Rare: "people are always afraid of change"

Banjo-Kazooie creator Gregg Mayles believes the platform-adventure genre "needed shaking up", and that Nuts & Bolts is the game to do it.

Speaking in a live chat with selected guests, Mayles said he hadn't seen "anything" quite like his latest creation, which he believes will make old Banjo games "look limited and very outdated".

"What I believe [Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts] to be is an evolution of the platform adventure genre. The genre is too stale, it needed shaking up, so we are trying something different, but within the framework of a 'traditional' Banjo game," said Mayles.

"I know it is going to be tough for people to accept the vehicles, especially the old fans, but I believe they make the old games look limited and very outdated. People are always afraid of change. But change for the better is great, which is what I believe this game to be."

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was unveiled at the Microsoft showcase event in San Francisco earlier this week. Its headline feature is the ability to collect parts and dynamically build "daft" vehicles with them.

Most of the parts will be hidden around the world, but some can be bought or won, we're told. When you have them you go to Mumbo's Motors and add them to your parts store. This garage can be accessed anywhere at any time, apart from when you are in a challenge.

You can also use the parts more than once. So after you save one creation, you can use the same pieces to try something new. Mayles said the biggest vehicle he built was 19 blocks high, wide, and deep, which is 6859 blocks in total.

Overall, there will be 100 different types of block to collect with numerous variations of each; "so about 1600 in total," explained Mayles.

"You can make pretty much anything. I made a ball that rolled around a level. A giant robot man-thing that fell over! A pogo stick, a spider," he added.

Mayles went on to reveal that 80 percent of your time will be spent in vehicles, although you will need to get in and out to do small tasks fairly regularly. This may sound restricting, he added, but using Blue Egg missiles or lasers is much more satisfying than bonking an enemy with your wrench.

Unsurprisingly then, multiplayer will be largely focused on the vehicles, and Mayles assured us that Rare will be going to town its online menu of delights.

"Yes there is offline stuff. Yes, [the modes] are all vehicle-related. Yes, there is co-op in multiplayer," said Mayles. "We have spent a lot of time on the multiplayer. One designer and several engineers have been on it full-time. It should be good!"

"[There will be] races I'm sure you can imagine, but we have plenty of unique multiplayer stuff: Vehicle football, vehicle golf..."

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is due out later this year, and is said to be one of the first titles Rare has developed from the outset for Xbox 360.

However, Mayles revealed that Nuts & Bolts was actually the third attempt at a Banjo-Kazooie 3; highlighting the importance of innovation.

"This is actually the third Banjo 3," revealed Mayles. "We scrapped two other approaches [because we] didn't think they offered a big enough step forward. I bet you didn't expect that!

"What you have seen so far only scratches the surface of what is possible. You'll have hours fo fun just making things - I'm sure of it! Banjo games were never really strong on replayability, whereas this one sure is."

Pop over to our Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts gallery for the very first screenshots.