In an interview with gamesindustry.biz Mark Betteridge, studio manager of Rare, the Viva Pinata and Banjo Kazooie developer, also creators of the Avatars and NXE has said that they plan to own Avatars in the future by creating multiple games and software that support them. Last Updated: November 27, 2008

While the original games were your straight-up platformers (not that that's a bad thing), this next title changes everything up somewhat by introducing as well as focusing on building and using vehicles to complete missions and explore new areas.... I never had the chance to play any of the franchises previous titles but in all my time as a gamer I had always heard such great things about them so when I got my hands on a review copy of the game I was quite excited to see what all the fuss was about.... From the word "go", Rare make it very clear that they had decided to approach the game from a rather different angle by taking us into the gameworld where game characters live and introducing us to the "Lord of Games" or "L.O.G" who basically runs the show.... The game is very self-referential and the humor is quite bizarre as the L.O.G explains to the (now fat and lazy) washed up video game characters that he has decided to scrap the original concept of the games and change things up a little by having them build and utilize vehicles to complete their objectives. All in all it's kind of funny although I find that the self-mockery gets to a point where you actually start believing that the characters are in-fact useless, which isn't a good thing. While the game is going to be played by a whole horde of new gamers who never played the originals, I think that a lot of the jokes are just going to fly over their heads.... This sort of thing may have been acceptable when the original games came out but this is the "next-gen" folks, people don't want to sit and read dialogue all day long anymore, especially kids.... What you do is use your vehicles to complete missions, ranging from races, to tasks such as collecting items, dropping items off or even just getting somewhere within a certain amount of time.... You are given access to a workshop to build your own vehicles in a way not unlike that of a Lego set. You slowly get access to more and more parts that allow to build the most weird and wonderful contraptions to use in your missions. On the whole the system may feel quite basic at first but once you get into it, the building can be quite fun, especially when you later get to tear around in your very own creation.... Multiplayer is included with the game and can be played over Xbox Live as well as splitscreen and while most of the modes are quite fun and the ability to use your amazing contraptions are there, I don't see it as being anything that will add a significant amount of playtime to the title.... It's too much for children and at the same time, too little for adults so I really don't see who Rare expects to play this game. It really is a shame because if there is anything that the Xbox 360 lacks and has always been lacking was a decent library of fun platformers on the lines of something like Super Mario or even Crash Bandicoot.... With hard-hitters like LittleBigPlanet on the PS3 and the wealth of platforming franchises on the Wii, Microsoft and Rare have really done themselves a disservice by falling short on a game that could have really pulled a lot of younger and more casual gamers towards their console. Scoring: Gameplay: 7/10 [ Missions lack a certain fun factor ] Presentation: 6/10 [ Framerate and boring load screens hurt a decent looking game ] Sound: 6/10 [ Decent sound but there is no excuse for the complete lack of voice work ] Value: 7/10 [ There is a lot to do and collect in the game, so it could keep you busy for hours if you enjoy what it's offering ] Overall: 6.5/1 0 [ Children will feel disappointed and so will adults.

You may or may not have seen the image above that is being splashed around the Internet at the moment. It’s a screenshot from Banjo Kazooie and it seems to suggest that we are going to be seeing 3 old Rare games brought back to life. However the question here is whether that is true or are Rare just pulling …

Last week, we reported that the upcoming Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was plagued with a particularly annoying problem for those still stuck with standard-definition televisions in the HD Era: the in-game text is so tiny it’s almost illegible. Rare’s initial response? “Tough cookies,” more or less, as a representative stated that it’s “simply something that’s too expensive in terms of …

If you’re a standard-definition television owner, you may want to consider canceling that pre-order for Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.  Following the recent demo release, players using SDTVs noticed the text was difficult to read. This may remind you of a similar problem with Dead Rising, after which Capcom told fans they’d have to deal without a patch. A Rare community …

I never actually got to play the original Viva Piñata and because of the praise that the original got I was very excited to get my hands on the game second time around. To tell you the truth, I didn’t really know what to expect. I mean, how can one really enjoy building a garden and trying to entice paper-mache …

So I had a good go with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts at Rage but unfortunately this was by far the oldest code on the floor and wont be a true reflection on the final product, I hope. The first thing I felt when I played Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, was confusion, maybe because I expected Banjo to retain all of …

One of my favourite games of all time, the original N64 hit Banjo-Kazooie will make its furry and feathered way onto the Xbox Live Arcade on November 26, reports EvilAvatar. The release is set to compliment the announced November 14 release of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. Last Updated: September 25, 2008