Interview | Playtonic’s Mark Stevenson on Project Ukulele & Rare Days

Amazing interview,probably the most interesting interview I've ever read

thank you for the kind words very interesting guy and talented team. Here's hoping we see Project Ukulele on Wii U!

My only real experiences of Rare are the Donkey Kong, Star Fox and Killer Instinct games. Never really got the change to play Banjo or Kameo.

Can't wait to see how this turns out. Great interview.

Thank you for the kind words definitely check out banjo, its a incredible game and has aged amazingly. In fact i will stick my neck out and say that it is a better game than Mario 64!

I played Mario 64 after Sunshine and I didn't really think much of it on both the DS and Wii Virtual Console. Will download the Banjo trial on 360 and see what it's like.

I can't wait to see what they come up with! I still have pristine boxed copies of Banjo one and two as well as jet force and an unboxed dk 64. I love old rare games hopefully that talent and feeling will come through in project ukulele

If this will be anything like the Rare of the times long lost so will this basically be the rebirth of the gaming industry as a whole...

...Well, maybe overreacted a little bit, but you get my point. XD It's gonna be HUGE!

Thanks for asking about the 3DS version!

Cubed3: Finally, which games on the Wii U are you most looking forward to this year?
Mark: It was Zelda, although recent news suggests this has been pushed to 2016 now! If we just said 'What upcoming games am I most looking forward to on Wii U' then It would definitely be Zelda and Project Ukulele, of course *winks*

No problem! Hopefully it happens i would imagine it would have similar features to those on the wii u version, having the method of two screens in common. I hope it becomes a reality!

I think you're right Adam!!! i cannot wait for this. Now if Nintendo would just acquire playtonic...

Utterly fantastic interview, I'll be keeping a close eye on this.

And, imho, I always preferred Banjo to M64 and DKR to MK64.
Unquestionably Nintendos games are more "important" and laid the groundwork for others.
But in terms of fun, Rare's got me won over hands down.

To this day I still want another racing game with a adventure mode!

Diddy Kong Racing was incredible! i too preferred it to Mario kart and the music was awesome too

Link2thefuture83 said:
Now if Nintendo would just acquire playtonic...

On a totally different note, after just replaying DK64... and liking it but also being reminded of how frustrating a game it was, I seriously hope those guys won't make the same mistakes. Please. Not too many objects to collect that can only be picked up by one character, no bonus stages so frustrating they make you want to throw your controller, console and TV out the window... I managed to beat DK64 101% back on the N64 without having all the save states and stuff, but this time around, maybe because of the lack of slowdown on the VC in fact, which was present more on the N64, certain bonus stages were pretty much downright impossible for me. Or maybe I'm a worse player now than I was at the age of 20 or something , maybe age is what it is, but even back then, I did find it frustrating. So please, make it hard if you must but not frustratingly so.

Hi Rudy Nah I don't actually think Playtonic would want that either, for the reasons you stated. I was just referencing the old Nintendo/Rare days. I did love DK64, i think it had one of my favorite boss fights in a game, with King K Rool. classic! 

RudyC3 said:

Link2thefuture83 said:
Now if Nintendo would just acquire playtonic...

I don't think it's what Playtonic games would want though. They left Rare and made their own studio so they could make the games they want to make for the platforms they want to make them, I don't think they'd want to tie themselves to a company that would have a say on what they can create or not, or limit themselves to being tied to just one platform, I believe those guys had enough of being restrained.

Buying out teams/games for no reason than to get exclusive rights is shameful, imo. Should only happen if devs are on the brink of going out of business and need saving, or a game needs funds to actually get made (Bayonetta 2).

But I digress :p Great interview. Really interested to see how it turns out, but hope it's more Banjo 1 and less Banjo Tooie. Tooie got too frustrating and difficult.

Yes first off I agree great interview Sir. I am really loving all the old school 90s love. I was a full fledge gamer at that time before the wife and kids and life was different. I remember when DKC first came out it shocked me and my friends.....We had to have this title ......it seem like nintendo was pulling out all the stops to stay in the game againts the new consoles back then. Now adays so much has changed.....ive lost all my hair my kids are all teenagers and im middle adged....oh yes on the gaming front everything is 1000 gigs, HD, super expensive and very advanced. I really glad Nintendo still is around unlike some other companies like Atari THQ that did not make it......(heard Sega was having trouble I wish Nintendo would by them LOL) I wonder if RARE is next...... I do also feel they should stay independant as well that would allow them to truly make the games they want and not be tied down or dealyed in real creation. Yes Sir Link2thefuture83 I will be the the first to contribute to the kickstarter next month. I cannot wait for the title they are realeasing and all of the possible next tiles as well ( funny  think the should do a kick starter for each game lol.) Plus in the future i fell they should let nintendo borrow there ips.....we might be able to see there characters in a new Smash or Mario Kart like Sonic, Mega Man or Pacman....Keep A brotha in the know and we gon be alright  !!!!
Thanks again HOOLA !!

thanks man! i will definitely be on kickstarter day one. My wii u needs this game, which i would buy on the reputation of those involved in the development alone! I would also certainly trust the talented team at Playtonic to breath new life into some of Ninty's franchises. Its far too early to tell what will happen in the future, but i bet Nintendo is keeping a very close eye on things and one thing is for sure: Project Ukulele is only going to gather up more hype the closer it gets to a release date.