Tag: Rare

Xbox Game Passengers 005 – ‘Viva Pinata’

by Derek Kraneveldt

Welcome to Geekscape’s newest gaming podcast, Xbox Game Passengers.

Every other Wednesday, host Derek and a guest will dissect and discuss just one game available on Microsoft’s Game Pass service, which was chosen for them completely at random.

Whether it’s a magical or a horrible experience, they’ll force themselves through it, share their thoughts, and let you know whether or not the game is worth your time! At the end of each episode, they’ll also randomly select the game for the following show.

This episode, longtime Xbox fan Mike joins Derek to chat about Rare’s quirky 2006 gardening / weird animal farming game, Viva Piñata. They also discuss the surprisingly funny animated series that briefly preceded the game, and how much they wished that the game would go mobile or at least get an Xbox One X Enhanced update… then a few weeks later it did, so now you can play it in 4K!

“Attract and tame your favourite Piñatas. There are more than 60 species that roam wild on Piñata Island. Personalise everything from the grass at your feet to the hat on your Piñata’s head. Welcome to Piñata Island, enjoy your stay!”

Listen to find out how things went, and if you like what you’ve heard, here’s where you can subscribe to the show:

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You can also follow us on twitter @XGPPodcast

We’ve had a blast making Xbox Game Passengers so far, and we really hope that you’re enjoying it too! If you have any feedback for us, we’d love to hear it at derek@geekscape.net. Anything you listeners can do to help spread the word about the podcast would be immensely appreciated — from sharing it on social media like Facebook or Twitter, to leaving us five stars (or even a review) on Apple Podcasts, to sending it to a single friend, it can all make a massive difference! Thanks again for coming along on this ride!

Geekscape Games Reviews: ‘Sea Of Thieves’

by Derek Kraneveldt

I don’t enjoy online multiplayer games.

I’m all for local multiplayer (I’ll kill you at Mario Kart 8), and I enjoy the occasional round of PUBG or Fortnite (solo queues only because anything else is just too much commitment). In most cases, however, I simply avoid online multiplayer like it’s going out of style. Aside from a few titles over the course of my long, long gaming career, this has always been the case

Between work (and transiting forever to and from work), recording two podcasts, trying to work out a few times per week, a weekly Dungeons and Dragons game, attempting to (somewhat) keep up with WWE, and trying to spend even a little time hanging out with Mikaela, my video gaming time feels damned limited at this point in my life, and I find much more satisfaction slightly progressing a storyline, completing a few quests, or… well, probably starting a new title (new games come out every week, okay guys?) than I do playing some competitive mode or trying to organize a time for online play with some friends.

Online gaming just seems freaking hard to do – obviously it’s extremely popular, very few other people that I’ve talked to have an issue with it, and I’m absolutely the problem here, but I’m just not at all into matchmaking (something to do with being shy probably), and am only really interest in playing with people that I actually know. In the past, I’ve bought a game at launch, played it with friends once or twice (and had a blast), but within a few weeks my progress would be significantly behind those I’d been playing with, meaning I’m either jumping into their game leaving them feeling as though they’re on an escort mission, or they’re jumping into mine in an extremely overpowered state, removing any challenge from the game. Series like Borderlands seemingly force you into running multiple campaigns with different levels of progress which you jump between based on who you’re playing with. None of this sounds very fun to me at all.

Enter Sea of Thieves, Rare’s shared-world pirate simulator, and my next multiplayer obsession.

I dove into Sea of Thieves during one of the game’s various betas knowing very little about the title, aside from the fact that a) you’re a pirate on a journey to becoming a legendary pirate through whatever means necessary and b) the game takes place in a persistent multiplayer world where other pirates will definitely have their eye on your booty (treasure, not ass).

The first time that I played, I ignored the warning that journeying on your own was dangerous and only for experienced players, dropping in on a tiny island with (surprisingly) no tutorial, and with absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do (a tiny opening cutscene and small tutorial has been added to clear things up for the game’s full release, but sailing will still take you far too long to become comfortable with). After collecting some bananas, some wooden planks, and a treasure chest that I couldn’t figure out how to open (hint: weirdly enough, you can’t), I eventually found a small ship just offshore, and after a few moments of fiddling around, finally hit the high seas. In this moment, I realized just how incredibly beautiful Sea of Thieves is.

The game’s cartoony, yet breathtaking presentation perfectly fits the adventurous, mysterious, and casual (but not too casual) feel of the title, from the look of every aspect of your ship (or that ship off in the distance that may or may not be coming closer), to the uncomfortable creak your galleon (or sloop) produces as it rocks back and forth across the sea, to the bananas that you don’t even peel before eating (weird), to the NPC’s you’ll encounter on the game’s many, many islands, to the it-never-ever-gets-old sound of the herdy gurdy (which I’m hearing in my dreams at this point), and of course, the freaking incredible water that makes up the majority of this world. The water effects look like nothing that I’ve ever seen in a video game, and the entire world looks as though it’s been pulled straight out of some sort of lost Pixar film. Sea of Thieves’ presentation as a whole is simply astonishing, and there wasn’t a moment that I wasn’t enjoying everything that I was seeing and hearing.

Presentation isn’t everything, of course, and while it’d be impossible to look at Sea of Thieves without thinking “Damn, is that ever pretty,” (especially on the Xbox One X) many of the choices that Rare has made in regards to gameplay will leave some gamers coming back again and again, many scratching their heads in wonder, and probably a lot of them bringing their copy to GameStop after a few dedicated days of playing.

Sea of Thieves follows a fairly simple gameplay loop of beginning a quest (called Voyages) for one of the game’s three trading companies: the gold obsessed, aptly-named Gold Hoarders will have you hunting for treasure chests, the creepy Order of Souls will have you fighting skeletons and stronger skeletons in the search for valuable skulls, and the time-obsessed Merchant Alliance will have you on a race to find and deliver goods (and animals) with a strict deadline. The quests all follow the same formula – figure out where you need to go via an unlabelled map, a riddle, or otherwise, go to said location, do X task, return and cash in for some gold, rinse, repeat. You can stay out longer and do multiple Voyages before returning to an outpost for some huge rewards, but that’s where things get really interesting. Naturally, pirates are pirates, and if you sea another ship (filled with one to four real players) during your journey, there’s a good (very good) chance that they’re going to attack you and try to steal your stuff. The longer that you stay out completing voyages, the more you can cash in all at once, but the more that you have to lose if a more skilled crew decides to take you on. It adds a super interesting (and often stressful) element to the game, and some of the most exciting moments that I’ve had this far have been during the throes of battle, on a ship full of treasure, simply trying to survive long enough to turn in some chests that I’d spent way too long finding.

