Interviews// Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts

Having a multi-player component in what's, at least in part, a platformer is quite unusual and it's based on vehicle use. Which came first, the multi-player or the vehicles?

Elissa Miller: The vehicle editor definitely came first. But saying that, multi-player's such a massive part of the game.

Neill Harrison: Once we'd got the editor and stuff, it was “Oh, what can we do that would be really cool?”, and I think we've got some very cool ideas. The fact that you can build your own vehicles is what really makes multi-player. It's hard to show you in just a demo in a couple of hours. But, if you're properly going to become a hardcore multi-player, you're going to create all sorts of weird vehicles to complete the challenges and stuff, and that's going to be pretty cool.


Are you able to bring your single-player vehicles into the multi-player games?

Neill Harrison: Yes, via blueprints. Once you've built a vehicle you can use that across both (modes).


Are there any multi-player challenges that use more traditional platforming elements?

Neill Harrison: No, it's all vehicle-based.


Were you tempted to have a multi-player option where players could set the requirements for success? With it being physics-based, presumably you could set up, say, your own pins for a bowling challenge...

Neill Harrison: I don't know, you'd have to ask the multi-player designers. It's an interesting idea. It's probably something that we've either considered or are likely to consider in the future. There's quite a lot of fun to be had in the multi-player, almost coming up with your own game types – not that are actually supported by the game, but just messing around with everything.


This seems a bit like a Robot Wars game, but done well...

Elissa Miller: Yeah! It is a bit like that.

Neill Harrison: Especially the ball and the sumo games. The sumo games are pretty cool.


That seems like it would stand on its own...

Elissa Miller: Yeah, that's why it's such a massive component of the game, not just an add-on. It has been really well thought through and thought about. I think, even myself just looking at it, I didn't realise until the last few weeks when I've been really playing it how good a feature it is and how well it's been executed.


To wrap it up, looking at the sheer amount of stuff you can create, it looks like you're moving into similar territory as LittleBigPlanet. Would you say that's fair?

Neill Harrison: People are going to draw comparisons. It's user-generated content and editors and so on and there is a comparison there. But, I think the game is quite different.

Elissa Miller: You build your own levels, and in this game you build your own vehicles. So, yeah, you are personalising the game experience, but I'd say that's part of a trend than a reflection of each other or taking any influences. We didn't know about them, and they didn't know about us, I'm sure... It's just one of those things that's coincidentally happened, I guess.


Thanks for your time.