Topic: Retro Studios Making a New Donkey Kong Game?

[Stratos]

There's no way that Nintendo would let a non-Japanese developer work on a "sacred cow" franchise like Zelda.  No way.  Now the B-level franchises like Donkey Kong, Metroid, StarFox, F-Zero, etc. - those are and have been fair game.  But Pokemon, Mario, and Zelda will always be Japan-developed, I'm confident in that.

Of course, at this point somebody will scream "Mario RPG", at which time I will tell you to shut up.

And yet, on the most recent RFN there was the discussion of how Reggie being appointed to his position was surprising, and not just because of his Pizza-Hut origins.

I'm calling it now: I'm gonna be the next Reggie when I grow up. Better start practicing taking names now. Maybe he's looking for an apprentice?

[AV]

I want them to do F-zero for Wii. Retro would make that awesome, if anyone could top Sega's F-zer GX it would be retro. If it's donkey kong they will need to have a impressive trailer to get me to care.

[Crimm]

First person banana collecting?

"F-you elephant! Get your own 4500 bananas!"

[NWR_Lindy]

I demand that the player be forced to collect bananas, Jinjos, and Bafmodads, and get no unlockable rewards for collecting all of them.  If this is not included, it is not canon.

[Crimm]

I demand Greg be hired to do Donkey Kong's voice acting.

[greybrick]

I demand Greg be hired to do Donkey Kong's voice acting.

HEEE-HRUUAAW!

I want first person Dixie Kong helicoptering, motionplus enabled. 

[Guitar Smasher]

Am I the only one who would prefer it to be 2D?  I'm actually not excited for another possible DK, frankly I think it would be a waste of Retro's skills. 

[ThePerm]

if the rumor is true that would explain the mass exodus from Retro to Armature studios, sadly this seems very Nintendo.

plus Armature could be a double entendre, where as it 1 means a skeletal structure that holds something together, and 2 Are Mature, meaning they make adult oriented games.

[TJ Spyke]

Can it really be considered a mass exodus though? It was only 3 people who left.

I would have no problem with this rumor being true, I know Retro would do a great job.

[ThePerm]

usually when people leave a company, they don't just leave for a change of pace, its usually because they get to move, Armature isn't too far. I don't see why the heads of a company would leave a company to do the same thing in the same town, unless something went down. Nintendo has been known to mismanage their western studios, so its not a stretch. The fumbled Rare, they fumbled SK, and the only thing GREAT to come out in the last couple years was the Metroid Series. Hopefully, this is all false and not another Starfox Adventure incident. As much as I like Retro, it doesn't seem a good fit for them to be doing Donkey Kong. I would imagine maybe Kid Icarus, or some new shooting franchise, but Nintendo never does what you hope they would do. They do something totally wacky.

[TJ Spyke]

Rare is a complete mess and has been for more than 10 years, I don't think anyone could help them. Silicon Knights is apparently willing to do more with Nintendo, but maybe Nintendo is reluctant since their last few games have not sold well.

Speaking of Star Fox, that would be interesting for Retro Studios (although Nintendo doesn't seem too interested in the franchise right now).

[greybrick]

Rare is a complete mess and has been for more than 10 years, I don't think anyone could help them. Silicon Knights is apparently willing to do more with Nintendo, but maybe Nintendo is reluctant since their last few games have not sold well.

Speaking of Star Fox, that would be interesting for Retro Studios (although Nintendo doesn't seem too interested in the franchise right now).

The most fun I have had with a Star Fox game is the multiplayer on Assault. That either says something about me, or the franchise.

[Zoltan]

I'm finding it hilarious that people seem to know exactly "what Retro would be good at" keep in mind this is a company that went from not having made anything to making some thing that people consider one of the greatest games of all time and because they're new and all they've had the chance to make was FPMetroid games everyone thinks they can only do either shooters or revive old franchises.  I say let them do whatever they want because they've already proven to be a competent developer.  If they were handed something like Donkey Kong then something must have happened behind the scenes where they've proven to be the best people for the job.

I honestly don't care what they're working on because whatever it is I know will be fantastic.

