Banjo’s voices and Wii’s VC titles, new debates on Scribes
Rare confirms that about half of their games in the works use new IPs
As good Leigh pupils as we are, we have taken our time to write an Scribes article news after he decided to update over a week ago. But, in case you haven’t read it yet, we summarize the most important and/or useless info for you. So, without much ado, let’s start with it.
As usual, people want to know what happens with several unpromised titles from Rare. And it’s not surprising that, once again, KI3 appears as the most wanted always-unofficial title; and after the umpteenth reference to it, Leigh answers: “Nope, there is no KI3. The rumour’s been careering punch-drunk around the internet since KI2 was released, and even now people are only too keen to cling to its ankles every time it stumbles through some semi-respectable forum or magazine rumour column. I suppose we should be flattered, but alas, it’s not confirmed until we confirm it, fellas”, in typical Mr. Loveday’s fashion, not confirming neither denying its existence at this point.
Anyway, thanks to a time-travelling fan, we can be sure that we’ll be playing KI3 as late as 2015. “There you go, see, we’re not even starting it until 2010. Now stop nagging”, points out Leigh trying to calm down the masses.
You’ll have to figure out if the Killer Instinct franchise enters in the new Rare clue about their games in development: “Of the handful of prototype projects currently being worked on at Rare, I’d say about half are based on original IP. Now see how, in coming perilously close to real information, I fail to produce actual numbers. Still kind of answers your question though – I’d be surprised if something completely new didn’t bubble to the surface in the next year or two”, Mighty-Leigh states. We already know that, at least, Banjo and Jetpac Refuelled (hush!) are in the ‘old franchises’ side.
Unfortunately, we don’t know if Sabreman and his wolfy nemesis will enter in that chosen ballot: “Yes, there’s a slight possibility that Sabreman will appear on Xbox 360. Of course, there’s a slight possibility of all kinds of things. There’s a slight possibility of me finding a chuffing great ruby at the bottom of this packet of crisps”, Mr Loveday says. Probably, there won’t either be any RPGs in sight for Rare impatient fans: “We don’t have that many people here, you know, and business sense dictates that we should probably work on more than one project at a time.”
There’s also a new debate around Banjo 3 featuring or not the “traditional gibberish” or actual voices in the new installment. “We are still mulling over the speech. The original idea behind the gibberish was to avoid having speech, but it has become part of Banjo’s appeal and something that I am reluctant to let go just because full spoken dialogue is considered the norm these days”, a Banjo team member says. Asked again about voices in the game, Leigh prefers to short out with “maybe”. As for the other polemic topic regarding BK3, the characters design, the official statement now is that Rare “felt that the decade-old look belonged in a different era and needed bringing up to date.”
More undefined data becomes available when talking about Banjo’s appearances on Wii’s Virtual Console. According to Leigh Loveday, “the only Rare-developed title on Virtual Console right now is the original Donkey Kong Country, and unofficially there’s a strong likelihood that its sequels will follow. But the Donkey Kong series of games is a Nintendo-owned franchise starring an established Nintendo character, whereas something like Banjo isn’t (and even Diddy Kong Racing is less clear-cut), so it’s nowhere near as easy to call. Especially when you also consider the existence of Xbox Live Arcade. So right now, the best answer we can offer (for either download service) is “it’s possible”.”
Anyway, fans keen on the original BK title will soon get some never-seen stuff, since upcoming edition of Retro Gamer magazine reveals quite a lot of Banjo’s history. As a sneak peek of it, Leigh offered some concept art in form of Banjo’s scribbling.
Last, but not least, the traditional ironic auto-critic from Microsoft period raise again, first regarding Ghoulies’ success in form of a sequel will never see: “it would probably have sold as poorly as the original”; and moreover linked with what the company has become for the public opinion: “I’m not interested in Rare, man. Everyone left in 2002 and now they’re rubbish. Read it in a forum, must be true.”
And that’s all folks! No more Leigh’s Love for now.
Somehow related news
- Banjo’s development, in 8 pages or less ()
- Nuts & Bolts and Banjo-Kazooie XBLA out now ()
- “Banjo’s new look is meant to be self-referential” ()
- DK64 DS in the making? ()
- Fans still prefer Banjo’s original look ()
