Scribes – February 12th 2009
Dear Scribes,
I see that the folks in the Twycross Barn have been slogging away on some new projects lately. Brilliant! I, as you would expect, have written in amongst the ranting tirade of zealots to discuss the latest Bear and Bird adventure. Questions have to be answered, and thus the obligatory numbered system must once again rear its ugly head. So, without further ado…
1. That popular, equally British duo by the name of Wallace and Gromit seem to bear a lot in common with Banjo and Kazooie. Packed with charm and humour, they tend to get ‘creative’ and build (often wacky) things in their adventures. I loved the series and Nuts and Bolts seems to emulate its off-kilter, imaginative vibe. Would the BK team also consider this or other elements of popular culture a creative influence? (Without daring to infringe on copyright, of course.)
2. What’s the wackiest thing someone’s built in BK: N&B?
3. Off the topic of BK: N&B, when is somebody going to update the super-secret competitions, hidden away via the gauntlet of buttons on the Rare homepage? I so desire to win a copy of the GoldenEye Beta or some other long-outdated piece of conspiracy related history. (If I should dare to ask the question at all…)
Looking ahead, thanks for reading and (hopefully) including this letter in the latest edition of Scribes. Judging by your track record by the time this edition is made public we’ll all be flying about Spiral Mountain in our Arwing/Hindenburg/AT-AT variants anyway. 😉
C. Gibson
1) A leftover answer from Gregg before he scarpered for Xmas! Ready? Go: “An interesting and imaginative question which deserves more than the answer it’s going to get. No, I don’t think the creative direction of Nuts & Bolts was influenced by specific elements of popular culture, but it’s fair to say that this ‘off-kilter imaginative vibe’ is something that the UK is renowned for. Whether it’s because we are creative heroes challenging convention or just a bunch of oddities that never see daylight is for you to decide.”
2) Another one! “The cube-shaped car with wheels on all six sides would take some beating. I think the idea was that if you rolled the thing you could keep on moving irrespective of the direction it landed. We thought it was cool, but the software guys who had to figure out how the wheels on all six sides should work so that it didn’t create any problems absolutely hated it.”
3) It’s been on the to-do list for a while, but in a low enough spot to ensure continual displacement by other things. Still, I do need to offload this pile of Elephanilla mouse mats somehow…
True, the gap between Scribes has been wider than usual lately. I’ve been busy! Imagine what would have happened if I’d turned my back on the Banjo script only for someone to go in there and make Captain Blubber say “your” instead of “yer”, or Mumbo start using verbs in the past tense. It would have shattered rainbows and made babies cry.
I greet you, Master of the Grand Scribes Guild.
1. As your company already said, the concept of building so many different vehicles out of so many different parts is something that’s never before been in a platformer or action adventure. However, vehicles and a city to drive around in are things we’ve seen before in other platformer franchises who tried to mature. I’m sure you know I’m talking about the Jak series here. So tell me, did you draw some inspiration from this series for Nuts & Bolts? Or did the thought even come directly from the GTA series, who as far as I know started the whole trend?
2. And for something completely different: Sometime last year Retro Gamer published a feature about the making of Donkey Kong Country. In it, Gregg Mayles explained that Diddy was originally planned to be DK Jr. with a new outfit. But what does that say about Cranky Kong? Back in the day, it was stated time and time again that he was the original DK from the arcade machine, and that the new DK was his son/grandson. Now, if Diddy was supposed to be DK Jr. in your original concept, then DK must’ve been DK Sr… so what about Cranky? Wasn’t he invented yet at that stage, or was he simply planned to be an old gorilla with no backstory?
With love and the hope that my second question didn’t cause a burnout syndrome,
Graf Saecula
More from Gregg! It’s almost as if he’d specifically called for more questions on his two favourite subjects: games from the ’80s and the Kong family tree.
“1) In all these other games you drive vehicles created by someone else, whereas in Banjo they can be vehicles created by you. GTA certainly did not start the ‘driving vehicles around a city’ trend, my youthful friend, as my ageing memory recalls playing a game on the ZX Spectrum called Turbo Esprit by Durell. Indeed, the fountain of irrefutable truth that is Wikipedia backs me up!”
“2) Why do so many people ask us about the DK family tree when it is quite clear that we put very little thought into it (as we didn’t expect people to care)? Cranky was the original DK, the new DK is his grandson (I think). Diddy is new DK’s cousin. Don’t even think about asking us why DK is a Gorilla and Diddy is a Monkey…”
Dear Scribes,
Hello there! First off, I want to say that I greatly enjoyed Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (although I feel it could have used more actual exploration), but I have a question for anyone on the Banjo team who can answer. The wallpaper sent to those of us who won that story-guessing competition featured 2-D heads of various characters in the game, including Groggy, Soggy, Moggy and a White Jinjo… none of which made the final cut. The White Jinjo I can presume just wasn’t necessary, but I’m curious about the Boggy children; the main reason for that being that banjo-kazooie.com’s fan site kit, which was uploaded sometime in October, also included a “boggykid” voice clip.
What I’m wondering is… what purpose were they to serve in the game (game world actors? Showdown Town-only characters, like Jingaling?), at around what point in design/development were they cut, and why were they cut? Also, were there ever any promotional renders made for their updated designs? I would love to see that (or full concept art of them) if so. The main reason I ask is that I am greatly interested in unused “beta” elements of games (I’m weird like that) and the fact that they were included in somewhat-recent promotional materials. Thanks in advance!
Larry “bottles98” Keller
We’re out of Gregg responses, so in a bold and dramatic experiment, the remaining hoard of Banjo-related questions has been farmed out to four other designers on the team. That means it’ll be a exciting mystery who responds to what from here on in. As for you, boy, you get… Shaun!
And Shaun says: “Larry, you mean you’ve yet to find the mythical White Jinjo? Tsk…
“Anyway, as for Boggy’s kids, nice question. Groggy, Soggy and Moggy starred in a challenge that was canned quite late in development. I seem to remember it being called ‘Don’t Bring Your Kids To Work Day’. While it was a cool challenge, we had so many ideas that we decided to replace it at the last minute. The little polar bears cried all day, but that’s game development for you. The render you’ve seen was produced very early in the game’s development, so it’s understandable that several faces failed to see the light of day. Bless ’em.”
Dear person who presides over this madness:
I’ll dispense with the traditional opening attempt at comedy and get right to the point. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. The Logbox 720 level. Was Humba’s “tedious oval race” event specifically designed from the ground up to make the player physically ill or what? All those constant left turns you have to take at top speed to get that annoying cat’s trophy. And I did it 21 times before I got it right! I was about to launch my lunch toward the end. Just thinking about taking those tight turns over and over and over and over and over and… ulp. ‘Scuse me a sec.
(retching sounds)
Okay. Where was I? …over and over just makes me so angry! Though I have to admire the twisted genius of that level. Not only did I have to do the race itself, I spent nearly half an hour meticulously designing a car that could beat the challenge. So I put in an insane amount of work just for the reward of nearly projectile vomiting all over the screen. I’d demand Gregg be deprived of biscuit privileges at the Rare cafeteria if it weren’t for the fact that the game was addictively awesome.
