Sorry if this has been posted already (19th Aug date on it), but:
http://www.clubjoe.com/int/raretalk.htm
Is it fake?
http://www.clubjoe.com/int/raretalk.htm
Is it fake?
-
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Rare Interview... finally puts Stop N Swop to rest.
- Thread starter Alf-Life
- Start date
Christoff Yurievich
Member
nice read, though the lack of ANY source is annoying. "RE" does not mean the guy actually worked for rare. There's protecting your sources and then there's making shit up.
Actually the 64DD stuff is pretty interesting... I like the idea of playing as DK in Banjo games and the reverse by using a cart/disc in tandem. The idea of cheap upgrade discs for poular games is great too (a la OoT Master Quest or F-Zero Xpansion)... too bad Nintendo never followed though. I bet 64DD would've been pretty popular had they pushed it, and the cheap media likely would've attracted stronger JP support (if only to get at N64's heavy western market).
I was given pretty much the same explanation at e3 last year.
I was going to try the game out, but somehow or another I started talking with the 2 or 3 development staff about their Banjo games. It seems that the Stop and Swap Kazooie/Tooie connection was supposed to work in this manner: once you reached a certain point in one game, you'd turn the power off, swap carts, and turn the power back on. The N64's memory latency allowed stored data to be held in memory for about 8 seconds after the power was turned off, which meant the second game could access saved data from the first and use it to enable options in itself. This was removed for two reasons: first, Nintendo was worried people would try to swap cartridges with the system turned on, and secondly, because revisions in the N64 motherboard resulted in newer units having a memory latency of a mere 1.5 seconds. As no extras would have been unlocked in Banjo-Kazooie anyway, the team just removed the option from Tooie. Strangely enough, the programmers and designers I spoke with had no idea that sandcastle codes existed to allow the gathering of the items in Banjo-Kazooie.
I was going to try the game out, but somehow or another I started talking with the 2 or 3 development staff about their Banjo games. It seems that the Stop and Swap Kazooie/Tooie connection was supposed to work in this manner: once you reached a certain point in one game, you'd turn the power off, swap carts, and turn the power back on. The N64's memory latency allowed stored data to be held in memory for about 8 seconds after the power was turned off, which meant the second game could access saved data from the first and use it to enable options in itself. This was removed for two reasons: first, Nintendo was worried people would try to swap cartridges with the system turned on, and secondly, because revisions in the N64 motherboard resulted in newer units having a memory latency of a mere 1.5 seconds. As no extras would have been unlocked in Banjo-Kazooie anyway, the team just removed the option from Tooie. Strangely enough, the programmers and designers I spoke with had no idea that sandcastle codes existed to allow the gathering of the items in Banjo-Kazooie.
Rocket Punch
Member
DEAD!~
did anyone get it? what did it say??? Grrrr
did anyone get it? what did it say??? Grrrr
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
I dunno if it's fake, but they spent a hell of a long time talking about Banjo, most of the interview in fact. Other than that the only thing I can remember is that when they moved to MS, people were happy because they thought they'd get more freedom. However, it turned out they went from Nintendo's "We HIGHLY recommend you do it our way" to MS's "You WILL do it our way".
Rocket Punch
Member
Mama Smurf said:
Ah, that is quite interesting... Maybe that was after the Ghoulies blunder?
Since the site's no longer working (and it's in my cache) I guess...
CJ: First let me say thanks for this opportunity to talk with you.
RE: No problem.
CJ: So how are things going for you since you left Rare?
RE: So far so good. I had already accepted a position with Codemasters prior to my departure, so I didn't have any down time. Codemasters is a much smaller development shop, which for the most part is good. I feel as though we have more creative freedom which is what I was looking for.
CJ: Would you characterize that as the main reason for the mass exodus of talent at Rare? The lack of creative freedom?
RE: I wouldn't necessarily call it a mass exodus. Yeah, they've loss some good people, but it's not like everyone has walked out. Several of us just got fed up, so we left. Beating down our creativity was definitely part of it, but it's more than that. It's more like having a strict parent telling you don't do this and don't do that. It's just the environment there. Guess we should have been careful what we wished for.
CJ: Wished for? What do you mean?
RE: I guess we saw the grass as being greener with Microsoft coming in. Nintendo had always been strict with our compliance to their ideas or standards as they would call it. We figured things would be better after the deal went through.
CJ: So Microsoft was just as strict as Nintendo?
RE: Oh no, Microsoft is much stricter, the my way or the highway type. Nintendo was more of the this is how you should due it. You don't have to, but we highly recommend you do. Highly recommend.
CJ: And if you didn't follow Nintendo's recommendations?
RE: I'm not sure. Rare always did. A perfect example is the disk drive debacle. Nintendo was pushing for game development for the Nintendo 64 disk drive add on. They were taking heat for continuing with the cartridge based games and wanted a wide variety of games for the disk drive upon it release. So we started work on the disk based Donkey Kong 64.
