Rare confirms Banjo-Tooie XBLA price

By Robert Purchese Published 16 April, 2009

As hefty as Banjo-Kazooie.

Rare has told Eurogamer that Banjo-Tooie will cost 1200 Microsoft Points (GBP 10.20 / EUR 14.40) when it's released for Xbox Live Arcade on 29th April.

The date was confirmed yesterday but the price remained unknown. We expected the inflated price point, however, as previous retro-revamp Banjo-Kazooie cost the same.

But that trip down memory lane ended in tears, as camera and control issues sullied our rose-tinted view of a game simply not worth that much of today's money. That's not to say Banjo-Tooie will repeat the same errors, of course.

Head over to our Banjo-Kazooie review for a word of warning.

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About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (40) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • Xerx3s #1 3 years ago

    1200 points is a bit much for a game I already own. ¬_¬

  • spliffhead #2 3 years ago

    Still think your review was way off the mark guys!

  • chrisjm #3 3 years ago

    the only tears i wept were at how bad your review was, the game remained genius.

  • jonsaan #4 3 years ago

    1200 points is to be expected. No shock but still silly. EG, stop bashing BK, it's fantastic and your review was not.

  • andywilkie35 #5 3 years ago

    Never got this on the N64 so I'll be all over it like flies around shit

  • superfurry #6 3 years ago

    Far too much expensive, I'll save my cash.

  • Lexx87 #7 3 years ago

    Word of warning my arse, it was as good as ever.

  • Xerx3s #8 3 years ago

    "But that trip down memory lane ended in tears, as camera and control issues sullied our rose-tinted view of a game simply not worth that much of today's money."

    Not only did your review give the impression that you never even played the game, you strengthen that impression even more with this statement. One of the reasons I stopped valuing reviews.

  • Toothball #9 3 years ago

    I still don't think that 1200 points is that big a deal. A quick glance at eBay has N64 copies of this starting around £12 (including postage), and going for as much as £130. And then even if you paid for one of those you'd then have to wait for it to show up. £10 for a copy you can get hold of instantly and reliably isn't such a bad deal.

  • Monkey_Puncher #10 3 years ago

    Yeah, it's another game that's incredibly hard to find in it's original form unless you're willing to pay through the nose for it. It's well worth the 1200 points asking price for it. EG's opinons on Banjo Kazooie game are laughable at best to be honest, just like Edge did back in the day, they seem to have a hardon for slating them.

  • the_dudefather #11 3 years ago

    the only problem with te controls/camera was that you couldnt turn the camera left or right while crouching, which made you use your abilitie (lost a few golden feathers that way)

  • JayScott #12 3 years ago

    Yeah, the EG BK hate was surprising - the game stood up remarkably well imo. Here's hoping the somewhat inferior sequel can too.

  • BlueDot #13 3 years ago

    Man, I haven't even finish Banjo-Kazooie yet. I've got to make more gaming time, unfortunately when I turn my xbox on my son will want to play something else.

  • YoshiMcTaggis #14 3 years ago

    Do a double pack, Rare! 1600 points and I'm yours.

  • RedSparrows #15 3 years ago

    Given how rare this game can be, (harr), yes plx.

  • sneetch #16 3 years ago

    @JayScott
    Yeah, the EG BK hate was surprising - the game stood up remarkably well imo. Here's hoping the somewhat inferior sequel can too.

    Although I'm normally not one to criticise reviews as I believe people are entitled to their opinions but this did strike me as a bit harsh too.

    When BK: N&B came out I busted out my N64 and had no problems with camera or controls, unless the XBLAH version actually introduced problems with those (which I don't think it did) then it's an excellent game. The price is a bit steep and has put me off buying it on 360. I'd have snapped it up at 800 points just because it'd look less jagged and blurry than the N64 version does on my TV. When will they learn? 800 pts makes it an impulse buy, 1200 pts makes people think twice, I don't even think it's the actual money it's the "Hey, why is this more expensive than normal? Why should I have to pay more than I usually do?" factor.

    I loved this statement in the review: "As long as your reservoir of patience is well-stocked, there's a modicum of fun to be eked out by gradually collecting every damned item - but it's more likely the fun will be based on your association with the game's original release, and the blind nostalgia of reliving something you did through the eyes of innocent youth." So if we like it it's because we're just blindly nostalgic about our youth, not because we're enjoying a good game? Sheesh Kristan, why not just say: "oh yeah? Well, if you like BK it's probably because you're GHEY!!!1!1!!" ;)

    I'd hate to read his review of Zelda: TOOT. Muddy textures, basic geometry, dodgy camera. 5/10 ;)

  • sneetch #17 3 years ago

    @YoshiMcTaggis
    Do a double pack, Rare! 1600 points and I'm yours.