Though I’m sure the inevitable 47 billion e-mails along the lines of “OMG KI3 CONFIRMED!!!eleven” in the wake of those cheeky jokes in the game is punishment enough. Forward them to him.
Bob
I do forward them to him. Not all of them, because I can live without having my tyres slashed, but a representative sampling.
Anyway, it’s Luke who gets to answer this email, and he says: “Ooo, crikey… sounds like it sent you around the bend! Did the name of the challenge not hint at anything? We were going to set it at 50 laps like a real oval race, but thought that the punters may find that too tedious. Suffice to say, Gregg is only fed on bread and water now to prevent these kinds of things happening in the future.
“Personally speaking, I think LOGBOX 720 is a masterstroke in design and setup and one of my favourite worlds. I can honestly say I’ve spent more time on this world than any other!” And he didn’t even design it, you loveable conspiracy nuts.
Hey, Rareware with that British flair!
Happy new year! Another 365 days with no new Battletoads announcement. Oh well, the stinging stopped a long time ago.
Given that ’08 was the year of crossovers, in which we finally saw an official end to that Mario vs. Sonic rubbish (and, to a different extreme, witnessed the zenith of bad Star Wars fanfiction with the inclusion of a certain black-helmed asthmatic in SoulCalibur IV), what are the chances of you finally throwing down with another developer you’ve been casting a stern glare at for some time now? Surely there must be someone you guys consider a worthy rival. You’re not the only developer with a rich history and loads of franchises after all. Couldn’t be Sega, those guys have had it. It couldn’t be an English-speaking developer either, because I can’t rightly think of any off the top of my head that has a sufficient roster to defend themselves from your legions of robots and incendiary woodland creatures.
Ah well, if anything you could always ask Capcom to take you up on a crossover game. Those guys are always willing to clash with anyone. Who would’ve thought the creators of Street Fighter would be so confrontational?
Yours in the eyes of our Lord (of Games),
Josh Who Loves BBQ Ribs
Capcom vs. Rare? I don’t see how that could possibly go wrong. Blast Corps on Lost Planet… Jet Force Maximo… Resident by the Ghoulies? Oh, you were probably suggesting something mundane and boring like Street Fighter vs. Killer Instinct.
In all honesty I’ve never heard talk of us ‘throwing down’ with another developer, either before or after the Microsoft buyout. I think it only really works if your most famous franchise is a fighter, and for all the touchingly effervescent zeal of the KI fanbase, I wouldn’t say we’re best known for that. Nice idea though.
Dear Scribes.
Playing through Banjoland in Nuts and Bolts and enjoying the tunes of old, I came to the realization that Clanker’s Cavern was not part of the medley. Now, many songs were not used, but this one made me think; if I recall, the theme from that level was remixed as Wrinkly’s theme for DK64, which came out after Banjo-Kazooie. Which leads to my question: do you guys still own the rights to Clanker’s theme, or is it in Nintendo’s hands now? I just want to know if I should expect to hear the song in Banjo-Tooie: Nuts and Bolts, or in DKC4.
No No No, Wrong Way!
For your designer response you get… Steve!
“I suggested to Grant (Kirkhope – musician) that the music for Banjoland would be great if it was a medley of the old themes. It also seemed logical, as that world is made up of references to old worlds from B-K and B-T. His original idea was to include a snippet of one of the old themes in each of the new ones, which is why you can hear part of Jinjo Village in Showdown Town. He’d already featured the old Clanker’s Cavern theme as part of the original Logbox 720 music, so didn’t include it as part of Banjoland. But then that tune was rewritten so it kind of got left out, unfortunately. I would ask Grant to dig out the original Logbox theme but he doesn’t work here any more!”
Notice how we neglect to reach any kind of consensus on the (lack of) capitalisation in LOGBOX/Logbox/LogBox/LOGBox. We’re crazy rebels and we just don’t care. Also, the in-game font was all-caps so we didn’t need to worry about it at the time.
Hi Scribes,
I am a long time fan of Rare since I was five years old, my first game was even Donkey Kong Country for the SNES when it came out in 1994 and I received it along with my first console ever. Enough about that, my question is if you guys at Rare would ever consider to remake Donkey Kong Racing for the Nintendo DS? Like how you guys remade and ported Diddy Kong Racing over to the DS. I know I might be asking the wrong person for this question, but I hope you can inform the DS team to come to an agreement with Nintendo on this lost 2001 game that almost once was a reality. I do love Diddy Kong Racing and I still enjoy the original and the DS remake to this day, and I’m sure the mass majority of Rare fans do as well, and hope for this game’s return. In my position, I was crushed back in 2001 when Donkey Kong Racing was announced as canceled on the Nintendo GameCube, and all the people (fans) waiting for it were also crushed as well.
I do hope this question ends up in your next edition of Scribes, and maybe it can get the attention of fans who can remember this game; and also maybe it can get Rare’s attention because of the fans rejoice and Rare to rethink of remaking this for the Nintendo DS or DSi. I just hate seeing a good looking game being canceled without giving it a chance of its potential to the gaming world. Thanks for listening.
Jake
I’m not sure you can remake a game that was never made, but I get where you’re coming from. So would we consider remaking it? Well, I suppose there’s no harm in saying we’d consider it. But it also seems likely that nothing would come of it unless we were directly approached by Nintendo. It’s not as straightforward as “informing the DS team to come to an agreement”; deals involving other companies’ IP very rarely are. I’m sure you realise we didn’t cancel it on a whim the first time around just to aggravate fans. Our acquisition by Microsoft led to a lot of changes being made, and while we’re still on good terms with Nintendo, it’d be naive to expect our working relationship to be as direct now as it was when we were developing primarily for their systems.
So, long story short: Donkey Kong Racing, maybe one day, you never know, if the fates decree it. Right then, back to Banjo.
Hello dear Scribes!
First of all I’d like to thank everyone in the Banjo team for delivering a swell game. Though I was not the biggest fan of the direction you decided to take the Banjo storyline in, it’s still a very well-made game and you guys really made the effort. (And I wasn’t bothered by the vehicles, yay!) It was also a dream come true to hear Grant’s old Banjo themes orchestrated. I’m listening to them right now!
On to my question, I was wondering what Rareware currently thinks of the platforming genre. Conker’s Bad Fur Day poked fun at pretty much every cliché that’s come from the genre, and BK:NB‘s script felt rather more like a rant at the industry than a videogame storyline, and so I can’t help but feel that you guys have grown tired of the genre. Is this the case, or have I just missinterpetated your sense of humor?
Also is there any chance for a Diddy Kong Racing reunion? Banjo, Conker and Timber have all changed so much since their debut, so it’d be nice to put them in the same room again after all these years down the road. (Yeah that’s right, I figured out that Timber and Trophy Thomas are actually the same guy! Who else would use that colour-combo of orange and blue and have an obsession for racing?) Tiptup can join in too I suppose.
Cheers and thanks for boosting my imagination with your colourful games!
Qwazin
Luke gets this one! Hang on, ‘missinterpetated’?