CJ: I'm confused now, the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive was never released. Are you saying the Donkey Kong development was wasted?
RE: Actually, the drive finally was released in Japan, on a limited basis. But Nintendo had planned on releasing it back in 1998, but it just kept hitting one delay after another. It's too bad tough, because the disk drive was going to allow us to create expansions for so many games. We converted Donkey Kong back to a cart game, but we lost some real cool features. We had been messing around with Banjo Kazooie and Donkey Kong, moving a key back and forth between the two. There's some screenshots floating around with Donkey Kong in Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Kazooie in the Donkey Kong disk drive game. The possibilities were going to be endless.
CJ: Is that how Banjo Kazooie was going to link up with it's sequel, through the disk drive?
RE: That would make sense, but no. Banjo Tooie was always intended to be a cart game.
CJ: So they would link in a different way?
RE: Yes, but I wouldn't call it linking exactly. You could link a cartridge and a disk game because they would both be plugged in and running simultaneously. Banjo Kazooie would be able to transfer information to Tooie, but the two games wouldn't be linked.
CJ: How could you transfer data between cartridge games?
RE: By magic! [laughter] Actually, if you programmed it properly, you could store data in the 64's memory that would be available to the next game that was loaded. At least at first you could. Unfortunately, certain things changed with the Nintendo hardware and it became impossible to store the data for the next game. It really was a disappointment. A lot of work went into using that capability, and it was all for naught.
CJ: So there is no transfer between Banjo Kazooie and Tooie?
RE: Unfortunately, no. Everything was coded, but with the hardware change, we had to make changes to Tooie. Kazooie was going to transfers four eggs to Tooie. We actually joked about it in Grabbed by the Ghoulies. There was a picture showing if you took the eggs and the ice key to the gameshow platform, went through the transport pot, and then went up to the locked door, it would be open.
CJ: You said four eggs, aren't there six?
RE: That's true. We put the two extra eggs in Banjo Kazooie to protect against people hacking the game. If you had all six, then you wouldn't be able to do anything with them.
CJ: So how would you get the four eggs you needed?
RE: After completing certain tasks in Tooie, Blackeye the pirate would give you secret codes you could use in Banjo Kazooie to gain access to the eggs. Use them on the sandcastle floor just like cheat codes.
CJ: So which eggs did you need?
RE: Have you seen the screen with all the eggs and ice key, the totals screen titled Stop 'N Swop?
CJ: Yes.
RE: Basically, you don't get the outside eggs, you only get the four in the middle. One of the bad eggs was in the winter of the last level and the other was in the barrel in the basement of the mansion. We put an 'X' by that one, and put 1881 on the other barrels. If you look at the screen, when the key spins it kind of makes a graphical 88 in the middle. That may have been too subtle, but it's clever. Someone actually asked us about that barrel in a pre-release interview and we laughed about it in our response.
CJ: So how would you get the items into Tooie then?
RE: After warping through the pot, one of the doors in the transformation room opens. Don't go back into the warp pot though, or the door will close. Just go through the door and to the end of the corridor, and you will get a message from Grunty complaining about Blackeye. You'll then be prompted to turn the game off and put in Tooie.
CJ: That's great. And these can be used in Tooie?
RE: Unfortunately, no. Like I said, we made changes to Tooie because we couldn't get the data to it.
CJ: Ok. So what where they intended to be used for?
RE: Each egg was going to give you a Mega Glowbo, after it was hatched. You could use these for special transformations. The only one left in the game is the transform of Kazooie to a dragon. There was a polar bear transform for Banjo, and the other two were designed but never coded.
CJ: So people without Banjo Kazooie could never get the transformations.
RE: That's the reason they couldn't be vital to the completion of the game. They would be fun and useful, but not needed. We had put a special cheat in the game for people who didn't have Banjo Kazooie, so they could get all the transformations as well. I think it was supergloking or something like that.
CJ: And what did the ice key open in Tooie?
RE: Sorry, I breezed right over the ice key. It is used to open the door in Banjo Kazooie. When you go through the warp pot, it sparkles blue and pauses before you warp. If you look at the Stop 'n Swop screen, the key will be gone. If you warp back through the pot, the door closes and you'll have no way to reopen it. That wasn't intentional, just a programming mistake that wasn't caught in testing.
CJ: Well, this is some interesting stuff. Sorry we've gotten so far off track. Any cool concepts like that brewing at Codemasters that you'd like to share.
RE: All development shops have cool concepts and visions they try to incorporate. But you know I can't let you in on any specifics. Listen to me, I sound just like Rare.
CJ: Fair enough. Well, were glad things are going well for you. Best of luck in the future and thanks for giving us some of your time.
RE: Any time.
