Following the special preorder bonus, the demo for Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts has made its way to Xbox Live. The demo is sized at 1.07 GB and allows you to explore vehicle building and "Jiggy" challenges.

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is set for release on November 11.

• U.K.: Amazon, Play.com, Game, and Gamestation
• U.S.: Amazon, EBGames, GameStop, and GameCrazy
• FRANCE: Micromania and Game
• SPAIN: Game
• ITALY: GameStop
• SCANDINAVIA: Game and GameStop

• AWAY Shuffle Dungeon
• Babysitting Mania
• Cooking Mama World Kitchen
• Major Minor's Majestic March
• Marker Man Adventures
• Our House
• Wonder World Amusement Park
• Zoo Hospital

Previously known as Banjo Kazooie 3, Microsoft has officially announced that Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts for the Xbox 360 is set for a November release. The game is a radical departure from the series' platforming roots as the gameplay ventures into vehicle building and customization modes.

Hit the jump to view more images.

According to CVG, Banjo Kazooie 3 is rumored to be scheduled for a 2008 release following an earlier discussion between Microsoft Game Studios head, Shane Kim and MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo at this year's DICE summit.

Quoth directly from the news story, a Microsoft spokesperson issued this comment:

"As announced at E3 last year, the next installment in the popular Banjo franchise is still on target for 2008."

Those that wish to read the full interview can do so here.

Microsoft's annual European show, X06, has shed significant light on the company's plans for major software franchises -- revealing new information about Halo, as well as planned exclusivity for upcoming next-gen titles BioShock, Ubisoft's next Splinter Cell, and others.The two-day show began yesterday in Barcelona, Spain, and leading the pack among other prominent announcements were a pair of four-letter words: Halo Wars -- a real-time strategy title based in the Halo franchise currently in development by both Ensemble Studios (creators of the Age of Empires series) and Bungie for the Xbox 360, set prior to the original Halo: Combat Evolved. A release date was not disclosed for Halo Wars, but Microsoft confirmed that the title is in a playable form.

The game's official website answers the question of how a Halo RTS came into being by saying: "Warthogs are cool. Scorpions are cool. Controlling lots of Warthogs and Scorpions and sending them into battle is really, really cool. We've been big fans of Halo for years at Ensemble Studios, and when we sat down to discuss our next project we thought Halo would be absolutely perfect as an RTS on the Xbox 360." A statement on Bungie's website endorsed the company's choice of Ensemble as the best fit for creating Halo Wars.

"The folks at Ensemble are the only team we trusted to make a Halo RTS and from what we've already seen (and played), it's going to be awesome. And yes, the controls do work great on a 360 pad.

Bungie has been working with Ensemble primarily in the area of the game's fiction to help inspire the story and ensure continuity with the existing Halo Universe. Aside from that, Ensemble is applying their skills to deliver a great Halo experience in a whole new genre, which is ironically where Halo began in the first place. If you've seen some of the very early Halo videos out there, you might recall that before it ever became an FPS, it was in fact designed as an RTS (building off of Bungie's experience with the Myth franchise). Now, many years later, Ensemble is able to take the franchise full circle and bring it back to the place where it all began.

Ensemble brought their prototype to Bungie quite a while back, to show the guys that an RTS could not only work on the 360, but kick ass too. Frankly, Ensemble is one of very few folks on Earth that we would trust with our baby, and that trust is doubled thanks to the excellence of the Age of Empires franchise."

Another additional, but untitled Halo project was also made public at the event, though we only know that the game is being developed by Peter Jackson's Wingnut Interactive and is slated to be the "next chapter" in the series.Jackson, who made his intentions to partner with Microsoft Game Studios transparent, said this when asked about his teaming with the company: "From a movie-maker's point of view, it is clear to me that the Xbox 360 platform is the stage where storytellers can work their craft in the same way they do today with movies and books but taking it further with interactivity." Jackson last collaborated with Microsoft when his game based on the movie, Peter Jackson's King Kong, was a launch title on the Xbox 360, and released on other major platforms as well.Aside from Halo, Microsoft spilled the beans on exclusive content en route to its console, including two Xbox 360-specific episodes for the next Grand Theft Auto game that will be available online near its release in fall 2007. Likewise, the next game to follow in Ubisoft's Splinter Cell series, titled "Conviction" is now a Microsoft exclusive (it will appear on the PC as well), along with Irrational Games' Bioshock, the successor to System Shock, which was originally also being developed for the PlayStation 3. Rare, a MGS-subsidiary, is also currently developing Banjo-Kazooie 3 for the console.With Sony boasting at the Tokyo Game Show last weekend that its low-end model of the PlayStation 3 will now come equipped with HDMI, the head of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment division, Peter Moore, countered, stating that 160 high-definition, 1080p-supported titles will be available on the Xbox 360 by Christmas. Moore also underlined that along with the console's HD-DVD attachment being priced at $199, at least 50 films on the format will be in stores by the end of the year.Expect more news on Halo Wars and other Xbox 360-exclusive content to become available as the holidays draw near. You can also check out five promotional images released for Halo Wars below.

