Whilst sitting in on an official demo of Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts at E3, one narrated and directed by Microsoft Games Studios' Ken Lobb and Rare's Mark Bettridge, I found it impossible not to be impressed by the platformer. The sheer number of parts, contraptions, and options, combined with what appeared to be a straightforward interface — a challenge when building something in 3D — made it clear that there's lots to do in the third proper Banjo Kazooie game.

The thing that appealed to me most was the game's Leaderboards implementation. It essentially lets players download replays of the game's challenges, letting other players improve upon, for example, the ideal way of moving a giant ice cube man up a slippery slope. That feature reminded me of my obsessive Diddy Kong Racing days, in which I was racing against ghost data and fighting the Nintendo 64 analog controller to shave seconds off my time.

That kind of community driven perfection, letting others watch your best time at scoring goals on an oversized soccer pitch, with the most creative vehicle implementation possible, may be Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolt's most appealing feature.

Microsoft's John Schappert took the stage today at Microsoft's E3 2008 press conference to reveal the new face of Xbox Live. Coming this Fall, your gamer tag will now be linked to an avatar, designed by the folks at Rare, who will then be customizable with any of thousands of pieces of clothing, accessories, etc., all available via Xbox Live Marketplace. What a surprise!

The avatars, much like Miis, will be playable in many upcoming Microsoft games, including Uno on Xbox Live and the new Scene-It!: Box Office Smash.

There's also a new community channel called Live Party, where you can add up to 8 friends to chat and share content, such as photos.

Rare Denies X-Waggle Rumor, Chastises Kotaku Comments

Rare is denying that Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is a motion-controlled game, hoping to kill the rumors once and for all.

"There’s no truth to the Banjo motion control rumor," said Rare's George Kelion. "Banjo has been designed to be played using a game pad from the outset."

Microsoft yesterday denied that a suggestive comment made by Ken Lobb in a clip video referred to motion control.

Kelion admitted that while he's not privy to every design detail about the game, on having played the title, he played it with a normal controller and noted the absence of motion control input.

But is Rare doing something with the fabled X-waggle? "No idea," said Kelion. "And that's the truth."

"People shouldn’t take rumors that gestate in comments sections so seriously, even on respectable news sites like Kotaku. They can often turn out to be red herrings, as is the case with Banjo and motion controls," he said.

Microsoft Denies Motion Control Revealed Via Banjo Kazooie Preview

Last night, in a preview video for Rare's Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, clip commentator Ken Lobb dropped some knowledge on controller twisting in the Xbox 360 platformer. That lead to some speculation that the Microsoft Games Studio creative director had just confirmed motion control, in a roundabout way. Not so, says Microsoft, who tells us there is no truth to the speculation. See?

“There is no truth to this speculation," reads an official statement that comments on rumor and speculation. "Ken’s comment is in reference to rotating the left analog stick while hitting the X-button to move different things in the game.”

Aw, you're no fun, official statement. Why'd you have to come in to our post and spoil the speculative fun? Regardless of this denial, we're still sticking to our multiple E3 predictions based on an X-waggle reveal. Bring on the accelerometer! [Edit: I mean X-elerometer!]

Does This Banjo Kazooie Video Confirm An Xbox 360 Motion Controller?

Did Ken Lobb, creative director at Microsoft Game Studios, just confirm motion control will be a factor in the newest Banjo Kazooie game? We're saying it's a "definite maybe." Others are saying yes, based on Lobb's comments in a Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts walk-through with developer commentary. What comments?

Specifically, Ken says "The primary function that Kazooie has in the game is she carries this wrench and the wrench is used for many different things. One of the things that the wrench is used for is to turn these devices. So you basically grab with the wrench and then you twist the controller around and it'll move different things in the game."

While we're mostly positive that Microsoft will be spilling the official beans on X-waggle come next week, we're not going to take Ken's word as motion controlled gospel. He could have merely misspoke, even if it's a rumor we've heard before. If you want to be the judge, make it to the 4 minute mark on the IGN video linked below.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Xbox 360 Developer Commentary - Showdown Town Walkthrough [IGN - thanks, William!]

Courtesy of Rare, here's four new screens for the upcoming Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. Things are looking lovely, there's no doubt of that. But the first one looked (and played!) lovely, too. And still, nobody really paid any attention. Will genie huts and birds with gas masks change that? Probably not, but there's always hope!

Microsoft Thinks DS Is "Very Viable Platform"

Microsoft does not have a handheld device, which, you know, probably is a good thing! Why? It can put games on the Nintendo DS and get its brands out to people who may not or may never own an Xbox 360. Take Viva Piñata, which is getting DS title Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise. Microsoft-owned developer Rare has been working on the title as well as other DS games like Diddy Kong Racing DS. Says Rare's Joe Humfrey:

They put the Viva Piñata franchise on TV to reach a broad audience, they put it on PC to reach a different broad audience, and they're doing the same thing with the DS. They're trying to widen the audience of the franchise, basically... They see DS as a very viable platform.

Honestly, if Microsoft wants better odds at cracking the Japanese market, it really should release its exclusives on the DS. We hear the DS is popular in Japan. Xbox 360, not so much so.

MS sees DS [Eurogamer] [Pic]

Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise Trailer Wants To Eat Your Insides

Killer Instinct 3 Rumors Fresh From The Mill

This again? Yes, this again. The latest batch of rumors to come from EGM's Quartermann dredges up one we've been hearing for as long as we can remember, one that pegs Rare hard at work on a new Killer Instinct. This one, dubbed Killer Instinct 3D: Death, Destruction and Doom, is said to bring the delightfully goofy fighting game that pits boxers against skeletal pirates, lizardmen against werewolves into the world of 3D.