“First of all, I’d just like to say thanks and I’m glad you’re enjoying BK:NB!
“Rare love the platforming genre, but like anything else it does evolve. That is, unlike Klungo. He’ll never evolve. He’ll just regress! Anyway, the script was solely written by L.O.G. and due to the nature of his role, who are we to question? Maybe that’s how L.O.G. feels about the whole genre… After all, he is the Lord of Games!
“A Diddy Kong Racing Reunion? That sounds like a quality name for the title itself! Who knows though? If we could tempt Conker, Timber and the rest of the clan out of retirement then anything can happen. Rumour has it that these guys have gone the same way as Banjo and put on some middle-age spread.”
Dear Scribes,
I’m a bit of a new fan of yours, I bought the Conker port to the Xbox about a year ago and I loved it. Following that I got the Banjo-Kazooie N64 cartridge and despite hating the note system (seriously, what’s up with that…) I adored it. Now I’m delving through your other games feverishly, playing Battletoads (and failing that freaking hover bike bit… again, what the hell?) and I even got a few of your DS ports (Diddy Kong and Viva Piñata, both excellent I may add).
So, as you’ve probably noticed, I haven’t mentioned any 360 games, well, that’s because I can’t afford a 360… yet. So, while I throw what little pennies I get each month into a vault, what games are you planning on putting onto other formats? Any chance of a Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts PC port, or even a Banjo game for DS? I also cannot wait to grab a 360 and dig into Banjo-Tooie, a game that now costs a freaking bomb (you should make a few cartridge copies and sell them, it’d cover all your marketing costs for a year).
Anyway, here’s hoping you respond.
Carnage
Oh yes, we’ll certainly respond. We’ve got a whole team of eager responders chomping at the bit.
Take it away, Mr. Steve: “Can’t see Nuts & Bolts coming out on PC but you never know. You’d really need a 360 controller (which it was designed for) to get the most out of it, anyway, so I guess buying one of those would be a quarter of the way there. You may as well go the whole hog and just get a 360 if you possibly can!
“I too am looking forward to playing through Tooie again. I worked on the original so I have many fond memories of it and I haven’t played it since then!”
Dear Scribes,
Sir Sveltington, I am to assume yours was a wonderful Christmarse?
I just wanted to say that I finally ate some Chewits. It opened my eyes, man. I saw this place called Chewits Land, and I tried my best to scrawl what I could remember before it disappeared. I tried to work in Mrs. Pie, but I didn’t have a reference off-hand, and I’m pretty sure that’s her on the phone with Mr. Arse. I even added one o’ them doodoo feathers everyone misses.
…Oh wait, was I supposed to be whining about Grabbed By The Push Button Instinct: Jet Toads Alpha Platinum Racing? Because I can totally work that into my next letter.
Cheers!
Paul M. Pasquella
It’s nice that we have such stalwarts as yourself on hand to prevent the fine tradition of the Rubbish Picture Attachment from dying out entirely. However, I did have to trim the logos and stuff from around the edges of your latest masterpiece, just in case the Chewits people find your praise insufficient to make up for the association with a big arse on a beach.
Had a very fine Xmas period, thanks. We’ve even got some belated snow going on at the moment. Unfortunately the British infrastructure is only set up to deal with constant rain, so our public services have taken a thumping, but hey – who needs education and buses when the ground’s covered in stuff you can just pick up and lob at people and (possibly) not even get arrested?
Yo Scribes,
I’m a Rare fan since 1998 and I would like to ask you a few questions :). OK here I go…
1) Is Banjo keeping his look from Nuts & Bolts for the next game, or he will get his old school look back? Personally I like his old school look more, but I wouldn’t mind to see his N&B look once again, after all it’s Banjo.
2) Banjo-Tooie is and will always be the best adventure game ever made, but, after all that success, why did Rare stopped to make Banjo games until now?
3) There’s any chance to see another Diddy Kong Racing with Banjo and Conker in it? I really missed them in DKR DS.
4) OK, one last question, and no, it’s not about KI3. The next Banjo-Kazooie game is going to be released in 3 or 5 years approximately, or we will have to wait another 8 years for it to come out?
God bless you Rare, and keep the good work. wink
King Dingaling
I imagine Luke has been waiting for years to get to grips with a good solid numbered list. Keep the cheeky winks to yourself though, we’re finding that a bit unsettling.
1) Banjo loves his new look and would really like to keep it. Anyhow, too much surgery would be involved to get him looking like his previous low-poly model of yesteryear.
2) Banjo needed a break. So we sent him on vacation for a whole decade. Only when he got back did our design team see his vacation snaps that inspired BK:NB.
3) What with all of the high vehicle emissions nowadays, the Diddy Kong Racers have had to think long and hard about what vehicles they can continue using. We all have to do our bit, even gaming characters!
4) Who knows? Banjo needs another well-earned rest after his last colossal adventure. We’ll let him decide when he’s ready to come back. To be honest, I’ve just seen him on his sun lounger near the pool eating pizza. Tut tut… old habits and all that!”
Dear Scribes,
How hard would it be to get the team to put some music on the site? You have music from Banjo-Tooie and Conker’s Bad Fur Day! And from what we, the people have been to scrape together with worn down nails (that were worn down by picking through textures on the wall), the music is brilliant. It can’t be that hard to sneak in during lunch and get some of the MP3s or WAVs into your floppy!
Now another thing, my letters never seem to be on the Scribes, so if it gets on I will fly to Twycross in an airplane made out of cake and whisk you off to the happy land. Don’t take it personally, I just like making people have a “What is this I don’t even…” day.
Wish everyone lots of love!
wkw427
You’re talking about Nuts & Bolts, I take it? We’ve got a couple of tracks up on the site so far, and I’m sure there’s scope for wangling a few more, but it’s all a bit up in the air when we can’t say for sure what’s happening with a CD release. Jolly old fingers crossed, we’re hoping to hear something soon. You know us Brits, born to be recklessly optimistic.
That said, I really don’t think a plane made of cake would be aerodynamically sound, so I must regretfully decline your offer of a free trip to “the happy land”. Even if Samuel L. Jackson is on board. Fighting snakes. Snakes on a Cake.
Dear Brilliant and Eccentric Scribesmen and/or Scribeswomen,
I’m sure you’re completely fed up with annoying queries about Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts ‘n’ Bolts. I am positive you are ecstatic to have the game released, your secrets exposed, and witness a halt to annoying questions such as “Can we make a fill in blank vehicle?” or “How exactly does the fill in blank work?”. I know how you feel Scribesmen and/or Scribeswomen. So here are some more Nuts ‘n’ Bolts comments/questions/concerns just to annoy you! (Well not really. I do care what you have to say about these questions/comments/concerns so please answer.)
1. First of all, I have to say the vehicle editor is very advanced and in-depth. It also allows me to be creative and create phrases such as “You Smell Funny” out of blocks that will actually fly with enough propellers attached! Congratulations on your excellent work, Team Banjo!
