From today, at 9AM GMT (2AM PDT), you can play Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie HD port on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360. Banjo-Kazooie will be available worldwide for 1200 Microsoft Points (that’s US$15 / €14.40 / £10.20 / CAN$18.60 / AU$19.80).
The bear and bird’s first ever N64 outing now available in full HD. Loads of rollicking fun to be had here and with the legendary Stop N Swop feature reinstated. You’ll never look the same again at a jigsaw.
Issuing have reared their ugly head relating to the free codes that you get for pre-ordering Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts which allow you to download the Xbox Live release of Banjo-Kazooie. it turns out that a lot of people who pre-ordered the game, received no code at all.
The code came packed in with the game and could be redeemed for a FREE download of Banjo-Kazooie on Xbox Live for those who pre-ordered Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. This was special because, in addition to getting the Xbox Live version of the N64 classic for free, they also got to play it a few weeks ahead of it’s general release date.
But now this has caused a delay in gamers being able to play the game and as a result, Microsoft has delayed the public release of the game till December 3rd.
In response Microsoft gave this statement to 1-Up:
“We are aware that some consumers who preordered Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts have not received their redeem code for Banjo-Kazooie on Xbox Live Arcade. We are currently investigating the scope of this situation, but we believe it represents a small fraction of the total number of preorder customers. We encourage anyone who preordered Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and did not receive a redeem code to follow up directly with your retailer’s customer service team for resolution.”
Sounds pretty crappy to me, anyone who didn’t get a code will hopefully be given enough points to purchase the game, or a game, off Xbox Live for free. That should be the solution to this.
Church and charity leaders at a panel discussion hosted by the ELSPA came to the agreement that video games were a force for good in today’s digital society.
To quote Martin Houghton-Brown of The Children’s Society as reported by CVG:
“We now live in a digital age where the nature of playing games has changed. Children tell us supportive and loving relationships are key to a good childhood, we need to equip parents and carers to support children to stay safe when they play in the growing online world.”
Mike Royal of the Lighthouse Group, which helps to educate children who have been excluded from school, said that gaming helps to build a dialogue with parents as well as children.
Joseph Steinberg of The Church Mission Society was apparently in agreement with these views as well.
In short, I think this is a very positive development. I know the pastor of my church and his brother have been playing video games since they were kids and thus are not against the practice. But they are also closer to the gaming generation age.
But I do think that the church will have a much harder time connecting with it’s audience, especially the younger ones, if they don’t face up to the reality that media is here to stay and not all of it is bad. Even so, it’s more about the person’s ability to see and recognize what is happening on-screen and to realize what it amounts to and make their own choices. I believe that there are positive and negative things that you can take from any form of media, and you often have to look below the surface and not take everything at face value.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts takes place eight years after the events in Rare’s N64 platformer Banjo-Tooie: Wrath of Grunty. As the boxart shows, you’ll be seeing a lot of returning characters from the series.
The story sees Banjo and Gruntilda competing to determine the true owner of Spiral Mountain. Banjo wishes to preserve his home while Gruntilda hatches an urban development scheme to replace the vegetated area with towers and malls. A new character named Lord of Games (LOG) attempts to settle the conflict between the two by devising a series of worlds and challenges. LOG transports the other characters to Showdown Town, his headquarters, and starts the contest. The winner would be set to own Spiral Mountain; the loser must endure eternal hardship at LOG’s video game factory. While Banjo and Kazooie seek to win by completing the challenges, Grunty uses her powers and abilities to try and stop the duo.
The game has you do more than just the good old Banjo-Kazooie platforming, you’ll instead find yourself using vehicles you can create and edit to drive or fly Banjo & Kazooie around 80% of the time in-game.
Check out this colorful cast and vehicles galore at the seaside Showdown Town, which acts as the game’s hub world.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts will be released exclusively on Xbox 360 in America on November 11th and in Europe on November 14th, 2008.
The N64 Banjo-Kazooie is about to arrive on Xbox Live Arcade as the bear and bird duo, known together as “Banjo-Kazooie”, set out to make their triumphant return to the video game world.
In addition to shaking up the platform genre with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (the official 3rd game in the core series), the original N64 Banjo-Kazooie as well as it’s sequel, Banjo-Tooie, are preparing to play that nostalgia card on the masses of gamers with fond memories of traversing gigantic world to gather all manner of collectibles and fight Gruntilda once again. And for those who never got to play the games, this is an excellent chance to see what all the fuss was about, and increase your GamerScore at the same time!
