Phil Spencer on Revisiting Older IPs: 'Banjo Fans, I Hear You' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 December 2023 / 3,317 Views
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in an interview Windows Central was asked about the team at Xbox meeting the fan's desires for back catalogues and bringing Activision Blizzard games like World of Warcraft and StarCraft to Xbox consoles.
"You did a good job at laying out some of the examples from the past," said Spencer. "Thinking about Age of Empires, we're on the 10th anniversary edition of Killer Instinct, which is another nice example to think about. There has to be passion in the team behind the projects. That doesn't mean that the team has to be the original team, every time.
"I'm not one — and maybe this is just my approach — I'm not one to come in and take a franchise from a team and remove them from the discussion or development process on how something new gets built. I think the original creators, the culture — frankly, some of the lessons we've learned from past experiences here are very important.
"You've seen from our history that we haven't touched every franchise that people would love us to touch — Banjo fans, I hear you. But it is true that, when we find the right team, and the right opportunity, I love going back to revisit stories and characters that we've seen previously.
"In the case of Blizzard games specifically, really what I'd want to do is work with Blizzard's leadership to see where they have passion. I say all this, but I'm not at all suggesting that Blizzard doesn't have passion for reviving franchises too, I know that from my visits to the team. They absolutely have the passion in this area. There's a lot of excitement for possibilities that we can all do together.
"But also, I want our fans and customers to know that I don't bring up games just to tease to no end ... if people have watched how we've teased things in the past. There's usually some kind of reconciliation of those hints later on ... I'm not one to try and lead people on. It might not happen on the timeline that people would love, but usually when I tease, there's something there."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Give the IP to Toys for Bob!
By "I hear you" does he mean He hears us like Nintendo hears us about Earthbound/Mother 3, or does he mean Toys for Bob come on down?
N64 Banjo was great, hope they can make a good sequel.
i think we are all ready for Banjo 3
Translation: "Phillie hears ya, Phillie don't care."
Perhaps they could have Banjo have a new sidekick in his next adventure: a dead horse
I would rather see a new Conker. Way more interesting than Banjo
Microsoft has so many i.ps but don't know who to designate it to...
Without an iron first of ruling the games that are gonna come out are going to be low to mid quality as always
Why Doesn't Double Fine do one? They have tons of experiance with 3D platformers, and good history with humor in games..... why wouldn't you have them work on one, between doing their psychonauts games ect.
Playtonic has been awfully quiet these days.. i wonder.
The only way, imo, to do this is to pay off all the original members of the team, bring them together and tell them to make Banjo 3. Too many times have I witnessed old IPs flopping, or not living up to their past, to have blind trust in anything else.
Given that some of the original team members made 'Yooka Laylee' I am not keen to have them back. I think they've lost the spark.
It's hard to compare an indie game to something with unlimited money and support thrown at it by a major publisher... which is what Banjo would get. Besides, I own Tooka, and the soul of Banjo is there, imo. My daughter and I beat it back in the day and I liked it. So I firmly believe they "still have it." They just need the resources and support.
Nuts & Bolts 2 incoming......
I don't care. I'll say it, Nuts n Bolts is a fantastic game and was so ahead of its time. Nuts n Bolts, 2 baby! Lets goooooo
I wouldn't say it was "Ahead of it's time".
But it absolutely was an enjoyable title and arguably was criminally underrated.
I think the main issue we have is that people expect a Nintendo 64 game but in the modern era, which just isn't going to happen as worlds have gotten far larger and more complex.
Honestly would prefer Nuts and Bolts Tooie than Banjo Threeie
"We here you we just don't care"
That is more or less what he said about S raise in Brazil.
How about phil spener leave and stop destroying xbox.