You know, we've heard something similar to this recently, reminding us of a photo snapped at the Rare offices that touts "finishing moves", 3-player matches and uses ancient Killer Instinct art. It's a photo that makes us think Rare was just having a bit of cruel fun at our expense, as they're wont to do. Time will tell if Killer Instinct 3 is real, but for the meantime you can catch up on all the nasty rumors at 1UP.

Quartermann: Rare Readying New Killer Instinct? [1UP]

Only a company twisted enough to market a game to kids where the goal is to feed cute animals their dead and mate with their siblings could come up with this unholy pairing. Speaking to MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo, Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise designer reveals that they had successfully connected the Xbox 360 and DS versions of the paper animal game...but it was too late.

"We got it to work, but it was too late in the development cycle," Cook said, presumably talking about the cycle of the DS game. If only they'd thought of it sooner, he laughed. "It's one of those things where you just kick yourself."

Nintendo DS - Xbox 360 Connectivity Considered For 'Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise' [MTV Multiplayer]

Speaking as part of a long, long interview with CVG, Rare design head Gregg Mayles talks in-depth about the freshly-announced Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. First revelation? Banjo's let himself go - "slobbing out," as Mayles says, while poor Grunty starts off as only a head until he hooks himself up with a mechanical body, all the better to help Banjo bounce back from this apparent midlife crisis.

Mayles also is anxious about how Banjo loyalists might receive this overhauled installment, hoping that those surprised by the new flavor will give it a chance. All in all, Mayles says the Rare team is hoping the third installment will act as something of a franchise reboot:

We've kind of taken a step back from that and tried to make it a simpler, cleaner approach, obviously with this new mechanic in place. I guess we're all hoping for a clean start, that's what I think it'll do. It's kind of, 'There's your old Banjo games, let's put those in the past, you can remember how good those were, this is Banjo for the future'.

Mayles also suggests that comparisons to Super Mario Galaxy will be unavoidable:

New Viva Pinata Vid Shows Candy-Filled Animals In The Wild

Banjo-Kazooie: Hot New Bird On Bear Action

Rare Puts Viva Pinata In Your Pocket This Fall

If you've ever wanted to snag one of those cute widdle Viva Piñata animals to carry along with you, now you can. Kinda. THQ and Rare announced Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise for the Nintendo DS, releasing this Fall alongside the console sequel.

Originally announced at the New York Comic Con, the DS version will share themes with the original Viva Piñata, tasking players with nursing a neglected garden into a piñata paradise. Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise will also introduce seven new piñata species, in addition to tutorial full motion videos from the Fox 4Kids TV series.

Full release follows the jump.

Shane Kim: Rare Hasn't Realized Their Potential on the 360

During my dinner with Shane Kim and Kudo Tsunoda I started talking with Kim about Rare's relatively checkered history with Microsoft.

In the late 90s Rare established themselves as a top-tier studio, producing such classics as GoldenEye and Donkey Kong Country for Nintendo. But in 2002, Microsoft bought up the company and prepared to have the studio start work on some of the marquee titles for their upcoming Xbox 360.

I told Kim that back before the Xbox 360 launched I had heard that Rare's Perfect Dark Zero was meant to be the platform's launch title, the reason gamers would take notice of the 360 and decide to buy into the new platform.

When the game finally hit, with the launch of the 360 and Rare's other title Kameo, it was met with a mixed reception, certainly not the sort that Microsoft had bet on.

Is Rare, I asked Kim, a developer that better suited to the audience and platforms of Nintendo gaming?

It's very official, as Microsoft has announced the existence of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Rare's fuzzy follow-up for the Xbox 360. Lucky Banjo fan that you are, you've been subjected to leak after leak, giving you a glimpse of the new-gen bear and bird adventure all weekend. Out of obligation, though, we've put together a handy gallery of the available Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts screen shots, which you can find below.

A handy fact sheet, courtesy of Microsoft, explains how the Lord of Games has crafted a ridiculous excuse to pit Banjo and Gruntilda against eachother in a battle that can only be settled by vehicle creation and customization. Seriously! You'll find it after the jump!

The leaked screens we saw yesterday were indeed for the new Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. Rare's cooking up the sweets-laden Xbox 360 title for a September 2008 release. The sequel adds feature full co-op both online and locally, more customizations for the garden, and thirty new piñatas.

Another interesting item? A "Piñata Vision" feature that lets players use Xbox Live's vision camera and printed cards to put extra content into the game.

In Trouble in Paradise, evil Professor Pester and his ruffians have deleted Piñata Central's computer records, threatening piñata parties and tasking the player with rebuilding everything by sending piñatas around the world. This is the part where I refuse to admit that I watch the TV show religiously and know exactly what this means.

Oops. Fact sheet after the jump.

Banjo Kazooie 3 Named, Detailed

New details on the game formerly known as Banjo Kazooie 3 and Banjo Threeie have emerged courtesy of Game Informer and GameReactor, both via message board NeoGAF. Rare's latest Xbox 360 venture, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, won't strictly follow the traditional gameplay of the previous two colorful platformers, but will have a heavy focus on vehicles and vehicle building. According to alleged details from the latest Game Informer mag—the same issue posted about earlier—the game will feature some 1600 vehicle parts and weapons with which one can customize their ride, from bikes to karts to planes.

A poster, who appears to be from Danish gaming site GameReactor writes that vehicle creation is similar to building with LEGO blocks, that players can edit their creations at any point. The poster explains how a truck creation was incapable of delivering the required amount of coconuts to finish a level, but that a helicopter more suited to coconut carrying was. In other words, if coconut schlepping is your thing, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts will fit the bill.

New games at MS Gamer's Day: Banjo 3 and Vina Pinata 2 pics leaked [NeoGAF]