Playing with friends has already led to some of my favourite gaming memories… ever.

That gameplay loop has remained pretty fun in the 15-20 hours that I’ve spent with the game thus far, and so far I’ve found lots of other elements in the world (in addition to meeting other players, as mentioned above, which has remained exciting each and every time that it’s happened) that have added to the excitement and feeling of exploration. Walking the beaches of the game’s many beautiful islands, you may come across a message in a bottle, or a mysterious book that may lead you on a quest-within-a-quest and to even more treasure. Sometimes I’ll choose to head to an island that simply looks cool, and may come across chests, caves, remnants of previous island inhabitants, cave paintings, and more. Shipwrecks within the game’s vast ocean are fun to traverse, and have led to some of the most valuable treasure that I’ve claimed so far. Storms will mess your shit up (and you’ll stare at them in awe because they’re freaking beautiful), and giant, foreboding, skull shaped clouds loom off in the distance, tempting you with the promise of bountiful treasure, while (often) keeping you away with the threat of certain death.

Death, which at this point is one of my few gripes with the game. When you die, you wake up aboard a spooky (gorgeously spooky) ghost ship, complete with creepy captain. Here… you kind of just wait for 30 seconds until the doors to the captain’s quarters open. Walk through these doors, and you’ll find yourself back on your ship, in the water near it, or on a nearby island if your ship has sunk in the time you’ve been away. There should be something to do on this ship (right now it’s like a glorified loading screen or respawn timer, which, I suppose, is still better than just having a loading screen or respawn timer). The whole respawn system makes for a myriad of annoying moments when fighting other players, as unless your enemies on the opposing ship all die at the same time or their boat is headed to the bottom of the sea, it can often feel like you’re fighting an endless stream of the same people, leading to these PVP battles taking substantially longer than they probably should (they’re still super fun and exciting, but killing the same opponent five times over a few minute period can definitely get old). I’d love to see some sort of monetary penalty for deaths (Rare has actually noted that this is coming soon), which could increase when you die again within a short period of time and maybe after you die, respawn on your ship, and die again, you could respawn elsewhere the next time around, simply to limit the player-on-player battle time, and to make it feel like you’re fighting a few people instead of an endless horde of crew members. Right now, having your ship sink during a battle (unless it’s full of treasure) can often even be advantageous for your crew – your freshly respawned ship comes complete with the default quantity of cannonballs, bananas, and wooden planks, while the ship that just sunk you is likely running low on the same supplies. This simply feels broken, and something needs to change about it.

We tried to be friendly… but they shot us anyways.

As noted above, I’m still having a ton of fun with Sea of Thieves, even if the gameplay loop is rather simple at this time, but this doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t love to take part in some additional activities as I sail these beautiful seas. The possibilities really are endless, but things like fishing (please, give us fishing), card games (either in the pub or on the high seas), some five finger fillet, some sort of collection aspect, or even the ability to duel your fellow crew members with swords would make sailing or downtime simply fly by.

Really, Sea of Thieves in its current iteration is a phenomenal start, and it sounds like that’s just what it is, a start. Rare’s Craig Duncan has stated that the team wants “people to still be playing it five or even ten years from now. We’re in this for the long game,” and I’m looking forward to seeing this world evolve every step of the way.

I’m more enamored with Sea of Thieves than I’ve been with a multiplayer title since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and at this point I don’t see that subsiding anytime soon. I’m having a blast completing voyages, finding treasure, and simply sailing the high seas with my friends. I could keep rambling on and on and on about “threading the needle” through tiny gaps in islands, or being so pre-occupied with playing instruments and dancing across the bow of our galleon that we crashed hard and nearly sank, or watching a friend die just steps away from turning in a valuable skull, leading to a tirade of words I don’t think that I’ve ever heard him say before, but, well, I’m overdue for some adventure.

Sea of Thieves is simply fun, and for that it scores a harrrrrrrrrrty 4/5. See you on the high seas!

tl;dr

+Incredible visuals, wonderful audio
+Casual style makes it fun for hardcore and casual gamers alike
+Drop in/out easily, you won’t be at a disadvantage because you took a break
+Simply fun, and often hilarious

-Not enough variation in mission (Voyage) types
-Maximum crew of four, no way to guarantee a second crew of friends will end up on the same server
-Respawn system, and thus PVP itself, feels broken

Side note: Back in January, Microsoft noted that all future Microsoft Studios published titles would hit their inexpensive Game Pass service on the day they release. This, of course, includes future games in the Halo, Gears of War, and Crackdown series’, but it also means that from the moment Sea of Thieves went live, Game Pass subscribers have had full access to the titles, with no limitations (aside from server issues right at launch, naturally). I’m loving Sea of Thieves, but if you’re not sure if there’s enough content to keep you having fun, or if you’re just not sold on the quest to become Pirate Legend, you can simply sign up for a free Game Pass trial and make up your own damned mind!

Sea of Thieves is also an Xbox Play Anywhere title, which means your digital purchase (or Game Pass subscription) means that you can play the game across your Xbox One or Windows 10 PC. This means that with one subscription to Game Pass, my fiancé and I have been able to sail the high seas together, which I absolutely appreciate in a generation of gaming that is seeing fewer and fewer local multiplayer games be released. I’m loving my Game Pass subscription so far, and I love the fact that with just a few clicks, I was able to install Sea of Thieves on my computer too!

https://youtu.be/O1YnzQax8TM

‘Sea Of Thieves’ Closed Beta Sails Towards January 24th!!

by The_acz

Right off of the heels of their recent progression video and release date, Rare’s Sea of Thieves will finally be sailing the rocky waters of the closed beta in anticipation for the games’ March 20th release date.

Players who enrolled in the Technical Alpha program before its closure back in December have been guaranteed a spot in the games’ closed beta, and so have customers who have pre-purchased the game on the Xbox or Windows store. The best part is that players of the beta have free reign for streaming the game! That’s right, no more NDA’s. Rare wants you to share your best pirate moments with the world now.

