Microsoft Officially Announces Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Pinata Xbox 360 Sequels

Microsoft has officially announced the lineup of 2008 Xbox 360 titles it is due to showcase in its latest press event, including sequels to Rare's Viva Piñata and Banjo-Kazooie franchises, and Silicon Knight's Too Human. The May 13th event will feature the first videos of Gears of War 2 gameplay following its GDC 2008 announcement, and appearances by Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski, Lionhead’s Peter Molyneux, Tecmo and Team Ninja’s Tomonobu Itagaki and Silicon Knights’ Denis Dyack. The event will be the first unveiling of two of Rare's Xbox 360 titles, starting with Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. Microsoft says the game, due for a September release, will include new features not seen in the original, such as co-op and Xbox Live multiplayer gaming, and a new feature to introduce new species via the Xbox LIVE Vision Camera. The event will also feature Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, the first console version of the game since the Nintendo 64, which Microsoft says is "breaking the rules of traditional platformer games by putting the power to invent new abilities for Banjo directly into the players’ hands." Players will be able to build and customize their own vehicles to help Banjo complete missions, and will focus on exploration, discovering hidden secrets and solving puzzles to win rewards with "an unprecedented level of user-generated content and emergent play for a 3-D adventure game." The event will also feature a number of other previously announced 2008 titles, including Lionhead's Fable 2, Silicon Knights' online co-op playable action RPG Too Human, Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden II, and Xbox Live Arcade adventure Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One.