[Nieuws] Geschreven door Michiel op 2003-09-19 22:04:24

Rare Interview.

[img]http://www.gameqube.nl/tumbnails/Rare.jpg align="left"[/img]Een van de beste stunts wat betreft overnames kwam van Rare vorig jaar. Toen zij aankondigden dat Microsoft de nieuwe baas zou worden pinkten een hoop Nintendoids een traantje weg. Voorgoed werd er afscheid genomen, totdat Rare ons meedeelde dat ze nog verscheidene GBA spellen in productie hebben. Tot dusver bekend heeft RareWare 4 spellen in ontwikkeling voor de GameBoy Advance. Het betreft in volgorde van release: [list=1] Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge Sabre Wulf Banjo Pilot It's Mr. Pants [/list] Ign Pocket kreeg de kans om het team van Rare dat verantwoordelijk is voor deze spellen te interviewen. Hier het volledige interview:

IGN: It's been a long time, between the time Rare's line-up was originally shown at Nintendo's booth E3 2001, and now. What has been going on behind the scenes at Rare since that time, regarding all of the GBA product, including Banjo-Kazooie, Diddy Kong Pilot, Sabrewulf, and Coconut Crackers? 

Rare: A lot of tweaking and fine-tuning. Development was never completely abandoned, but obviously there was some uncertainty over the future of our GBA development both before and during the acquisition. Some games were polished off, others kept going until only recently, and of course there was some pretty substantial franchise changeover work which is still ongoing. 

IGN: Was it Rare that worked on the GBA version of Donkey Kong Country? If so, was it a difficult project? 

Rare: Yes, it was Rare. A lot of people just assumed that it wasn't us because of the whole platform change, but we always maintained that we were keeping channels open with Nintendo. As for difficulties, the original level palettes caused some problems when we realized some of them were so dark as to be unplayable on the GBA screen, but we managed to straighten that out in the end. 

IGN: What's the GBA development team like at Rare? Who does it consist of? 

Rare: It might not be as big as some of the major Xbox teams, but there's a lot of talent and industry experience crammed into our luxurious little GBA development suite. We do hope you're not suggesting that it doesn't show. 

IGN: How long has Banjo-Kazooie officially been in development on the GBA? Did development stop and start during the transition between Nintendo and Microsoft, or was the development a steady flow throughout? 

Rare: Development continued on most games to some extent throughout the transition period. Banjo could have been finished up at an earlier date, but the extra time was put to good use and the game wasn't actually declared complete until more recently than you might expect. 

IGN: What has changed in Banjo-Kazooie's design since the game shown at E3 2001? 

Rare: There was a lot of tightening up of gameplay (the sprawling, unwieldy maps from early versions of the game were whittled down and refined), plus the game engine got a serious overhaul. For instance, it now uses a three-dimensional hit system rather than the 2D hits that were originally in place. The long lifespan has been useful in that respect, in getting the games to take better advantage of the hardware.

IGN: Banjo Pilot is now what was known as Diddy Kong Pilot, correct? Has the game changed since its showing? Will the game feature the tilt cartridge now that it's handled by THQ? 

Rare:[/b] The game has undergone some radical changes, not just in graphics and presentation but also new tracks, features and so on. Unfortunately the tilt feature probably won't make it. It worked well as a tech demo, but ultimately not so well in the game itself. Worth trying, though. 

IGN: Sabrewulf seemed to be the furthest along of the Rare games, yet it's set for release next year. What's been the hold-up in its development? 

Rare: The bulk of the game was completed before development on DKC began, but localization is ongoing as we speak. Also, it was decided that the most high-profile title (Banjo) should be the first out of the door, which is a pretty logical decision but it did rule out Sabre Wulf being released any earlier. 

IGN: Of all the GBA games in development at Rare, which one title would you consider the real "showpiece" of the GBA's capabilities? 

Rare: Obviously we're going to stress that all the games in the pipeline have their merits - we'd like them to sell more than nine copies each, after all - but Sabre Wulf is probably the most accomplished in general terms, both in its 'completeness' as a standalone package and its use of the hardware. 

IGN: What sort of technological or gameplay achievements are you proud of in the Rare GBA work? 

Rare: We've already mentioned some of the Banjo improvements, but there are also things like the sheer range of creatures that you can interact with in Sabre Wulf, and the variety of strategies that can successfully be applied to each level without, you know, busting the game. 

IGN: Is there active GBA development beyond the four games announced by THQ? Or once these games hit the market is that it? 

Rare: What is it they say? We're "constantly evaluating opportunities", and our GBA team remains active. 

IGN: One of the Rare properties GBA owners request is a Battletoads revival. Is it possible?

Rare: Battletoads is possible, yes. We'll go that far. 

IGN: Classic game compilations are pretty huge on the GBA...any thoughts into reviving some of the classic Rare games to the GBA, as is? Is it possible we might find the original Sabre Wulf classic locked away in the GBA version?

Rare: Constantly evaluating opportunities. It would be good to produce some kind of "Rare's Greatest Moments" compilation one day, but nothing's set in stone just yet. Sabre Wulf - sadly not. You just know we'd get nothing but complaints about the difficulty level anyway.

Misschien dat sommigen van jullie de interesse of kennis niet op konden brengen om het te lezen. Daarom zal ik het interview even in het kort samenvatten. Banjo Pilot, voorheen bekend onder de naam Diddy Kong Pilot, zal gewoon de huidige status van de game overnemen en hierop verder bouwen. Jammer genoeg is een van de coolste features uit het spel gehaald, namelijk de tilt functie. Dit maakte het mogelijk om 'met' je GBA je voertuig te besturen. Bewoog je je GBA naar rechts, dan ging je character ook naar rechts. Jammer genoeg leek Microsoft dit te riskant, waardoor het nu uit de game is gehaald. Verder vertelde Rare dat Sabre Wulf alles uit de GameBoy Advance zal halen. Of we dit echt moeten geloven of met een korrel zout moeten nemen is onduidelijk, maar ik verwacht zelf het laatste. Toch ziet de game er verrukkelijk mooi uit, en verwachten wij er veel van. Verder kunnen we een port van Battletoads verwachten. Nog een interessant feitje is dat Rare alle vragen van IGN beantwoorde, behalve "What happened to Coconut Crackers?" en "What is Mr. Pants?". Heeft Rare nog meer in petto voor ons? Only time will tell, en we houden je op de hoogte!