With March slowly looming over the horizon, Microsft and many people are hoping for Sea of Thieves to be a breakout hit for Microsoft, as they’ve sadly been lacking major 1st party titles in comparison to Sony’s monster PS4 line-up that’s been growing rapidly for the past 2 years. Here’s hoping Rare delivers an open world experience that no one will soon forget.

‘Sea of Thieves’ Sails Towards Release Date + Progression Update!

by The_acz

It’s been a busy 2 weeks for Rare and the crew making Sea of Thieves. Last week during The Game Awards, Rare revealed that the highly anticipate open word adventure will be hitting Xbox One and Windows 10 on March 20th, 2018. While the game hasn’t made a public appearance outside of E3 2017 and Comic Con 2016, Players have slowly been chipping away at the game’s technical alpha for the past year now consistently playing the game and giving their feedback directly to Rare themselves.  This week also seems to be big for Rare as they’ve detailed a bit more on what you can expect to see in the full game.

The short 7-minute progress video seems to give off a personal and warm vibe, similar to a Nintendo Direct. Design Director Mike Chapman takes fans through some of the meatier features of the game such as creating alliances with certain guilds and the variety of mission structures. Check out the full video below for more info, and also check out our 2016 SDCC interview with Executive Producer Joe Neate. Sea of Thieves will be releasing for Xbox One and Windows 10.

 

Geekscape Editorial: ‘Yooka Laylee’ & Setting Expectations

by The_acz

The highly anticipated Yooka-Laylee finally released a week ago, and reactions have been. . . . . . mixed. Many argue the game doesn’t live up the hype (little games do due to most of them being overly anticipated). This has people split arguing for or against the game. I went in with what was probably a mindset most people didn’t think of, and after a couple of days of playing, I’ve come to a conclusion. Before reaching that conclusion however, I thought I’d share my expectations that I set, so that when or if you play the game, you can get a good understanding of the expectations you should have before playing this. Let’s get to it then!

One of the first things to take into account when setting expectations for Yooka-Laylee is to take a look at the budget of the game. If you’re going into the game expecting it to be as big and sprawling as Banjo-Kazooie or Tooie, then you might want to re-adjust those expectations because the game is relatively small. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing since the game is still plenty of fun with some pretty big worlds and clever secrets.

Yooka’s budget is relatively small. Even with the Kickstarter funds and support from Publisher Team 17 to help out with stuff like a physical release and advertising, it still doesn’t compare to Banjo. Banjo’s budget is immeasurably higher having to take inflation, the number of times the game changed, and Nintendo’s funding of the game into account. There’s also the fact that Yooka was made in Unity, which is a fairly simple 3D engine, so it’s not going to have the exact look or feel as its predecessor. As a result, it’d be expected that the game wouldn’t have nearly as many worlds and even as many collectibles as Banjo would.

The next expectation to set might cause a bit of a stir at first, but just follow me on this, This is not Banjo Threeie.  Yes, Yooka-Laylee was pitched on the premise of being a Banjo Successor, but not the fabled Banjo Threeie that people love to fantasize about. I can guarantee you that nothing that is present in Yooka was planned at all for another Banjo game. Why am I so sure? Well, whether or not people want to accept it, Banjo Threeie already exists. It’s called Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, and the history of the title is pretty clear.  Rare even made a nice little video a year or 2 ago finally shedding some light on the title. Playtonic spent 2 years developing this title creating a brand new world, characters, and gameplay and I’m sure the last thing they want people to think is that all of that could easily be switched out for a more known I.P.

The last expectation I want to set is that this isn’t the exact same team as the original Banjo crew. Don’t take this as a negative, the people associated with Playtonic have done some fantastic work and have anywhere from 1 to 3 decades worth of making games for the company, but not all of them come from Banjo or Conker. One of the biggest missing pieces for Playtonic is Gregg Mayles, The creator and main level designer for the Banjo series. Yes you have your Chris Sutherlands and Steve Mayles who are very well known for being on the Banjo team, but then you also have very talented people like Justin Cook and Dean Wilson.

These guys are very talented artists who have worked on some of the most interesting Rare titles like Kameo: Elements of Power and Viva Pinata, but often get overlooked due to the internet’s over reaction of the Microsoft buyout and labeling it as “The bad era.” So while this isn’t 100% person by person the original team that crafted Banjo, that’s again not to be taken as a bad thing since the people still there are extremely talented, some even coming from other companies like Rocksteady (Batman Arkham Series) and Supermassive Games (Until Dawn and the LittleBig Planet Series). Below is a beautiful piece of Yooka artwork by Dean Wilson who designed one of the 5 worlds in the game, Glitterglaze Glacier. 

At the end of the day, I’m writing this not to discourage or encourage you to play or not play Yooka-Laylee, but what kind of expectations you should have set going into the game. You can read as many good or bad reviews of the game as you like, but knowing what mindset you have entering the game can make a huge difference. I hope this article has been helpful for you,and most of all, like the games you’re going to like. 

‘Sea Of Thieves’ Alpha Update Adds New Islands, Enemies, And More!

by The_acz

Rare’s Sea of Thieves is starting to make a lot of progress.

Revealed about 2 years ago, The game went mostly silent in 2015 and 2016 due to a heavy focus on developing the game, but since the end of last year has created an insider program as well as a very limited technical alpha community program so that fans can play the game and give feedback on it. The newest game update titled 0.1.1 expands upon the previous version’s treasure hunting update by expanding the number of islands to visit, as well as adding in 2 more treasure outposts for you and your team to cash in your gold.

That’s not all that’s been added though, as this update also includes the very first enemy type encounter, reanimated skeletons. Also added is fall damage from great heights, and more. Check out the video below for all the details, and tell us what part of Sea of Thieves has you most excited in the comments below!

‘Sea Of Thieves’ Sets Sail For Technical Alpha 0.1.0! Playable Next Week For Insider Program!

by The_acz

After months and months of teasing, Rare is finally letting Sea of Thieves loose onto the world! (for a select few.)

If you’re part of the Sea of Thieves insider program, you have the chance of being randomly selected out of 1000 people to take part in this beginning alpha test. In this Alpha, players will be able to sail the sea looking for treasure. You’ll have to work together with your crew to chart out the island, make your way to it, find the treasure,and get back safely in order to cash it in. You’ll even be able to use weapons like your sword or blunderbuss!

