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Rare shows the 'Conker' game that never was
If you know your Rare history, you probably know that Conker's Bad Fur Day began life as a tame, kid-friendly game and evolved into the foul-mouthed 'mature' title that reached your Nintendo 64. Have you wondered what that original squirrel adventure looked like in action, however? Rare is happy to help. It just posted unreleased footage of the game when it was still known as Twelve Tales: Conker 64. To say that this early version was playing it safe would be an understatement. As you'll see below, Conker's companion Berry (aka Berri) wasn't nearly so sexualized. Meanwhile, the gameplay mechanics involved innocuous things like unicycles and differently-themed hats -- no feces monsters here.
'Rare Replay' puts 30 classic games on your Xbox One this August
It's Rare's 30th anniversary, and the game studio is marking the occasion in style: It's releasing Rare Replay, a 30-title compilation for the Xbox One. The pack includes everything from the mind-numbingly difficult Battletoads through to Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark. There isn't mention of whether or not the games are getting visual upgrades or new modes, but there are 10,000 Gamerscore points up for grabs if you're playing for bragging rights. Replay arrives August 4th, so you won't have to wait long to relive the Rare games of your childhood. Check here for everything happening at E3 2015!
JxE Streams: Revisiting Rare with Xbox 'Conker: Live & Reloaded'
Rare Ltd., the storied game developer Microsoft bought off Nintendo for a hefty sum at the beginning of the century, has started to stir again. After years of developing poorly received motion-control games like Kinect Sports, all while members of the original staff left for other studios, rumors were swirling that the team will return to its classic series from the '90s. Conker, the foul-mouthed star of Conker's Bad Fur Day on Nintendo 64, actually popped up as a guest star in Xbox One game creator Project Spark. Just today a Reddit poster, verified as a former Microsoft employee, said that the company has been trying to get a new Conker game off the ground for some time. No time like the present to dig into Conker: Live & Reloaded for the original Xbox on JxE Streams.
E3 2014 round-up: Weird tales from Los Angeles
Had you been on the floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center this year, you would have heard one question, echoing from journalist to journalist: "This year feels a little ... weird, don't you think?" It's hard to put a finger on exactly why E3 2014 gave off a strange vibe, but darn it all, we're gonna try. Here are some of the most eccentric, the most peculiar, most "hmm"-inducing stories of E3:
Conker teases an unexpected appearance in Project Spark
Furry hero Conker made a surprising cameo in Microsoft's Project Spark trailer at today's E3 conference. After slicing up the Project Spark logo, the Rare squirrel of yore told viewers to make their own game starring him in the content creation title. So apparently he'll be available in Project Spark, although it's not really clear how. Watch this space, folks. There was no further news on a full release for Project Spark. The open beta came to Xbox One earlier this year after launching initially on PC.
Uncut beta version of Conker's Bad Fur Day touted in fan fundraiser
Conker's Bad Fur Day is one of the Nintendo 64's more infamous releases. Originally pitched as a family-friendly adventure in the vein of developer Rare's own Banjo-Kazooie, Conker's direction changed drastically during its development, resulting in an M-rated adventure featuring squirrel hangovers, frequent profanity, and opera-singing turd creatures. Conker tested the limits of Nintendo's publishing guidelines, and while much of the game's salty content made it to store shelves unscathed, some scenes were changed or removed prior to the game's completion. A fan-driven fundraiser seeks to release an uncut beta version of Conker's Bad Fur Day to the public as a downloadable ROM image. The debug footage above, captured by demo cartridge owner Borman, shows an uncut scene in which the Nazi-like Tediz are performing experimental surgery on a live squirrel soldier. Nintendo apparently decided that this little vignette pushed things too far, as the retail version of the cutscene plays out quite a bit differently. Additional differences between Borman's demo and the retail release have been noted, spurring fan demand for a ROM release. Along with the promised ETCS demo build, Borman will also release a second debug version of Conker, along with PAL and NTSC beta versions of Rare's Perfect Dark, once his $2,500 funding goal is met.
