Tag Archives: Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

Rare’s released a new trailer of Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, showing off more of the Showdown Town mission hub bit of the updated adventure.

Bits of this look beautiful, to be frank. And it’s got snow in it, so we’re fine with that.

After the break.

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According to this MTV piece, Rare actually set out to make a straight Banjo remake, even including the same worlds as the original, but binned the idea because it “wasn’t the way” the team wanted to go.

“We started off thinking, ‘Okay, let’s do almost a clever remake of the original, where we have the original worlds,’” said studio boss Gregg Mayles.

“We actually started on Mumbo’s Mountain, but all the tasks that you played in Mumbo’s Mountain weren’t quite as you expected it and different things would happen. We thought that’s not the way we wanted to go. Then we tried something else.”

Nuts & Bolts was eventually born of an idea to give the player increased freedom to accomplish tasks.

“In traditional games of this genre, there’s usually a loaded task that’s created by the designer and then it’s up to the players to work out what the solution is to that task, and there’s usually only one solution. Then we thought ‘What we can we do with that? Kind of give the player more choice, kind of turn that around.’

“We actually got these quite simple tasks, but the solutions to them — there isn’t one correct way of doing it. And it came from that. I felt like it’s a different way of looking at it. Rather than [giving] Banjo and Kazooie these abilities that you learn and that are bolted on this character, can we give players abilities in a different way?”

More through the link.

On Gamespot. The shots show a nice graphical upgrade for the ancient platformer. We’ll be playing this, as we’re sentimental old souls. You can get the game free with a pre-order for Nuts & Bolts, or you can wait a bit and buy it from Arcade later on. Details here.

Rare popped us a mail this afternoon to clarify how you’re going to be able to get the original Banjo-Kazooie through XBLA for free by ordering Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

From Rare’s site:

This time we’ve rounded up all the details to date on the Nuts & Bolts pre-order scheme with the Banjo-Kazooie XBLA giveaway, because you asked and we love you.

For the blissfully unaware: it’s an offer allowing those who pre-order Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (from certain retailers in certain territories – see below) to download the Xbox Live Arcade version of the original Banjo-Kazooie not only for free, but roughly two weeks in advance of its public release date. Which is not just awesome, but awesome in the voice of the surfer dude fish from SpongeBob SquarePants.

You’ll get the free B-K download token on or near the time you pick up Nuts & Bolts, and for the period between the launch of the two games (Nuts & Bolts on November 11th/14th in US/Europe, B-K XBLA on November 26th), only N&B pre-order customers will be able to download and play B-K XBLA.

Loads more through there, including participating retailer details by region. Off you go!

Microsoft announced today that the Banjo-Kazooie XBLA remake will be ready to download on November 26 for 1200 Microsoft Points.

For those of you can’t wait that long, if you pre-order Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, then you can get Banjo XBLA as early as November 14 along with your copy of the game.

Also, Microsoft has said the Banjo-Tooie will be winging its way to Live Arcade early 2009.

By Mike Bowden

Banjo dev boss Salvatore Fileccia has detailed the thinking bahind Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts in a new interview with GamerScoreBlog, calling the reinvention a “new concept in games.”

“This is not just a platformer,” he said. “Obviously, Banjo has a deep history in platformers, and part of that is in the game, so we have everything there from the original Banjos: the collecting, the puzzle-solving and that sort of thing.

“This is a new concept in games. Come and try it. We’re sure everyone’s going to find it fun. It’s not just the platforming. It’s user-generated content. It’s literally the kind of game you can play the way you want to play, rather than the way the designer wanted you to play.”

Watch the full thing after the link.

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Want to know what more sites think of the latest Banjo build? Thought so. New hands-on impressions have been posted by VG, GamesRadar and GameZine this afternoon, easily providing enough words to run you into the weekend.

Hit this for more, if that lot isn’t enough.

Speaking to VG at a recent London event, Rare senior animator Elissa Miller said that only a fraction of Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts has been shown so far, and that the game itself is huge.

“There are two entire game worlds that nobody has seen yet – we might be revealing those at Tokyo,” she said.

“The thing is, it’s such a massive game that what we’ve shown so far is barely a quarter of the actual experience. It’s an immense game, which makes it quite hard to develop, but it also means there’s loads to see and do… we’ve barely touched on it.”

More through the link.

Lots of new hands-on impressions from Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts just went live, so waste you evening reading what IGN, Eurogamer, Gamespot and CVG think of the Rare bear adventure.

What IGN thinks:

We’re quite sure Rare’s claims of endless replayability will hold true too if you get into Nuts & Bolts’ admittedly excellent vehicle creation system with gusto. From recent evidence though – and assuming Rare isn’t hiding anything significant from journos at this late stage – Nuts & Bolts feels like two promising concepts shoe-horned awkwardly into a single, unsatisfying whole. Yes, we’re glad that Banjo and the bird are back – we’re just not convinced if this is quite the right, er, vehicle for their return.

What EG thinks:

As it stands we’re absolutely certain that the idea itself works. Construction is easy, fun and flexible, the mission structure and progression is in place, it looks amazing, and it’s even got some quite fun (if rather hectic) multiplayer game modes in there. It may not be the game we expected it to be, but if building and racing vehicles around Banjo’s worlds has enough depth to hold interest, it could still turn out to be a game we learn to love.

What CVG thinks:

It remains to be seen if Rare’s still up to the task of wowing us like it did with those standout N64 moments, exploring Treasure Trove Cove in the air and stomping around Mayan temples as a giant gold statue… But we’re very, very much looking forward to finding out come its launch on November 14.