If you’d like to join the insider program for the chance to get in the alpha, you can apply right here! Check out the video below for more details on what to expect. Sea of Thieves is expected to launch on Xbox One and Windows 10 in 2017. What are you looking forward to the most in Sea of Thieves? Tell us in the comments below!

Want To Help Shape Up ‘Sea Of Thieves’? Become A Sot Insider!

by The_acz

Ever since they revealed the game a year ago at E3 2015, Rare has been non stop hard at work trying to polish off their newest creation, Sea of Thieves.

They’ve been pretty good with helping keep fans in the loop with their podcast, short haul videos, and inn side stories. One of the biggest things about the game that people want out of it is just to play the game itself so they can experience all the great stuff they’ve heard from E3 and Gamescom. Well, that time has finally come. Today, Rare launched the Sea of Thieves Insider Program Which will allow fans to sign up in order to help shape the game and even play early test builds.

The only catch to this is that you have to be 18 and have an XBL gamertag, but other than that you’re good! Check out the video below for more info, and sign up for the program right here. Sea of Thieves has no release date, but is planned on releasing for Xbox One and Windows 10.

Check Out 30 Minutes Of The Unreleased XBLA Port Of ‘GoldenEye 007’!!

by The_acz

Woah! This was pretty unexpected.

Thanks to the website Rare Thief, they somehow managed to get their hands on what seems to be the first 30 minutes of a GoldenEye remake for XBLA. It seems as though at one point in time that the game was legitimately in development, but was sadly scrapped halfway through development. If you’re interested in watching the gameplay, check out the video below. Also, if you’re interested in learning more about GoldenEye XBLA, Check out Rare Thief right here! What do you think about the port? Would you buy this if it still came out. Comment below!

SDCC 2016: Sailing ‘Sea Of Thieves’ Together With Joe Neate!

by The_acz

Earlier today we told you about Rare’s Sea of Thieves panel at Comic-Con and how they are just as pumped about releasing the game as much as people are excited to play it. After the panel, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Executive Producer Joe Neate to talk about the game, community, and much more. Give it a listen!

SDCC 2016: Adventuring With ‘Sea Of Thieves: Art Of Adventure’!

by The_acz

Last week Rare arrived to Comic Con in style, and while they didn’t bring a demo of their highly anticipated pirate adventure Sea of Thieves, they brought plenty of other great stuff. One of these being the Sea of Thieves: Art of Adventure panel. Executive Producer Joe Neate hosted the panel along with Peter Hentze, Adam Park, and Ryan Stevenson, all of which had some excellent pirate names.

SOT panel 1

The presentation began pretty simple. Rare talked about their history about their love for pirates and how they reference them in almost every game that they’ve made. They also talked bout how excited they were to finally be working on SOT as it’s their dream game they’ve always wanted to make.

SOT panel 2

After that, they let art director Ryan Stevenson take the wheel as he began to talk about the art style of the game and the decisions they made with it. One of them is that they wanted to have an art style that looks good, but can also be easily be distinguished. One of the examples given was that a certain screenshot from the game was blurred out, but still just as easily recognized as the clear version of it. This was referred to as separation through color and tone.

SOT panel 4They then moved on to talk about how important detail is and how everything in the game has a story. One of the biggest things they went for was making it so that nothing looked new or polished. They wanted everything to look used. This method was what they described as the wonky method. They then gave a couple of examples like how if you look at the ship’s floorboards they’ll appear uneven, creaky, and even broken. This help gives the feeling that everything you encounter in the game is pre existing and has a long backstory to it.

SOT panel 5Next, they went on to show just how much detail they want to put on their character models. They went on to talk about how they start off with a simple base model for their characters and gradually add more detail as the designs progress. They also gave us a quick peek at mer people. They showed off a quick merman model who gradually got more and more disfigured and morphed. Could it be possible that you’ll be able to turn into these creatures? Only time will tell.

SOT panel 7

SOT panel 8

SOT panel 9One of the last things  the team showed was ship customization. In the final game, there’ll be tons of boats of plenty of shapes and sizes. Not only that, but most things, even down to the crest plate of the ship can be changed. as an example, they showed off a couple  of crests that referenced Joanna Dark, and a certain beloved duo consisting of a bear and bird.

SOT panel 6Finally, the panel concluded when the team gave everyone a free figurine of a character known simply as the Pirate Lord, the coolest part being that it can also glow in the dark. Why can it glow in the dark you ask? BECAUSE HE’S A GHOOOOOOOST! That’s right!, Rare revealed that there will indeed be ghost pirates in the game, but in what form is still to be seen.

SOT panel 3All in all, it was a great panel full of un and surprises, and while Sea of Thieves still doesn’t have a release date, I’m more hype for this game than ever before. Sea of Thieves currently has no release date, but is planning a closed beta for Xbox One sometime in the future. Stay tuned to geekscape.net for more info and even an interview with Executive Producer Joe Neate!

SOT

‘Worms W.M.D’ Get’s RARE with ‘Perfect Dark’, ‘Killer Instinct’, ‘Yooka Laylee’ & More!

by The_acz

Rare just refuses to leave the spotlight after last year’s E3 comeback. From the company’s characters inclusions in games like, Minecraft, and #IDARB, but also Playtonic Games Yooka Laylee has also been making some splashes since it’s recent E3 trailer.

Well, worlds are now colliding as Yooka Laylee, and a bunch of your favorite Rare & Yooka characters will be making some cameo surprises in the newest Worms game, Worms W.M.D. Right now, if you pre order the Xbox One edition of the game you’ll receive the Rare pack for free! This includes a 5 mask pack for series like Blast Corp., Jet Force Gemini, Jetpac, Killer Instinct, and of course, Battletoads.  You’ll also get an exclusive Joanna Dark aerial attack (yeah, you heard that right.)

Now, even though the Rare all-stars pack is an Xbox exclusive, the Yooka pack will not be. Included will be Yooka, Laylee, Trowser, Rextro Sixty-fourus, Dr. Quack, Minion, and everyone’s favorite character, The Sign Post. Not just that, but there are a ton of more cameos that include, but are not limited to Rocket League, The Escapists, Goat Simulator, and much more!

Check out the trailer below! Worms W.M.D will release for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on August 23rd.

It’s Raining Rare! Check Out These Awesome ‘Sea Of Thieves’ & ‘Yooka Laylee’ Gear!!

by The_acz

It’s been an amazing year for fans of Rare and Rare esque games so far.

