Chris Seavor: Rare IP returning to Nintendo platforms was "inevitable", doesn't expect Conker revival

[NotLiquid]

https://www.videogameschronicle.com...ndo-platforms-inevitable-says-conker-creator/

Seavor, who worked at Rare under both Nintendo and Microsoft for nearly two decades, told VGC that he feels Rare's classic IPs are better placed on Nintendo platforms and that this is demonstrated by fan demand for Banjo and Kazooie's Smash appearance.

"It is significant, very significant but it was also inevitable," he said of the possibility that classic Rare IP could return to Nintendo platforms. "You only have to look at the reaction to Banjo's appearing in Smash to see that this was purely a fan driven thing, and fans are if nothing else a noisy and belligerent bunch. I mean, it's an abbreviation of 'Fanatic' after all.

"Whether they'll be as loud about the other IP's including Conker is up for debate… I'd say not likely."

Click to shrink...

Seavor, whose latest title Rusty Pup recently released for iOS, agreed that the huge reaction to Banjo-Kazooie in Smash Bros. shows that Rare's back catalogue is perhaps better placed with its former parent company.

"Yes of course they are," he said. "I've always thought Microsoft made the right decision to acquire Rare, but for all the wrong reasons. That being, so no one else could have them.

"I'm being a bit facetious again (shock!), they also wanted to try and break into Japanese market which MS have had (and still does) little success breaking into the territory. In fact, it's not a stretch to look at this Smash deal as some small steps towards this again."

Click to shrink...

Asked if he believed franchises such as Banjo-Kazooie and Conker would've been dormant had Rare stayed with Nintendo, Seavor said:

"Conker probably, definitely. Who can say what we have all missed out on over those 3 console generations with Nintendo? Best not to think on it too much, it's depressing."

Click to shrink...

 

[Weiss]

It's okay that Conker blazed so briefly. It really could only exist as a roast of Nintendo's 5th gen output.

Gimme back Banjo now though.

 

[Guaraná]

"Who can say what we have all missed out on over those 3 console generations with Nintendo? Best not to think on it too much, it's depressing."

Click to shrink...

Geeezzz

 

[ParanormalFupa]

Viva Pinata is all I'm asking for.

 

[RedSparrows]

Geeezzz

Click to shrink...

Counterfactuals are made to be depressing or agonising. It's really not sensible!

 

[blueredandgold]

I actually liked the guy's new stuff, good to see more Rusty.

 

[Shoichi]

guy doesn't have much belief in Conker
I miss the Banjo games of old.

 

[KtotheRoc]

That's where the audience is. I've been expecting the old Banjo games to come to Switch ever since BK were announced for Smash. (Whether that is a Rare Replay port or just the Banjo games by themselves.)

 

[Wumbo64]

I think Microsoft would be doing themselves a big favor trying to pursue projects like Banjo and Conker revivals.

I mean, they own the IPs and they have more brand recognition then ever. With Gamepass, they have the perfect avenue for delivering economically made sequels that don't need to do well independently.

It's only a matter of time and finding the correct people. The same applies to all of their legacy content. Viva Pinata, Perfect Dark, Crimson Skies, etc are all franchises that could be lucrative as part of the gamepass portfolio for Microsoft.

 

[Deleted member 29660]

Insert banjo blowing up 8 big Mario gif.

 

[Cactuar]

I've always thought Microsoft made the right decision to acquire Rare, but for all the wrong reasons. That being, so no one else could have them.

Click to shrink...

Damn son, there's your headline.

 

[Mekanos]

Conker is a product of its time when cutesy mascots doing South Park-like humor was still edgy. I really can't imagine how it would translate as a modern IP.

Just put the Banjo games on Switch, that's all I ask.

 

[Camjo-Z]

It's okay that Conker blazed so briefly. It really could only exist as a roast of Nintendo's 5th gen output.

Click to shrink...

Conner is a product of its time when cutesy mascots doing South Park-like humor was still edgy. I really can't imagine how it would translate as a modern IP.

