Very sad news from Redmond, Wash. Melissa Batten, 36, a software development engineer in Microsoft's Xbox division, was murdered by her estranged husband, who then shot himself to death, earlier this week.
Videogamer writes: "But only if Rare deems it a 'definite worthwhile improvement'.
The future of user-gen includes some noteworthy players, not the least of which is developer Media Molecule and LittleBigPlanet, which has become a hype machine for the PS3. But this piece of work looks like it just might live up to the hype. Already people have witnessed the flexibility of the level-creation system (At E3, Sony used LittleBigPlanet to great effect to present what would've been a boring slog through sales figures), and the community aspects attached to this title are just as promising.
"The highly anticipated return of Banjo to the Xbox 360 is drawing ever closer and the boys (and girls) over at Rare have decided to let us in on some juicy development information regarding Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. In the first of many dev diaries, Rare explains that the Banjo team is squarely focused on the single player campaign, with multiplayer nearly complete."
Microsoft has sent along a brief statement allegedly clarifying what Microsoft Game Studios creative director Ken Lobb meant when he said, "you twist the controller around and it'll move different things in [Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts]." The explanation goes a lil' something like this:
Kombo writes: Gamerscore Blog's Chris Paladino who, along with having the coolest last name ever, is a trustworthy source.
Kombo Reports :"In a walkthrough video of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, Lobb clearly states at the 4 minute mark: "So you basically grab with the wrench, and then you twist the controller around."
VG247: Salvatore Fileccia, lead programmer of Rare's Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, has said his game isn't in direct competition with Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet, despite the two platformers sharing a passion for furthering the genre.
Videogamer writes: "In a post over on the Xbox.com forums, Rare community manager George Kelion (under his XBL gamertag Monkeythumbz) has offered an insight into the "blocky" visual style seen in the developer's upcoming Xbox 360 video game Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.