Nintendo forced cancellation of near-complete GoldenEye 007 remake for Xbox 360
Posted on 3 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Over a decade ago, there was talk about GoldenEye 007 possibility coming to the Virtual Console on Wii and Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox Live Arcade. That news is now being talked about again over a decade later following a major leak. Recently, a build popped up online of Rare’s GoldenEye 007 remake for the Xbox 360, showing that the project was almost complete.
Why was the game never released despite development almost being completed? It turns out that Nintendo – who published the N64 original – blocked it in the end.
Artist Ross Bury told Arstechnica:
More: GoldenEye 007, Rare, top
Donkey Kong 64 developer cheat found after more than 20 years
Posted on 3 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
More than 20 years after its original release, a new secret of sorts has been found in Donkey Kong 64. Fans have discovered a hidden developer code that, when the player goes through a series of inputs, allows entry into a level with a lower than normal amount of Golden Bananas.
Twitter user tjballaam originally passed along the news. The Cutting Room Floor offers further insight, including the code itself:
More: Donkey Kong 64, Rare, top
Fangamer making Conker talking plush and more
Posted on 4 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
The original release of Conker’s Bad Fur Day on the N64 is long behind us, but Fangamer has just come out with a bunch of merchandise based on the game.
The main highlight is the Conker talking plush. Standing at roughly eight inches tall when seated, it features a removable crown and 14 sound clips voiced by Chris Seavor.
Fangamer is also offering other Conker merchandise, including a t-shirt, pin, and glass set. Check out the full lineup here.
More: Conker's Bad Fur Day, Rare
Battletoads seeing new limited edition NES Legacy Cartridge Collection and Smash Hits Vinyl Soundtrack
Posted on 4 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
iam8bit, Rare, and Xbox Game Studios have announced the Battletoads NES Legacy Cartridge Collection. The special re-release “comes in a premium fold-out box sporting painstakingly restored full-color archival artwork, and comes with exclusive pack-ins, as well as (in the collector’s tradition) a foil-stamped dust cover.”
If that wasn’t enough, there will also be a Smash Hits Vinyl Soundtrack for Battletoads. It comes with tracks from the original Battletoads, Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, Battletoads Arcade, and newly-launched Battletoads title.
Here’s the full rundown of everything included in the NES re-release and vinyl soundtrack:
More: Battletoads, Rare, Xbox Game Studios
Former Rare devs on Perfect Dark – skipping GoldenEye 007 sequel, the name, requiring the Expansion Pak, more
Posted on 4 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Perfect Dark, Rare’s classic N64 shooter, is officially 20 years old today. To celebrate the milestone, Eurogamer caught up with several of its key developers as well as then Nintendo of America producer Ken Lobb to learn more about the creation of the project. Several interesting topics were discussed in the feature, such as how Rare decided against making a sequel to GoldenEye 007, how the Perfect Dark name was chosen, using the memory Expansion Pak, and more.
We have a roundup featuring these notable points below. The full feature from Eurogamer can be found here.
More: GoldenEye 007, interview, Perfect Dark, Rare, top
Banjo-Kazooie was apparently named after the family of former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi
Posted on 4 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
As reported by VGC, Banjo-Kazooie’s name has ties to former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi.
Yamauchi has a grandson called Banjo Yamauchi. His son is named Katsuhito Yamauchi, otherwise known as ‘Katsuhi’ for short. When they’re combined, you get ‘Banjo-Katsuhi’. That sounds a whole lot like Banjo-Kazooie, doesn’t it?
Series creator Greg Mayles says that the part about ‘Banjo’ is spot on while composer Grant Kirkhope says the story is true:
More: Banjo-Kazooie, Rare, top
Rare on how Banjo-Kazooie made it into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Posted on 4 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate just wrapped its first Fighters Pass. Undoubtedly, one of the highlights was the inclusion of Banjo-Kazooie. Nintendo ended up working with Microsoft and Rare, which wasn’t always the likeliest collaboration.
In an interview with GamesIndustry, Rare head Craig Duncan spoke about how Banjo-Kazooie ended up in the game. Duncan told the site:
More: interview, Rare, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, top
Miyamoto was horrified by realistic shotgun during Donkey Kong 64’s development, suggested the coconut gun in its place
Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Donkey Kong is able to use the Coconut Cannon – otherwise known as the coconut gun – in Donkey Kong 64. However, Rare initially had a completely different weapon mind. Originally, Donkey Kong was intended to use a realistic shotgun.
During an interview with GamesRadar, creative director George Andreas spoke about showing off the gun to Shigeru Miyamoto, late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, and former Nintendo of America chairman Howard Lincoln. It turns out that Miyamoto was horrified but what he saw. In its place, he felt that the coconut gun would be a much better fit for the game. Rare ended up adopting that idea for the final release.
More: Donkey Kong 64, George Andreas, interview, Rare
Rare talks about Banjo-Kazooie’s appearance in Smash Bros. Ultimate, Paul Cunningham helped with the design
Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
Yesterday, Rare published a blog post covering all of the news related to the game developer at E3 2019. For Nintendo fans, one of the biggest announcements made was the reveal of Banjo-Kazooie for Smash Bros. Ultimate as a DLC character.
Rare says it was working with Nintendo “since last year, on everything from movesets to musical choices”. Paul Cunningham was also specifically mentioned as “our point man on getting everything about Banjo and Kazooie’s appearance just right.” Cunningham is Rare’s lead marketing artist and has been with the company since 1995.
Here’s the full excerpt from Rare about Smash Bros.:
More: Rare, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
GoldenEye 007 devs on toning down initial violence, how using Oddjob is cheating, game’s huge success
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
MEL Magazine has a huge article up looking back on GoldenEye 007. Lead environment artist Karl Hilton, gameplay / engine programmer Mark Edmonds, and developer David Doak were brought in for the retrospective piece.
The interview has a number of highlights, some of which we have below. There’s talk about toning down the violence with Nintendo being concerned about the amount of killing, how using Oddjob is cheating in their view, and huge success including Nintendo being unable to keep up with the initial demand.