For some reason I was expecting to be more than just a high-def port. But oh well, I guess you can’t have everything. Banjo-Kazooie is STILL one of my favorite games of all time. And if you’ve never played it, then you definitely should consider picking it up when it releases to Xbox Live Arcade on November 26th. Or pre-order Nuts & Bolts and you will get the game for free! (Banjo-Tooie btw will be coming in early 2009)
See the game in action on the Xbox 360 in these videos and trailers.
Pre-Order Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and receive a free code for the original Banjo-Kazoie Xbox Live Arcade remake that allows you to download the game before it releases to the public.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts will be released on November 18th in North America at the cheap price of $40 (out on November 14th in Europe), with the original version of Banjo available for download that day to those who pre-order! For those counting, this will give pre-orderers a two-week head start on getting to play the remake before everyone else (though the exact date for the remake hasn’t yet been determined).
The biggest reason you will want to play the original Banjo-Kazooie (outside of course because of how awesome it is) is due to the addition of the “Stop ‘N’ Swap” feature. Stop N Swop was supposed to allow connectivity between Banjo Kazooie and it’s sequel, Banjo Tooie, in order to unlock special features in the original game by collecting colored eggs to unlock hidden areas and entering a code into a “Stop & Swop” menu, but the feature was never fully realized when Banjo Tooie continued on without the feature.
Now Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts will complete the legendary infamous Stop & Swop by allowing connectivity with the Xbox Live Arcade remake of Banjo Kazooie! By linking the two titles, it will “reward players’ accomplishments in the new game with extra content and features in the Xbox LIVE Arcade game.”
Additionally, Rare also revealed that the Nuts & Bolts game world formally known as “World of Sports” has been renamed Jiggoseum, and will feature Olympics-inspired challenges (one example being to transport a torch across a large body of water to light the Olympic Cauldron).
I don’t know about you, but I’m very intrigued by Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and was a huge fan of the original. So I’m definitely looking forward to buying both of them and finally getting to complete the Stop & Swop! In my opinion Banjo-Kazooie is one of the best platformers ever made, and I hope this is only the beginning of much more classic Rare N64 games to come!
Here is an interview from E3 2008 explaining more about the game and how the vehicle-building works.
* Fallout 3 “is a huge game with over a 100 hours of gameplay.” You can go to the top of the Washington Monument if you can be bothered.” There will be “substantial downloadable content for Fallout 3 and it will be exclusive to Xbox 360 and Windows PC.”
* Resident Evil 5 will be released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as a worldwide simultaneous release on Friday the 13th, 2009. It will feature online co-op.
* Fable 2 features instant online co-op at any point during the campaign. Expect the game in October 2008.
* Gears of War 2 has a badass new trailer. New co-op gameplay hinted at enemy animals like the Reaver and Brumak being controllable in-game. New mode: Horde 5 player co-op. Gears of War 2 will be available exclusively on Xbox 360 worldwide on November 7th, 2008.
* Video games are now the biggest entertainment form at $48 billion this year. Bigger than box office, music, and DVD sales.
* 5+ million in hardware sales in US. 3rd party revenue on Xbox 360 outpaced Wii and PS3 last year. Confident will sell more than PS3 this year.
* Xbox Live members have increased from 6 million last year to 12 million right now. A new member joins every 5 seconds. Consumers have downloaded more than half a billion pieces of content off Xbox Live and spent over $1 billion.
* More than 10,000 movies & tv shows on Xbox Live. Worlds largest provider of on-demand Hd movies & TV shows! A third of all xbox live paid downloads are movies & tv shows. New movie & tv partner: NBC, Universal Studios (NBC, USA Network, Sci-Fi Network)
* A Dashboard Spring update will add: 3D avatars will be added to your profile (like the Wii’s Miis). The interface will be redesigned. A new Community channel shows your online friends. The Primetime channel is a Endemol partnership to broadcast live TV shows like 1 VS 100, Xbox Live Trivia that you’ll play against all of Xbox Live, where you can win actual prizes. You can create a party of friends and jump into games with them, like the new Uno Rush. New My Xbox Software channel makes the Dashboard more fun, social, simpler to use.
* Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 will be released on Xbox Live Marketplace in August 2008.
* A classic returns with Galaga Legions exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade. It’s the first true sequel to the game from team that brought you Pac-Man: Championship Edition.
* Portal: Still Alive is coming exclusively to Xbox Live Arcade with brand new levels and achievements.
* South Park is also getting a new game for Xbox Live Arcade.
* Xbox Live Community Games: First wave of Independent Games will be coming soon.
* Microsoft will partner with Netflix movie rental for no additional costs if you’re already a Netflix and Xbox Live Gold member, meaning it’s an Instant Queue. You can share your movies with your Xbox Live party friends to watch movies together!
* The first downloadable episode of Grand Theft Auto IV will come out later this year.
* The original Banjo-Kazooie (and Banjo-Tooie?) will be released on Xbox Live Arcade.
