YookaLaylee
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'Yooka-Laylee' in-game filter revives the Nintendo 64 era
There are many, many games that recreate the look of 8-bit and 16-bit games, but there isn't a lot for people who grew up with the first generation of 3D-oriented consoles. Where's their nostalgia hit? Playtonic Games is taking care of it. The studio is releasing a "64-bit Tonic" for Yooka-Laylee that gives the game a very appropriate Nintendo 64 flair. Yes, you too can revisit the heady days of the mid-'90s with tube TV fuzziness, muddy textures, crude lighting effects and even choppy frame rates.
'Yooka-Laylee' arrives on Nintendo Switch December 14th
The wait is almost over: The whimsical, N64-styled retro platformer Yooka-Laylee will arrive on Nintendo Switch this December 14th. While versions for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were released in April, the game seems custom-tailored for Nintendo's hybrid home/portable console. After all, the game was made by former Rare Ware employees (which existed more or less as a second-party studio since the NES' hey-day) and its pick-up-and-play platforming is perfect for quick sessions on the go.
What's on TV: 'Better Call Saul,' 'MST3K' and 'Hidden Figures'
Tonight Better Call Saul returns for its third season on AMC, and brings a familiar face for Breaking Bad fans. Gamers can look forward to Yooka-Laylee, while Hidden Figures makes it Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray debut. Netflix is ready to premiere its reborn version of Mystery Science Theater 3000, as well as the latest Adam Sandler flick and a new season of Chelsea Handler's talk show. Finally, on BBC America we have a brand new season of Doctor Who. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
'Yooka-Laylee' is at the heart of a 3D platformer revival
A few years ago, the 3D platformer was in a bad place. Mario was still around, but the genre had little support elsewhere. Colorful games like Crash Bandicoot, Pyschonauts and Jak and Daxter had vanished in favor of grittier, more realistic adventures. There was the occasional surprise, like the papercraft-inspired Tearaway, but nothing close to the breadth of games found on the N64, PlayStation and PlayStation 2. The market had moved on, publishers thought, and it no longer made sense to fund ambitious, big-budget projects like Beyond Good and Evil.
Whimsical 'Yooka-Laylee' debuting at E3 2016
We've known about Playtonic Games' upcoming 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee for some time now, but it's finally getting some time in the spotlight during E3 2016 from June 14th through the 16th in Los Angeles.
'Yooka-Laylee' snags a publisher after record-breaking Kickstarter
What's the next step after fully funding your game in 40 minutes on Kickstarter? If you're the team behind Yooka-Laylee, Playtonic, you get a publisher to help with stuff like localization (translating dialogue and text for different regions), QA testing and other unglamorous but still necessary elements of game development. To wit, the former Banjo Kazooie creatives have hooked up with indie label Team17, perhaps best known for the Worms and Alien Breed franchises. This partnership means that Playtonic can worry about working on the game itself while Team17 takes care of the more menial bits and bobs. Good thing, too considering Playtonic is still planning to hit a simultaneous October 2016 release across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Wii U. If you'd like to check out more, hit the jump for our interview with the folks from the studio.
E3 Streams: 'The Long Dark,' 'Yooka Laylee,' and more!
E3 2015 is officially underway and the gaming world's been set ablaze. Xbox One backwards compatibility! A Final Fantasy VII remake for PlayStation 4! There's also a metric ton of brand new games. JXE Streams is giving you the opportunity to chat directly with the developers from the E3 show floor starting today at 1PM ET. We're going to have the devs behind The Long Dark, Zodiac, The Banner Saga 2, and Yooka-Laylee live on Twitch.tv/Joystiq.
New game from 'Banjo-Kazooie' team fully funded in 40 minutes
All that the team at Playtonic Games had to say was, "It's a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie," and their project probably would have reached its £175,000 funding goal on Kickstarter. But Playtonic -- a studio composed of former Rare developers -- instead revealed gameplay videos, pretty 3D screenshots, a colorful world and a few songs from their new game, and then they promised it was a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie. That said, Yooka-Laylee blasted past its Kickstarter goal in less than 40 minutes and the numbers just keep on climbing. Andy Robinson, Playtonic's writer and only non-Rare veteran, calls the quick success "incredible."
