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Playtonic's artists make art celebrating their Rareware x Nintendo history for YL's Switch release

Hero of Legend

Hero of Legend

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,675
https://twitter.com/PlaytonicGames

Playtonic's doing a VERY special thing on twitter where in anticipation of Yooka-Laylee's Switch release on Dec 14th, they have each of their artists everyday come up with a piece showcasing their Rareware x Nintendo history, so far we have three! Post will be updated with each new piece.

Dec 14th = Mark Stevenson

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Dec 13th = Steve Mayles

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Dec 12th = Dave Rose

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Dec 11th = Kevin Bayliss

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Dec 8th = Steve Mayles

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Dec 7th = Mark Stevenson

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Dec 6th = Kevin Bayliss

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Dec 5th = Steven Hurst

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Dec 4th = Steve Mayles

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TeenageFBI

TeenageFBI

One Winged Slayer
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Oct 25, 2017
10,403
This is exactly why quoting large images is a mistake. If I click on any of those pictures, they blow up way beyond my 1440p monitor size. If the pictures were just posted normally, the forum would resize them to my browser's maximum width.
 
MegaZubat

MegaZubat

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Oct 25, 2017
130
TeenageFBI said:
This is exactly why quoting large images is a mistake. If I click on any of those pictures, they blow up way beyond my 1440p monitor size. If the pictures were just posted normally, the forum would resize them to my browser's maximum width.
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Dunno if it 's just me but (and this is just for the record) I also can't expand images on mobile when they're in quote boxes like that.

Man pumpkin banjo makes me wanna break out the n64 again. BK remains one of my favorite N64 experiences.
 
Piscus

Piscus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,776
WestEgg said:
My actual thought process:

"Some cheap art work isn't going to get me to buy their poorly reviewed, buggy, late-"
*looks at drawings*
"I should but their game, they seem like good people."
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Hahaha, this is almost exactly what I went through.
"Art? Probably cool, but $40 is still a bit high..."
...
...
...
"Maybe I should get it, these guys seem pretty cool."
 
Clefargle

Clefargle

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,156
Limburg
I love rare and Nintendo

But seeing them superimposed like this reminds me of a hypothetical Pixar x dreamworks crossover. Not in a good way
 
hydruxo

hydruxo

â–˛ Legend â–˛
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Oct 25, 2017
20,638
That Banjo as a pumpkin in the last one is the cutest shit I've ever seen
 
PSqueak

PSqueak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,464
Playtonic artist: oh golly im gonna make nice art for Rare and nintendo stuff because of what they mean to me.

Some of you: You fucking shill!
 
RobFox64tm

RobFox64tm

Member
Oct 30, 2017
305
Those look great! The only problem is that they remind me that Rare is in a dark place right now; far away from home, cold, wet, hungry... :(
 
Instro

Instro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,187
Comic Obsessed said:
Maybe they can work with Nintendo on something that is actually better than Yooka-Laylee.
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I think YL is not a bad starting place. I mean obviously didn't quite turned out as everyone hoped, but it's a recently formed studio putting out their first game after all. Them working on something with Nintendo would be pretty neat though.
 

IsThatHP

Member
Oct 31, 2017
1,036
What are these Microsoft characters like Rash the Frog doing next to a nintendo logo is there a crossover coming?
 
Comic Obsessed

Comic Obsessed

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Oct 27, 2017
9,792
Peru
Instro said:
I think YL is not a bad starting place. I mean obviously didn't quite turned out as everyone hoped, but it's a recently formed studio putting out their first game after all. Them working on something with Nintendo would be pretty neat though.
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I think they desperately need better direction. YL has so much wasted potential based on what I've seen, the game LOOKS great but how they decided to implement the collectathon genre was just misguiden, especially compared to Banjo-Kazooie.

Nintendo could help them a lot to deliver an actual good product.
 
casey_contra

casey_contra

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,377
Seattle, WA
This gave me chills and actually made me tear up a little bit. Such a rich history and they were really an integral part of the "golden age" of 3D platforming.