2. Many of the challenges are extremely enjoyable, especially the Jinjo Hurling. However, some other challenges (cough “Eggcellent Racing”) are rather annoying and/or tedious. Such challenges that do not allow the creativity to choose your own vehicle are rather boring. I would love a nice, sense-making explanation for why said boring (for me, at least) challenges exist.
3. I’m not too pleased with the “Cut for Deadlines” room. Mad Monster Mansion pieces, inflatable sheep (if I remember correctly), and an entire game world! In my opinion, it would have been better to delay the game a month in order to include Wacky West in the game. I would have waited that extra month for sure!
All in all, a rather enjoyable game. Thank you!
Banjo’s #2 fan (hey, someone’s gotta take the spot),
Justin
Aha! Shaun likes Eggcellent Racing. Let’s create a massive rift in community relations by giving this one to Shaun.
1. Err, cool. Cheers.
2. Eggcellent Racing is one of my favorite challenges! Oh well, it’d be a boring world if we were all the same. Agreed, the more interesting challenges are certainly the ones you can approach in numerous ways. However, a game with as many challenges as you find in Nuts and Bolts you will always have some sections of the game that people find less interesting than others. Ask another person and they could have a completely different opinion. Horses for courses, I guess… whatever that means.” Bah! Confound his tact and understanding and unwillingness to make a scene.
3. Last-minute cuts are an unfortunate fact of life in game development. Just to put it into perspective, keeping the Weird West level could easily have added not one but four months to the development time. Not just that, but polish and balancing time would have undoubtedly been reduced for the other levels in the game. These are decisions that are not made lightly, but at the end of the day, the game has to come out.”
Dear Scribes,
I remember you saying that VP for PC was sort of a test run into the PC format and depending on how it goes some of your other titles may appear on PC. Well my friend is a big fan of VP and was a big fan of BK back in the old days, and I was wondering what are the chances of VP:TP & BK:NB appearing on PC in the future?
Have you ever thought of or even made concept art of Piñata species as sours that aren’t the ones that are actually sours in the games? I think a sour Dragonache would look awesome… not to mention destroy your garden.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Zach Clarke
No plans to port any other recent Rare releases to PC, or at least no plans of which I’m aware. That’s not a blanket policy from this point onwards – we (and MGS) tend to weigh up these things on a case-by-case basis. A PC compilation pack of Rare 8-bit classics Taboo, Anticipation and WWF Wrestlemania Challenge is now in the process of being pitched, except not really, because that would be terrible.
I grilled VP concept artist extraordinaire Ryan on the issue of speculative Sours, and he said: “We almost did have Sour versions of every Piñata in the game as it was an idea that floated around at the start of the project, but in the end we decided to focus on the final handful and make them a bit more mischievous. A Sour Dragonache would be cool, but you’re right, it would decimate your garden.”
Hello, Mr. Scribes Person at Rareware.
First off, I enjoyed the most recent games of yours I’ve added to my collection, including Banjo-Kazooie on the Xbox Live Arcade, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, and Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. Being a fan of Banjo since back in ’97, when I was only three, and Diddy Kong Racing was released, it would only make sense that I would own 100% Completed carts for those five (including DKR) games, and now currently working on my second file of Nuts & Bolts to 100% Completion.
Second of all, the main reason for my sending this Email, was I recently heard about a “Subliminal Message”, if you will, in the main theme for the LOGBOX 720 World in Nuts & Bolts. In the latter half of the stage’s music, instead of the loud, electronic-sounding music, it becomes quiet, and Factory-esque, which reminds me, and many others, of Frantic Factory from Donkey Kong 64 (which I also have in my game collection), and plays a droned voice that SOUNDS like it says the following:
“Welcome to my Wo~orld
Stupid Bear and Bi~ird
Lots to do and see
Stop N Swop on Three Sixty~y”
Was this intentional, as well as all your other conspiracies (ie: the Chalkboard in Grabbed by the Ghoulies, the Map in Rusty Bucket Bay’s Control Room, etc.), or is this “Taunt from the L.O.G.” a phony? It sounds too real, like the L.O.G. himself really IS making fun of the Bear and Bird duo, but it could be a voice saying something else.
Thank you for your time, and please get back to me.
Kris, AKA, KazDragoon
Steve seems to know something about this one. “It certainly was intentional. Those are indeed the words uttered by the mysterious, electronic voice. You should’ve heard what it said before we got told to change it for fear of litigation!
“And you were three in 1997? That’s when I started working at Rare – thanks for making me feel old!”
You must have been some kind of latent child psychic too, what with your early fixation on the biggest future star of the DKR line-up (speaking in terms of total game releases, uncouth squirrel fans).
Dear Scribes,
BK:N&B. OK, I’m a big fan of the original games, downloaded the demo last week, a bit wary and have played it a lot. It’s a lot of fun.
However, the game is so nearly a platformer it’s very frustrating that it’s not despite being very good. So here’s the plan: The mechanics of the game world and artwork are mostly done so cranking out a platformer as well could be done in a few weeks. Get to it. And while you’re at it, can you do a sequel to Blast Corps. I loved that.
Ben Murray
Back to Shaun: “Hi Ben. Glad you’re finding the new game fun, go tell your mates!
“Cool plan with only one minor flaw. To be honest, two weeks is a slightly ambitious timeframe for a modern, triple-A platform game. Make it four and we’ll see what we can do…
“Blast Corps was great, wasn’t it?”
That was not a confirmation of anything. Repeat, not a confirmation. Move along. Nothing to see here.
Hey you,
I want to officially become part of Scribes family, and it seems the only way to do that is by a good old-fashioned numbered list. So here is my first one. You want a rare numbered list too? Okay then…
1. Whenever you see the word ‘rare’, do you always think of work? And does that annoy you?
3. How would you describe Scribes? I notice that your answers/statements are usually the same length as peoples’ questions/statements, which is why I’m rambling on to get a longer answer.
4. I read in the last Scribes that something apparently happened to Grant Kirkhope, but WHAT exactly happened to him? And am I in his will? Him and me go way back, so far in fact that I’ve lost touch and need you to clarify what happened to him.
5. Can you tell me EXACTLY how many editions of Scribes, Ask Uncle Tusk, Pantsboard and Tepid Seats there are? I want to try and get the whole collection.
7. This one’s about Jamie Hughes: is he still alive? I’m just wondering because nobody seems to ask him anything.
9. I haven’t watched it, but did you know that there’s a TV show called The Mentalist?
10. Scribes – 9th of May, 2008: in response to Fernando, owner of a specialist magazine’s letter: ‘Tthe Snippets book idea is sound though.’ Um, you are aware that ‘the’ has one ‘t’ in it, right? Okay good, ’cause for a second there I thought you made a really basic mistake.
I’m sorry about that. Please don’t hurt me.
Darren Borg
Yes, I adore numbered lists, especially when they’re really long and pointless. Think yourself lucky I need all the non-Banjo questions I can get. Still, to make myself feel better I’ve deleted some of your questions at random. In your face! Like Christian Bale!
1) Yes. And yes, a bit.
3) It’s just the stupid Rare letters page, man. I try to give decent-sized answers where possible, hence my irritation when 568 people send in exactly the same question about GoldenEye XBLA or KI3 or one of the many other unkillable zombie topics we entertain around here.