Not only are we getting the spiritual successor to Banjo Kazooie that we’ve always wanted, but Rare themselves have also stepped up their game again with their open world pirate game Sea Of Thieves. And what’s better than those games? The merchandise for them of course! Right now, Playtonic Games has partnered up with Bryt Socks to bring fans an exclusive design based off the kickstarter duo. You can only obtain these socks by backing the Bryt 2.0 campaign though, so if you need some new socks, go check them out right here! (43 days left as of writing this.)

YL SocksIf socks aren’t enough to tickle your fancy, then perhaps the pirates life is for you. A couple of days after the Xbox press conference, Microsoft launched the Sea Of Thieves store where you can get your hands on a selection of piratey shirts, hoodies, and more! Sail on over to see more treasure! What do you think of this merch? What kind of future apparel would you like to see from these games? Tell us in the comments below!

Sot Merch

We Shall Sail Together. Check Out The ‘Sea Of Thieves’ Cinematic Trailer!

by The_acz

Last week, Microsoft held their annual E3 Press Conference, and with it, they finally rose the curtain a bit more on Rare’s anticipated pirate adventure game Sea Of Thieves.

The cinematic sheds a bit of backstory onto the game and hints at exciting features that you’ll be able to experience such as ship battles, treasure hunting, and of course, kraken battles. All this to the beautiful tune of a sorrow song very reminiscent of the sea chantey What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor? While the game has no solid release yet, studio head Craig Duncan has confirmed that they want to put the game into closed beta soon so that fans can finally experience it. Sea Of Thieves will launch for Xbox One and Windows 10 in the future.

Want To Visit Rare & Play ‘Sea Of Thieves’ Early? Your Wish Is Granted!!

by The_acz

Ever since premiering almost a year ago at E3 2015, people have been left wondering about Sea Of Thieves.

Today, Rare (as in usual Rare fashion) is giving you the chance of a lifetime to try the game out yourself. In their new Play It First Contest, contestants can take a snapshot of them showing the official Sea Of Thieves Twitter or Facebook how much they’re excited to play the game, and that’s it! Winners will be chosen throughout the contest period up until the contest ends on April 26th. For more rules & details on this once in a lifetime opportunity, Check out the rules page RIGHT HERE!

Are you excited for Sea Of Thieves this year? Let us know, and don’t be shy about entering the contest!

Rumor: Are We Getting A New Conker Game Soon?

by The_acz

Rumour mills have been buzzing like crazy these past couple of weeks, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be slowing down.

It seems that someone over on a NeoGAF thread (which appears to not work anymore) went digging through some data on the Microsoft Store and happened to find a listing under games titled Young Conker. The ESRB for the game is T, and the page uses Sunset Orange as it’s background color. This might not even be the first time this game has been hinted at. Former WWE wrestler Ken Anderson uploaded a photo to his Instagram in early January saying that he was working on a super secret squirrel video game. Are you excited about the possibility of a new Conker game? Check out the pic below and tell us in the comments!

Young Conker

Rare Reveals First Footage Of ‘Project Dream’ And ‘Banjo 2.5D’!

by The_acz

Is it Christmas yet? No? Well it sure feels like it.

Rare has just shocked the entire online world by releasing a video talking about how the mysteriously named Project Dream became Banjo Kazooie. This is incredibly important because this is the first time in 20 years that we’ve gotten more info on this game. Not only that, but the mysterious beginnings of Banjo Kazooie with a somewhat 2D look and a very odd looking giant’s lair have also been shown and explained. Check out the video below and fall in love with what could have been.

Talk Like A Pirate Day 2015: Rare Hires Pirate Consultants For ‘Sea Of Thieves’

by The_acz

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day everyone!

This year, Rare has decided to go all out by trying to make their new game Sea of Thieves as authentic as possible. This includes them hiring real life pirates as consultants for the game. The end results pretty much turns out how you expect it to, but it’s still fun to watch.

As of right now, Sea of Thieves does not have a release date, but is presumed to launch in 2016 for Xbox One and Windows 10.

Rare To Release Behind-The-Scenes Videos For Unreleased ‘Banjo Tooie’ mode and ‘Banjo Kazooie’ Prototype

by The_acz

Exciting times for fans of Banjo Kazooie and Rare alike! Not only has the release of Rare Replay and development of Sea of Thieves signaled a return for the legendary company, but to top it off, they’ve been revealing Behind the Scenes secrets on some their most beloved properties. Yesterday, the company revealed that they are hard at work on more Behind the Scenes documentaries.One is on an unreleased co-op mode for Banjo Tooie entitled Bottles Revenge. Bottles Revenge was a co-op mode that would have one person playing as a devil version of Bottles the Mole; as he possessed enemies in order to stop Banjo and Kazooie from defeating Gruntilda. It was even going to allow the player to take control of bosses,but the mode was sadly abandoned. Oddly Enough the mode is still accessible using a Game Shark, but bosses can’t be controlled(video link of Bottles Revenge being played at the end of article.). The other video is a bit more interesting, as that one will focus on an unreleased 2.5D prototype of the original game. There are even hints that we could possibly get our first glance at gameplay of Dream, which was the first conceptual prototype of what would become Banjo Kazooie. Are  you excited for these videos?

Geekscape Games Reviews: ‘Rare Replay’

by The_acz

One of the first games I remember playing as a kid was 1994’s Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo. I spent countless months playing the game alongside my older brother. We’d constantly spend every day after school trying to find every bonus room we could while taking turns trying to beat those now infamous mine cart levels. All those memories and more were thanks to a then fairly new company called Rareware.

Replay collection
All 30 games in Rare Replay in one image. That’s a lot of games.

This year, Rare (now owned by Microsoft) is celebrating their 30th anniversary of being in the video game business. To celebrate this amazing milestone, they’ve gone and compiled their 30 best games from the past 30 years, all into one package for the shockingly low value of $30. Everything from their spectrum games like Jetpac and Sabrewulf, to their newest outings such as Viva Piñata and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. To sweeten the deal even further, they’ve gone and added a challenge mode where you can play specific parts of classic era rare games in order to earn stamps. Those can then be used to watch exclusive behind the scene interviews with some of the brilliant minds responsible for these most beloved franchises.

