In case you haven't heard, the gaming world's abuzz with the news that six key ex-Rare developers have gathered to form 'Playtonic Games', and are working on what is being called a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie.



Quotes from the Playtonic website:

PlaytonicGames.com wrote:Playtonic is a new 'indie' studio formed entirely from veterans of the legendary game developer Rare Ltd.

PlaytonicGames.com wrote:Having helped create many hits, including the Donkey Kong Country & Banjo Kazooie series of games, we're now on a mission to bring you the video game stars of the future that are inspired by our past!

Sounds good to me.

Concept Art

If they can recapture the magic of Rare's heyday, this will indeed be a studio to watch!

Playtonic links:

• Website
• Facebook
• Twitter

...posted by Qyzbud

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Celebrate by looking through our newly-animated interactive DKC level maps!

...posted by Qyzbud

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>>> DKC Resource Editor v0.0.6.9 <<<
(Be sure to leave feedback if you have any bug reports or suggestions!)

DKCRE v0.0.6.9 has finally come to fruition, and you can now view sprites and edit start points, as well as many other updates and minor improvements.

The program has been internally updated and is several times faster, so you should have less issues running the program. You can start it multiple times, too.

Finally, extraction mode has been slightly expanded with a few extra options.

Not exactly a ground-breaking release, but better than nothing. Enjoy.

...posted by Simion32

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This hilarious music video features the vocal talents of brentalfloss and the animation wizardry of our very own 3D modelling guru, Chris Schlosser – AKA Cyclone! A must see/hear for all Donkey Kong Country/Nintendo fans.

Share your thoughts in the announcement topic on our forum!

...posted by Qyzbud

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The game we've been waiting for has finally arrived!



So, was it worth all of the delays? You tell us! Grab yourself a copy and share your thoughts on our Tropical Freeze forum section!

...posted by Qyzbud

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Fans of the boastful old veteran Cranky Kong will be happy to hear that he has officially been announced as the fourth playable character in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

His signature maneuver is a pogo stick-like move that utilises his trusty cane to bounce across perilous terrain — and to higher ground.



He looks like a lot of fun to control, and certainly manages to strut his well-aged stuff! It'll be great to have his skills and experience on board for the adventure.

Word has it the game is set for a February 21 release date, so we can start the official countdown: [countdown=02/21/2014 9:00 AM]It's here! Let's play.[/countdown]..

Get excited!

...posted by Qyzbud

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The Nintendo/DKC gaming community is ablaze with rumours and speculation following the Amazon leak of an updated version of Tropical Freeze's box art.

In this slightly touched-up design, we see the three previously-announced playable Kongs joined by none other than Cranky Kong himself clinging to DK!



Now, an appearance by Cranky in some capacity was certainly expected, and his appearance on the box art wouldn't be surprising (or telling of a playable role) if it weren't for him grabbing hold of his successor in such a fashion — and, of course, if he had been part of the artwork all along... but everything about his sudden, DK-gripping inclusion here just screams "playable Kong".

So, unless we're all being played for suckers here, it seems the old ape will finally get his chance to show the young'uns how it ought to be done!

On a more sombre note, it looks like Team Kiddy will have to cross their fingers and remain patient for the long-awaited reappearance of the portly baby primate; who knows, maybe he'll get his time to shine in the next Donkey Kong Country outing...

...posted by Qyzbud

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We already knew that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was not going to be released in November — the traditional month for DKC game releases — but the approximately two-week "late" release plan has blown out to more than two months; according to those in the know, we'll have to wait until February to get our hands on the new game.



Nintendo CEO/president Satoru Iwata has stated that a little more time is needed for development of Tropical Freeze — perhaps they heard our cries for Kiddy to be the fourth Kong, and are in the process of getting the little big ape into the game? At any rate, although it's a tough pill to swallow, a well-polished game in February would be my choice over a slapdash December release any time — and with Retro's track record, I've got a feeling I'm not the only one who's happy to trust their judgement.

...posted by Qyzbud

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We finally have a date to put in our calendars; according to Nintendo World Report (and confirmed by many other sources), Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze has been given an official US release date of December 6.

Could this be the first DKC game to miss out on a November release? It's also going to be the first to feature HD graphics and 3+ playable Kongs (and is currently being priced $10USD cheaper than other Wii U titles), so perhaps an extra week or two of development time is forgivable.

Those who've yet to pick up a Wii U (such as myself) are in luck, too; Nintendo has just announced a $50USD price drop for the console coming next month... so if you've been holding out, it might be just about time to take the plunge.

Share your excitement (and other such feelings) in our forum's DKCTF discussion!

