Banjo-Kazooie returns, but not to Nintendo

At its E3 press conference, Microsoft announced that Rare's original Banjo platformer will be released this year for the Xbox Live Arcade. The game will feature slightly upgraded visuals and the long awaited "stop and swap" functionality originally promised at its release more than 10 years ago.

Many will remember that the first Banjo-Kazooie game promised to interact with Banjo-Tooie. That didn't pan out, but that feature will finally be realized on Xbox 360. By finding specific items in Banjo-Kazooie on Xbox Live Arcade, you will be able to unlock things in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts.

This comes as bad news for Virtual Console fans, the game that was originally released on the N64 will be available on Xbox LIVE. It's been reported that Nintendo's logos and cameos will all be kept intact, so it's not all doom and gloom for Nintendo.

Does this mean we'll see other Rare titles on Xbox LIVE rather than Virtual Console? Time will tell.

[source xboxlive.ign.com]