This time, instead of doing a normal review where I talk about all aspects of the game, I thought I’d try something different with Rare Replay seeing as how a lot of people have already played these games before. So for this review, I’ll be going through my favorite games of each key Rare era. Let’s begin.

Spectrum Era: Jetpac

This was probably one of the trickiest categories to choose because the Spectrum games shown in this collection are really odd. Most of them require an immense amount of fast-twitch skill and trial and error. That is, except for Jetpac. Jetpac is the Spectrum game that you’ll be playing the most out of the collection, and there’s a reason for that. The gameplay is super simple, and plays more like an arcade game than anything else. Your goal in the game is to find the missing pieces of your rocket ship so you can get home. Each level randomizes the layout and enemy structure so the experience is always fresh and new. You’ll be spending countless hours blasting away at aliens while you’re trying to get the last tank of gas into your rocket for liftoff.Jetpac

Nes Era: Battletoads

As much as Rare Replay has introduced me to new NES titles from their library, Battletoads is still the pinnacle of Rare’s early Nintendo years before they became the 2nd Party we all know and love. Once you start the game, you get dropped into the action immediately, but unlike the spectrum games, you don’t feel vulnerable. Since it’s a beat em up, you already instinctively know how the game works. Run, jump, and beat em up! Not only is the first level a great introduction, but it slowly teaches you about the game so you can be prepared for the increase in difficulty after each level. The difficulty of the game dose increase fast, but it never seems unfair or not fun. especially since Rare has added a new feature that softens the blow. In any game up until the end of the NES/Battletoads Arcade era, you have the option of holding down the left trigger, which activates a rewind feature that you can use to rewind your game for up to 10 seconds. Never again will you struggle with the infamous turbo tunnel. Don’t let this feature fool you though, because this game is still as tough today as it was back then. 10 Seconds may save you one time, but it may be too late for others.

Battletoads

 

N64 Era: Conker’s Bad Fur Day

Coming into the N64 era, there was a lot to consider. This is the era that Rare really shined the brightest in terms of quality and quantity. While many are eager to crown Banjo Kazooie as the top spot, this is not the case with me. In my opinion, Conker outshines every other title in this era to prove that over 10 years later this once overlooked gem has become one of the most infamous and controversial games of its time. Everything from foul mouthed animals and barn equipment, to a pile of singing poo and a giant sunflower with rather large “stigmas”, really set up a game that in no way wants you to take it seriously. Not to mention the introduction of “Context Sensitive” gameplay where you conveniently find and use tools that you need in that moment of time. Throw in a fun 4 player split screen multiplayer with plenty of game modes to keep you interested, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day easily earns the title of the best N64 era Rare game.

Conker

Xbox Era: Viva Piñata

Out of all of the eras and games in this collection, the Xbox era stuck out to me the most from all the others. This comes from the fact that I had constantly heard about the games in this era, but never had the chance to play them. The only game from this section that I had played was Grabbed by the Ghoulies, which I think is an underrated gem. I was also eager to finally try out the mixed received Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. In the end, it ended up being a toss-up between N&B and Viva Piñata. Nuts & Bolts was going to be crowned winner, but sadly the game was still suffering from some pretty bad frame dropping in the hub world. I was hoping for them to fix this problem when I played it earlier this year at comic con (hopefully it gets fixed in a future patch). I’m happy to say that Viva Piñata is one of the most pleasant surprises I’ve ever played. All you do is create a garden for growing and harvesting piñatas, but it’s got that rare charm that makes it a step above the rest. Never have I spent so much time watering plants and tilling my land in order to attract the most beautiful and rare Piñata creatures. Top that off with classic rare humor and an absolute mouthwatering score from composer Grant Kirkhope and you have yourself one of the best and most addicting games to come out of the company PERIOD.

Pinata

Final thoughts

 

At the end of the day, I can’t say enough good things about Rare Replay that everyone else has already said. This is possibly the best collection of games ever compiled. $30 is a steal of a price for how much value that both gamers, and non-gamers will be getting out of it. If you have an Xbox One, you owe it to yourself to buy this amazing package and see what all the hubbub is about.

Rating: Buy 

Here’s How Those 10,000 Gamerscore Will Work In ‘Rare Replay’!

by Josh Jackson

When it came to Microsoft’s E3 showing, the only thing that came close to topping their backwards compatibility announcement was complimenting that reveal with Rare Replay, a compilation of 30 games from the longtime developer ranging from the NES to the Xbox 360. What caught Achievement hunter’s ear however, was that the game would have a total of 10,000 Gamerscore to uncover, keeping our OCD friends out there busy for a long time. However, once we spoke to the developers on the show floor, we learned that Achievements play a much bigger role than improving your online reputation.

First off, let’s get the unfortunate news out of the way. Seeing as some of these games are Xbox 360 titles, if you’ve played these in the past, you won’t be able to double up on points. In other words, since these are considered backwards compatible, the same Achievements unlocked in the past will carry over to Rare Replay. Despite this, I feel the trade off is worth losing the chance to get the same rewards a second time.

As a thank you to the fans, unlocking these rewards will provide special bonuses for those who play their games the most thoroughly. As you play, Achievements will unlock special content for each game, including developer interviews, artwork galleries, and a variety of other bonuses that make pushing through the games so much more rewarding. If you already unlocked the 360 ones as mentioned before, the rewards for these games will be available instantly! Which means my Viva Pinata, Banjo Kazooie and Kameo plays will finally pay off!

If 30 games for thirty dollars wasn’t enough for you, it’s clear that Rare Replay will offer plenty of replayability to keep you coming back for more. Still on the fence? Check out our Comic Con preview, and keep an eye out for our full review in the coming days.

Rare Replay will release exclusively on Xbox One on August 4th.

Here’s A Cheesy, Exciting New Trailer For ‘Rare Replay’!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: Yep, it’ll take up 50GB to install the whole thing, but doesn’t Rare Replay sound fantastic?

The company today debuted a cheesy, yet effective trailer for the collection, very quickly detailing pretty much every game the collection features.

Catchy song, right?

The collection is pretty huge, and includes Jet Pac , Atic Atac, Lunar Jetman, Sabre Wulf, UnderWurlde, Knight Lore, Gunfright, Slalom, R.C. Pro-Am, Cobra Triangle, Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll, Digger T. Rock, Solar Jetman, Battletoads, , R.C. Pro-Am II, Battletoads Arcade, Killer Instinct Gold, Blast Corp, Banjo Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark, Banjo Tooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Grabbed By The Ghoulies, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power, Viva Piñata, Jetpac Refueled, Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise, and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

We went hands-on with Rare Replay at SDCC earlier this month, and aside from a few technical issues that will hopefully be solved for the retail release, we had a blast with it.