...posted by Qyzbud

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The banana-bringers at Retro Studios have done it again!

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is set around the theme of vikings, whom freeze over several islands (including DK Isle) in an attempt to take them over.

This time, we can expect a game with a much more dynamic camera that shows several angles of the action while you are playing - enabling much more diverse gameplay opportunities as well. Water levels appear to have returned from the depths, and Dixie Kong finally twirls into the Retro DKC lineup with her own moves.

It appears that David Wise is also making a return, and is composing music for the game!

Best of all, the game is set to be released this year!!

You can debate and discuss this exciting new installment in this forum thread.

...posted by Simion32

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A new YouTube-based VGM quartet called 'Tetrimino' has recently put together this wonderful rendition of DK Island Swing:



Thanks to forum-member The Winged Cap for bringing this new musical talent to our attention!

The Winged Cap wrote:Sup guys, since the site loves to post about OCRemix's work on the game soundtracks for the series, I thought these fellows deserved a chance to shine in the community.

They've been around since the beginning of the year and I'm just hoping to spread the word of their brilliance. I love what they've done with this classic DKC tune, personally. I think it deserves the attention of a front page post.

Obviously, I agree!

Find out more about Tetrimino, and listen to their other fine VG performances via YouTube, SoundCloud and Facebook.

Discuss Tetrimino, and this performance on our forum!

...posted by Qyzbud

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OverClocked ReMix's Aquatic Ambiance remix count just hit double digits* with artist Justin 'The Distortionist' Spaulding's debut — Submerged in Ambiance.



An unusually 'metal' take on the popular theme, this latest tribute to David Wise's underwater classic starts with a very familiar, mellow electronic intro before exploring a much heavier (yet impressively cohesive) sound.

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02633/

*Depending on whether you count 'Spanish Jitters' — a DKC3 'Double the Trouble!' album remix of Jungle Jitter with essence of Aquatic Ambiance

...posted by Qyzbud

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The game that broke the DKC series' 14-year release drought* has just been announced as an upcoming port for the 3DS...



It's not yet clear whether this portable version will feature new content, but from the release trailer, it appears that the DKCR adventure we know and love is faithfully intact.

Are you excited to soon have this awesome game in your pocket?
Are you disappointed that it's just a port, rather than a new adventure?
Share your thoughts about this release in our DKCR 3DS forum topic!

*if you don't count all those wacky DK games with 'Country' absent from the title!

...posted by Qyzbud

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There's been some chatter on the forum lately about a Diddy Kong Pilot alpha build that's been changing hands, and today we have some wonderful news; the benevolent webmaster of RetroGamesUK has decided to release his $400 purchase to the public for free!

If you've been jonesing to get your hands on a copy of this cancelled GBA game, now's your chance:

Diddy Kong Pilot Alpha 2001 ROM Release

Thanks to Mike from Nintendo Player for keeping us informed.

...posted by Qyzbud

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There's been a lot of chatter on our forum and on a certain blog about a fan-game project allowing all four Kongs from our beloved SNES trilogy to join forces... and now we have an extended playable demo to enjoy! A smaller, one-level demo was released a few weeks back, but this time around there is a more polished physics engine, joystick support, and of course more levels to explore!

Visit the project blog, Download the demo, Share your thoughts!

...posted by Qyzbud

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Fans of the DKC3 soundtracks (both SNES and GBA); your ship has come in!



As of now, Donkey Kong Country 3: Double the Trouble! is available for download at OverClocked ReMix!

This latest ReMix album is the biggest OCR release ever, with 77 tracks spanning a whopping 5 discs... all up, that's well over five hours of resplendently re-envisioned ReMixes!

From what I've heard so far (discs 1 and 2 - the SNES ReMixes), there is a beautiful balance of new ideas, diverse styles, and strong reference to the source tunes -- everything a lover of DKC3 could hope for! The tracks transition seamlessly from one to the next, and the atmosphere of the album is simply stunning... you'll have to hear it to believe it!

Project director Wes 'Emunator' McDonald wrote:Words can't properly capture the scope of this album and the efforts of the artists that made it happen, so I'll let the music speak for itself. To every artist who contributed to the project, I'm so proud of what you've created. Thank you for helping make this the biggest and (hopefully) the best OC ReMix project to date!

Emunator's right; nothing can be said to do justice to this amazing release... DOWNLOAD it now, and listen for yourself to discover what makes Double the Trouble! OC ReMix's biggest and (almost definitely) best project to date. You will not be disappointed.

