A Banjo-Fourie would “probably expand” Nuts & Bolts’ concept
BK: Nuts & Bolts "always was to be a Banjo game"
Long-time readers of MundoRare will remember Neill Harrison and Elissa Miller thanks to the Smashing Pumpkins VP1 feature. OXM has had the recent chance to talk to the respective technical lead and senior animator over their latest project, Nuts & Bolts.
The interview began smoothly, as they talked about how close it was to being gold, the reactions of the fans of the new style, and some of the more technical aspects. Towards the middle, the question as to how BK XBLA came to be. Harrison replied: “Don’t know. To be honest, I don’t know where the idea came from, whether it came from within Microsoft or within Rare. But we’re quite happy about it because it just hopefully regenerates the franchise somewhat. There are still a lot of people who want to play the old game. It is ten years old but it dates quite well, actually. If you play it, it’s now in HD and actually runs at a decent frame rate [laughs] so on an HD telly it looks pretty bloody good. But where the decision came from, I’m not entirely sure.”
He also mentions that “Stop ‘n’ Swop was a hark back to the old fans. It’s bit of a joke, really. If one game detects the other on your hard drive, it’ll unlock some stuff,” which we already knew about. As for rights, such as Banjo’s Game Boy, Harrsion remarks: “I can’t really comment on the legal issues but Banjo is our IP and I think if it was in the old game, then I think we’re okay to use it. But we’ve certainly got the legal people to go through it. They’ve taken out things that we’re not allowed to keep. We just do what we’re told [laughs]”
By the way, whoever considered the idea to have a third party port BK XBLA, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts and hope you’ll consider something like this for Rare’s past classic titles. Pretty please?
Despite Mr. Mayles saying this in the live chat, Harrison reiterated that Rare never had the temptation to create a brand new IP for Nuts & Bolts: “It always was going to be a Banjo game. It wasn’t that we came up with this idea then packed him in. It was always Banjo. We never really went down that route of going “oh it’s a bit different, we should come up with a new character.” It was always Banjo.”
Last but not least, we’ve reported before what the future of Banjo could hold if N&B sells well. Both Miller and Harrison confirm the same thing for a potential Banjo-Fourie, in which they’d “probably expand on it”. In fact, Harrison admits that they “have loads of ideas for what we can do next in the same sort of context but expanding out.” So, better get used to the concept now if the game sells, boys and girls.
For more interesting and technical tidbits, be sure to read through the entire interview at the pretty noticeable source link on the upper left-hand corner.
Somehow related news
- Rare denies Blast Corps 2 and Jet Force Gemini 2 yet again ()
- Nuts & Bolts DLC “definitely possible” ()
- It’s-a-Me, Banjo! ()
- Rare developing… Halo?! ()
- Paradises could’ve been connected ()
14 Comments
*Pulls cracker*
What would be a sequel to Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts be called?
Answer: Banjo-Tooie: Nuts and Bolts! 
Rare, you can do whatever you want. But PLEASE, give them back their powers and make surethere’s lots of puzzles and stuff. No more “challenges” and i hate how everything had a timer on it. Please just bring back those two things, but you can change anything else. I’m begging you….
Comment by Shamanized — 24.Nov.08 @ 9:21 pm
I WANT PLATFORMING I’VE BEEN WITH BANJO FOR 10 YEARS I WANT PLATFORMING!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Platformer — 05.Jan.09 @ 8:38 am
Please, we need the platforming back. It’s what we were longing to see again after eight years. I think I speak for alot of people when I say that we miss the old days relying on moves learned by crazed moles…
Comment by Jim — 07.Jan.09 @ 9:38 pm
It’s not fair, Rare… You kept us waiting so long. I talked about and anticipated Banjo-Kazooie on forums and with my friends telling them how great it’s going to be for 8 years, and then you give me this.
With the original BK games, the story wasn’t that great, the graphics were okay, but the GAMEPLAY is what made the game a hit. The puzzles! The epic platforming! I don’t understand why you guys changed the best thing about the game. What were you thinking?
I was very open to N&Bs when I played it, but it did not deliver for me. Please Rare…please…bring back the platforming. 100% of it…PLEASE.
Comment by Crazy Shaman — 31.May.09 @ 12:18 am
Really……. WTF is up with this vehicle bs. U guys are screwing with your BK fans. Make the game platforming. How do you expect to a hit when you do this to your fans. Plz rare fo us a favor and go back to platforming for the sake of your fans.
Comment by Banjo freak — 19.Sep.10 @ 8:42 am
seriously rare, where did you go so wrong as to think that a vehicle-based game would satisfy us BK fans hunger for your traditional platform-based gaming. rare, you really fucked up this time. this is low even for your standards.
Comment by S n S — 27.Oct.10 @ 5:13 am
LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been a banjo fan my whole life it was the first fun game i ever played i started playin it wen I was 4 n it was adicting cause it was so fun I think u guys did great wit da graphics n characters but nuts n bolts was bs not 2 be rude but if u play da original game like I did u would know wat im sayin its just not right n I think I speak for evry true banjo fan not some kid dats new n didnt even play the original games u let us down please take time n effort make a banjo 4 n dont do fancy crap make it like the original but graphic and think when u here wat have said here take it to heart i know u guys can do this I have faith in u n I want 2 see it make dis game awsome amzing and the original platforming sincerely a true banjo fan 12 hour bower
Comment by jesse — 28.Mar.11 @ 2:33 am
BOOOO… i want traditional platforming!
Comment by billy — 11.Sep.08 @ 5:05 am