Will you be picking up Rare Replay when it releases on August 4th? Which game are you most looking forward to?

‘Rare Replay’ Requires A 50GB Installation

by The_acz

Rare Replay is only 13 days away from it’s August 4th release and it seems like all Xbox One owners (me included) are eager to get their hands on the game. While everything is all fine and dandy for the people getting the physical version, it seems people wanting to digitally download the game will have to clear up some space. According to the official Xbox store, the initial download for Rare Replay will clock in at around 11.26GB. However, after the initial download, the 360 titles in the collection will be added to your download queue which will require an extra 38GB. These 360 titles include: all 3 Banjo games, Jetpac Re-fueled, both Perfect Dark games, both Viva Piñata games, and Kameo: Elements of Power. While that is a big file size to ask for, don’t let that deter you from picking the game up. It’s still an amazing collection at an amazing value. For more on rare replay, check out the preview coverage of it that I did for Comic-Con.

Gameplay: (Courtesy of IGN)

SDCC 2015: We Go Hands-On With ‘Rare Replay’!

by The_acz

This year’s San Diego Comic-Con may be over, but that doesn’t mean coverage on it has to stop (seriously, we just saw so much). Last week, I had the chance of visiting the Xbox Gaming Lounge to spend some time with Rare’s new anniversary collection, Rare Replay. For those who don’t know, Rare Replay is a 30th anniversary title that celebrates the company’s 30 years of being in the industry. 30 years, 30 games, 30 dollars, what a deal, huh?

The game collection on this pack is massive, ranging from spectrum games like Jetpac and Sabreman, to some of their newest outings like Viva Piñata and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

Snake

The collection as a whole includes: Jet Pac , Atic Atac, Lunar Jetman, Sabre Wulf, UnderWurlde, Knight Lore, Gunfright, Slalom, R.C. Pro-Am, Cobra Triangle, Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll, Digger T. Rock, Solar Jetman, Battletoads, , R.C. Pro-Am II, Battletoads Arcade, Killer Instinct Gold, Blast Corp, Banjo Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark, Banjo Tooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Grabbed By The Ghoulies, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power, Viva Piñata, Jetpac Refueled, Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise, and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. It’s really quite the list.

For the sake of the demo, I only tried out Nuts & Bolts and Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll, so other people would have a chance of trying the title out. Both games functioned as they should and were just as fun as when they came out. Although, the controls for Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll felt a little odd due to using a control stick on an isometric view. While Nuts & Bolts was fun for a first time playing it, the game was suffering from framerate issues in some areas, specifically when you’re in the main overworld, Showdown Town. They let me know that they were still working on debugging and fixing most of their 360 titles, so hopefully framerate issues on a far more powerful console won’t make it to the final release.

RareRevealed

Sure, the collection of games is amazing, but knowing Rare, they always love going one step beyond. Not only is the game collection only 1/3rd of the actual game, but there’s also 2 other fully fleshed out features in the title. This includes a snapshot challenge mode where you’re tasked with completing specific challenges from old games in order to earn stamps (infinite Battletoads turbo tunnel anyone). Once you’ve earned enough stamps, you’ll be able to access the last part of the game titled Rare Revealed, where you can access developer diaries and interviews.

All in all, Rare Replay is shaping up to be an amazing game and certainly one that Xbox One and Rare fans don’t want to miss out on. For Rare fans, it’s a must buy, and for non-Rare fans, this is the perfect time to jump in and see what this company is all about. Rare Replay will be released in North America August 4th, Japan August 6th, and the U.K August 7th.

E3 2015: Here Are The Xbox 360 Games You Can Play On Xbox One RIGHT NOW!

by Josh Jackson

As far as my E3 hype goes, the announcement that I was most excited for was the Xbox One receiving backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games! Of course, there had to be a catch, this time being that it would only apply to certain games. Promising over 100 titles by year’s end, the first 21 have been revealed as playable right now!

Consisting of mostly Rare games, (that were likely emulated already to prepare for the upcoming Rare Replay,) or games everyone should have, (does anyone not own Hexic HD?), reclaiming your downloaded games will be as simple as finding them on the store! For physical discs, the process is a little different. Once the disc is put into the console, your Xbone will recognize the title and allow you to download it from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Since disc reading won’t be possible, it’s safe to say that you’ll do well to upgrade your hard drive, (assuming you haven’t already after Halo: The MCC and AC: Unity ate up half your memory.) Players will even have the choice to switch to the old 360 interface when accessing their past titles! Whether or not online functionality will still work as intended through the new console is unknown, but considering Shadowrun, an online only shooter was listed in the teaser image, I’d say it’s a safe bet. We’ll be sure to update you as soon as more information is released.

The current list is as follows:

A Kingdom for Keflings

A World of Keflings

Alien Hominid HD

Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo-Tooie

BattleBlock Theater

Defense Grid

Geometry Wars Evolved

Hexic HD

Jetpac Refuelled

Kameo

Mass Effect

N+

Perfect Dark

Perfect Dark Zero

Small Arms

Super Meat Boy

Toy Soldiers

Toy Soldiers: Cold War

Viva Piñata

Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise

Zuma.

Is there a particular game you want added? Check the Xbox Dashboard for their user poll, which allows you to vote for what you want to become available next! After you vote, tell us what you chose in the comments!

‘Yooka-Laylee’ Kickstarts Retro Revival; Reaches All Stretch Goals In Under 24 Hours!

by Josh Jackson

When former Rare developers reach out to the gaming community to help fund their Banjo-Kazooie inspired 3D platformer, it turns out that gamers are as passionate for the genre as the developers are.

Enter Yooka-Laylee, a project with obvious ties to the N64 days of old. Featuring team members who have worked on childhood classics such as the Donkey Kong Country series, Goldeneye 007, and of course, the two classic Banjo games, newly formed developer, Playtonic Games, have traded in the bear and bird with the bat and chameleon!