What Gamespot thinks:

Banjo-Kazooie is shaping up, both visually and in its gameplay. The quirky design that’s gone into some of the crazy gameworld looks promising, and fans of the series will be relieved to know that many of their beloved characters will be making starring or cameo appearances this time around. We’re keen to play around more with Mumbo’s vehicle editor and test out our creations in multiplayer matches–an equally solid experience in addition to the single-player mode–at a later date.

There are some new shots on Xboxygen for you, as well.

More? Gamespot’s posted an interview with lead technical artist Neill Harrison and senior animator Elissa Miller, if all that isn’t enough.

According to this OXM story, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts started out as a traditional platformer before it was boosted into the vehicular behemoth we’re going to get this Christmas. Not the greatest shock in the world, but there we are.

“What we didn’t want to do was to just do another Banjo Kazooie which was exactly the same and that’s actually we started doing at the beginning,” lead technical artist Neill Harrison told the mag.

“We thought well, we’ll just do another platform game as Banjo Kazooie. We did that for a bit and as gamers and as developers, it just felt a little bit stale. It felt like it didn’t fit in today’s market. With the 360, there’s just so much more we can do, we thought we’d try something different.”

More through the link.

On EG. There’s chopped up footage up multiplayer, the vehicle editor, Showdown Town and other stuff there. Should keep you going until the game’s launched on November 14 in the US.

Still waiting on a European date, but November 17 wouldn’t be outside the realms of possibility.

According to this Perfect-Rare story – translated from the Dutch by Gamer.tm – the Dutch (and Belgian) versions of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise are to cost more than elsewhere as they’ve been fully localised.

The rest of Europe ill pay €39 for the games, while if you want to play in Dutch it’ll cost you €59.

“We decided to fully translate both titles, which drove up costs,” a spokesperson said.

“If you look at the Dutch speaking market, then it’s hard to spread the costs across a limited number of consumers.

“A French or a German version, for instance, would be subject to the same costs, but the costs would fall due to there being a larger number of users.”

Don’t moan. If you want to play it in English, buy it in English. At least you have the option of buying it in Dutch. If you go and buy the Dutch version, maybe more companies will translate games into Dutch instead of just assuming you can speak English so you don’t want to play in your local language, right? Alstublieft? Dank u wel.

After the break. This is from Games Convention, obviously. It shows Rare’s bear transporting a bit of ice with a flat-bed lorry thing. Take a look.

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CVG has them. Have a look at these great looking screenshots that show just what stuff you can make within the game: fire-breathing Godzilla’s and huge robots!

This game screams win every time we see it.

Take a look.

By Mike Bowden

After the jump. Wow. Now this new Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts clip really does look good. Taken from the Games Convention show floor, it shows Banjo running and flying around an enormous environment. Unfortunately, Jovi’s ‘Living on a Prayer is blaring out in the background so you can’t really hear what’s going on.

Still, check it out.

By Mike Bowden

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Rare’s put out some new Banjo screens. Take a look on IGN. The game’s going to be shown at Games Convention this week, so expect more as we move on into the show.

In the meantime, do yourself a favour.

Microsoft has just slapped an official date on Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts and said that those who pre-order the game will get a special code to play Banjo XBLA before everyone else.

The date is November 14. But before you rush out to any old games shop to place your pre-order, be warned that only “select retailers” will get the codes.

As to who the select few are, we’ve no idea. We’re also in the dark as to whether Europe is included in the pre-order love or not.

Banjo XBLA will be released two after Nuts & Bolts if you can’t find a retailer near you.

Thanks, CVG.

Update: The game will cost a cut-price $40 too, apparently. No European price yet. Thanks, captaineurogamer.

By Mike Bowden

Rare has confirmed to Eurogamer that a demo of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts will be released before the game reaches the shelves in November, and outlined just how the Stop ‘N’ Swop component that links Nuts & Bolts to the release of Banjo-Kazooie XBLA will work.

“A Marketplace demo? Yes,” said lead programmer Salvatore Fileccia. “We’ve got various different ideas. I think all the leads on the team all have their own idea what the demo should be, and it obviously makes sense for the demo to happen before the game ships. We all feel that it’s essential because the game is so different.”

On the Stop ‘N’ Swap idea, Fileccia said: “The way Stop ‘N’ Swop was meant to work originally was that there’s parts in the original Banjo that weren’t unlocked until the original Banjo realised you’d been playing the sequel, which we had to change because of the evolution of the hardware of the N64. It would’ve worked on early N64s but not the later ones.

“So that’s why we never actually released it. It was my job to actually finish it off, so you can’t imagine how many fans hate me because of that! So what we’re doing now is literally the same thing, so there is unlockables in both games that are accessible once both games realise you’ve been playing the other one,” he added.

Full thing through the link.

By Mike Bowden

Rare’s George Kelion’s confirmed that “fresh” Banjo stuff will be shown behind closed doors at Games Convention in this NeoGAF post.

“The build we demo’d to the press at E3 will be playable on the show floor by the public at Leipzig GC,” he said.

“The press will have something extra specially fresh shown to them behind closed doors, which I’m hoping they’ll then report on. I don’t want to spoil their surprise, so you’ll have to wait for the media to get back to you on what we show them.”

There are new shots on NeoGAF as well. Looking lovely as ever. There’s an icy bit with an igloo there, so we’re happy. Take a look.

Update: Those shots are old, sorry. Still, they’re pretty, eh?

These are very cool. A bunch of new Banjo shots just appeared, and it’s all looking bright and happy. Sorely needed. Take a good look.