Ex-Microsoft employee talks about cancelled Conker Project

[Salty Hippo]

Originally Posted by certain_ability

Hi, I'm the one who made the Reddit post on my work with MS and Conker. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll stick around for a couple of hours answering questions.

Umm... I'll bite.

Is there any reason (that you know of) why Rare "DEFINITELY" wasn't going to make Conker? Is it because Microsoft doesn't trust in their abilities or because they were too busy (which I doubt, since they had just finished KSR)?

[certain_ability]

Originally Posted by Edward Rocks

Umm... I'll bite.

Is there any reason (that you know of) why Rare "DEFINITELY" wasn't going to make Conker? Is it because Microsoft doesn't trust in their abilities or because they were too busy (which I doubt, since they had just finished KSR)?

A little of column A and a little of column B. Most of what we know as Rare isn't the same Rare from the N64 days, a lot of the key players left. With that said, Rare is a talented group of people, but with the Conker reboot they weren't sure Rare was up to the challenge. They thought Insomniac would've been a better fit to get a product out by the end of the year.

[Salty Hippo]

Originally Posted by certain_ability

A little of column A and a little of column B. Most of what we know as Rare isn't the same Rare from the N64 days, a lot of the key players left. With that said, Rare is a talented group of people, but with the Conker reboot they weren't sure Rare was up to the challenge. They thought Insomniac would've been a better fit to get a product out by the end of the year.

That makes sense. A few more if you don't mind.

1. Was the development time the only thing that made Insomniac refuse? Like, would it have been a done deal had MS offered more time?

2. Do you know what exactly was Microsoft's angle when they demanded Conker to be out by 2015? How exactly would that have helped other Rare IP? Why not start reintroducing these franchises with Banjo, for instance?

3. Was there any talk of a Battletoads game, or any other Rare IP that they thought had potential in the future? Blast Corps, Jet Force Gemini, Kameo, Viva Piñata, or any other.

[JohnyT94]

Originally Posted by certain_ability

Hi, I'm the one who made the Reddit post on my work with MS and Conker. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll stick around for a couple of hours answering questions.

Not sure I believe you -- why not reply in the Reddit thread?

But, here's a question anyway (or a demand): do you know anything else about the plans for the Banjo game other than a scheduled release date? If so, spill the beans.

[certain_ability]

Originally Posted by Edward Rocks

That makes sense. A few more if you don't mind.

1. Was the development time the only thing that made Insomniac refuse? Like, would it have been a done deal had MS offered more time?

2. Do you know what exactly was Microsoft's angle when they demanded Conker to be out by 2015? How exactly would that have helped other Rare IP? Why not start reintroducing these franchises with Banjo, for instance?

3. Was there any talk of a Battletoads game, or any other Rare IP that they thought had potential in the future? Blast Corps, Jet Force Gemini, Kameo, Viva Piñata, or any other.

1. I can't say why Insomniac refused the deal exactly, because I wasn't in the room when they turned down the deal and wasn't important enough to be filled in to that length. The short time frame was the only reason I was given, and I imagine it was the deciding factor. As for whether or not a deal could've been made if MS had given them more time... I asked why that wasn't an option and the reason given was because the 2015 deadline was too important.

2. Conker would've been the soft push to getting these old Rare IPs out the door, particularly Banjo. Banjo was something that MS wasn't ready to tackle just yet, and the development of that and Perfect Dark really depended on Conker. Conker seemed like the easiest game to develop because A) Banjo was going to be facing huge fan expectations and MS wanted to know if Insomniac could handle it with Conker and B) Perfect Dark was lower on the priority list because the shooter market has become oversaturated recently. I mean, nothing was set in stone, it's not like the order was always going to be: Conker, then Banjo, then PD, but Conker was always going to take the lead.

3. Blast Corps is a big no, JFG never had anything serious in the works, Kameo no, Battletoads and Viva Piñata?....

Originally Posted by JohnyT94

Not sure I believe you -- why not reply in the Reddit thread?

But, here's a question anyway (or a demand): do you know anything else about the plans for the Banjo game other than a scheduled release date? If so, spill the beans.