Rumor: MS planning five hour long New Xbox Experience media blitz
In rumor news that could probably be filed under the sub-category "too good to be true", word on the street is that Microsoft is planning a huge New Xbox Experience blowout later this month. A five hour long G4TV "console re-launching" event that's said to be full of new Xbox 360 game announcements. According to forum poster Dodece over on VG Chartz.com, Microsoft will hold their five hour long New Xbox Experience re-launching event on September 25th beginning at 7:00PM eastern and unleash an all out media blitz. Rumored to be announced during the event is news regarding free Halo 3 DLC, new Mass Effect DLC, the first of two chunks of GTAIV DLC and info regarding Portal. Also, during the event, six Xbox Originals will be released for free. There is also mention that MS will announce a Sirius Satellite Radio partnership, a new music download service and something called "Mad Lib" of which isn't explained. As if that wasn't enough, Microsoft will be announcing twelve new game titles exclusive to the 360, all of which are codenamed, but the rumor source confirms Assassins Creed 2, Mass Effect 2, a new Conker title, a new Rare shooter and two new Halo games are in the mix. Phew!Sound too good to be true? Yeah, sounds that way to us as well. Then again, if Microsoft wanted to march into the holidays with their guns a blazing, holding a five hour long 360 media frenzy would generate a bunch of buzz. Try not to get your hopes up though.[Via Kombo, Thanks Blake G]
Sorry, no Xbox Originals Conker or Jade Empire
We're sorry to burst the sixteen or so Xbox Originals fans who were eagerly anticipating the rumored downloadable versions of Conker: Live & Reloaded and Jade Empire, because they aren't releasing anytime soon.Earlier this week we found out that new Conker and Jade Empire press materials mysteriously popped up on one of Microsoft's FTP websites, which made us jump to the conclusion that both games were headed to the land of Xbox Originals. But our speculation was a bit ... erm, wrong. We recently found out that the Conker and Jade Empire press materials were uploaded to to the FTP site per the request of trivia website Kwanzoo. You see, Kwanzoo will be launching new video game trivia in the next few weeks and in preparation, got in touch with Microsoft to request images of older Xbox titles. This is why the images were uploaded to the FTP press site, for trivia's sake.So, no Xbox Originals Conker or Jade Empire, but look on the bright side. You won't have to even think about spending 1200 Microsoft points on either game and you have Xbox trivia to look forward to. See, not too bad now is it?
'No plans' to add Conker and Jade Empire to Xbox Originals [update]
Update: Microsoft has told us that the press materials were updated for an internal marketing request. The publisher "currently has no plans" to bring Conker: Live and Reloaded and Jade Empire to the Xbox Originals lineup.Original post:Hot on the heels of some new Xbox Originals releases comes word that more may be on the way. Specifically, Conker: Live & Reloaded and Jade Empire may soon be appearing as downloadable titles on Xbox 360.According to 360sync, Microsoft has recently updated its press materials for both Conker and Jade Empire. Considering neither title is particularly new, and both are already supported by backwards compatibility, it seems logical that Microsoft may be updating assets in preparation for an Xbox Originals announcement.Of course, it could also be coincidental. X3F reports that Microsoft also updated its press materials for Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero on the same day, suggesting that the updates might simply be part of an early spring cleaning, and nothing more.[Via X3F]
Rumor: Xbox Originals to get Conker & Jade Empire
The crew over at 360sync discovered that Microsoft's press materials for Conker: Live & Reloaded and Jade Empire have been recently updated. Now, that wouldn't be all that newsworthy if it weren't for the fact that both games are backwards compatible and Microsoft's press materials usually only get touched when there is news about the product being announced. So, so our speculative thoughts lead us in the direction of the Xbox Originals program.It isn't entirely crazy to think that Conker and Jade Empire could be making the Xbox Originals jump seeing that both studios (Rare and BioWare) have tight connections with Microsoft, but it's far from being set in stone. And to be fair, while confirming Conker and Jade Empire's updated materials, we noticed that the press materials for Rare's Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero were also updated the same day. Take the rumor for what it's worth.
Mario and Link's youthful indiscretions
This GameDaily article on "Mascots Gone Wild" exposes some of the horrible things done by Nintendo's flagship characters (and friends) back when they were young, and needed the money. We're all quite familiar with the CD-I Zelda games, of course, but we haven't talked so much about the similarly abysmal Hotel Mario, also for the CD-I. "There's no jumping, no shell squashing, no recognizable Mario gameplay whatsoever – just opening doors and going through corridors." Mario's other miscellaneous fringe material -- when he taught typing, was missing, and presided over a gallery of board games -- dominates the list, with appearances from other marred Nintendo characters, including Donkey Kong. Amusingly, Conker makes the list for his Game Boy Color game Conker's Pocket Tales, which failed to be filthy.
Revolutionary: This Revolution Hasn't Been Televised
Every Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities. Thought of by many as the "Disney of video gaming," Nintendo has crafted themselves an image of family-friendly entertainment. But to certain generations and classes of gamers, the term "family-friendly" is synonymous with "kiddy," and immediately sparks disinterest. But ever since publishing Rare's Killer Instinct, they've been working on broadening the public's perspective. Trying to appeal to the bloodlust of the Mortal Kombat crowd didn't give them any headway, and as generations progressed and they've garnered more "mature-themed" titles, they still haven't been able to shake the "kiddy console" stigma. Even after snagging the exclusivity to the Resident Evil series for a generation, Nintendo was largely overlooked by the Playstation-bred gamers that were brought up on the series. How much more will it take for Wii to be regarded as a platform that can satisfy the tastes of mature gamers?
Huzzah! Psychonauts on 360, Soul Calibur, Conker too
We won't be satisfied until every Xbox title is compatible on 360, but today's backwards compatibility update is a major step in that direction. Sure, we knew the patch was coming, but it's a relief that it's here, Pyschonauts now playable -- as are Shenmue II, Indigo Prophecy, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Dead or Alive Ultimate, Buffy, Destroy All Humans, and others. The update's final list of games also features some additional surprises (unrevealed during the premature posting on Xbox.com), most notably Soul Calibur 2 (North America only) and Conker: Live and Reloaded. Still, each of these bc updates is bitter sweet, inevitably lacking games we've been longing for. It's been a year, and still no Panzer Dragoon Orta?
