Donkey Kong concept art posted by former Rare staffer
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Images | 5 Comments
Gregg Mayles, a former staffer on Rare, has been posting several images of concept art of Donkey Kong over the past few days on Twitter.
Here’s a look at everything that was shared:
First out of the GMF are some early 1993 concept ideas for a reimagined Donkey Kong. pic.twitter.com/Gae85778oY
— Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy) August 31, 2015
Next to be #DKCrevealed from the folder is this faxed pic from Mr Miyamoto suggesting DK could have a tie. Good call. pic.twitter.com/2IN21icvrN
— Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy) September 1, 2015
Here's a #DKCrevealed concept book before DKC was DKC. Look at that shininess still gleaming! pic.twitter.com/Moto5zn3pR
— Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy) September 3, 2015
In the #DKCrevealed Golden Bananas concept story there's early Cranky as Grandpa and a Diddy / DK Junior hybrid. pic.twitter.com/5tSnP28aPW
— Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy) September 3, 2015
@BringBackKRool asks if #DKCrevealed has any early Kremling art. How about this pair, that pre-date K.Rool? pic.twitter.com/Vxys3eO8tX
— Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy) September 2, 2015
Rare worked on several Donkey Kong games during the ’90s. These include Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Land, and Donkey Kong 64.
More: Donkey Kong, Rare
Videos show Rare’s Kameo during GameCube development
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, Videos | 3 Comments
Before Microsoft acquired Rare, the studio was working on a few GameCube projects. One of these was Kameo, which would later end up on the Xbox 360.
Videos of Kameo during its GameCube development days have now appeared on the YouTube channel of user “ptoponline”. The footage shows a helper who was cut from the final game, different character designs, and more.
Continue on below for all of the unearthed videos.
Videos: Rare on the making of Banjo-Kazooie and Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 1 Comment
The new Rare Replay package contains a pair of interesting videos. We get to learn about the making of Banjo-Kazooie as well as Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Both videos can be viewed below.
As a bonus, we’ve posted one more video after the break. Staffers talk about what makes a Rare game in it.
More: Banjo-Kazooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Rare
Banjo-Kazooie originally featured Dinger the Dog as a companion
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments
Banjo-Kazooie originally featured a very different partner. As revealed by former Rare staffer Gregg Mayles, Dinger the Dog was planned as Banjo’s partner during the game’s early days.
Before Kazooie, #earlyBanjo had Dinger the Dog as a companion, modelled by @WinkySteve. Woof! pic.twitter.com/8HSZdLhNsI
— Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy) August 4, 2015
Steve Mayles, who was also working at Rare during Banjo-Kazooie’s development, mentioned that Dinger’s origins go back to the SNES. For those who are unaware, the studio was creating “Project Dream” for the SNES before it eventually became Banjo-Kazooie on the N64.
He was actually in #snesdream first! Concept by @Kevbayliss '96 ish https://t.co/honJwr3LBJ
— Steve Mayles (@WinkySteve) August 4, 2015
More: Banjo-Kazooie, Rare, top
Rare co-founder unsure as to why Nintendo didn’t buy the company
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 29 Comments
Nintendo and Rare formed a tight relationship in the 1990’s. At one point, Nintendo held a 49 percent stake in the company. But in 2002, Nintendo as well as Rare co-founders Tim and Chris Stamper sold their stakes, and Microsoft took control of the game developer.
Some may wonder why Nintendo never ended up acquiring Rare. This is something that confounds Tim Stamper as well.
“I’ve no idea why they didn’t do that,” he recently said to Develop. “I thought we were a good fit.”
No matter who purchased Rare, Stamper did feel that change was necessary at the time. As he explained:
“The price of software development was going up and up with the platforms, and Rare works really well with a partner. We were looking for someone to help broaden our horizons.”
More: interview, Rare, Tim Stamper
Velvet Dark was planned as a “sister” game to Perfect Dark
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 8 Comments
Back in the day, Rare had plans to create a follow-up to Perfect Dark. Velvet Dark would have acted as a “sister” game to the N64 title, according to former staffer Gregg Mayles.
Mayles shared a photo of Velvet Dark’s design document on Twitter earlier today:
No 21: There was a planned 'sister' title to #RareReplay Perfect Dark called Velvet Dark. pic.twitter.com/1oOlmrAPUF
— Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy) July 28, 2015
@SubDrag N64 if I remember rightly.
— Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy) July 28, 2015
Mayles indicated that Velvet Dark would have been an N64 title, but there’s some debate about that. This is a very interesting piece of gaming history in any case!
More: Perfect Dark, Rare, top
Rare originally intended for Donkey Kong to wear a helmet in DKC’s cave levels
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Former Rare staffer Mark Stevenson shared a render of Donkey Kong wearing a mining helmet from Donkey Kong Country over on his Twitter account. Originally, the plan was for Donkey Kong to have it on during the cave levels. Stevenson explained that Squawks the Parrot ended up replacing the helmet.
@NujaviBardales @BringBackKRool @WinkySteve maybe I should remember to add the pic as well. Doh! pic.twitter.com/pxDO2WQqdp
— Mark Stevenson (@playtonicalMark) July 5, 2015
@wildvine47 @NujaviBardales @BringBackKRool @WinkySteve originally intended as the torch light for dark levels. Was replaced with Squawks
— Mark Stevenson (@playtonicalMark) July 5, 2015
Steve Mayles, another former employee from Rare, answered a question about King K. Rool that some fans have been dying to know:
@dkvine Armour. Wonder no more.
— Steve Mayles (@WinkySteve) July 6, 2015
More: Donkey Kong Country, Rare
Why Rare wasn’t too interested in making another core Banjo game after Tooie
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 3 Comments
Rare created Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, but the team never went on to develop a third platformer in the series for the N64. Some may wonder why.
Speaking with Kotaku, Grant Kirkhope indicated that it came down to fatigue. While Rare did go on to make Donkey Kong 64, they were a bit tired when it came to making 3D platformers, and Rare didn’t do too much else in that space.
As Kirkhope explained:
“I think with Tooie we were tired of it at that point. We’d done two games, and, if you do continual sequels—Rare didn’t like to do that—we didn’t want to do another Banjo game. And that’s why it kind of ended there.”
More: Banjo-Kazooie, Grant Kirkhope, interview, Rare
Video: A look at some Perfect Dark Zero art from the GameCube era
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, Videos | 19 Comments
Perfect Dark Zero ended up on the Xbox 360, but that wasn’t always the plan. Rare was initially developing the title for GameCube before Nintendo sold off the studio to Microsoft.
Unseen64 shared a video today that shows concept art from a prototype Perfect Dark Zero build via an art gallery. It gives us a look at the different sort of art style Rare was originally toying around with during the GameCube era – something more cartoony and Japanese manga-inspired at one point. Take a look at the video below.
More: Perfect Dark Zero, Rare
Former Rare staffer on what Donkey Kong Racing could have been
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News | 5 Comments
Donkey Kong Racing was one of those mysterious Nintendo titles that dropped off the map after its initial announcement. It was first revealed at E3 2001 – trailer/tech demo and all – but Rare ended up being acquired by Microsoft and the project was canned.
As for what Donkey Kong Racing could have offered, lead designer Lee Musgrave told Nintendo Life:
