axisofweevils
Holy crap! Today's real megaton is that more than two people can have the same first name.
Lock if old, but I found this really interesting.
This seems to make a lot of sense to me. More at the link. https://kevincallahangames.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/the-strange-development-of-diddy-kong-racing-2/
Three things in 2007 caused the cancellation of the Diddy Kong Racing sequel for Wii.
1) The low sales and poor reviews of 2007′s Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast. This was a racing game based on the Donkey Kong license.
2) Sales for 2007′s Diddy Kong Racing DS did not live up to Nintendo’s expectations. Although the game would sell over 1 million units worldwide, it was a huge drop from the 4-5 million that Diddy Kong Racing sold on the Nintendo 64.
3) In 2007, Nintendo had negotiations with Microsoft to acquire/purchase some of the characters from the original game (including Timber, Pipsy, and Taj the Genie). Microsoft was asking for more money than Nintendo was willing to pay. This was the same year that Nintendo prevented Microsoft from putting Goldeneye 007 on Xbox Live Arcade.
After multiple meetings with Nintendo, Monster Games removed the Diddy Kong Racing license from the prototype, but they remained persistent about designing a game around these animal themed vehicles. Nintendo suggested that Monster Games should return to the “Excite” series.
Excitebots (Wii) would be designed around the animal themed vehicles from the Diddy Kong Racing 2 (Wii) prototype. For example, one of the vehicles in Diddy Kong Racing 2 was based on Winky the Frog from Donkey Kong Country. This frog vehicle from DK Racing 2 would later re-appear in “Excitebots” for the Wii. After ditching the Donkey Kong license, Monster Games changed the vehicle designs to make them look less like the animal buddies from the Donkey Kong Country series.
Two things would renew Nintendo’s interest in a Diddy Kong Racing sequel.
1) 2008′s Mario Kart Wii would sell over 35 million units worldwide.
2) 2010′s Donkey Kong Country Returns would sell over 6 million units worldwide. The game sold more than any Zelda or Metroid game for Wii.
Development on Diddy Kong Racing 2 would start up again as Monster Games was getting ready to release Pilotwings Resort. But this time, both Retro Studios and Monster Games would collaborate on the project, and it would get moved from Wii to Project Cafe (aka Wii U).
Monster Games and Retro Studios would soon form a bond over the Donkey Kong intellectual property. Retro Studios, who had been successful with the Donkey Kong IP, was tasked with assisting Monster Games on Diddy Kong Racing 2. Retro’s contributions to Monster’s Diddy Kong Racing project is why Nintendo asked Retro to assist with Mario Kart 7′s development.
Monster Games ported Retro’s Donkey Kong Country Returns to the 3DS. Monster Games is also credited for assisting Retro Studios on the development of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for Wii U. It is no coincidence that Monster Games has worked on TWO Donkey Kong projects in a row. Many of the art assets from Tropical Freeze were used during the development of Diddy Kong Racing 2.
Diddy Kong Racing 2 for Wii U combines the animal vehicle ideas of Excitebots with the hub world single player adventure of the original Diddy Kong Racing. The game will feature both local and online multiplayer, as well as using your GamePad screen to find collectable balloons on the map.
This seems to make a lot of sense to me. More at the link. https://kevincallahangames.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/the-strange-development-of-diddy-kong-racing-2/