...if the mods have a problem, I'll take it down.
CJ: First let me say thanks for this opportunity to talk with you.
RE: No problem.
CJ: So how are things going for you since you left Rare?
RE: So far so good. I had already accepted a position with Codemasters prior to my departure, so I didn't have any down time. Codemasters is a much smaller development shop, which for the most part is good. I feel as though we have more creative freedom which is what I was looking for.
CJ: Would you characterize that as the main reason for the mass exodus of talent at Rare? The lack of creative freedom?
RE: I wouldn't necessarily call it a mass exodus. Yeah, they've loss some good people, but it's not like everyone has walked out. Several of us just got fed up, so we left. Beating down our creativity was definitely part of it, but it's more than that. It's more like having a strict parent telling you don't do this and don't do that. It's just the environment there. Guess we should have been careful what we wished for.
CJ: Wished for? What do you mean?
RE: I guess we saw the grass as being greener with Microsoft coming in. Nintendo had always been strict with our compliance to their ideas or standards as they would call it. We figured things would be better after the deal went through.
CJ: So Microsoft was just as strict as Nintendo?
RE: Oh no, Microsoft is much stricter, the my way or the highway type. Nintendo was more of the this is how you should due it. You don't have to, but we highly recommend you do. Highly recommend.
CJ: And if you didn't follow Nintendo's recommendations?
RE: I'm not sure. Rare always did. A perfect example is the disk drive debacle. Nintendo was pushing for game development for the Nintendo 64 disk drive add on. They were taking heat for continuing with the cartridge based games and wanted a wide variety of games for the disk drive upon it release. So we started work on the disk based Donkey Kong 64.
CJ: I'm confused now, the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive was never released. Are you saying the Donkey Kong development was wasted?
RE: Actually, the drive finally was released in Japan, on a limited basis. But Nintendo had planned on releasing it back in 1998, but it just kept hitting one delay after another. It's too bad tough, because the disk drive was going to allow us to create expansions for so many games. We converted Donkey Kong back to a cart game, but we lost some real cool features. We had been messing around with Banjo Kazooie and Donkey Kong, moving a key back and forth between the two. There's some screenshots floating around with Donkey Kong in Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Kazooie in the Donkey Kong disk drive game. The possibilities were going to be endless.
CJ: Is that how Banjo Kazooie was going to link up with it's sequel, through the disk drive?
RE: That would make sense, but no. Banjo Tooie was always intended to be a cart game.
CJ: So they would link in a different way?
RE: Yes, but I wouldn't call it linking exactly. You could link a cartridge and a disk game because they would both be plugged in and running simultaneously. Banjo Kazooie would be able to transfer information to Tooie, but the two games wouldn't be linked.
CJ: How could you transfer data between cartridge games?
RE: By magic! [laughter] Actually, if you programmed it properly, you could store data in the 64's memory that would be available to the next game that was loaded. At least at first you could. Unfortunately, certain things changed with the Nintendo hardware and it became impossible to store the data for the next game. It really was a disappointment. A lot of work went into using that capability, and it was all for naught.
CJ: So there is no transfer between Banjo Kazooie and Tooie?
RE: Unfortunately, no. Everything was coded, but with the hardware change, we had to make changes to Tooie. Kazooie was going to transfers four eggs to Tooie. We actually joked about it in Grabbed by the Ghoulies. There was a picture showing if you took the eggs and the ice key to the gameshow platform, went through the transport pot, and then went up to the locked door, it would be open.
CJ: You said four eggs, aren't there six?
RE: That's true. We put the two extra eggs in Banjo Kazooie to protect against people hacking the game. If you had all six, then you wouldn't be able to do anything with them.
CJ: So how would you get the four eggs you needed?
RE: After completing certain tasks in Tooie, Blackeye the pirate would give you secret codes you could use in Banjo Kazooie to gain access to the eggs. Use them on the sandcastle floor just like cheat codes.
CJ: So which eggs did you need?
RE: Have you seen the screen with all the eggs and ice key, the totals screen titled Stop 'N Swop?
CJ: Yes.
RE: Basically, you don't get the outside eggs, you only get the four in the middle. One of the bad eggs was in the winter of the last level and the other was in the barrel in the basement of the mansion. We put an 'X' by that one, and put 1881 on the other barrels. If you look at the screen, when the key spins it kind of makes a graphical 88 in the middle. That may have been too subtle, but it's clever. Someone actually asked us about that barrel in a pre-release interview and we laughed about it in our response.
CJ: So how would you get the items into Tooie then?
RE: After warping through the pot, one of the doors in the transformation room opens. Don't go back into the warp pot though, or the door will close. Just go through the door and to the end of the corridor, and you will get a message from Grunty complaining about Blackeye. You'll then be prompted to turn the game off and put in Tooie.
CJ: That's great. And these can be used in Tooie?
