Top Story
Will We See Another Banjo-Kazooie Game In The Future?
Banjo-Kazooie’s appearance as a guest fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate makes us wonder if we will see another game starring the bear and bird duo in the near future. Grant Kirkhope, the composer of the original game’s soundtrack, is not convinced despite the massive attention Rare’s classic received during this year’s E3.
The reveal of Banjo-Kazooie appearing as a guest fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has sparked the question: will we see another Banjo-Kazooie game in the near future? Grant Kirkhope, composer of the original soundtrack in Banjo-Kazooie, remains unconvinced despite the massive amount of attention the Rare IP received during E3 this year.
Speaking to Video Games Chronical, Kirkhope discussed the likelihood of a new Banjo game:
“My honest opinion is I don’t know if they’ll ever be a new Banjo. It’s easy to go, ‘look at these numbers’, but it might be a drop in the ocean for Xbox. Is there a market for it? I just don’t know. I would think that Rare probably doesn’t have the appetite for it. They’re super busy with Sea of Thieves and that’s a gigantic game: it’s going to take the whole studio to keep making content for that.”
Kirkhope thinks the only way to get a new Banjo-Kazooie game made is to find a new studio to take up the reins: “They’d have to find the right people to do it,” he continued. “Ubisoft Milan were perfect for Mario, for example, and the Killer Instinct guys did a good job.”.
Grant Kirkhope is unsure whether Banjo-Kazooie will return anytime soon
The last Banjo-Kazooie game released was Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts for the Xbox 360, all the way back in November 2008. Nuts & Bolts was a big departure from the series’ traditions, and was focused around building wacky vehicles. The game was re-released as part of the Rare Replay compilation in 2015, and upgraded with Xbox One X enhancement last month, making it playable at 4K resolution.
In other words, gamers looking for a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie might as well settle for Yooka-Laylee, which was created by former Rare developers who worked on the original Banjo-Kazooie. Yooka-Laylee was the result of a very successful Kickstarter campaign, whose initial goal of £175,000 was reached in less than 40 minutes and eventually ended up garnering the team over £2,000,000 in funding.
Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?
Which of these developers have NOT worked on the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series?
- Radical Entertainment
- Raven Software
- Vicarious Visions
- Team Ninja
The answer will be revealed at the end of this issue!
News Bits
Command & Conquer Developer Shows Off Remastered Tesla Tank
Towards the end of last year, EA announced that they are developing remastered versions of the original Command & Conquer, as well as its sequel Red Alert. The latest Command & Conquer Developer Update reveals that Petroglyph have completed their first production milestone: the alpha version of the first campaign mission is complete!
The mission is not only playable, but uses the new, remastered 4K assets too! To celebrate, the developers have shown off the new artwork for the Tesla Tank, one of Red Alert’s most iconic units. Be sure to subscribe to the Command & Conquer subreddit to keep up to date with the team’s efforts!
Randy Pitchford Confirms: No Cross-Play for Borderlands 3 At Launch
Following the latest announcement of an announcement by Borderlands 3 developer Gearbox Software, CEO Randy Pitchford responded to speculation that the announcement might be about cross-play support.
But no! Pitchford stated that there won’t be any cross-play at launch, but that Gearbox Software is working with their partners to “create a positive cross-play experience.” In the past, developers who wanted to implement cross-play usually failed to clear a single hurdle: Sony. Could they be the stumbling block this time too?
Daily Fact
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: first comic book game published by Nintendo
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is out this week, exclusively for Nintendo Switch. After a fashion, it’s the Switch’s substitute for Marvel’s Avengers – which is coming out on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 next year – but it’s more important than that. For one, it’s the long-awaited return of one of the most popular series of Marvel games – the previous one came out exactly 10 years ago – but it also marks Nintendo’s first time publishing a major comic book game.
Nintendo have published unusual (and even licensed) games before – most notably GoldenEye on the Nintendo 64, the one brilliant James Bond game we got before EA pinched the license and messed it all up. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 isn’t interesting just because it’s Nintendo’s first comic book game though, but because Activision used to own the Ultimate Alliance brand! Nintendo must presumably have paid a pretty penny to add it to their catalog of big, gamer-friendly Switch exclusives like SEGA’s Bayonetta – and we love them for it. Now… where’s that new DuckTales game?