Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge still in the works. Also: Rare USA closes shop.
Rare's official website has updated with its first "Scribes" letters page since the famous developer was released by Nintendo and subsequently purchased by Microsoft. Although we don't plan to cover Rare's every move now that they are no longer directly affiliated with Nintendo, there are a few tidbits worth mentioning this time.
First, Rare has confirmed that they will continue to develop for the Game Boy Advance, although it's not clear who will publish their games on that system. (Microsoft is a licensed developer/publisher for GBA.) In particular, the long-delayed Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge is still in the works.
...there's still a solid relationship with Nintendo in place - how do you think we intended to manage future GBA development without it?
Wait until you discover that Grunty's Revenge on the GBA is a bit of a mix of the two (Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie) with some new elements thrown in.
None of Rare's other GBA projects are mentioned.
The other big revelation is that Rare USA is currently being dismantled. Based in Miami for years, Rare USA mainly handled distribution and legal matters for the parent company; no development ever took place there. Still, the tiny American branch of this famously British developer was the focus of many rumors over the years, mainly because they were just as tight-lipped as the boys overseas. No mention is made of what will happen to Rare USA's handful of employees, but we at Planet GameCube wish them the best of luck in any case.
