banjo kazooie

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

9:30AM David Wildgoose | It’s Saturday. That means the weekend is here. And that means we have two whole days of uninterrupted gaming ahead of us. So what are you going to be spending time with? Tell us. More »

Banjo Text Boost Patch is a Go

2:00AM Owen Good | If you’re gaming on a smallish standard-def TV, or if you’re one of those people who subscribe to the large-print Reader’s Digest, good news: the patch enlarging Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts’ text is now out. More »

Banjo Kazooie Googly Eyes XBLA This Week

12:40PM Michael McWhertor | Xbox Live Arcade is getting a massive dose of big, bright eyes this Wednesday as Rare’s classic Banjo-Kazooie finally lands on Xbox Live Marketplace. Relive the Nintendo 64 experience with authentically blurry textures! More »

[Updated] Gold Lancer Removed, Revoked; Consider Lootathon Over

6:00AM Owen Good | OK, gang. I think the fun is over. Many of you pointed out that the Golden Lancer for Gears of War 2 is now either 99999 points or won’t download. I tried to cue it up again and got the can’t-download notice. Then the lancer was stripped from my hard drive. But I showed them!!! I put it on a memory unit before logging in!!! Which means if I ever want to play Gears with my ill-gotten gun I’ll probably have to do it offline, if that even works. More »

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Review: Aw, Nuts

6:40AM Michael McWhertor | Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is the third proper console entry in the Rare-developed series, founded on the Nintendo 64, one that steers the former action-adventure platformer into new territory. Gone are the Super Mario 64-like romps traipsing through green mountain sides and caves dripping with molten magma, replaced by driving and flying challenges through green mountain sides and caves dripping with molten magma. Nuts & Bolts eschews traditional running and jumping mechanics almost completely, instead focusing on mission-based vehicle challenges that don’t veer too far from the series’ core, but veer far enough to give fans pause. More »

Banjo-Kazooie Hits XBLA In November, Tooie Next Year

4:00AM Mike Fahey | Microsoft has announced that Rare’s original Nintendo 64 platformer Banjo-Kazooie will be showing up for purchase on Xbox Live Arcade on November for 1200 Microsoft points. The game has been updated with with requisite achievements and mysterious graphical upgrades, which I certainly hope amount to more than bars on either side of the screen. Fans who don’t want to wait quite as long will be able to pre-order the 360 entry in the series, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, for a code that allows them to download the original for free two weeks before it goes live. Rare’s follow up to Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, is also slated to make an XBLA appearance in early 2009. Soon the Xbox 360 will encompass the entire bear / bird trilogy! How can it possibly contain so much awesome? Banjo-Kazooie remake appearing on XBLA November 26th [Strategy Informer] More »

Next Banjo Game To Expand On Next Banjo Game

5:30PM Luke Plunkett | As far as platformers go, Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts is certainly…different. Remains to be seen how effective the vehicle elements are, but hey, it’s different. If it doesn’t work, it can go on the pile of stuff Rare’s done that hasn’t worked, and they’ll move on. And if it does work? Rare’s Ellissa Miller: [Nuts & Bolts] is like an introduction to what we could do. If we went on and did some more then we could push it. If it was accepted and people enjoyed it then we could definitely push it in a much bigger direction. This is like an opening to a new type of gaming I guess. Sounds good to me. Hell, even if Nuts & Bolt doesn’t work, no harm in pushing the originality envelope a little further. Next Banjo will “expand” N&B concept [CVG] More »