Villanun Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Banjo Kazooie is the most underrated game of all time. On a par with SM64 Nah, it essentially was an SM64 clone with Rare characters. Rare characters = put googly eyes on it. But I loved Banjo Kazooie back in the day. Shame Rare had to ruin it all with the royal mess-up that was Nuts and Bolts. Has a game developer ever fallen from grace as hard as Rare? Also: the best Zelda game is Okami. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 I started working there when Nuts and Bolts had just been put into test. I tested it a bit towards the end but I was put on Viva Pinata 2 instead, which I was initially annoyed about but looking back it is the better game. So yeah, I was there during the fall from grace until they hit rock bottom with Kinect Sports, which I also tested. Imagine our delight when we found out our new project was... Kinect Sports 2... left after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villanun Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I started working there when Nuts and Bolts had just been put into test. I tested it a bit towards the end but I was put on Viva Pinata 2 instead, which I was initially annoyed about but looking back it is the better game. So yeah, I was there during the fall from grace until they hit rock bottom with Kinect Sports, which I also tested. Imagine our delight when we found out our new project was... Kinect Sports 2... left after that. I remember being so pleased when I found out that Rare was stationed just a few miles from me. I even met the legendary Wil Overton once. When Microsoft bought them out I was concerned but optimistic. I'm one of the few people who enjoyed Grabbed By The Ghoulies, but Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo were disappointing. After that they seemed to make really bad choices. I mean, Viva Pinata would perhaps have been great as a download game, but as a full-price release it seems misplaced, especially amongst the muddy-brown shooters that were performing well on the 360, and Nuts and Bolts was an interesting idea but it fundamentally was not what people wanted from a Banjo Kazooie game. I suppose the good thing about the success of the Kinect Sports games is that it means that the studio is still open - I mean, Microsoft have closed down more successful studios before. But when I think back to the great games they used to make, their current output makes me sad. I think I might be old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Not sure how it's doing now but even Kinect Sports wasn't much of a success. They downsized a lot on staff around after Viva Pinata 2 and Nuts and Bolts didn't do so well. But we did get to work on Perfect Dark XBLA, which was a lot of fun. Rare didn't even do most of the work on that though, it was a studio called 4J who were essentially programmers and not designers. We were happy about that though as when it came to the achievements and the crowns, 4J asked the test team to come up with some ideas. Three of the crowns in that game are mine, including the best one -- in my opinion, of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villanun Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I enjoyed Perfect Dark a great deal, so the HD remake was very welcome. It actually allowed me to make some sense of the Skedar Ruins, something I could never do on the original thanks to the N64's muddy textures. Haven't played it in a while - the Xbox 360 is gathering dust in a cupboard at the moment - but it was such a great nostalgia trip. I'm too bad at it to think about extra challenges, mind. Which crowns were yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Rapid Radar Shutdown, Master of Disguise (both just time-based ones, very meh) and, my personal favourite... Magnum P.D. And yes, I did think of the name for it. Very proud of that one Great game to work on. There was a small team of us and we'd all known each other for a couple of years by that point, good mates. Towards the end of testing we were just playing online multiplayer all day. It was an absolute blast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Allback_14 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Worth bearing in mind that the 3DS has technically been replaced. The New 3DS is already available in Australia and is fairly easily imported from a few retailers, and is effectively a UK spec machine. Replaced? Considering getting a 3ds in the next month or so , but don't want the same thing to happen as when I picked up the 2ds and it was replaced within 6 months, only for them to then bring out a new 2 ds capable of playing the 3ds games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted January 4, 2015 Author VT Supporter Share Posted January 4, 2015 Google 'new 3ds'. It's a new revision of the current system with some upgrades, most notably a second 'stick', which arguably should have been there since day 1, extra shoulder buttons, a better 3d system that uses eye tracking to stabilise the image, and some upgrades to the hardware generally that makes the system a little more powerful, run a little better and have better battery life. Apparently it is likely that have will be released that are 'new 3ds only'. There's not a release date for Europe yet but it's already out in Japan and Australia/New Zealand. The latter of which are PAL regions and this are basically UK machines anyway - it's quite easy to buy one from there now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 i wonder if the wii u will be the last major console nintendo releases? seems to me sales have not been great with it. i just wonder if they are on the verge of going sega route and just make games for another console. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) I don't think that will ever happen. Nintendo still have an impressive array of platform exclusive titles that haven't made their bow for the Wii U just yet. Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, Yoshi, Wario, not to mention the appeal of having Mario and Donkey Kong on the books. If sales got really bad they could just make a Pokémon console game. That'd certainly get a number of people to buy a Wii U. Edited January 4, 2015 by Ginko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Allback_14 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Thanks ginkgo - think I will hold off on picking up a current 3ds and wait for a European release on the new one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Think it's Chindie you might want to thank chap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 i wonder if the wii u will be the last major console nintendo releases? It won't be. There'll be at least one more, most likely two Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted January 14, 2015 Author VT Supporter Share Posted January 14, 2015 The New 3DS has an official release date in the UK of February 13th. Nintendo also invited a bunch of people registered to Club Nintendo to buy special Ambassador editions ahead of that release date which are already going for a pretty penny on eBay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Got mine yesterday - not an ambassador one or anything, just a review unit. It's a very well built piece of kit. Definitely a fine evolution. The lack of charger is a weird one though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Got mine yesterday - not an ambassador one or anything, just a review unit. It's a very well built piece of kit. Definitely a fine evolution. The lack of charger is a weird one though There wasn't a charger in the 3DS XL box either, I guess they think people already have an old DSi charger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V01 Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Gonna give my 3DS to the nipper (she's 5) Anyone got anyone game recommendations? Planning on Mario Kart, Super Mario World or 3D Land, Animal Crossing. anything else suitable for her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 8 hours ago, V01 said: Gonna give my 3DS to the nipper (she's 5) Anyone got anyone game recommendations? Planning on Mario Kart, Super Mario World or 3D Land, Animal Crossing. anything else suitable for her? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V01 Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 She's 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 I don't see the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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