RE: Unfortunately, no. Like I said, we made changes to Tooie because we couldn't get the data to it.
CJ: Ok. So what where they intended to be used for?
RE: Each egg was going to give you a Mega Glowbo, after it was hatched. You could use these for special transformations. The only one left in the game is the transform of Kazooie to a dragon. There was a polar bear transform for Banjo, and the other two were designed but never coded.
CJ: So people without Banjo Kazooie could never get the transformations.
RE: That's the reason they couldn't be vital to the completion of the game. They would be fun and useful, but not needed. We had put a special cheat in the game for people who didn't have Banjo Kazooie, so they could get all the transformations as well. I think it was supergloking or something like that.
CJ: And what did the ice key open in Tooie?
RE: Sorry, I breezed right over the ice key. It is used to open the door in Banjo Kazooie. When you go through the warp pot, it sparkles blue and pauses before you warp. If you look at the Stop 'n Swop screen, the key will be gone. If you warp back through the pot, the door closes and you'll have no way to reopen it. That wasn't intentional, just a programming mistake that wasn't caught in testing.
CJ: Well, this is some interesting stuff. Sorry we've gotten so far off track. Any cool concepts like that brewing at Codemasters that you'd like to share.
RE: All development shops have cool concepts and visions they try to incorporate. But you know I can't let you in on any specifics. Listen to me, I sound just like Rare.
CJ: Fair enough. Well, were glad things are going well for you. Best of luck in the future and thanks for giving us some of your time.
RE: Any time.
...if the mods have a problem, I'll take it down.
The link works again. In case it goes down once more though:
EDIT: Already posted.
------------------
Where is the transformation room door that the ice key opens? I looked all over the game years ago after I got the key and found nothing of the sort. What's inside the door?
And where is the room that prompts you to stop and put Banjo-Tooie in?
Thanks for the help.
EDIT: Already posted.
------------------
Where is the transformation room door that the ice key opens? I looked all over the game years ago after I got the key and found nothing of the sort. What's inside the door?
And where is the room that prompts you to stop and put Banjo-Tooie in?
Thanks for the help.
MrPing1000
Member
nubbe said:the entire site seem to be dead
seems ok now
-=::[Eagle-Vision]::=-
Banned
Why didn't they just use a controller pack instead? ¬¬U...
element
Member
im kinda shocked that they said MS has been more strict with them. After being bought by MS, they were allowed outside email access, the ability to listen to music during work hours (they weren't allowed iPods even), and other things in an 'office' you would just kinda expect.
Creatively, I don't know. MS most had a hands off policy, even marketing didn't know what Rare was doing at times.
Creatively, I don't know. MS most had a hands off policy, even marketing didn't know what Rare was doing at times.
Diomedeskun
Member
-=::[Eagle-Vision]::=- said:
Because the change was made after Banjo Kazooie was released. Banjo was made with plans for the swap method, and it was too late to change that when they realized it would not work.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
I have high hopes for Rare. Kameo and Conker both look great (and, by all accounts, are) which Ghoulies never really did. Perhaps it was always going to be that way, but if MS being stricter has anything to do with it, then I'm glad.
I'm not really going to judge Rare under MS until we get a proper sequel to one of their games I loved under Nintendo though. PD0 or Banjo I expect.
I'm not really going to judge Rare under MS until we get a proper sequel to one of their games I loved under Nintendo though. PD0 or Banjo I expect.
Duckhuntdog
Member
element said:
Some got kicked harder than others. While some had the axe fall.
MightyHedgehog
Member
LOL
Awesome.
Awesome.
I must be blind.... The ONLY place I see that is in your post.m0dus said:Um. Guys? did anybody happen to notice the line in BOLDFACE TYPE at the bottom:
"
THE ABOVE INTERVIEW IS NOT REAL AND WAS ONLY PRESENTED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. "
I find it surprising nobody has mentioned it.
It refreshed with it there, now.
truesayian
Banned
THE ABOVE INTERVIEW IS NOT REAL AND WAS ONLY PRESENTED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES.
Rocket Punch
Member
So this means the Stop & Swap thingy is still a mystery?! Dammit, I demand closure!!!
m0dus said:Um--how EXACTLY am I delusional, when you were one of the sheep frothing over a fake interview? ^_^ your un-logic escapes me.
Then again, 'in Canada, Road forks you! '
seriously, though, You jumped the gun in declaring my reasoning/observation flawed, and you won't even own up to it. The personal attack is starting to grate a little, too. What can I say? I'll stop short of calling *you* crazy . . . or an asshole. Do me a favor, and show that respect in kind, even if we happen to disagree over trivial things.
I do not have to respect you one bit. Since you came here, you demanded respect, but have not earned it.
After I read you post, I checked the page serveral times (in 2 browsers), I did not see a msg.