The Banjo influence in Odyssey is staggering.
 
Horror

Horror

Banned
Nov 3, 2017
1,997
Nintendo should give these guys some work.

Give them one of their abandoned IPs like Ice Climbers or something, see what they can do with that.
 
TheDinoman

TheDinoman

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,144
I think the biggest issue with Yooka-Laylee, outside of probably not having a big enough budget, is that it didn't actually have the lead designer of the old Banjo games.

Gregg Mayles was, essentially, the true mastermind of Banjo, as well as Donkey Kong Country 1 & 2, Viva Pinata, and such. If you liked any of those games I mentioned, then Gregg's your man. Contrary to the whole "ALL OF THE OLD STAFF LEFT!" narrative, he still works at Rare, heading the development of Sea of Thieves. With Banjo, he wrote the story/dialogue and designed all the worlds. He's posted a lot of his old level concept art on Twitter, like a peak at the scrapped Mount Fire Eyes world, which ended up being repurposed in Banjo-Tooie as the fire side of Hailfire Peaks.

latest


Playtonic is composed of old Rare employees, like Chris Sutherland, Steve Mayles, Mark Stevenson, but they weren't actually designers for Banjo. They were either just programmers or artists. I think the way Yooka-Laylee turned out kind of shows.

One thing I always find fastinating: earlier this year on his twitter, Gregg mentioned that he actually regrets making Tooie's worlds huge in scale and that if he were to make another traditional Banjo, he would model it after the first game, with tighter, smaller levels. This is kinda funny in the face of Yooka's world design which ended up being confusing and meandering.
 
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Chie Satonaka91

Chie Satonaka91

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,257
Man this art is ace, my favorites are the Lanky Kong and Banjo Pumpkin. I would totally buy the game if I wasn't a backer, excited to get my code in, hopefully it doesn't take too long, I'm really looking forward to it.
 
Triggerhappytel

Triggerhappytel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,252
Really nice artwork. I intend to pick this game up one day largely because I know my daughter would love it, but probably not until it's really cheap and/or I've cleared a bunch of shit from the backlog.
 
Cinemikel

Cinemikel

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Oct 25, 2017
2,433
I wonder if Playtonic would be interested in becoming a partner with Nintendo like Yacht Club Games has been since the start
 
Phife Dawg

Phife Dawg

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,049
Love the art, hits all the right nostalgia strings...still gonna wait on a price drop. I am a terrible human being I know.
 
Renna Hazel

Renna Hazel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,800
Sponge said:
That's what I'm saying. I agree.

What I mean is, go to any Retro thread online and almost nobody wants them making more Donkey Kong, like it's beneath them.
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Ah, my bad for the misunderstanding, I totally agree. For whatever reason people seem to think anyone can make a 2D platformer. Tropical Freeze is the best 2D platformer in a long long time. It's not just something any company can snap their fingers and produce.

I'm all for Retro trying something new, but you certainly wont see me complaining if they announced DKCR3.

metsallica said:
So true. Those N64 releases were an event... I was a bigger RARE guy than a Nintendo one in those days! I was crushed when they were sold. Crushed!
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Such a sad day, but much worse in hindsight. I went out and got an Xbox right after that announcement. Needless to say I didn't get much Rare love there.

I followed Rare up until the Kinect phase and enjoyed their 360 output. Now...I have finally given up on them. Really sad.
 
IronicSonic

IronicSonic

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Oct 25, 2017
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TheDinoman said:
Playtonic is composed of old Rare employees, like Chris Sutherland, Steve Mayles, Mark Stevenson, but they weren't actually designers for Banjo. They were either just programmers or artists. I think the way Yooka-Laylee turned out kind of shows.
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That's was my main concern when the Kickstarter of YL started. And yes, it's shows. I hope they add some experienced lead designer to their next game. Maybe a Nintendo producer could help a lot in this issue if they partner it up in a future title
 
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