4) He sailed off to chart the great American wilderness with a machete and a tame raccoon sidekick, or he just got a new job in the States, I forget which.
5) Loads. To go back, count and compare the editions hosted on each incarnation of the site to date would be indulging in the bothersome actions of a madman.
7) He’s alive… or he was last time I ventured up to the music department. This answer could have been more interesting if you’d gone ahead and asked him something.
9) Yes, it sounds brilliant and I’m waiting impatiently for it to appear on British TV so that I can watch one episode and be really disappointed that it’s nothing to do with an aggressive nutter sitting in a bus station with a binbag full of dead pigeons.
10) Hey, when you’re churning out Scribes updates at this kind of speed it’s hard to get everything exactly right, you know?
Dear Mr. Scribes Person,
Everyone was happy when you released Banjo-Kazooie on XBLA. Everyone completed the game 100% and noticed what Mumbo said about Stop ‘n’ Swop.
I guess this means SnS will not appear on Banjo-Tooie once you release it for XBLA?
Well, if you can’t… RELEASE A PATCH CHANGING THE ENDING OF BANJO-KAZOOIE TO ALLOW SNS IN BANJO-TOOIE… I would like to ask one thing.
Will there be multiplayer in the XBLA Banjo-Tooie? CoughDevil BottlesCough I’m sure you will agree that nothing could be more fun than playing with two people? You could brag about it being a two player game and could make more money! Seriously, everyone would like to know if the red, floaty, devil mole will appear in the game.
Johnathan Taylor
P.S. Could you give me something? Anything!? Scribble something on Paint, look through the archives, anything! I’m begging you! My life is an endless pit of misery that falls through an eternal void of darkness because I do not have something!… I’m not desperate though…
Very avant garde use of paragraphs. Right, who hasn’t done a reply yet? Aha! Shelley.
“You really ought to get something for that cough; I couldn’t quite make out what you were saying. As for your other question, all of the multiplayer modes that were available in the original Banjo-Tooie will be returning in the XBLA version.”
You’re begging for something random scribbled in Paint even after we reached new depths last time by giving someone a signed photo of the Rare gates in the rain? Will you people never learn? Here, I know what you can have: a photo I took at a car boot sale last year, featuring a spelling error so in-your-face that it haunts me to this day. Still, if the act of bestowing it upon you somehow boosts your self-worth then this tragic display of ignorance will have done some good after all.
Dear Rare,
As a huge fan of your games, I’m devoted to buying all of the new games (and a lot of the classics too!) and just can’t help but notice the incredible music that plays in the background. I love the synthesizers used for the old games and the orchestral instruments in the newer games for the 360 but is it just me or did the music’s volume become a little lower in the newest Banjo-Kazooie game? I’m the kind of person that enjoys listening intently to the music that I hear but for some reason I find it harder to concentrate on Nuts and Bolts‘ music than the music composed for the older Banjo-Kazooie games and even Conker’s Bad Fur Day. This is probably because of the sound effects and I tend to have problems focusing on one sound amongst many others (so it’s personal) but I would still like to know if the volume was decreased and I would be extremely happy if it was raised ever so slightly in the newest titles. And of course I’m going to definitely buy the soundtrack for this game if it comes out 😉
On a different note, I love the lightheartedness you put into Nuts and Bolts. The first 5-10 minutes made me laugh big time. L.O.G.’s collect-as-many-useless-items-as-possible challenge was hilarious. I love the Viva Piñata references (Bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready to spend?) and Mumbo’s expression when he opens the first box took me by surprise.
Keep up the fantastic work!
Christina
We could easily leave you thinking that you’re wrong in the head, but you may actually be on to something. Let’s allow Robin himself to explain.
“There are a couple of reasons why the older games are louder. Firstly the N64 had a very loud output and we also used to squash and normalise the level of each individual sample so that they wouldn’t suffer too much when we compressed them down to their final sample rate. But I think the main reason is that Nuts & Bolts is an orchestral recording so therefore has a far greater dynamic shift from soft to loud in the overall performance.
“If you go to the options menu, you can turn the sound effects all the way down so that you can only hear the music.”
Greetings, from the US to the UK…
Anyways, I’m a long time Banjo fan and just wanted to ask you a couple questions. Now Scribes person will you do this quietly? Please… Okay, then I’ll ask.
1. In the Demo I recall the phrase ‘You’ll go blind, you Clanker.’ Now I affiliated this with the saying ‘You’ll go blind you w*nker.’ I then recalls Loveday saying in a Dev Diary that there would not be any more Innuendoes (or so he joked). Now is he wrong, or has the Banjo team just saturated my mind with dirty thoughts from the last two games?
2. Now in the recent Scribes, you said the limit on vehicle size is 19 blocks. Yet I’ve seen an image of a huge boat in Spiral Mountain that looked more then 19 blocks. So are you yanking our chains or am I just fooled by my own sense of creativity?
3. With the confirmation of Banjo-Tooie hitting the XBLA I was wondering. Would the line when you meet Loggo in Grunty Industries (the line being “Maybe Mario’s available.”) be changed in any way or has Nintendo allowed you to keep the references? I don’t want to come to the point where the line is changed to “Maybe Master Chief is available.”
Now for my ultimate question, should you answer it.
4. If you had a choice to go back in time would you change anything about Rare?
Kazooienut of that one place
Back to Luke and his awful slanderous lies!
“1) That pesky Loveday, he must have sneaked that one in… seriously though. There’s no way on earth we’d leave any kind of innuendo in any of our games. There are too many people to offend nowadays!” I’d like to point out that the challenge names were already set before I contributed anything to the game, not that I’m trying to distance myself from them because any jury in the land can see that they are entirely innocent.
“2) Mumbo thought his garage was bulletproof but clearly someone has been slightly brighter than the shaman himself. I asked Mumbo about this and he said: ‘Mumbo have 19 block limit in place for reason. Gamer break limit to make better vehicle. Gamer too bright for Mumbo… oomenacka!’
“3) There’s no mention of him to be honest, just a mention of an Italian plumber.
“4) Personally, I’d make the coffee cheaper and the dinners bigger but that’s not the answer you’re looking for. On a serious note, I’d change nothing. It’s fun, challenging and constantly evolving. What a way to earn a living…”
Dear Scribes,
Hi! I’m a huge Banjo-Kazooie fanboy and have a couple quickies:
1. I heard Nintendo want Banjo in Super Smash Bros Brawl and you guys denied it. Is that true or just a big rumour?
2. I think it would be cool to see Donkey Kong 64 DS. The big ape needs it after a couple crappy Gamecube and Wii games. You did it for his little buddy so why can’t you do it for the top banana?
Thanks, you guys are awesome!
Banjo-Geek
1) Well, I’m not convinced. Maybe in the Melee days they’d have considered it, but why would they want to include Banjo this time around when he’s only appeared on Microsoft systems in the last few years? Besides, everyone knows we’ve got the 100% original Super-de-Duper Rare Bash Chums in the pipeline starring Banjo, Jack Dark, Storkos and the little driver fella with the really slow running animation from Blast Corps.