Click to shrink...

Nothing about Conker needs to be stuck in the past. Back then 3D platformers were all the rage but these days there are all kinds of new trends in the industry to parody. I dream of a modern Conker game that takes the piss out of crappy reboots and live service models.

 

[Deleted member 4874]

Switch owners could use another Perfect Dark

 

[Jedi2016]

I don't need a new Conker, just give us the old one.

 

[pswii60]

I've always thought Microsoft made the right decision to acquire Rare, but for all the wrong reasons. That being, so no one else could have them.

Click to shrink...

Indeed. Let's remind ourselves of 2002.

Nintendo didn't want Rare anymore amidst increasing development costs and an increased focus on internal development.

Microsoft and Activision were the two suiters. I highly doubt Rare would be alive today if Activision had acquired them.

 

[Weiss]

Nothing about Conker needs to be stuck in the past. Back then 3D platformers were all the rage but these days there are all kinds of new trends in the industry to parody. I dream of a modern Conker game that takes the piss out of crappy reboots and live service models.

Click to shrink...

It wouldn't be Conker. Conker isn't just a parody game, it's a game that exists as a specific reflection of cutesy animal mascot low-poly N64 platformers.

 

[UltraMagnus]

It is interesting to ponder what Rare's output could've been like on say the Wii.

I think a Banjo-Threwii (ahem) probably would've done big business.

 

[Tavernade]

Nothing about Conker needs to be stuck in the past. Back then 3D platformers were all the rage but these days there are all kinds of new trends in the industry to parody. I dream of a modern Conker game that takes the piss out of crappy reboots and live service models.

Click to shrink...

A Conker game mercilessly mocking loot boxes would be golden.

 

[grand]

guy doesn't have much belief in Conker
I miss the Banjo games of old.

Click to shrink...

I think Seavor was more referencing that Conker wouldn't exist under Nintendo. It's not the type of game they publish. Plus you can't exactly be making the game that is a crude parody of yourself. Doesn't really come off the same way.

 

[StarErik]

I don't need a new Conker, just give us the old one.

Click to shrink...

Then you're in luck because both the N64 and the Xbox version are available on Xbox One.

 

[Deleted member 8593]

Seavor, whose latest title Rusty Pup recently released for iOS, agreed that the huge reaction to Banjo-Kazooie in Smash Bros. shows that Rare's back catalogue is perhaps better placed with its former parent company.

"Yes of course they are," he said. "I've always thought Microsoft made the right decision to acquire Rare, but for all the wrong reasons. That being, so no one else could have them.

Click to shrink...

Asked if he believed franchises such as Banjo-Kazooie and Conker would've been dormant had Rare stayed with Nintendo, Seavor said:

"Conker probably, definitely. Who can say what we have all missed out on over those 3 console generations with Nintendo? Best not to think on it too much, it's depressing."

Click to shrink...

 

[Anth0ny]

Just give me BK and BT HD, with real stop n swop, all leading to Threeie on Switch and Scarlett.

 

[weekev]

There is a massive gap that Conker could fill. Please God give it to me.

 

[Garlic]

I think Microsoft would be doing themselves a big favor trying to pursue projects like Banjo and Conker revivals.

Click to shrink...

Hopefully the Crash and Spyro numbers turned some heads at Microsoft, there's an audience for these games that can be tapped into if anyone other than Nintendo bothered to try

 

[Glass Arrows]

I believe that Seavor has said in the past that even ownership/legal issues aside, he and his team aren't really the same people they were back when they made Conker, and they find the over-the-top shock value of the game a bit dated and cringey now.

 

[MrCunningham]

I don't need a new Conker, just give us the old one.

Click to shrink...

Guaranteed that it will show up in the N64 Classic, assuming Nintendo gets around to it.

 

[inpHilltr8r]

Conker as videogame's Deadpool.

