Gamertell

Rare and THQ’s portable pet game, Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise made an appearance at E3. Its debut at the convention meant more screenshots and information on the portable version of a series made popular on the Xbox 360. Players are able to raise piñatas and care for them - definitely not your everyday pet sim.

In Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise, you’re able to engage in practically every activity you did in the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Viva Piñata. You raise pinatas, breed them, share piñatas and items with friends, go through training missions and attempt to have a bunch of happy, paper mache critters. There are over 60 different piñatas in the game, so it should keep people busy for a while.

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Do you enjoy 3d platformers? Are you unfazed by cute critters? Do you like a little building/creation to go with your action games? Microsoft and Rare have trotted out Rare’s upcoming Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts for the Xbox 360 this E3, and if you fit the above description, be prepared to squeal with glee. The game boasts a gorgeous (seriously) art style, a solid pedigree (the first two N64 Banjo games were excellent), and a slew of online features to distinguish it from other cutesy mascot platformers.

At it’s core, the game is still a 3d platform game - you run and jump (and stomp enemies) around colorful 3d worlds performing various tasks that further your progress in the game. Nuts and Bolts‘ twist on the formula is its contraption system - players can build their own customizable vehicles in order to solve puzzles or traverse areas, giving the game a fun DIY mechanic. The game does come with pre-loaded vehicles too, for gamers who don’t like fiddling with spare parts. There will also be Live content in the form of competitive and cooperative modes and a stop n’ swap system with the original Banjo-Kazooie, to be released on Xbox Live Arcade.

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Virtual Console is really a wonderful opportunity for gamers. Titles that previously may not have enjoyed great success, or perhaps were cult classics, can finally be introduced to a new audience and receive some well deserved respect and attention.

So far the main stars of Virtual Console have been games created by Nintendo and Sega, but there are a wide variety of original, 3rd party Nintendo games begging to be played. 

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Bear in mind that the following is coming from 1up/EGM’s “Quartermann” and is an unconfirmed rumor. But the Q-man has been on something of a roll lately, so this is worth looking into: apparently, Rare is working on a new installment of mid ‘90s fighter Killer Instinct. The game (listed as ”Killer Instinct 3D: Death, Destruction, and Doom”) is in the works for the Xbox 360 and features full 3D graphics and an overhauled combat engine.

So who’s excited? As a fan of just about every hokey 2d fighter from the era (including KI) I’d like to take a stab at it, should it actually materialize.

Read [1up]

I can not get over how cool Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts sounds and looks. Banjo and the witch Gruntilda (Grunty) have been fighting for years over Spiral Mountain, and the Lord of the Games has finally had it with both of them. So he’s set up some challenges for ownership of the mountain. If Banjo can complete the challenges, Spiral Mountain is his. If Grunty is able to keep him from completing them, then it’s hers.

The game gets good once you start looking at how challenges are completed. Each one will have a goal, but you can get there however you like. Players can create practically any vehicle they can think of to assist Banjo in his challenges. There are over 100 different contraption components which can be combined in Mumbo’s Motors workshop. If you don’t feel like thinking up custom creations, there will be completed creations available in the game. There will also be multiplayer versus and co-op options. 

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Fans of brightly colored papier-mâché will be joyous come September 2008, which is the confirmed release window for Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. Rare Ltd’s piñata pet-raising sim will be better than ever when it arrives on the Xbox 360 this fall. Professor Pester has wiped out Piñata Central’s whole computer database and players must raise and dispatch piñatas around the world.

Of course there will be plenty of piñata fun in Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. Two players can tend the Piñata Island garden at once, there are themed decorations and new environmental items (like snow and sand) and 32 new piñata species. A new Just for Fun mode will also be included, which provides instant infinite chocolate coins, only healthy piñatas and harmful forces stay away.

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Now, this is only an unsubstantiated rumor, but according to Wired and Xbox Evolved, classic N64 FPS Goldeneye 007 could be coming to Xbox Live Arcade this year, courtesy of MS-owned developer Rare. According to the rumor, other classic Rare titles like Perfect Dark and Banjo Kazooie are also on their way to the service.

Goldeneye 007 was one of the most popular shooters of its time, hailed for its evolved single player missions (for a 1997 console title), and a fantastic multiplayer mode. If this rumor proves true, and the game is released with some xbla enhancements (online multiplayer, leaderboards, spiffed-up graphics), this would be a dream come true. Forget Halo, I’d like to see the heat between experienced players who cut their teeth in the complex or the facility.

Oh, and I wouldn’t mind playing through Banjo Kazooie again, either. Make it happen, Rare!

Read [Wired]

Thanks to a post over at Gaygamer, gamers the world over can now enjoy the adorable (and intriguing) Rare 2007 Christmas card. Complete with Banjo, Kazooie, and the Viva Piñata creatures cavorting with an Xbox 360 by the fire, it’s a cuddly, Christmas-y delight.  One detail sticks out - a mysterious stocking bearing “KI3” – could this be a subtle teaser for Killer Instinct 3 – a new installment of the popular Mortal-Kombat inspired brawler?

Perhaps. After all, we now live in a world where we’ve seen an actual Trailer for Duke Nukem Forever – the game that’s been in development for ten years and oft-rumored to have gotten canned. Stranger things have happened.

Besides, what are the holidays for if not wild, hopeful speculation?

Read [GayGamer] Site [Rare Christmas Card]

Last Sunday (July 29, 2007) at ComiCon, Rare announced that it is developing an enhanced remake of Viva Piñata for the DS. The new game will build off the original Xbox 360 garden/pet sim with wi-fi features, new creatures and plenty of touchscreen control options for designing, nurturing, instructing, protecting and caring for the piñatas and the garden.

All of the piñatas from the 360 game will arrive on the handheld intact, along with some new…

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