Sabreman Stampede Scribes Excerpts
The following excerpts detailing the development of Sabreman Stampede was originally published on Rare’s Scribes letter page. We’ve scoured each edition in order to provide you with every mention of the title to be found in Rare’s posted answers in chronological order below.
We’ve also included a link above each heading which will re-direct to the original letters page that the question was featured in should you wish to view it in the original context – otherwise you’ll find that the entries below only focus on answers related to Sabreman Stampede for a comprehensive listing for any fan wanting further information on pre-release content, hidden easter eggs, abandoned features and development secrets:
Good day to you, Sir.
Just a quick couple of questions, and then I’ll bug you no longer. Is there even a slight possibility Rare might be planning an Xbox 360 outing for SabreMan and his wolfy nemesis? You can never have too many jungly exploits, you know.
Lastly, are there any more original IPs and concepts in development at Rare? I’d love to see Rare coming up with more creations like Viva Piñata.
Thanks very much for reading!
Eblel
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. I appreciate you being so vague with your phrasing.
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.
Dear Warerare…
Hey, it’s a numbered list! TO THE SHERBAT-CAVE!
…moving along, then.
1. In Viva Piñata, how and why did you choose to base the final product around… piñatas? Was the idea derived from the team leader’s childhood trauma of being whacked with a stick every day at school, or is there something I don’t know?
2. Any clear word on who’s publishing Viva Piñata DS? Piñata isn’t Nintendo’s property, so they probably won’t be involved, but what about THQ? Is the contract with them still intact, or will a new publisher be taking the job this time around?
3. What’s the final verdict on Sabreman Stampede? In a previous Scribes, I quote: “It’s still coming out. In some form. Wait and see.” I’ve been waiting for three years now, and haven’t seen much of anything. Care to redeem yourself, Mr. Loveday?
4. Does Rare have any of those commercial writing utensils, like most of the fancy companies pass around these days? Even you can’t deny that taking a calculus test with one of those would instantly deem me the most popular guy in class.
I took into consideration that you might grace me with cryptic, non-revealing comments as usual, so that’s why I’ve prepared myself with an RPA of Mr. Pants laughing at an injured animal! Clive Alive!
RawkHawk2010
Numbered lists FTL (i.e. for teh lose, not faster than light). Should be able to get the VP task force to take down at least half of these, Bourne-style (i.e. quickly and efficiently, not by holding a book to your face and punching it really hard).
1. It was a master-plan by the design team. We really like sweets and stuff, and we thought if we were doing a game that involved sweets we might get Microsoft to send us some for ‘research purposes’. Watch out for our future games because we just realised we really like cake, now we need an idea where cake is essential to the game… hmmm.
a. Sorry, that isn’t entirely true. The real story is that our artist is really good at drawing blobby animals that look a bit like piñatas. He can also draw really good-looking cake.
2. Oh, here’s another one I don’t know the answer to. Let’s try this again… ‘You might be lucky in the near future’. Oh no, that doesn’t seem to work in this case. Oh well.” So much for Bourne.
3) At the time, it was still coming out in some form. What’s to redeem? You can only work with the facts you have. There was a time when Russell Mulcahy claimed that Highlander II would be a worthwhile sequel with a brilliant script, and look what happened there. Of course, that was more of an outright lie, but still – I don’t hold it against him. Any more than anybody else does.
4) If you’re angling for a free pen, I fear that setting a precedent for Tat Handouts in Scribes would be a dramatic and sweeping error.
Mr. Pants is obviously laughing with relief because they’ve just announced the dog’s going to be fine. What kind of a twisted mind would see anything else in that picture?