]]> Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:28:00 -0500 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/zoo_tycoon_2_african_adventure_goes_gold http://www.gamebump.com/go/zoo_tycoon_2_african_adventure_goes_gold http://www.gamebump.com/go/zoo_tycoon_2_african_adventure_goes_gold# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

We just received word from Microsoft Game Studios that Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure has gone gold for the PC and is expected to be in stores May 16. This new expansion includes 20 new African animals from eight different biomes, ranging from the striped hyena roaming the desert landscape to the wildebeest roving the savannah.

]]> Wed, 03 May 2006 18:16:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/_zoo_tycoon_2_expansion_goes_gold http://www.gamebump.com/go/_zoo_tycoon_2_expansion_goes_gold http://www.gamebump.com/go/_zoo_tycoon_2_expansion_goes_gold# Gaming Horizon will have a full review soon.

Last year I reviewed Gaming Horizon’s copy of Zoo Tycoon 2, which was developer Blue Fang Games’ attempt to add something worthwhile to the burgeoning tycoon genre. In short, it wasn’t impressive (you can see the review here) due to an all-around lack of excitement. About a year later, we have upon us the game’s first expansion pack. Entitled Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species, you can bet it adds a few new animals to the mix. Unfortunately the other additions aren’t substantial enough to change the final verdict by much.

I wasn’t excited about reinstalling Zoo Tycoon 2 just so I could review an expansion pack for it, but to be fair, Zoo Tycoon 2 wasn’t as painful to play as I seem to remember from the first time around (it still isn’t good though). I can at least understand how some eight-year-old child might enjoy it for a few days. At its best, Zoo Tycoon 2 is a simplified management sim. It’s incredibly simple to run a successful zoo, and that’s something that hasn’t changed with Endangered Species. In order to make money, you simply build a fence, place an animal within the confines, and add or modify anything the zookeeper suggests (climate, food, water, shelter, and play toys). Then place an educator outside the fence and a donation box and play the waiting game.

There are around twenty new animals to care for (some more exciting than others). The list includes the Galapagos Tortoise, Orangutan, Javan Rhino, Crested Gibbon, Spanish Lynx, and Komodo Dragon. In addition to the species, there are plenty of new structures, attractions, and the like including fountains, statues, and other displays. In terms of the amount of new items/animals, Endangered Species is worthy of the title “expansion pack.”

There are also some more practical options available to your zoo, which can increase guests’ dispositions (therefore increasing donations). You can now build small bridges to cross small creeks in the park, or to serve as a walkway over an exhibit of, say, alligators. Also available are jeep tours for your guests to zip around the park with a guide, or - even better – sky trams which carry guests above and across the park, giving them an aerial view of the exhibits. These sky trams are one of the only ways guests can enjoy the new conservation areas that you cannot modify.

All said, there are about nine new campaign missions, which feature the new changes, and 11 new challenges. Once again, however, the best way to play the game is in the freeform mode, especially if you want to see everything the expansion pack has to offer.

In the end, everything the expansion pack has to offer somehow still isn’t enough. In terms of quantity, yes, there are plenty of new things to see. The problem is that none of them really change the game enough. A new animal is still handled just like any other animal in Zoo Tycoon 2. Build it a cage, give it a water bowl and food, give it shelter and a toy, and then forget about it for the rest of the game. You can throw all the endangered species you want into the formula – the result doesn’t change.

The same goes for the new buildings and shops. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Some different aesthetics don’t change the way the game feels in the slightest. And don’t even get me started on how the website boasts, “guests with snappy new clothes.” Raise your hand if you’re impressed.

In pure presentation aspect, the expansion fails to make any kind of real advance. New outfits on the guests don’t make the game any prettier (or uglier, thankfully). The same blocky, under-detailed graphics I moaned about in the original are untouched here, as are the sound effects that make it difficult to distinguish the guests from the rest of the animals.

