Shane Kim rules out Banjo and Piñata as big hits this year
Also, reminds that Rare is working on something else
The always entertaining Shane Kim has been talking recently with the media. This time he didn’t have big scoops like the worldwide announcement of Resident Evil 5 for Xbox 360 a year after it was publicly unveiled. What he had to do now was basically hype all of us a little bit before next Fall’s usual downpour of new releases. This is going to be quite an interesting year, with games like Gears of War 2, Alone in the Dark, Fable 2 and possibly the very same RE5 hitting the shelves sooner or later. Oh, and also some small and obscure, British indie projects called Banjo-Kaput and Viva Patata or something like that too. Nothing to care about, but good to mention so the amount of upcoming attractions looks wider.
At least that’s what Kim seems to think when he makes his statements. While talking with CVG about the biggest releases of this year, Kim didn’t hesitate and acknowledged that Gears of War 2 and Fable 2 are going to be the sweetest dessert everyone has been waiting for. “I don’t like to pick between my children, but I think Gears Of War has the potential to be one of the biggest releases this Fall.” Well, he is right. There is hardly anything bigger than Gears either this year or any other year. But as he points out, picking between one’s children is never a good idea. “Fable 2 I think will be huge also, we have high hopes for what Peter (Molyneux) has achieved,” he adds later on. And there is only something worse than making this kind of preferential choices, which is deliberately underestimating those other games that you already labelled as second courses. Thinking about the upcoming E3, Kim feared that titles like Scene It are not going to reach the mass-market, “and neither is Viva or Banjo.” Nice.
The good, although vague news that he shared with us this time came through Kikizo. When they asked him if Rare was working on something else now that they’ve almost finished Banjo and Piñata (wonder why everybody seems to think that the absurdly common word “viva” is a better choice than “piñata” to shorten the game’s title), Kim promptly answered that “they have other stuff in development right now.” And that’s it? “They have other stuff in development right now!” he insists. Duh.
Apparently, we’ll have to wait for quite some time yet in order to know what “stuff” is that they are developing right now. Killer Instinct 3? Like we recently learned, the never ending rumours about this highly anticipated game are starting to sprout again. Everything looks bright and happy right now, but who knows, the age of the cuteness may be coming to an end. It’s been some time since Perfect Dark Zero and next year may be the right moment to make a new turn towards the, how is that supposed to be called? Hardcorism?
Somehow related news
- Banjo-Kazooie 3 release window set on holidays? ()
- Rare working on two unannounced projects ()
- Peter Moore defends the importance of Rare ()
- Microsoft wants Piñata to expand into new areas ()
- Banjo-Kazooie 3, still in development ()
2 Comments
This guys really talk a lot. Almost everyday when I open up my browser looking into gaming news I see his name. Haven’t he got enough? Without confident wouldn’t bring success, but overly confident kill everything too. I seen all his talks and all I can say is next time before he start talking he needs to back track what he have said before. If he realize some things he use on bashing on others he ain’t showing anything better. Basically doing the same thing like what he claim others are doing. So in short before commenting into others should have think about self first. It’s good to talk sometimes but over doing it become irritating.
Comment by boring guy — 26.May.08 @ 7:18 pm
They definately won’t reach mass market if they don’t promote these games well enough. Banjo’s easy; they need to push Banjo’s contraption-building aspect; show them being built, then used in the game itself - maybe even show two players trying to better the other player with a cooler vehicle. Maybe they could sponser a big show that’s about gadgetry.
Viva Pinata’s a little more difficult, though, because it’s not a game where you can see results instantly. If Microsoft had established a remote-like controller like Nintendo’s - and the game used it - it’d make the game look a lot more interesting to your average guy/gal. Put some demo stations in garden centres - that’d be a good one!
To be honest, neither’s likely to sell to an audience like the Wii’s, because the Xbox doesn’t have that audience. The guy’s being realistic, I’d say. But both games still need good promotion to stand a chance.
I just wish both these games were on the Wii, if only to see them do a lot better.
Comment by SummerSky — 26.May.08 @ 2:56 pm