Official Project Site
OC ReMix Release Announcement
Project Thread (OC ReMix Forum)
Project Topic (DKC Atlas Forum)

...posted by Qyzbud

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A recent post on our forum by the project's co-director Cody has revealed that OverClocked ReMix's latest album is confirmed for a December 3 release date... which I must say feels like it could be any moment now, given that it's already the 3rd in my timezone...

Comprising a total of 77 tracks, and well over five hours of music, Double the Trouble! would be big news even if it weren't for performances by legendary Donkey Kong Country composers David Wise and Robin Beanland!

For those of you positively erupting with excitement and anticipation, why not pass the time by checking out the VGMdb album page for a full track listing, and some words of wisdom (and positively primal passion!) from the devoted trio who helped coordinate and produce this epic 5-disc tribute to Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!

November 21 audiovisual trailer:


This is gonna be BIG!

...posted by Qyzbud

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Two very talented DKC Atlas Forum members are working on their own separate Donkey Kong Country 3D modelling and animation projects, and the renders have been very impressive so far!

Cosmicman sculpts and textures his models with ZBrush, and uses Cinema 4D for more advanced tasks like adding hair/fur and rigging/animating models. So far, Cosmic is focussing his efforts on recreating lesser-known characters such as Hogwash the flying pig and Pucka the fish (both from Donkey Kong Land), as well as beta characters that never made it into the games they were designed for, such as Ram Bunkshus (also DKL) and DKC2's sinister and mysterious 'Mr. X'! Cosmic's latest and greatest DKC modelling project is a rigged and animated model of Kiddy Kong, which is looking superb.

View this project on our forum!

DK's House by Cyclone

Cyclone is a professional 3D artist who works with 3D Studio Max and Photoshop CS3. He's currently focussing on the original DKC, and is working with structures (such as DK's treehouse) and foliage (palm trees, ferns, etc.) as well as characters like Gnawty and Slippa. As you can see, Cyclone's texturing and colour choices are beautiful, and very true to Rare's original art style... in fact, if I didn't know better, I'd swear he was either Steve Mayles or Kevin Bayliss posting original DKC artwork under a pseudonym!

View this project on our forum!

Both collections are of excellent quality, and are progressing nicely; I highly recommend you check them out!

...posted by Qyzbud

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Another tribute to David Wise's beautiful underwater theme 'Aquatic Ambiance' (with a nod to 'Life in the Mines') has arrived on OC ReMix. 'Where's the Ocean, Andrew' is a stirring and powerful guitar/violin duet (with bass/drum/synth backing) by OC's official live band, OverClocked University.

After a mellow, dreamy intro (just the way Aquatic Ambiance fans like it!) of synth pads, space guitar and serene piano, the lead guitar and violin quickly establish the tone of this piece. Here's what arranger/guitarist Stevo Bortz (Level 99) has to say:

Stevo wrote:I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan, as I've admitted to on many occasions. They're the primary influence for the style of this track, though it is also influenced by a number of post-rock and alt-rock folks. This is the second arrangement I've made for OverClocked University, and it's by far one of the strongest, I feel. Some amazing interplay between the lead guitar (Andrew) and violin (Amy), harmonizing at times and at others going off in different directions. The bridge is from 'Life in the Mines' from DKC, a nice change from the mellow Aquatic Ambiance that makes up the rest of the song. Deia does a great job holding things steady on the bass, and I hold the rhythmic fort down by playing the guitar arps through most of the song.

As Stevo mentioned, Donkey Kong Country music aficionados will recognise the melody from Life in the Mines at 2:35, which adds a nice touch to this live arrangement.

Check out the OCR write-up (with download links) and preview 'Where's the Ocean, Andrew' via the link and embedded YouTube clip below:

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02524/

...posted by Qyzbud

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Game Boy hacking guru Blaziken257 has released his latest project; an English translation of the (until now Japanese-only) GBC version of Donkey Kong Land III.

Blaziken257 wrote:This hack uses the Japanese version as a base, but the text is heavily based off the original English script, so if you've played the original English version, it should be familiar to you. I fixed some typos (namely the misspelling of "Kremlings", and the lack of punctuation in K. Rool's Last Stand, among other things) and tweaked a few other things, like changing "Select game" to "Select a file". I also used the DKC SNES font instead of the original DKL2/3 font -- I thought it looked much better, and it also has uppercase and lowercase. Yes, there's actually lowercase this time. I didn't like seeing it in ALL CAPS before.

Read all about it, check out some screenshots, download the patch and post your thoughts in the announcement topic:

Donkey Kong Land III - GBC version in English

Update: a preview video is now available!

...posted by Qyzbud

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