    Yeah, me too, think about it Rare, my lovely, lovely money, in your pockets, you know you want it!

  • ardamillo #18 3 years ago

    Well the original BK was the better game, but still Tooie is a lot of game for 1200 points. As long as they fix the framerate issues.

  • DAN.E.B #19 3 years ago

    B K is one of the best games on XBLA so i will be getting this on day one
    and ignoring EG,s bullshit reveiw obviously.

  • Dezm0nd #20 3 years ago

    An expected price and i'm well up for it, finally we get to witness Stop N Swop between the two titles, hopefully how they originally intended.

    It'll still dissapoint though, I remember spending many of my teenage days spent on RareWitch deciphering SnS leftover code, any reward will no way live up to the hype so many years ago. I wonder if Bottles Revenge will appear, finally.

    I only ever played B-T once, so a revisit is most welcome.
    Edited by 1 at 16/04/09 @ 11:43

  • beckyh #21 3 years ago

    I will buy it for sure.

  • Freelancepolice #22 3 years ago

    Thought the original review was well wide of the mark also. 200 pointed it and tremendously enjoyed doing so. Never had a problem with the camera at all, it was much more competent than a lot of more modern 3d platforming efforts.

  • Darren #23 3 years ago

    I have to agree with others that 1200 MP for Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie are terrific value considering how much gameplay is in both (25 hours+). That's better value than most XBLA games IMO. Of course, it's not if you aren't a fan of the games but if you aren't then you're not likely to be reading this, right?

    As for EG, I hate the way they keep constantly putting down Banjo-Kazooie as if they opinion on it is the only one that counts when their's was evidently the exception. This game has an average rating of 79% on Metacritic with, yes you guessed, EG's review being the lowest professional review by 20%! It does rather stand out on that basis. The review itself reads as if the reviewer was expecting it to be a remake with extensive improvements rather than a retro port with spruced up visuals and as such it sits at odds with their other retro reviews, where reviewers are far more lenient with a game's flaws because, well, they were "of their time". IMO, Banjo-Kazooie has dated rather well and remains just as playable, charming and brimming with personality now as it did back then. Oh and I had more issues with controlling the camera in Super Mario Galaxy than I did Banjo-Kazooie XBLA!!! ;)

    Personally I cannot wait to play Banjo-Tooie because it'll be a brand-new game for me. The only reason I haven't completed Banjo-Kazooie XBLA yet is because I got a new PC before Christmas so I've hardly been on the 360 since and because I completed the game twice on the N64. I still love it though. I still played the game for over 8 hours though, which for an XBLA game is a rarity (no pun intended). If Banjo-Kazooie is mediocre then, please, can we have more of this mediocrity please? :p

  • Toothball #24 3 years ago

    @sneetch:
    When will they learn? 800 pts makes it an impulse buy, 1200 pts makes people think twice, I don't even think it's the actual money it's the "Hey, why is this more expensive than normal? Why should I have to pay more than I usually do?" factor.

    The only problem is the perception. It's the same reason that places price things at 99p rather than £1 because it seems a bit cheaper. £20 is normally the price that gets me to the counter in a shop, so £10 should be a pretty decent range for an impulse buy. I guess it's a down side of obfuscating money. I still remember having to pay £60 for SNES games, so 1200 points isn't very much at all.

  • Paulie_P #25 3 years ago

    I loved Banjo Kazooie, the musical intro at the start, the rhyming witch and its humour was fantastic but gameplay wise it was not a patch on Super Mario 64.

    I hated Banjo Tooie, by that stage Rare had turned their platform games into massive collect-a-thons. Yeah the collecting was in BK too but BT and another Rare game Donkey Kong 64 really ripped the arse out of it.

  • Kyle #26 3 years ago

    The only problems I had with the original's XBLA release was that the frame rate seemed to suffer underwater and it didn't recognize me as having all jiggies and notes on the leaderboards. Apart from that it was a great conversion. The camera is to be expected considering when it was released, and it worked well enough back then.

    I never owned Tooie, so will definitely get this, especially as I managed to pick the last one up for free with a code.

  • bad09 #27 3 years ago

    Hmmm Sega knocked out Outrun for 800.....

    Guess I'll save my cash for their releases.