A demand? Well now I can't possible refuse.

With Banjo nothing was set in stone aside from that it was going to be a reboot, and that it wasn't going to be as a radical departure from the originals like Nuts and Bolts was.

[Salty Hippo]

Thanks for the answers. We can't be 100% sure you're who you say you are, but so far it doesn't look like a prank.

One more if you will:

- Kampfheld on Neogaf mentioned that you were right on 2 things, wrong in 1. And he said you probably took a guess on that thing that you are supposedly wrong about. Can you imagine what is the thing he's thinking of? Is there anything in particular on your Reddit post that you feel you took a long shot at?

[certain_ability]

Originally Posted by Edward Rocks

Thanks for the answers. We can't be 100% sure you're who you say you are, but so far it doesn't like a prank.

One more if you will:

- Kampfheld on Neogaf mentioned that you were right on 2 things, wrong in 1. And he said you probably took a guess on that thing that you are supposedly wrong about. Can you imagine what is the thing he's thinking of? Is there anything in particular on your Reddit post that you feel you took a long shot at?

I'm pretty damn sure that everything I said in the Reddit post was accurate. The only thing I can think of may've been the comment on how they were planning a PD reboot for 2016/2017. The word "planning" made it sound like PD was 100% confirmed for that release date when that isn't really the case. I haven't worked at MS in a little while, so it's possible he's referring to something that's either changed, or I couldn't possibly know about.

[Salty Hippo]

Last one:

- When exactly did you leave MS, and before you left did you manage to catch a glimpse for what Rare is working on themselves? Is it a new IP? Is it Kinect? Is it HoloLens? Do you know anything at all about what those guys are actually working on?

[certain_ability]

Originally Posted by Edward Rocks

Last one:

- When exactly did you leave MS, and before you left did you manage to catch a glimpse for what Rare is working on themselves? Is it a new IP? Is it Kinect? Is it HoloLens? Do you know anything at all about what those guys are actually working on?

I don't want to put a date on it, but it was before the new year.

As for what Rare was working on, I don't want to spill all the beans. I've actually been really frustrated with a lot of things while I was working at MS so I don't mind talking about that stuff. With Rare, I was on good terms with them, so I'd rather leave their surprises be... you'll appreciate it more that way, trust me.

[Salty Hippo]

Originally Posted by certain_ability

you'll appreciate it more that way, trust me.

This makes me really feel that HoloLens is part of at least one of their projects.

Appreciate the answers. Hopefully you'll stick around a bit more so that more people can ask questions.

[The Banjonator]

With the failure of Conker being rebooted, I hope they go ahead and try to do Banjo anyway. Oh well, we'll see

[certain_ability]

Originally Posted by Edward Rocks

Appreciate the answers. Hopefully you'll stick around a bit more so that more people can ask questions.

I can stick around for a little while longer to answer questions, for sure.

[JohnyT94]

Originally Posted by certain_ability

I can stick around for a little while longer to answer questions, for sure.

I'm not sure what else to ask; you've covered quite a bit. What more do you know? If there's anything interesting (especially in regards to Rare), my second demand is that you share all the juicy details.

Thanks for answering all the questions, whether or not you are who you claim to be.

[certain_ability]

Originally Posted by JohnyT94

I'm not sure what else to ask; you've covered quite a bit. What more do you know? If there's anything interesting (especially in regards to Rare), my second demand is that you share all the juicy details.

Thanks for answering all the questions, whether or not you are who you claim to be.

Hmm... other juicy details... I can't really think of anything.

I do have one fun story. One day I show up at work and there's this paper in my inbox of Conker as a tree. It was a regular cartoonish tree, but with Conker's face in the middle. It looked really professional, like someone had spent hours making it. I asked around and a bunch of my coworkers thought it was funny, but didn't know where it came from. Usually, if it's something like concept art, it's tagged and labelled clearly, but this one wasn't. I kept thinking it was a piece of fan art, but I haven't been able to find it online. Besides, who draws something as random as that?

Not really relevant, but I thought it was funny.

[Andre]

Certain_ability, can you private message me proof that you are who you say you are?