they want to make, but I think ultimately everyone would win.
 

Chris1

Member
Kampfheld...who is that? Sorry, not trying to come across as rude but I am new to posting here and just curious.

He is working on crackdown and everything he's hinted/told us in the past came true, he's not really an "insider" but he knows his MS stuff and gives us hints every now and then (like in this topic)

I would love to get hype but after last years E3 and everyone hyping up to high heaven the announcements MS had. I'd rather keep expectations low.

To be honest MS had an amazing E3, It's just a shame ntkrnl leaked everything. Imagine he didn't leak the MCC bundle, I think your response would be quite different to MS E3. That was a huge "HOLY SHIT!" moment that ntkrnl stole from them unfortunately.
 

gaming_noob

Member
This is the last comment I will make in a Rare thread prior to E3:

1) if there ever was a chance old-school Rare fans will be satisfied with current Rare-work, this time is this year.
2) that rumor has two legit and one wrong points, which leads me to the impression he just guessed. I don't know for sure tho. Things can change pretty fast in this industry so I can't make a final comment on this one.
3) Classic Rare IPs will return. Yes, more than just Killer Instinct.
4) If you guys aren't somewhat satisfied after E3 .... Kill me with fire.

BOOM. Love it.

Who is Kampheld again?

Dev working on the next Crackdown.
 
He is working on crackdown and everything he's hinted/told us in the past came true, he's not really an "insider" but he knows his MS stuff and gives us hints every now and then (like in this topic)



To be honest MS had an amazing E3, It's just a shame ntkrnl leaked everything. Imagine he didn't leak the MCC bundle, I think your response would be quite different to MS E3. That was a huge "HOLY SHIT!" moment that ntkrnl stole from them unfortunately.

Oh ok, thanks.
 

Gartooth

Member
This is the last comment I will make in a Rare thread prior to E3:

1) if there ever was a chance old-school Rare fans will be satisfied with current Rare-work, this time is this year.
2) that rumor has two legit and one wrong points, which leads me to the impression he just guessed. I don't know for sure tho. Things can change pretty fast in this industry so I can't make a final comment on this one.
3) Classic Rare IPs will return. Yes, more than just Killer Instinct.
4) If you guys aren't somewhat satisfied after E3 .... Kill me with fire.

Interesting points. You said he was right on two points but might've guessed on the third. I'm going to take a shot at this and guess that he is right about a canceled Conker game and a Banjo-Kazooie revival, but is off the mark about Perfect Dark which is actually a different Rare IP being revived. (Battletoads?)
 

RK128

Member
.....You know, I'm not surprise this happened XD! Insomniac are known for making games very quickly (a number of the PS2 and PS3 Ratchets had a 8-14 month development cycle), so Microsoft thinking they can make games very quickly is somewhat reasonable I guess :).

A Conker game made by Insomniac games.....I would love to play that :'). I can just see it in my head right now; great gun-play with crazy weapons, some of the best humor out of the studio, amazing visuals (maybe running off the Sunset Overdrive engine?) and just a fantasic story :D.

It is a shame this didn't happen, but it is great to see that Insomniac are so respected enough, publishers want them to make games based on classic IP. Capcom, why not give Insomniac a call now? They sure can make a killer Megaman game :D!
 

RK128

Member
Isomniac? Gross. I'm glad it was cancelled. Granted, current Rare isn't much better.

I take it you never played the Ratchet and Clank series Gonzo? If you have the time, get the PS3 Collection and give Up Your Arsenal or Going Commando a shot. I promise you will love the games :D! Endlessly replayable, great soundtracks, crazy weapons, great humor and overall strong gameplay all make the two games PS2 classics.
 

blakep267

Member
It was good. But people hyped up the MS conference as having all these MEGATONS and that just wasn't the case. I want to believe this pre-hype but id rather just keep it on check lol
There were megatons. Just we knew then ahead of time.

Halo mcc
Crackdown
Scale bound


As for Conker if it was true. If MS wanted a smaller budget game I could see them not wanted a really long development time.
 
Interesting, I think we can safely say based on some strong hints and rumours that BK is coming at some point but based on comments from Ken Lobb that PD isn't coming anytime soon.

This whole Conker thing though sounds somewhat legit to me. Especially given the fact that he posted the email chains. I think insomniac would be a great company to handle that IP however I think I'd rather have SO2.

But didn't Phil Spencer say that 2015 was already logjammed with games and they are looking at moving some stuff out? So why force Conker in there if they don't need too?

Personally if they are planning to make a rushed Conker game I don't want a rushed Conker game I want a good Conker game. Let's not kill the IP by rushing something out.

Either way it's good to see rare looking at games that longtime fans like myself can get excited about again. I just hope MS treats these IPs with care. I hope a banjo reboot is true to the roots of the game, I think this is a genre in long need of revival and banjo kazooie is the perfect IP to lead that charge.
 

Anth0ny

Member
if they do a Banjo reboot I want to go back to Grunty's Lair

different levels than the original, of course, but the "haunted house" hub works so well for that franchise. better than what they did with tooie imo.
 

Mar Nosso

Banned
Inomniac went multiplatform so they could start developing new IPs, ones they could own. It's no wonder they refused Conker.

In any case, I have a feeling that whenever Ted Price steps down, they'll go back into Sony's orbit and possibly be acquired at some time. He's the main driving force keeping the company independent I think.