 

[Friskykillface]

Rare replay for the holidays
Microsoft legit gave it away for free
It's easy money x would sell a ton at $40 or even $50 if it includes DK country and 64

 

[Xiao Hu]

Rare was cought between a stone and a hard place: Nintendo didn't want them anymore and Microsoft didn't know how to foster the remaining talent. I'm glad that they're getting back on track now with Sea of Thieves, but it's also too tempting to imagine an alternative universe where Rare stuck with Nintendo. Just imagine those potential games...

 

[Deleted member 57990]

He's right. Microsoft buying Rare and then refusing to release anything made by them was an obscene act of cultural vandalism.

Imagine if after buying Naughty Dog, Sony just sat on them and only allowed them to make Move games.

 

[Camjo-Z]

It wouldn't be Conker. Conker isn't just a parody game, it's a game that exists as a specific reflection of cutesy animal mascot low-poly N64 platformers.

Click to shrink...

Even if you believe that, there's still plenty you can do with the idea that Conker is some outdated product of its time. Imagine if Young Conker had played it totally straight for a few stages before having Conker realize that he's been put into a shitty corporate focus-tested reboot after 15 years of dormancy, whereupon he breaks out and has to find his place in a world that's moved beyond him.

 

[KillstealWolf]

Jeez, way to throw Viva Pinata in the trash just like that.

Viva Pinata shouldn't be overlooked.

 

[RockyMin]

I hardly think a Smash appearance constitutes a "return to Nintendo platforms." Talk to me when there are actual Banjo games on the Switch or even a Banjo Threeie.

 

[The Adder]

Conker is a product of its time when cutesy mascots doing South Park-like humor was still edgy. I really can't imagine how it would translate as a modern IP.

Click to shrink...

Tone the edge down just a bit and make the series a running satirical M rated take on popular genres that are usually rated E.

 

[Dark Cloud]

He's right it's depressing

 

[UltraMagnus]

Modern Conker would probably parody modern gaming tropes instead of movie tropes.

So making fun of loot boxes, DLC, etc.

I think aping Grand Theft Auto V would be the big one, maybe other stuff like The Witcher. Maybe even poking fun at stuff like Breath of the Wild and Smash Bros.

 

[Alienhated]

And people here always get angry if you say that there's not an audience for that kind of old Rare's ips on Microsoft consoles...

 

[night814]

Damn son, there's your headline.

Click to shrink...

Flaming truth right there, the crap they had Rare working on before Sea of Thieves was about as weak as they could be.

 

[InASnowBoundLand]

Viva Pinata 3 with online neighborhood mechanic where you build gardens right next to other people. And you have to learn to live and share the land and together you shape what pinatas appear or stay in your garden. Also more flexible and fluid Pinata appearance and residence requirements.

I'm going to send my Candary Pinatas to romance with other Candary pinatas all around the world.

 

[UltraMagnus]

Not only consoles but we probably missed out on a lot of Rare content that would've been on the DS and 3DS too ... pretty sure Nintendo would've used them more extensively on the handheld side as the handhelds became more powerful.

 

[Stay Up Be Easy]

Geeezzz

Click to shrink...

As messy as Star Fox Adventures was, I finally played it about 6 years ago.

There was annoying sequence where Fox has to run explosives up a ramp with barrels coming down. The graphics, the music, that particular type of gameplay. I just got incredibly sad knowing that type of game would never exist again between these two companies.

 

[Komo]

Not only consoles but we probably missed out on a lot of Rare content that would've been on the DS and 3DS too ... pretty sure Nintendo would've used them more extensively on the handheld side as the handhelds became more powerful.

Click to shrink...

I mean I really doubt it. We maybe would have a mk8 char and then what. Rereleases of the game on two maybe three different Nintendo systems? Personallly I don't like it.

 

[Conkerkid11]

Boo

 

[TheDinoman]

Not only consoles but we probably missed out on a lot of Rare content that would've been on the DS and 3DS too ... pretty sure Nintendo would've used them more extensively on the handheld side as the handhelds became more powerful.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, Rare's handheld efforts were never that strong to begin with.