[NWR_insanolord]

Rare is a complete mess and has been for more than 10 years, I don't think anyone could help them. Silicon Knights is apparently willing to do more with Nintendo, but maybe Nintendo is reluctant since their last few games have not sold well.

Speaking of Star Fox, that would be interesting for Retro Studios (although Nintendo doesn't seem too interested in the franchise right now).

The most fun I have had with a Star Fox game is the multiplayer on Assault. That either says something about me, or the franchise.

That mode had a lot of potential, but was a bit too limited. I really hope they give it another go and flesh it out more in the next Star Fox game.

[Mop it up]

What has Retro done besides the Metroid Prime games? Anything?

[TJ Spyke]

Nothing. They were working on some GameCube games (like Raven Blade), but those got canceled when Nintendo asked them to make Metroid Prime. All of the games they have had published have been Metroid games.

[Caterkiller]

Yeah baby! I will gladly let my hopes get dashed to pieces if this isn't true only to keep this amazing excitement in me burning for a few days.

[ThePerm]

Armature's Mission Statement according to Linkedin

"Armature Studio is located in Austin, TX and was founded by industry veterans in engineering, art, and design.

We aim to maintain the creative flexibility of an independent studio while partnering with publishers to create compelling, high quality games."

http://www.linkedin.com/companies/974502/Armature+Studio?trk=pro_other_cmpy

the question is what did Retro do before Metroid Prime? That depends on Who you mean...Retro is composed of veterans, but the staff has never been totally solid.

as much as i love Nintendo franchises, even Zelda which I love deeply...even Zelda according to scathing Twilight Princess reviews gets old. Although, i didn't find it that bad.

[TJ Spyke]

It's always possible they still want to work with Nintendo but be independent. Sakurai left Nintendo a few years ago but has continued to work on games just for them.

[ThePerm]

yeah, but their goal being maintaining creative flexibility seems to indicate that they couldn't previously.

[BlackNMild2k1]

remember that when Retro started they had about 6 or so project that got shelved so that they could focus on MP/2/3/Trilogy.

I don't think they ever got to revisit those IP's and I'm not sure Nintendo is too interested in most of them if any of them at all.

[ThePerm]

the people who worked on those projects are all gone since mp2, i don't think any of the current members would want to revisit those either. The best thing would be something similar in the scifi genre to Metroid, just not in the fictional universe. If its Donkey Kong it better be Donkey Kong Galaxy! Emphasis on Galaxy! Still, i was really hoping they would make a new franchise.

[BlackNMild2k1]

More like Kingdom Kong.

[Ian Sane]

Eh, I find this rather disappointing.  I'm tired of the same old ****.  I'm tired of every Nintendo game being Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid, Kirby, Donkey Kong, etc.  If it's something new it's total lameass stuff like Endless Ocean or the Wii Series.  It's either crap or sequel.  I do enjoy Nintendo's franchises and I'm sure I'll continue to but they're stale.  They're enjoyable but they need to be complimented by something new and unique.  I became a Nintendo fan because they didn't rest on their laurels.  Their constant reliance of franchises is un-Nintendo.

So after all this time I was really curious to see what Retro could do if they didn't have to cater to a franchise.  Nope, I guess I never get to find that out.  I don't even think Donkey Kong fits Retro that well.  I tend to associate Retro with more realistic visuals and presentation.  DK is cartoony and not very serious.  Now we've only seen Retro do Metroid so I guess we don't truly know if this fits them or doesn't.  Instinctively it feels like Nintendo just assigning them DK though.  Rare did show however that Donkey Kong and cutting edge graphics can co-exist.  So it isn't like Retro's graphic and artistic talents have to go to waste.

If they can restore Donkey Kong to the level of prestige he had during the Rare days then that's great and we'll get a great game.  But Nintendo is just so formulaic these days.  There won't be any real surprises at E3 because Nintendo doesn't make surprising games anymore (unless it's surprisingly bad like Wii Music).  They only make safe games.

[Rize]

If this is true, my abandonment of the Wii will be complete.