2) Not a total impossibility, but see previous responses to the perennial “why don’t you put Game X on the DS” question. Technically I suppose DK64 could have an edge over other suggestions due to the Kong clan being Nintendo’s own property, but again, that’s not a confirmation and if you decide to take it as one then you, sir, will find your garden gnomes upended in your pond tomorrow morning.
Hey Guys!
I’ve been a Rare fan since DKC back on the SNES. You guys have always been my favorite developers. With N&B on the way, I decided to play through Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie again on my N64, I got all the Jiggies, notes, Cheato pages etc. in both of them. Those still are my two favorite single player games.
Also, just to let you know that there are some Ghoulies fans out there, I started a playthrough series of the game on my YouTube channel.
ANYWAY, I had a personal question. Myself, and about… 50% of Banjo fans are a little upset with how different N&B is. Now, different doesn’t equal bad, and in no way is N&B bad, it’s a great game! It’s just so different! SO MY QUESTIONS to you guys are,
1) Do you think there would be any chance that Nuts And Bolts just turns out to be a spinoff, and A true Banjo-Threeie will come out someday? With good ol’ fashioned Banjo goodness? With all of Kazooie’s moves, no vehicles, and creature transformations?
2) I assume Tooie is headed to the Arcade at some point. I dont know if this is possible, but if you guys could SOMEHOW make the minigames “online compatible” that would be super awesome! I mean, It’d be SO FUN playing some shootout challenges on Xbox Live, seeing as I would play the FPS games in Tooie for hours on end with my friends.
3) I’ve been playing the N&B demo online with my friend. My only REAL problem, and it’s not that major, is that both players play as Banjo. I mean, it’d be OK if you both played as Banjo, but they should at least be different colors…
4) Is there gonna be some sort of “Free roam” mode in N&B online? Cuz I’d love to just mess around online in one of the levels with my friends :O
Anyway, keep up the good work guys!
PeteyPiranha128
The random response bottle spins, and settles once more on Shaun.
1. Just a spin-off? That’s three years of the team’s hard labour, that is! Seriously though, the original plan was to do a traditional platformer and work was even started on it. The truth is we felt that it was time to take the franchise in a new direction and now it’s done, we’re certainly glad we did. That’s not to say Banjo will never go back to his platforming roots, just that for this game it was time to try something new.
2. Cool idea, but I’m afraid as the XBLA games are not developed at Rare, it’s somewhat out of our hands.
3. We approached Banjo on this very subject. To be honest he wasn’t overly pleased that we had to take swabs in order to clone him, and making him change the colour of his pants was never going to happen.
4. I believe the Test-O-Track is the level you’re looking for.”
Hello Rare!
Yeah yeah, you’ve been getting a lot of letters about Banjo. But this one is important…
1. Now Banjo-Kazooie was my first game on the N64, and I loved it. I’m not crazy about the new game, but I’m going to play it anyway. But, ever since the N64, I’ve gotten every Nintendo system, which means I have a Wii. Aren’t you worried that most of the core BK fans who fell in love on the N64 would probably have Wiis. Now I know you’re in contract with Microsoft but there has to be something for the Wii owners. At least the original on the Wii Virtual Console?
2. Now since you’re not in contract for handheld games, on account of the Viva Piñata on DS, could there be a Banjo-Kazooie DS?
Eric Cormier
I feel like I’ve answered both these questions about a hundred times, but fortunately I’m in a position to pass the buck to someone like Shelley and pretend I haven’t. Would I feel comfortable about doing that? Yes… yes I would.
1. Whilst Banjo fondly remembers his Nintendo days, Microsoft now pays for all his Lardo’s Pizzas and shorts repairs. This means it is unlikely that Banjo will be seen on the Virtual Console.
2. There could be, but that doesn’t mean there will be!”
They’re definitely getting the hang of it. This could be my big chance to retire.
Ey up! It’s time for Scribes!
Yorkshire accent aside, I think when you finish reading this email you’ll agree that it is indeed serious business.
Firstly (and I realise you’ve probably received 99 emails concerning KI3), if the Killer Instinct franchise were to be revived, would it be your bog-standard Killer Instinct? Or would you strive to create something truly unique out of it, so that it’s not just another fighting game? I’ve got some ideas if you like. No? Well to me, a ‘no’ is just a yes worded as a no, so here we go:
A strong, but undeterring storyline – A good game requires a good storyline in this game, and I’m not talking about some silly old Sonic-esque storyline that flows as gracefully as custard with gravel in it. T’would be tricky thinking up ones for all those characters (although some of them may not return from KIG, remember Cinder? T’was a shame to see him go I thought…)
Interactive scenery – Imagine being able to rip out a column from Sabrewulf’s manor and lobbing it in his face? Ripping several columns out could cause the ceiling to cave in, causing MASSIVE DAMAGE if you’re not prepared!
Keep the combos – They MADE KI what it is, taking out the combos would cause many problems, and not just with Yorkshiremen.
MOAR FULGORE – Come on, he’s the best character hands down. I’m sure anyone would pay £50 for a game that has Fulgore doing the funky chicken in it.
Secondly, I heard you lot did some work on Halo 3… Is this accurate? How much was yours? Was it Forge? Are Buzzlegums used in a sacrificial context?
Lastly, don’t you just hate spell checkers that only have American spellings? Looking back over this email, Firefox seems to think I’ve misspelled ‘realise’…
Merci beaucoup,
Alex (Vect 01/The True Mop)
99 emails about KI3? Oh, sweet innocence of youth. I would pay actual money to have only ever received 99 emails about KI3.
For now all we can do is reiterate that it’s probably not on the cards until we can spare the time, resources and manpower to sit down and amass a damn good set of ideas of how best to proceed with it and then actually go ahead and do it, note to self, might want to phrase that a bit more elegantly next time. Rattling off ideas is all well and good, but the problem is that no two fans have the same ideas regarding future iterations of KI. Anyway, Cinder’s already returned – as a Piñata Vision card. Is that good enough? No? Oh.
I think we answered the Halo 3 question last time, in a suitably generic fashion. Ah yes: we “helped out with art and also software”. That’s really boring and I’d love to replace it with an outrageous lie, but Bungie/MGS legal people might be reading this. Oh, look at me buckling under the weight of authority.
Hello Rare dudes,
Just wanted to drop a line saying that I’m enjoying the new B-K game. More than Tooie, actually (is that blasphemy?), which I found a bit of a chore. Wishing for a bit more help (maybe a blueprint suggestion?) with some of the “Player’s Choice” challenges (still haven’t been able to protect Mr. Fit in Nutty Acres well enough to earn the T.T. Trophy, for instance) for us “not-so-creative” types, but overall, a welcome addition. The reviewers can go shoot themselves in the face… with guns, I mean.
Keep up the good work.
Devin
PS I also enjoyed Grabbed by the Ghoulies.
Thanks for sticking up for us by stating that the reviewers should all be shot, I think. However, we should perhaps note that they didn’t all hate it, and the ones who did are perfectly entitled to their opinion and shouldn’t necessarily be killed for it. We wouldn’t cry if they got a Chinese burn though.