It should be noted that their handheld games were handled by a D-team within Rare seperate from any of their main developers. This chart provides an interesting insight to Rare's work culture back in the N64 era to the early 2000s.

But yeah, I never really thought Rare's handheld stuff was ever that great, despite a being a fan of their console output. A lot of them just felt like watered down versions of better games like DKC, Perfect Dark or Banjo. Not to mention how kind of butchered the DKC GBA ports and especially the Diddy Kong Racing DS remake were in comparison to their original versions.

I don't think even Rare themselves really cared about them. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts features tons of references and callbacks to Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie and yet there's no acknowledgement of Grunty's Revenge, even though that game was written as an interquel between the N64 Banjo games. Even Grunty laments at some point that "a three time loser [she] cannot be", which kind of implies GR isn't canon lol.

 

[Karateka]

It is interesting to ponder what Rare's output could've been like on say the Wii.

I think a Banjo-Threwii (ahem) probably would've done big business.

Click to shrink...

Wow i have never heard an idea for a banjo game i disliked more

 

[UltraMagnus]

Honestly, Rare's handheld efforts were never that strong to begin with.

It should be noted that their handheld games were handled by a D-team within Rare seperate from any of their main developers. This chart provides an interesting insight to Rare's work culture back in the N64 era to the early 2000s.

But yeah, I never really thought Rare's handheld stuff was ever that great, despite a being a fan of their console output. A lot of them just felt like watered down versions of better games like DKC, Perfect Dark or Banjo. Not to mention how kind of butchered the DKC GBA ports and especially the Diddy Kong Racing DS remake were in comparison to their original versions.

I don't think even Rare themselves really cared about them. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts features tons of references and callbacks to Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie and yet there's no acknowledgement of Grunty's Revenge, even though that game was written as an interquel between the N64 Banjo games. Even Grunty laments at some point that "a three time loser [she] cannot be", which kind of implies GR isn't canon lol.

Click to shrink...

That's what I think would've changed ... with the monstrous success of the DS, Rare would've got put on more original DS projects I think. The level of tech the DS had also would've opened the door to a lot of different things like ... Blast Corps, Perfect Dark, etc.

 

[Deleted member 51691]

He's right. Microsoft buying Rare and then refusing to release anything made by them was an obscene act of cultural vandalism.

Imagine if after buying Naughty Dog, Sony just sat on them and only allowed them to make Move games.

Click to shrink...

Rare (bafflingly) did that to themselves, so they say

 

[TheDinoman]

You know...if Rare was making games for Wii, I think we would of probably gotten something like Kinect Sports. Or at the very least, a Wii Sports clone of their own.

Because when you think about it, that is basically how Rare came up with most of their major titles, lol. They'd always look at what other people were doing and attempt to one up them with their own take on it. Gregg Mayles himself admitted to this.

Battletoads, as mentioned in the video above, was obviously Rare attempting to cash in on the ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles boom of the early 90s. Dinosaur Planet (later Star Fox Adventures) was obviously Rare's attempt at making their own Ocarina of Time. Diddy Kong Racing was essentially a better Mario Kart 64. And yeah, it goes without saying that the decision to convert Project Dream (originally conceived as an action RPG for the Super Nintendo) into a 3D platformer with Banjo-Kazooie was based on Rare seeing Mario 64 and realizing that was basically the future. Sea of Thieves also kind of fits into this, considering that big open world multiplayer games with a GAAS focus are kind of all the rage these days, so it's basically Rare's answer to that market.

So yes, I could see them making a Wii Sports clone similar to what we would get with Kinect Sports, had they stuck with Nintendo and made games for Wii.

 

[mutantmagnet]

Conker is a product of its time when cutesy mascots doing South Park-like humor was still edgy. I really can't imagine how it would translate as a modern IP.

Just put the Banjo games on Switch, that's all I ask.

Click to shrink...

South Park itself is still around and has managed to become culturally relevant a few times in the last decade. Something like Conker could work as proven by the modern edgy humor found in Dunkey, CEO Kaz hira and Goat Simulator.