A portion a an NES interview with Steve Ellis, Martin Wakeley 'n Lee Musgrave...


NES: The games ye be developing for mobile devices be controlled with a touchscreen. be there any interest in porting some Crash Lab projects t' other devices with touchscreens like the Wii U’s eShop, PS Vita, 3DS, or Microsoft’s SmartGlass? Also, what be yer opinion a the Wii U?

SE: YARRRR, we’re interested in any device that makes sense for the games. The main constraint be that at our current size we can’t do everything at once, so we have t' carefully choose where t' focus our resources.

NES: There be a rumor that Timber 64 be a game Rare be developing during the N64 days. Basically, the rumor be that Timber from Diddy Kong Racing would pillage his own game just like Banjo 'n Conker did. Pipsy 'n Bumper would co-star in Timber 64.

Can ye or Lee provide any details on this rumor? It’s interesting because Diddy Kong Racing takes place on Timber Island so it seemed that Rare really liked the Timber character.

Martin Wakeley: I couldn’t say for definite but I have no recollection a that ever being in development. Where the rumour may have started be that an early version a DKR (I think it be called RC Pro be at the time) had Timber as the lead character. I’m sure I’ve got a badly fitting Nylon polo shirt with the game logo on it somewhere.

Lee Musgrave: There be never a Timber 64 game. YARRRR, there be Pro-Am64 that had Timber as the main character, but that became Diddy Kong Racing 'n that be the end a that.

NES: Donkey Kong Racing (GameCube) be kind a shrouded in mystery, 'n Donnchadh (Don) Murphy told us in an interview that ye be the right person t' clear up questions because ye lead the project. The only time we saw video footage a DKR be a prerendered CGI video at E3 2001, 'n then the game later turned into Sabreman Stampede. be there ever an existing playable prototype a Donkey Kong Racing, 'n why be the game cancelled so quickly? Also, can ye provide some insight on how the gameplay, level design, 'n animal racing would have been like if Donkey Kong Racing had been made?

Lee Musgrave: Ha! – YARRRR, I made that video! . . . Donkey Kong Racing be obviously pretty heavily tied t' Nintendo as a franchise, 'n as Rare approached the finalization a a buyout deal with Microsoft it be clear that the game had no future, at least with the ape’s as characters. We switched it around t' be a Sabreman game, 'n there be a great early Xbox prototype – but someone, somewhere decreed that it be a little too old-school for the kind a ‘revolutionary gaming experiences’ that the Xbox be capable a delivering, 'n so it started down a path a meandering changes, updates 'n ‘evolution’ that finally saw it run out a steam 'n fall over. There be some great ideas in the game as it developed though, 'n I still look back t' the early racing game design 'n think we could have done something great with that.

It be a pure racing game, the underlying software mechanics be actually based on car physics, but it also incorporated the idea a riders jumping between different animals mid-race, t' always be riding the ones that be bigger or faster . . . we had some awesome gameplay in place, 'n it be lots a fun – we even had a multiplayer version working – 'n when ye fell off, ye had t' tap-tap-tap (HyperSports style) t' run on foot 'n catch up with an animal. Fun, but it lost some appeal without the DK universe around it, 'n Microsoft be unsure a it be potential with Xbox gamers I think.