Described as a passion project that’s set to revive the “buddy duo” platformer, Playtonic is promising huge, colorful worlds with multiple abilities, near-countless collectables and a cast of characters that will charm us back to 1999, (Y2K scares not included.) Looking to design the game on a smaller budget than what Banjo cost over a decade ago, the purpose of the Kickstarter was to make sure Yooka-Laylee would be the best game possible while being able to maintain their vision.

Fans apparently agreed in a big way, with the project’s funding in 40 minutes and becoming the fastest video game to reach $1,000,000 on the crowd funding website in the process. Less than a day after launching, the campaign had met all of its stretch goals, with new goals being added to improve a game that has already captured so many. What started as a small project has exploded into something much bigger, with a potential orchestral soundtrack as the next goal while sitting on close to 1.5 million pounds, with 41 days left to donate as of this writing.

Scheduled for an October 2016 release on every major console in addition to PC, and it’s clear that Microsoft missed out on a demand that’s all too obvious. For more info, check out the Yooka-Laylee Kickstarter page here.

Sources: IGN.com, Kickstarter.com

E3 2014: ‘Killer Instinct Season 2’ Brings More Classic Fighters Back Into The Fray!

by Josh Jackson

Last year, a revival of the classic fighter, Killer Instinct, was finally announced for the Xbox One, but the joy the announcement brought was short lived. With a free to play structure and a developer that wasn’t Rare, fans were worried that the third game that they had been waiting more than 10 years for wouldn’t be the title they were hoping for. About seven months have passed since the game initially launched, slowly releasing characters that could be purchased individually if the player chose to add them to the roster, the game has enough support to start a second season.

Revealed during Microsoft’s E3 press conference, Killer Instinct: Season 2 is off to a great start, adding original poster boy TJ Combo into the latest version of the fighter. In addition to promising Cinder as one of the returning fighters, Combo is living up to his namesake in the reveal trailer that can be viewed before. Watching him go to town on Fulgore definitely brings back memories, but will it be enough to keep people interested in the game?

While I’m excited to see more characters from the original be brought back, I’m wondering why staple characters such as these two weren’t in the game sooner. Plus, if the characters are going to cost the same amount as the ones in the past have, the title can end up going from budget title to costing far more than a typical retail game would cost. On top of having to pay for live to play it online and a thin single player component that didn’t last long, and this game is feeling more and more like a hard sell to me. With that said, nostalgia is making me eager to get a chance with these old favorites.

How do you feel seeing an updated TJ Combo getting back into the fighting ring? Are you still playing Killer Instinct? And how do you feel about the free to play structure? Watch TJ in action below and let us know who the next fighter will be!

E3 2013: Hands On ‘Killer Instinct’

by Josh Jackson

Killer Instinct is one of those games that fans have been asking for for years, but after being disappointed time after time, it was easy to consider a sequel nothing but a pipe dream. Thankfully for us fighting game fans, nostalgia nuts or those dying for Rare to return to their roots, an Xbox One follow up was finally revealed, AND was fully playable on the E3 show floor! Except that the game isn’t being developed by Rare at all, but by Double Helix games, (makers of Silent Hill: Homecoming and Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters.) The new developer has a lot to live up to after being handed such a beloved franchise, so I made sure to nab the closest arcade stick and throw down or a couple of rounds.

As expected, the mechanics of the game have been upgraded. The basics of this 2D fighting game are still intact, complete with insane combos, special moves and of course, Combo Breakers. Added to these standard features are a ton of new bars that have different functions. Taking damage and executing Combo Breakers fills the Instinct Bar. Somewhat like an X Factor mode from Marvel vs Capcom 3, triggering this cancels out of animations, resets the combo knockback, increases speed and health recovery and is accompanied by n awesome yellow glow. Unlike X Factor, this can be triggered multiple times in a fight assuming the bar fills fast enough.

Killer Instinct Screen 2

Secondly, the shadow meter is a new bar that’s specifically for powered up special attacks. As KI‘s version of the EX attack, blocking successful blows fills this blue bar. Once its at least half full, executing a special attack with two buttons instead of one triggers a stronger version of the attack. These moves are great ways to add extra pressure to an opponent, snatch up a little extra damage or to extend combos.

Speaking of combos, the structure in how they’re executed was changed as well. Light attacks “unlock” links to medium attacks, which then can link to heavy. I wasn’t a fan of these at all since I was pulling off decent sized combos while just tapping buttons down the line, timing and precision be damned. Just to see if it worked, I tried mashing nothing but the light punch button as Sabrewulf… and I pulled off an impressive looking 20 hit combo that took half a bar of health. Combo Breakers are essential in this case, since pressing the two light, medium or strong attack buttons simultaneously will end your opponent’s combo if they attacked with the same type of button you pressed. If you mess up though, you’re locked out of attempting another one for three seconds. Rounding these out are the infamous Ultra Combo, which in the past was a short, somewhat complex combo that would trigger a huge, multi hit spectacle if the opponent was low on health. Except now, triggering it is one command that varies between characters. It would be nice to have to work for it, but it seems like many of the features are getting dumbed down.

Killer Instinct Screen 1

So after playing Killer Instinct, I’m a little worried in the direction it’s taking. Many of the mechanics we’ve grown to love have been dumbed down and the positive additions like the Shadow Meter don’t outweigh the bad, (like potentially unlimited X-Factor with Instinct Mode.) As a long time fighting game player, there’s no reason I should be able to pull off huge combos with one button and no timing. The mid match Fatalities were missing, and there’s no word if they will be in the final version as of yet. Add in the free to play aspect where only Jago will be playable and everyone else has to be bought separately puts me off too.

Keep in mind though, that this was all from the early stages of the game. There’s still plenty of time for Double Helix to refine and balance out this long anticipated fighter when it releases exclusively on the Xbox One in the near future. I’m still holding out hope that the game will turn out great. After all, we’ve waited too long for it not to be.

Rare Long Lost Footage From Unreleased Conker Game: ‘Twelve Tales: Conker 64’

by Shane O'Hare

The guys over at RareMINION (a Rare Games fansite) have found 30 minutes of footage of a previously unreleased game starring Conker the squirrel. This was announced after they released Banjo-Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing and they were receiving bad press that they only could make cutesy platformers with adorable animals. So this project was scrapped and redone into Conkers Bad Fur Day. They turned that into the deliciously hilarious M rated game we all know and love. Check out this footage below, and be amazed at how GOOD it looks for an alpha staged N64 game.