Seems you’ve also hit on a pet subject of our friend Shaun: “Hi Devin. Glad you asked about the Mr. Fit challenge, it’s one of my personal favourites as you can approach it in so many different ways. There’s the obvious approach of building a gun-toting death tank but that still requires a certain level of skill (and a bit of luck) to get the T.T. award. My favoured approach is to create a mobile bomb shelter with a manned egg gun positioned on top. Try building a strong, box-shaped vehicle with an opening at the front that you can park over the top of Mr. Fit each time he takes a breather. During this time you can jump into the gun turret and give those Gruntbots what for. Make sure you’re ready to jump back into the driving seat as soon as he starts to move again. Should get you that T.T. award in no time.”
Hi,
I’m quite a big Banjo fan. I have both N64 games, the 2 GBA games, I even downloaded those 2 god-awful cell phone games based on Grunty’s Revenge (seriously, what were you thinking, letting In-Fusio do this to the poor bear?). Anyway, seeing I didn’t like Nintendo’s Wii at all, I bought the next best thing, the Xbox 360 (you know, because it’s cheaper than a PS3). And of course, the advantage of having an Xbox 360 is the ability to buy (future) Banjo games.
Now, I was wondering what the deal is with Rare and the Nintendo DS. I know you’re able to create games for the DS, and I’m guessing Microsoft allows that cause they make a little money out of it too. I was just wondering, would Microsoft allow you guys to create a Banjo game for the Nintendo DS? To be honest, I hope not. Cause that would mean I’d have to buy a crappy, used and scratched Nintendo DS console somewhere just so I could play that game. Yes I know, I’m addicted to Banjo. It’s not healthy I guess. Seriously now, I’d really like to have a clear answer on this question. I probably won’t get one, cause you guys are sadistic bstrds (no offense though, I would do the same in your situation), but I just think it’s an interesting issue. So, is there any possibility or whatsoever that you’ll make a Banjo DS game in the future? (God, please say no.)
I’m also wondering what you’ll say in your reply to insult me. I love your subtle jabs at people. It’s not fair though, you always get the last word. That way it’s just too easy for you. I’m pretty sure I could mop the floor with you in a face-to-face wit-contest. Unfortunately, we’ll never know for sure.
Fien Vandoorne
Steve says: “A DS incarnation of Banjo could possibly happen at some point. I don’t personally know of any plans to make one. How vague is that?! As for insults, I’m only usually insulting to people I know! So, I don’t know, what’s the best insult I can come up with..? Er, your name’s a bit silly. How’s that?”
Think yourself lucky, Steve’s usually quite creative when it comes to insults. One of his finest contains the adjective ‘ocean-going’, but there’s no way we could reproduce it here even with appropriate censorship. As for the ‘subtle jabs’, well, look at what I have to deal with. Take this handful of quotes from genuine website ‘correspondence’ received recently:
“I don’t like the new banjo kazooie graphics the original graphics looked a lot better I think that then new ones look a bit odd after the old ones Wumba doesn’t even look indian anymore and mumbo in overalls is just and what happened to jolly’s pirate hat and bottles and boggy just look wired.”
And: “Can u remake make Perfect Dark for xbox 360 with improved graphics the lot excpet a script change and voice change also music change.”
And: “when conker gets to the mobster he discovers that the mobster is now enemies with the proffessor because the proffesso called him a fagget while there making a machine to the get to the relm that conker used to live in.”
There. You see? I think having a bit of a laugh at someone’s unlikely name or crap grammar every so often is small recompense…
Dear Scribes,
In the last edition of Scribes, you told us that Dinosaur Planet (or Star Fox Adventures, as it turned out to be) initially was a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing. As a fan of both Diddy Kong Racing and Star Fox Adventures, I have to bother you with more questions:
1) What kind of game was originally Dinosaur Planet? A racing game, as its “prequel” or a third person adventure, as it turned out to be?
2) I love the music in Diddy Kong Racing! But why are some stages sharing the same music? (Like Everfrost Peak & Snowball Valley, Treasure Caves & Pirate Lagoon, Greenwood Village & Windmill Plains, and Spacedust Alley & Star City.) Was it because of laziness from the composers? Time pressure? Lack of space on the cartridge? Or maybe by a complete different reason?
3) Banjo and Conker is playable in Diddy Kong Racing, but were they planned to get their own game at this point? Or did you later think “hmm, let’s use Banjo/Conker from Diddy Kong Racing and make a adventure game!”?
The cookie with name Aleksander
It was originally a 2D puzzle game starring Mr. Pants, where you had to stun dimetrodons by dropping big hexagons on them. Not convinced? Damn. I’ll see if I can find someone to ask.
1) Once electrodes were applied to stimulate that shrivelled old area of his memory, Steve from the SFA design team explained: “There were initial ‘racing’ elements (such as the ice slide) that were still present when Star Fox shipped, although Dinosaur Planet was always going to be a third person adventure.”
2) Dave speaks up without the need for electrodes: “Cartridge size. We had more tunes than cartridge space, which back in the good ol’ days was extremely tight!”
3) I suppose there was always the possibility that some of the cast could branch out into their own adventures, but I don’t think any of them were tagged with up-and-coming main character duties that far in advance. Banjo didn’t have Kazooie, and Conker was still, you know, nice. It would probably have been Timber, if anyone.
Hai Rare! ROFLLOLOLOL!
I figured I’d email you now while I’m thinking of it, at 3 in the morning.
The Avatars, on the ‘New Xbox Experience’, those are made by Rare, correct? So will there be any Banjo-related clothes? such as Banjo’s Backpack, or his ‘Ausumn Yello ShortZ’?
I’d love to dress up my guy with Banjo’s Wardrobe.
Think about that one a minute.
Josh ‘CR3AM SODAH’
P.S. I love cake 🙂
Luke comments: “Hmmm, is this some kind of fetish of yours? I’d never say never, but what would Banjo wear if your Avatar had his shorts… something that doesn’t bear thinking about! In fact, I can’t get that image out of my head now.”
We’re actually supposed to leave all Avatar promotion to Microsoft, hence the few and far between mentions of it on the site. But I suspect that if Banjo’s horrible garish yellow pantage was deemed appropriate for part of an Avatar outfit, it’d be in the works or up there by now. Maybe they don’t want to risk setting a precedent and having people write in demanding a Sabreman ‘tache or King Jeff’s stylish Drone hat.
Hello to the “Legendary Game Developer Rare”!
By the time this actually gets put up, we’ll probably have Banjo-Kazooie: (working title here) (if it does actually get put up. I noticed a distinct lack of me last time. Oh well, my question was probably rubbish… all the good writing is wasted on school these days. You know, higher-learning and whatnot). But, I digress.
Congratulations on another fine game! I had been a bit worried, when the premise of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was first announced, but I’m quite pleased that it feels true to the Banjo style. I’ll admit that the worlds have a slightly different feel to them, but they lent themselves well to the vehicular gameplay. That being said, a few questions (lettered, not numbered, for your enjoyment):
A) Why the decision not to add more of the traditional platforming into the game? Say, challenges requiring both Banjo and Kazooie’s original skills, but also the extra kick of the vehicles?
