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Could Rare’s Perfect Dark be coming to XBLA via a remake?
It’s been very quiet lately from the people at Rare. Microsoft’s big first-party studio has games cooking but no one knows what the hell they are? Rare has teased and teased gamers around the world with subtle hints of upcoming games that include Killer Instinct 3, another Conker game and Perfect Dark 2, to name just a few. This time it’s Perfect Dark again, but not talk of a sequel. Oh no, this time it’s talk of a possible port of the original to Xbox Live Arcade. The original graced the Nintendo 64, and many people argued at the time that it was in fact better than the infamous Goldeneye007, so when I say this game was awesome, I mean it.
This fresh rumor doesn’t come from an unnamed source living in a small box under the developer’s chair listening to any tidbits they can hear, but instead comes from Rare themselves, AGAIN!!! How many times can one company tease an announcement?!? Anyway, while Rare was showing off a new Banjo-Tooie premium for the 360, eagle-eyed spotters noticed a certain image in a screenshot of the tab with your avatar and last played games. This image is clearly the image of Perfect Dark heroine Joanna Dark — exactly the image of Miss Dark in her Nintendo 64 days. So what does this mean?
Well if Rare is not just teasing us harshly, then we could very well see a port of Perfect Dark to Xbox Live, hopefully with online multiplayer and a HD make over. Rare is not shy about releasing its old classics onto XBLA; the recent release of Banjo-Kazooie and the already available Jetpack Refueled prove that Rare shares its little gems. Was this an honest mistake on Rare’s part? Knowing Rare, probably not. They probably did this on purpose to gather some steam before announcing the XBLA game. Hopefully they also plan to announce an XBLA game for Killer Instinct… one could wish, no?
TGR Rating: Highly Likely
Could Halo be making its way to Mobile devices?
It seems the folks at Microsoft weren’t kidding when they said Halo is their equivalent of Star Wars, huh? Halo has conquered the FPS world, the incredible trilogy wrapping up with the record-breaking Halo 3, it has seemingly conquered the console RTS scene with Ensemble Studios’ Halo Wars, there are books, there are comics, action figures, soundtracks — I can keep going and going — but what is left for Halo to take over? How about mobile phones? Didn’t think that was possible? Neither did I, but according to a recent job posting for Microsoft, Halo could very well be taking over the mobile industry.
The job listing is asking for a software development engineer to work on Halo-related projects that are looking to blend console, web, and mobile to “create an immersive Halo world.” Other than that and the typical PR stuff there isn’t much else — no name or any other indication of what it is. The question that will be on most gamers’ minds is likely, “Will there be a Halo game on a mobile phone?” I personally don’t think that this will be a Halo game but more interactivity between the console game and the mobile phones. It could be something along the lines of creating clan games while on the go, checking the status of friends playing, or looking at your stats while on the move. Actually, this could be Xbox Live Anywhere, or something along those lines, anyway.
Halo could very well end up taking over your mobile in the form of a hub where you can create games and check stats and whatnot; basically a toned-down Bungie.net with added features. I wonder though, what would a Halo mobile game look and play like? Well one thing is for certain: if Microsoft announces their entrance into the portable world then we sure as hell would see a portable version of Halo. Hey, I think I just saw a pig fly!
TGR Rating on Halo Mobile Game: Highly Unlikely
TGR rating on Halo Mobile Interactivity: Likely
Factor 5’s Wii projects don’t involve Kid Icarus?
It hasn’t been the rosiest of times for Factor 5 as of late; the critical and commercial failure of Lair on the PlayStation 3 really hit Factor 5 hard. Why? Because Sony’s response to the delays that hit Lair and the fact that the game was not the success they had hoped for was to cancel Factor 5’s PSN projects. Consider the staff laid off as a result of all this, and you can see why it’s been rough for them. Since all that, though, Factor 5 has gone back to working with Nintendo doing what the company does best, creating good games. But one question that everyone is wondering is, are they developing a new Kid Icarus for the Wii?
Over on NeoGaf, a forum user has posted some information regarding Factor 5’s future Wii projects, and it seems that they may not include Kid Icarus after all. Their first title is a casual Wii title while their second title is third-person shooter game. Kid Icarus? If you remember rightly, IGN posted some pictures of concept artwork relating to Factor 5’s supposed Kid Icarus game. These were pitches to Nintendo to show them what could be done. After that, things got quiet, but lately things have been picking up again with nintendoeverything.com revealing some information regarding the shooter that could lead us to believe that a new Kid Icarus game is in the works.
Taken from that site, “According to the same rumor source, the more hardcore Factor 5 game is not Star Wars or Star Fox, it began production in August 2007, and the shooter title technically could still be Kid Icarus granted the shooting elements translated into a Kid Icarus game.” They do have a point but again it’s completely speculation at best and that’s what is so worrying. Here at TGR we do hope Factor 5 finds its form again and comes back with that long-awaited Kid Icarus, leaving the mess that was Lair behind them.
TGR Rating: Likely
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