* Viva Pinata 2: Trouble In Paradise has a new feature called Pinata Vision, which uses the Xbox 360 Vision Camera to scan real-life cards to import new Pinatas into the game.
* Scene It 2: Box Office Smash will be released on Xbox 360 with online multiplayer and you can add more quizzes via downloadable content. Supports avatars.
* You’re In The Movies (which includes an Xbox Live Vision Camera) is an Xbox 360-exclusive that allows you to play in B-movies though various mini-games and improvisations, which play like Eye Toy games. Those videos will be edited (via a director’s mode) into fun B-movies, which you can share with the rest of the world by uploading them.
* When Guitar Hero: World Tour launches this fall, Xbox 360 gamers will be able to get a free REM song pack with 3 songs from their upcoming new CD. Eagles and Van Halen songs plus Metallica’s Death Magnetic album will also appear exclusively in this music-rhythm game only.
* The Lips karaoke music game for Xbox 360 will come with light-up, motion sensitive, wireless microphones. It’s the first game to let you sing along to your own music collection.
* Rock Band 2 will premier exclusively for Xbox 360 in September 2008, includes the debut of Guns N Roses and lots of others. Over 500 songs available by the end of the year.
* Square Enix’s Yoichi Wada announced:
– Infinite Undiscovery exclusively for Xbox 360 with a release date of September 2nd in America, 5th in Europe, and 7th Japan & Asia.
– Collaboration between Microsoft, Square Enix & Tri-Ace. Who teamed up for Star Ocean: The New Hope that’s set for release in the Spring of 2009.
– The Last Remnant available on Xbox 360 first on November 20th, 2008, worldwide. It will also be available on Games for Windows PCs.
– Final Fantasy 13 has been confirmed for release on Xbox 360! But it hasn’t received a release date yet.
Ken Lobb, Creative Director at Microsoft Games Studios gives a walkthrough of the nostalgia heavy, open-world level in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (release: November 2008).
To quote IGN’s hands-on impressions: “Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is a game that you’d do well to keep your eye on. The visual style is great and the possibilities in the gameplay seem almost unlimited. Rare is pushing the boundaries of what a platformer is and, in doing so, is bringing fresh ideas to a genre that has fallen out of favor with gamers. Even with all of the new ideas, it’s clear that the team has ensured that it doesn’t venture too far from the roots that have made the franchise a hit. The platforming, exploration and open game progression are all there; the game has just put the creativity in the hands of the player. And that’s never a bad thing.”
Here’s the Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts — Showdown Town walkthrough.
Here’s the Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts — Banjo Land walkthrough.
The first gameplay footage of the upcoming Xbox 360-exclusive sim game Viva Pinata 2: Trouble in Paradise has been released by Rare. The game will be released in September 2008. Take a look:
Going along with it is the cartoon-based teaser that shows Professor Pester plotting to obtain more Pinata candy as he shows his “comrades” at what new Pinata Island locations he plans to execute his evil deeds.
Today Microsoft Game Studios and industry luminaries from the world’s top development studios were on hand to show off the latest features of the year’s most in-demand titles at the Spring Showcase 2008 event in San Francisco. In attendance were Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski, Lionhead’s Peter Molyneux, Tecmo/Team Ninja’s Tomonobu Itagaki, and Silicon Knights’ Denis Dyack.
List of the Xbox 360 games ordered by release date:
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One on Xbox LIVE Arcade provides a first-of-its-kind RPG-Adventure experience based on the popular Web comic. The creative collaboration between Penny Arcade creators Mike ‘Gabe’ Krahulik and Jerry ‘Tycho’ Holkins, legendary game designer Ron Gilbert and producers at Hothead Games results in a 100-percent authentic Penny Arcade experience that pushes bizarre characters, outrageous combat and adult humor to the precipice of darkness. “Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One” will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade May 21, 2008.
Come June 5th in America and June 27th in Europe, The Incredible Hulk will be fueled with fury. Featuring key moments from the film, as well as additional plotlines and characters from the character’s rich comic-book universe. Players smash through New York City, battling gigantic enemies amidst soaring skyscrapers in a massive open world. Players can demolish anything in their path and also use it as a weapon — pieces of a crumbling building…a passing car…a light standard. They can even demolish buildings with their bare hands. Damage is persistent, and gamers can use it to gain access to previously unreachable areas.