Worst of all, even on a computer that has no trouble running F.E.A.R. and Age of Empires III, ZT2:ES seems to choke and stutter. When a game isn’t that much fun to play in the first place, making players wait 2 – 4 seconds each time they try to make a menu selection to build a fence or hot dog stand is the final nail in the coffin.

Zoo Tycoon 2: Endangered Species is exactly what you’ll find in the box. It’s a CD that adds about 20 endangered animals to your existing game of Zoo Tycoon 2, and that’s about it. Don’t expect the game to be changed from its former state, because although you can build new food stands and put an orangutan behind a fence, the gameplay doesn’t change. Although…you know that photograph mode that I hated in the original game? Now you can take pictures from a sky tram! Sweet!

An extremely infantile challenge level, but it does work for children.

Untouched from their previous hideousness. And now it�s a year later.

Was that an ape grunting or a child screaming? I can�t tell.

It actually held my attention for longer than I can explain. No idea why.

Well, new animals and some new challenges/levels lengthen it a little.

]]> Mon, 09 Jan 2006 16:07:00 -0600 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_zooo_game_boy_advance http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_zooo_game_boy_advance http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_zooo_game_boy_advance# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Zooo is Ignition Entertainment’s “action puzzle game” for the GameBoy Advance. It’s relatively simple, very familiar, has a light atmosphere, can be conveniently played while on-the-go (and we all know how that’s often not the case with most portable titles), and is clearly addictive. It does not, however, revolutionize the genre. If you’re looking for a very basic, yet colorful, puzzle game, read on.



Zooo is an extremely simple puzzler; gamers are presented with a screen of tiny, brightly colored animal icons and tasked with arranging them to line up three or more of the same type within the time limit to earn points and beat the game’s top score. If you’ve played Bejeweled or any of its variants, then Zooo’s gameplay aspects will prove instantly familiar, however Zooo differentiates itself from its puzzle brethren by featuring different, yet equally as straightforward, modes, the primary of which is “normal”.

In normal gamers go through multiple levels catching as many animals as possible and earning points. As the levels continue, the difficulty significantly rises, meaning that around the seventh or eighth level you’ll run into serious trouble due to the quickening of the time bar – when time nearly runs out all the icons on-screen shake, making it even harder to locate a matching set. If the time bar depletes before you’ve caught a specific number of animals, you get a game over screen and a shot at using up one of your three continues, and once you’re out of continues, it’s time to start over.

Zooo also features an eight-level quest mode where the player attempts to complete eight challenges; a time attack mode where you score as many points as possible within a six-minute time limit; a score attack mode where you race to get 200,000 points; and finally, “tokoton”, where the gamer tries to capture as many animals as she can (100 of the same type produces a level-up). In the majority of these modes, including normal, you can select a difficulty level from the options screen (easy, normal, hard), adjust the cute sound effects and catchy BGM, glance at your current animal-type tally on the right of the screen, and shoot for the current “lucky” animal, which when matched in a set produces double the points.

Gameplay aside, the root of Zooo’s features is its ability to addict. It’s cute, quick, and a great alternative when you want to just plot yourself somewhere for a few minutes and enjoy some puzzle action without waiting on cutscenes, gameplay tutorials, a full options/profile list, and all the other nuances that take time away from the actual game.



There isn’t anything particularly lacking, not surprising as it’s billed as a simple puzzle game. You get animal icons and fluffy music – no 3D splendor (animal accents on the left aside), plot, or character depth here. If you’re looking for a revolutionary puzzle game, Zooo is definitely not it and offers absolutely nothing new or semi-intriguing. It’s fun to play when you’ve got an extra five minutes, and that’s it.



If you’re looking for something extraordinarily simplistic, colorful, and dare I even say groovy, and you’re short a Nintendo DS or Sony PSP, Zooo for the GameBoy Advance is a good alternative and comes especially recommended for the younger puzzle fans among you. If you’re craving more intense puzzle play, though, look elsewhere, because as addictive as Zooo is after the first five minutes you’re just replaying what you’ve already seen and done before.

Very basic and simple, and addictive if you’re into puzzlers. Nothing new, though.

Tiny colored icons and 3D accent animals are as good as it gets.

I enjoyed the varied BGMs, but even adjusted sound effects were too light.

I actually caught myself starting up Zooo last night instead of an MMORPG.

It’s a tad catchy and fun to play, even if you have seen it before.

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