Edit: I do like them and their well polished games. I'm a sucker for a colourful, extremely polished game. And they do it so very well. Having them produce a new IP for Sony would be great!
 

Salty Hippo

Member
A Conker game made by Insomniac games.....I would love to play that :'). I can just see it in my head right now; great gun-play with crazy weapons, some of the best humor out of the studio, amazing visuals (maybe running off the Sunset Overdrive engine?) and just a fantasic story :D.

Ugh, if gunplay and crazy weapons was the direction they were gonna take, then I'm glad it didn't happen. I don't want to play Ratchet in a squirrel suit, Conker isn't a TPS. If they ever reboot it, things like guns should be kept to a pleasant minimum.
 
I dont believe the OP info for a second (ive seen Kampfs post too)

Ken Lobb already said PD wasnt in development.
Insomniac want to own their own IPs
I refuse to believe after Crackdown 2 that MS would be so stupid as to rush it out. If they were so desperate to make and release a Conker game quickly and on the cheap then just port the OG Xbox version over, add in the stuff they censored and then sell it on the Xbox One store for $20.

Good. No Chris Seavor and Robin Beanland means no Conker, in my opinion.

Robin Beanland is still at Rare, unless there is something ive missed since yesterday.
 
My only issue is if MS has no faith in Rare doing Conker than why should we have faith in anything they do? At least with something like Battletoads you would have to go out of your way to completely ruin it.

Its about capacity and what they want to work on. If MS want Conker but Rare want to do other stuff right now (Banjo, Battletoads, anything else) then why not give it to someone else?

Killer Instinct turned out incredibly well, Rare have a lot of IPs that could easily be brought back one way or another, too many for them in particular to work on as well.
 
Well that's a misleading thread title. I have never heard of such a game being talked about here. If it's true (I have no idea), they probably asked Ted, Ted said no, and that was that.

Saying we are not interested though does not equate to "almost worked on" something.

I'm sure Ted has turned down a ton of games in the past. None of which we "almost worked on".

Huh. Take this, combine it with Kampf's comment... Banjo 2016, PD 2017?
 
I like the genre but I don't think a 3D platformer would sell gangbusters on XB1 OR PS4, to be honest. It might do okay, but it's not going to be some end of the year anchor hit for either platform, that's for sure.
 

Salty Hippo

Member
I dont believe the OP info for a second (ive seen Kampfs post too)

Ken Lobb already said PD wasnt in development.
Insomniac want to own their own IPs
I refuse to believe after Crackdown 2 that MS would be so stupid as to rush it out. If they were so desperate to make and release a Conker game quickly and on the cheap then just port the OG Xbox version over, add in the stuff they censored and then sell it on the Xbox One store for $20.



Robin Beanland is still at Rare, unless there is something ive missed since yesterday.

I agree that it's hard to believe that they would be stupid enough to rush it out, it's definitely not how Phil Spencer wants to do things now from what I've gathered. But the other two points don't disprove the OP at all.

What Ken Lobb said was recent, and all he said is that currently there's no PD in development. It doesn't mean it couldn't have been in the plans a year ago.

As for Insomniac owning their IP, well, they are developing a new Ratchet game right now, aren't they? It's impossible to rule out them working on a Microsoft owned IP if they were given the right conditions (money, time etc).
 
I wouldn't trust an indie studio to work with any big name IP, mainly because there's no telling how quality of a game you're going to get. Not to mention the large amount of excitement that comes with re-booting an old IP. The masses want true AAA remakes and a reboot made by an indie studio may seem insulting.

I would question whether or not any of the 3 IPs discussed in this thread are big today. Seems like a lot of resources to devote to franchises that just may not work in today's market. Conker wasn't a big franchise even at its peak. Activision is not going out and making AAA Crash Bandicoot for similar reasons and that is a huge name, but I think a smaller budget Crash under the Sierra label could work and recoup costs much more easily.

You people are crazy if you think putting $10-$20 million into Conker, Banjo, and Perfect Dark makes business sense.
 
I agree that it's hard to believe that they would be stupid enough to rush it out, it's definitely not how Phil Spencer wants to do things now from what I've gathered. But the other two points don't disprove the OP at all.

What Ken Lobb said was recent, and all he said is that currently there's no PD in development. It doesn't mean it couldn't have been in the plans a year ago.

As for Insomniac owning their IP, well, they are developing a new Ratchet game right now, aren't they? It's impossible to rule out them working on a Microsoft owned IP if they were given the right conditions (money, time etc).

The rumour says Banjo/PD in 2016/17, that would have to mean PD is still in development and Ken Lobb has quashed that, the rumour serves no purpose is 2/3 of it doesnt exist.

Ratchet isnt a new thing for them though, theyve worked on it for over a decade and iirc its in their second office? I do not think that going forwards they want to take on other peoples IPs, Ratchet is different for a reason.
 
Glad Insomniac stuck to their guns. I feel Microsoft is really overestimating the worth of the Conker brand. Sure, it was "outrageous" for an N64 game, but the game wasn't that good and the relaunch on the Xbox didn't amount to anything, even with the hamfisted multiplayer.
 

Shpeshal Nick

aka Collingwood
Would have been awesome.

Oh well. Good to on ow they're going to bring most of the Rare IPs back. Killer Instinct is truly special.
 
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