Ninja Gaiden II: Team Ninja/Tecmo will reveal today that gamers can get a head start on expanding and customizing their “Ninja Gaiden II” experience with the release of Gamerpics and Themes, available as PDLC on Xbox LIVE beginning today. The Gamerpics packs include five new images each, at 100 points per pack; and the Themes, which focus on heroes and bosses, are 150 points per pack. Soon gamers everywhere will follow Ryu Hayabusa’s entire blood-drenched mission – through cities like Venice, New York and Tokyo – to avenge his clan and prevent the destruction of the human race. “Ninja Gaiden II” slashes its way onto store shelves on June 3 in North America and June 6 in Europe. Additional “Ninja Gaiden II” PDLC will be available for download on May 20, with subsequent releases throughout the summer.
On June 20th in Europe and June 24th in America, Alone in the Dark will be taking the fear to a new level, the next-gen Alone in the Dark features the macabre style of the series played with new gameplay mechanics and a broader-reaching, action-packed play style. Explore fully-interactive realtime worlds, interacting with physics and roaming the wide-open, fright-filled environments. This next-gen Alone in the Dark is also built around a unique episodic game structure — the story is split into a number of distinct 30-40 minute episodes, doled out one at a time as you play. Each time the player launches a saved game, the episode will begin with a video summary of the previous episode to quickly re-immerse the player in the story and removing the need to remember where they were or what they were doing. Every episode will close with a nail-biting cliff-hanger ending to rattle players’ nerves, and if the player is leaving the game a video teaser of the next episode will play to leave them wanting more.
Too Human. Today, MGS and Silicon Knights will confirm that the wait is almost over - “Too Human” will be available on August 19 in North America and August 29 in Europe. “Too Human” is an epic, highly anticipated action game with integrated RPG elements and features a rich storyline with deep character development, both hallmarks of Silicon Knights’ legendary tradition of video game development. Additionally, Silicon Knights is showcasing for the first time, the title’s online cooperative play via Xbox LIVE; allowing two gamers to experience “Too Human” with friends in a multiplayer setting.
Viva Piñata 2: Trouble in Paradise (release: September 2008), set to appear on store shelves this September. Developed by the creative masterminds at Rare, this sequel to the colorful, sleeper hit builds upon the gameplay of the original and adds innovative twists to the mix. In an effort to help Piñata Central rebuild their computer database of piñatas, players will send piñatas at full candiosity to parties all around the world while using their creativity and imagination to attract, capture, protect, train and manage more than 100 newly discovered and existing piñata species. An exciting, new “Just for Fun” setting makes getting into the game fast and easy. For the first time, players will be able to collaborate together on a garden through a rich co-op experience, connect and play with others online via Xbox LIVE as well as instantly introduce new piñata species to their garden through an innovative new feature utilizing the Xbox LIVE Vision Camera.
Banjo-Kazooie 3: Nuts & Bolts (release: November 2008), defying the laws of nature, a bear, a bird and a backpack team up to embark on another incredible adventure this November. MGS is breaking the rules of traditional platformer games by putting the power to invent new abilities for Banjo directly into the players’ hands. By using their ingenuity to build imaginative vehicles that can be combined with infinite variations, gamers help Banjo successfully complete missions through multiple terrains. Through exploration, discovering hidden secrets and solving puzzles to win rewards, players will continually find increasing ways to customize and improve their contraptions, creating an unprecedented level of user-generated content and emergent play for a 3-D adventure game.
Gears of War 2 (release: November 2008), is the sequel to the blockbuster third-person tactical action game that sold nearly 5 million units. Epic Games Design Director, Cliff Bleszinski, will demonstrate dramatic new gameplay elements and stunning visual effects in a campaign sequence from early in the game – where Marcus Fenix and COG forces engage in pulse-pounding firefights between two Derrick transports, fend off vicious Reaver fly-by attacks and rabid Brumaks – all in the same rollercoaster ride of a level. As the most anticipated Xbox 360 exclusive title of the 2008 holiday season, “Gears of War 2” offers an unforgettable gameplay experience that blends a gripping story with visceral combat on a grand scale.
Fable 2 (Holiday 2008): The wait is almost over for the sequel to THE biggest action role-playing game in Xbox history. Swords, guns and now the newly unveiled magical power round out the combat in this action RPG from acclaimed developer Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studios. Players will have even more choices to continuously shape who their characters become in a world 10 times the size of the iconic Xbox game. “Fable 2” introduces a host of exciting new features for gamers, including a first-of-its-kind Xbox LIVE Arcade experience, and a genre-stretching multiplayer experience, allowing gamers easily play “Fable 2” with friends and family side-by-side from the comfort of a living room couch. Players can immerse themselves in this vibrant world that only Lionhead and Molyneux could create, beginning this holiday.
From today, at 9AM GMT (2AM PDT), you can play Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie HD port on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360. Banjo-Kazooie will be available worldwide for 1200 Microsoft Points (that’s US$15 / €14.40 / £10.20 / CAN$18.60 / AU$19.80).
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