Good news for fans of the N64 originals - a top Microsoft exec has told Eurogamer that the original team responsible for Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie is working on the new 360 instalment announced at last week's X06.

Rare's platforming double act took the Nintendo console by storm in the '90s. And while the series' return has been anticipated for some time, Microsoft Game Studios general manager Phil Spencer wanted to reassure gamers that Banjo's 360 debut is very much in the right hands.

He revealed: "Team sizes are so different now and we have more animators now than the full Banjo 1 team, but the key core team is really the same."

Spencer was also keen to play down suggestions that Banjo-Kazooie 360 is being created for younger gamers, insisting: "Certain people look at the bear and the bird and think it's a kids' game. What we think is that Banjo as an intellectual property has the ability to span audiences.

"For us in the next Banjo game it was about evolving the gameplay while keeping the approachability of the characters, but the depth of the gameplay is very important. This can't turn into some minigame-based paper game. It has to be something that has a ton of substance."

Given the Fort Knox-style levels of secrecy at the Twycross-based developer, specifics are predictably thin on the ground at this stage, but Spencer had a few more vague snippets for us.

"I think where we are with that game right now is something that is extremely innovative," he continued. "We're not talking about the game idea yet, but what you'll see coming from Banjo is a game that has even more depth than Banjo-Kazooie or Banjo-Tooie, more variability, more gameplay - but keeps the face that is Banjo on the game to make it more approachable.

"It'll be familiar to fans of the originals in terms of style, absolutely, and in terms of setting, story and characters. In terms of it being another platformer? I think that genres evolve, and that's what we're doing with this game. So you might call it something else when it comes out - but it's the same team and it's staying true to that team and what it believes in."

It's worth noting that this will also be $375 million Microsoft studio Rare's first 360 game that actually originated on the platform. Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero were first GameCube then Xbox 1 games, while Viva Pinata started out on Xbox 1 and came to 360 via mobile devices.

"Banjo has never seen another platform," Spencer confirmed. "The original gameplay ideas were on this box [Xbox 360] and that's where they'll ship." But it looks like we'll have a bit of a wait on our hands before we learn exactly what these "original gameplay ideas" are, sadly.

Spencer added: "There's some very good gameplay in the game, but we want to show it in a way that creates the excitement that it should. We're probably a little ways away - not too far - but a little ways away from showing it in all its glory. But the gameplay is already solid." ...

Square Enix has announced that it's currently working on a new Itadaki Street game for the Nintendo DS.

For those who aren't familiar, Itadaki Street is a board game-based series that's big in Japan. It revolves around opening up shops and charging other players rent when they occupy your areas on the board.

Back in February, you may recall, Squenix revealed that a PSP version is on the way, and that it'll star playable characters from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.

Itadaki Street DS will also feature DQ characters, but the game's true star will be our old friend Mario. He'll be joined by a host of other familiar faces from the Super Mario Bros. series, including Slime.

Little else is known about the game so far, other than the fact you'll be able to play online via Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connect service.

There's no telling whether the Itadaki Street DS will make it to Europe - but with Mario's big fat face making an appearance, you never know...

Via Eurogamer ...

UK games magazine PSM3 is claiming that Zone of the Enders 3 will be released on PlayStation 3 in 2007.

Judging by the copy, a full announcement from Konami and Hideo Kojima is due next month, but beyond that all that's known is that "Kojima Studios" (presumably they mean Kojima Productions) is behind it.

We got in touch with Konami UK this morning to ask if they could confirm the game's existence, but we were told no, they cannot. Which is a bit of a shame, isn't it. We'll let you know when they inevitably do confirm it.

As for those of you who have no idea what we're blathering on about - Zone of the Enders, or ZOE, is a mech action game which ran for two instalments on PlayStation 2, and was arguably more convoluted and waffly, plot-wise, than even Metal Gear Solid has managed. Its return could herald the first game ever to fill a Blu-ray disc. With plain-text. ...

Some of the comments below indicate that the details of Zune sharing aren't completely clear. Let me walk through the Zune does and Zune doesn'ts...

Zunes have wireless built in. Zunes can thus set up "ad-hoc" (Zune to Zune) connections to one another. This enables the following scenarios:

You can search for nearby Zune owners to interact with.
You can send them a song, album, etc... for a 3-day/3-play trial listen. Songs come over with metadata and album art (neat). After the 3 days or 3 plays are up, the song gets deleted from the Zune on the next sync, but the info on the song stays in a "journal" on your PC for later purchase or acquisition.
You can send them photos for unlimited viewing (and these can sync back onto the recipient's PC).
The wireless happens to be wifi (802.11 b/g) but Zunes will not (at launch) connect to the internet via your home base station network. Zunes can not download songs over the air from the internet service. Zunes cannot act as telephones or personal teleporters.

Caution: Zune may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds. Zune Contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at. Do not use Zune on concrete. Discontinue use of Zune if any of the following occurs: Itching, Vertigo, Dizziness, Tingling in extremities, Loss of balance or coordination, Slurred speech, Temporary blindness, Profuse sweating, or Heart palpitations. ...

News from Divineo China


- All miniSD cards are bundled with an SD adaptor
- Built-in security features enable users to download, store and play secure content
- Capacities ranging from 128MB to 2GB ...

Here are the first screenshots of the Wii's innovative Channel's with English text. The new shots show the Message Boards, Virtual Console and Mii Channels in action, with the crazy squiggles of previous shots replaced with text us normal folk can understand.

According to sources at Nintendo, the Wii Channels are still in development and so these shots aren't final, but it's all looking pretty good to us. One thing though- it looks like every retro game you download from the Virtual Console will get its own Channel thumbnail, with one shot showing five retro games each on different thumbnails.

Could be messy business if, like us, you plan on grabbing a fair few titles. We're hoping users will have the option to assign these games to thumbnails from a more compact list of downloaded titles.

Screens Via Comments ...

2K Games has released the latest trailer of Irrational Games'chilling shooter Bioshock, and it's well worth a watch if you're either a fan of System Shock or simply love having the pants scared off you.

The video was originally shown at last week's X06 show in Barcelona, where - when we weren't ogling at the lovely Assassin's Creed producer (who is a female, by the way) - we were impressed by its spooky atmosphere and pretty water effects. To see the first-person diver-scuffling for yourself, click on over to our video player on the right.

Bioshock - all going well - will be out on Xbox 360 and PC in 2007. ...

After backpacking across the office, we've finally managed to get the CVG capture machine back in operation, and what better way to celebrate than with some fresh 360 screens of Double Agent?

The screenshots show off the first mission in the game which sends you trekking to snowy Iceland where some Middle Eastern-types are prepping a gigantic missile for lift-off - and naturally Fisher has to stop it.

For more info on Sam Fisher's latest, you can checkout our preview right here.

Splinter Cell: Double Agent sneaks into the shops on October 27th.

Screens Here ...

News Via CVG

The Golden Joysticks are the awards where you select who wins. Not people in suits who don't know their FPSs from their MMOs.

Voting is tight in many of the awards categories but it's gone mental in the Ultimate Game of the Year slot. We can't tell you which one, but there's one game leading the way. You'll be surprised at what it is though.

The only way to even things up is to cast your vote. So head over to the Golden Joysticks website and shout for your fav.

The Golden Joystick Awards will be held on October 27 at the London Hilton Hotel and they'll be streamed LIVE right here on CVG. ...