B) Grunty’s role appears to have diminished slightly (then again, I might be wrong… I can only read half the text… Damn Standard TV ). Why does she do so much standing about while the duo are hard at work? I mean, she’s getting nowhere fast, right? …Right???
C) Is the Standard TV crowd really so small that you had to neglect us when formatting the text? (See above text comment.) Plz to fix txt problem! Kthnxbai.
Well, I must say the pros far outweigh the cons–Loved the music, loved the graphics, Banjo and Kazooie continue to amuse me–congratulations once again!
Now I’ll sit here and patiently wait for B-K: (working title here). Ciao!
Mirage “BK~GiRL”
Well, we can’t print everything from everyone every time, and it wouldn’t be fair to weight the odds in favour of the regulars. Presumably your last letter was too long or a repeat of someone else’s question or I couldn’t source a decent answer or I was just drunk.
Anyway, Shelley stands poised to tackle your most recent confrontational questions:
“A. We felt that the platforming genre had become somewhat stale and decided on a complete departure from that in order to innovate and create something fresh. We also felt that the duo’s old moves needed reinventing, this is why all the old moves became things you could do with the vehicles. To have a mix of the two would not have given Nuts & Bolts the freshness we wanted it to have.
“B. Despite being beaten by Banjo and Kazooie in all their previous encounters, Grunty is still arrogant enough to think she’s going to win L.O.G.’s game hands down. All she has to do is stop Banjo, and she has already sent her Gruntbots out to do all the dirty work!
“C. The text issue has been addressed with a patch available over Xbox Live.”
Dear that person who answers Scribe questions,
Hello there! My name is Toots. If you’ve forgotten (I hope you didn’t) I’m that pink thing that sits next to King Jingaling in Banjo-Tooie. With the announcement of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, I was wondering if I could get a spot in the game. Maybe I can sit next to Jingaling again (if he’s returning, at least), or maybe next to a new character! I was just wondering if I could make an appearance. After all, it wouldn’t be a Banjo-Kazooie game if I’m not in it, right? I am the best character in the series, if I do say so myself. Well, thank you anyways! I await for a reply!
Toots ~ The Pink Thing
Sorry, Toots. There’s no place for you around here any more, not after your totally unacceptable riders and diva behaviour last time. A solid gold dressing room full of quails and finches? Shirtless French manservants to pour Bollinger down your gullet on demand, even in mid-scene? Kanye and Mariah might get away with it, but we’re making a stand for common sense. Get back to us in a few years after your public breakdown/detox/reality show.
Dear Scribes,
Two things:
1. Grabbed by the Ghoulies: the official game guide mentions 3 unlockable prizes for beating the 21st Bonus challenge. The first one is said to be easily spotted (I guess it’s the nice video from early on in development) and the other 2 are said to be well hidden but worth finding. Now, I can’t find those two at all. Are they even there? Or is the game guide spreading misinformation?
Top ace game, btw. Don’t give up on Cooper!! An XBL Arcade game would be nice. A top-down co-op brawler or something.
2. Jetpac Refuelled: this is the most addictive game I’ve played in the last couple of years. I play it on a weekly basis since its release and I don’t see me quitting that habit.
…unless you might release a follow-up game. Which leads me to the question: now that you’ve outsourced the XBL Arcade ports of the two Banjo games to 4J Studios, does it mean that Rare is not developing XBL Arcade games by themselves anymore or can we expect more goodness à la Jetpac Refuelled someday if the fancy strikes you?
And another thing about Jetpac: having heard that there is a secret bonus level that you can access after surviving all the 128 levels in one sitting – is this bonus level a reality or some wild internet rumour?
3. Killer Instinct 3: oops, forget it. My fingers slipped.
Cheers from a damp and cold Germany,
Shimrod
Yay, not Banjo. Unexpected last-minute Gregg response (usefulness not guaranteed) to question 1: “Can’t anyone use Google these days? I can’t remember, but I found something (using Google) that mentioned ‘a deleted scene’ in addition to the original promo video. God knows what the third one was…”
We actually bothered to follow this up and ask some other members of the Ghoulies team, with results as far-ranging as: “Ah yes, it was a deleted scene that appeared in the ‘replay movies’ section though I don’t think it was called ‘replay movies’, maybe ‘replay cutscenes’ or something like that?”
And: “You got ‘Crivens gives chair’ too… according to the interweb.”
And: “I’ve had a hunt around the code and it looks like you get a golden bat instead of the normal bat in the dialogs/menus (it was the ‘selection indicator’ IIRC), and a golden heart instead of the pink one for the on-screen health UI.”
Are any of those accurate? Who knows. Should we really be able to provide the answer without thinking twice, let alone contradicting ourselves and coming across as a bit scatterbrained and senile? Er, probably.
Refuelled programmer Nick on question 2: “Secret levels in Jetpac? Pure madness I’d say, though never trust what you read on the internet – including this response. Will we be making our own XBLA games/ports in the future? Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? Oh that’s right, we do, and we’re not telling! Seriously though, really glad you like Jetpac. Now rather than trying to just complete it in one sitting, how about trying to beat the highest scores on the Leaderboards?”
Dear Scribes,
I said six years ago you’d probably do it, and it looks like you may have at that — you lot are right on the edge of convincing me to buy an Xbox.
Granted, it’s a 360 these days, but you get it. I’m finding the lure of Banjo hard to resist, to say nothing of Jetpac Refuelled (loved the original when it popped up in Donkey Kong 64 years ago). But I’m curious; I’m told the 360’s Xbox compatibility isn’t 100% — will it run Grabbed by the Ghoulies? I always wanted to play that one. I don’t care what the hacks at GameSpot say about it, I think it looks like a blast. But, hey, I love haunted house games (I liked Luigi’s Mansion a lot more than general consensus would allow, for example), I love that Rare sense of humour, my wife’s called Amber, etc.
While I’m on the subject of old games (I haven’t written in seven years, you understand), I quite enjoyed It’s Mr. Pants, though it did take me years to find a retailer who even knew what it was. Shame about the distribution being so wonky.
Well, I’ve rabbited on long enough. Thanks for keeping on with the Scribes — still brightens up my day even after all these years when I check the updates page and find a new Scribes. Now if only we could locate our crazy Uncle…
Darien K.
Sequential Ghoulies/Jetpac letter madness! Luke marches in to take command of this one and enthuses: “Jetpac rocks! I tested that game in my previous role and loved it. In fact I only played it the other day!
“Grabbed by the Ghoulies can be played on the 360 as I have played it on mine at home as I wanted to show my wife the game. Another classic that people somehow missed!” Yes, something really ought to be done about that…
I don’t think It’s Mr. Pants had enough distribution for it to have a chance to go wonky. However, I did stumble across another UK game shop with a battered old second-hand copy that they seem hopelessly unable to shift – so anyone in the Neath area of South Wales, nip into the local branch of Game and you might still be ‘lucky’.
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