Despite the yearly sequelitis that has infected the video game industry, there are certain titles that we all want to see get another installment. Among them are many of the trademarks that Microsoft currently own. Games like Battletoads, Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark have been a part of Microsoft’s roster for years now since they bought retro-developer acolyte Rare.
Having been confined to Kinect Sports titles of late, Rare were a big part of what made the Nintendo stable so interesting during their heyday, with the aforementioned titles all being must-own games on their respective platforms. These series’ were all thought to be commercially dead, but according toKen Lobb, Creative Director for Microsoft Studios, there’s still life in them yet. “Will there ever be another Banjo, Viva, Blast Corps, Battletoads? Yeah, someday,” he said on the Inner Circle Podcast. “We know there’s value. We have a lot of passion internally for each of the games. And we have surprises in store in the near and long future.”
Ken reassured listeners that Microsoft do, in fact, know what they have, and regularly talk about where they’re going with these titles. He goes on to say that the idea of a ‘recent’ sequel for any of these games is always on the cards, before ending with “I think the best message to give to your listeners is we love the old IP as much as you do. Please be patient because we can only build so much at a time.”
You can listen to the full podcast below:
