G-pinions

People are really mean to Rare. It's like my favorite developer gets its jollies from throwing goat's milk on sleeping babies. I have no idea why people are so angry towards this group of fine men and women. Yes, there is obvious fanboy hatred dished out to Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, and I accept that. But no other developer seems to garner as much pure hatred as the quiet guys from Twycross. Look at what happens when they release a new game. Even if it's an average game, like Perfect Dark Zero, it gets lambasted like it's the second coming of Captain Blasto. And Kameo, which is a fine game, is relentlessly insulted from people who have played little more than the demo. Where does this hate come from? Is it just bitter Nintendo fanboys? Or is it angsty Xbox gamers who shun anything that doesn't have the requisite amount of guns and violence?

There is a trailer up for Banjo 3 on XBL right now. It looks fantastic. Towards the end, the duo bust out of the room they are imprisoned in. Before they run around in the lush, green grass, they anxiously eye what lies ahead. There's a music note on top of a mountain way off in the distance. Closer, on a hilltop, is a puzzle piece. For fans of the series (namely me) this is a great sign. I loved running around the worlds trying to figure out how to collect these pieces. Banjo and Shadow of the Colossus are very different games, but both are built on exploring a huge world. The world of Shadow, though beautiful, is almost completely empty. You run around just to see the different environments. It's incredible. In Banjo, there are tangible rewards for exploring. Both the games are built on taking advantage of the world in front of you; they just use different ideas to urge gamers into it. When people complain that Banjo 3 is just going to be another collect-a-thon, they are damning the very essence of the series.

Halo 3 may still be the number one game on my Wanted List, but Banjo 3 is a comfortable number 2. As much as I look forward to Twilight Princess and Mario Galaxy, there is something that Banjo has been able to offer in the past that no other game has come close to. Rare has had a sense of scoop and difficulty in their platformers that no other developer seems to approach. I mistakenly waited to play through Banjo Tooie one month before Mario Sunshine came out. It was a brilliant game. It was so good that I struggled with Mario Sunshine and eventually got bored with it. Insomniac may have mastered the Action Platformer genre, but no other pure 3D Platformer has come close to Banjo. I am so happy Rare announced a sequel to this game and left the craptacular Killer Instincts buried in the regrettable early 90s.