  • metallicorphan #28 3 years ago

    so 1200 points for a N64 game....and 1200 points for an xbox original game(GTA:SA,Fable,etc)

    MS needs to sort these prices out

  • sneetch #29 3 years ago

    @Toothball
    The only problem is the perception. It's the same reason that places price things at 99p rather than £1 because it seems a bit cheaper. £20 is normally the price that gets me to the counter in a shop, so £10 should be a pretty decent range for an impulse buy. I guess it's a down side of obfuscating money. I still remember having to pay £60 for SNES games, so 1200 points isn't very much at all.

    What we paid in the past is what we paid in the past, it is all perceived value but the fact remains that games on XBLA nearly always cost 800 points and when you're being charged 1200 points it increases the likelihood that you'll question the value especially when the game in question is 11 years old. It's not the £10 it's the fact that you're being "overcharged" for it. How many more copies would they sell if it was sold at 800 points? More than enough to make up the difference I suspect.

  • SimonM7 #30 3 years ago

    Yeah, that review was bollocks anyway. I'd never even played it before and got through the XBLA one just fine. Thought it was rather excellent too, although inherently less to my taste than the wonderfully creative N&B. But that's just cause I'm an adult child who never really wanted to stop playing with lego.

  • Toothball #31 3 years ago

    @sneetch:

    I can't really deny that 1200 points is more than 800 points. I just don't see it as such a disastrously bad deal. That's what, £3 extra? It's pretty easy to spend more than that on a pint in many places. I might be a little more concerned if a £40 game suddenly saw a 150% price increase, but for Arcade games it isn't that much extra at all.

  • Xerx3s #32 3 years ago

    "MS needs to sort these prices out "

    Well, 1200 points is a bit too much for my liking but considering the fact that they probably had to completely rewrite the game because it was originally developed for a completely different system while the XBLo games only get some mild massaging to work out most bugs, I'd say that the price of this is far more likely to be actual worth than the xblo games.

  • Calgon #33 3 years ago

    Yeah I found it weird that they picked on BK so much especially since they gave some Virtual Console games 10/10 that were fairly standard ports themselves.

  • sneetch #34 3 years ago

    @Toothball
    I can't really deny that 1200 points is more than 800 points. I just don't see it as such a disastrously bad deal. That's what, £3 extra? It's pretty easy to spend more than that on a pint in many places. I might be a little more concerned if a £40 game suddenly saw a 150% price increase, but for Arcade games it isn't that much extra at all.

    I think we may be stealthily agreeing with one another. :)

    My point is not that it's too expensive, my point is that the fact that it's more expensive makes people think twice. That is all, yeah, £3 or €4 won't be missed by most people but the 50% increase in cost (regardless of how insignificant that cost is) makes people more wary of it. But you're right, I know how little it is and it shouldn't, and normally doesn't, bother me. Dunno why it does in this case. Screw it, I'll get it when I get home.

    To paraphrase Stephen Fry: psychology, huh? Shit on it. ;)

  • bad09 #35 3 years ago

    TBH my problem with the hike, as Sneetch says isn't the actual price (christ it's only a tenner) it's the fact they just..did it. They went "right 1200 points please, we don't have to tell you why just buy it OK - no buts, OK"

    Smart consumers don't work that way regardless of cost, it's the principle more than the monetary value.

    Plus the fact I always have to pay more than the value of the actual game to buy off live hikes the increase even more. Real money FTW I'm afraid MS....
    Edited by 1 at 16/04/09 @ 18:28

  • convercide #36 3 years ago

    Yeah, the Banjo Kazooie XBLA review was way off the mark. EG will never admit it is wrong though. Look at the whole Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master Sytem Virtual Console debacle. They claim the Mega Drive and Master System versions of the game were exactly the same. WTF?

    EDIT: This will be a day one purchase for me. I finished it on N64 and am really looking forward to doing it again. :)
    Edited by 1 at 16/04/09 @ 19:12

  • AdamVGR #37 3 years ago

    WTF I didnt have any camera issues with BK. Infact, I completed it faster than ever before. 6 hours. Idiots

  • waggy79 #38 3 years ago

    Yup agree with bad09. I can afford 10 quid, thats not the issue. The issue is xbla games steadily increasing in value. Before i would buy a 2100 points card and make it go quite far, now i cant even get 2 games with it. 1200 for BK but just 400 more for Lost and Damned? It needs to be addressed.

  • spookyzombie #39 3 years ago

    I agree with sneetch and waggy79. I'm starting to feel ripped off with XBLA stuff. I'm wondering if I'd feel different if there were 2400 points in a £14.99 pack

  • dubdivision #40 3 years ago

    And I thought virtual console was a rip off.