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Today is the day! Banjo-Tooie is now available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace - just follow this link to download it straight to your Xbox 360 console.
The time has come, Banjo fans, for a bit of show and tell. What does this entail, exactly? It means that we’re at last ready to show you the entries we selected as the best user-created contraptions for Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and tell you a little bit about how the fabled Stop ‘N’ Swop will work in Banjo-Tooie on XBLA, for those who haven’t already had the surprise spoiled for them by those scamps over at the Rare Witch Project.
Coming up with a shortlist for the custom contraption award was no easy task – after we’d sifted through several hundred entries, we then took each one into the game to see how it fared and how easy it was to use. There were plenty of contraptions that we thought were, like, totally awesome but couldn’t get to work as originally intended.
In the end we had about 20 absolutely stellar contraptions to choose from and whittling them down to just seven was a real challenge. After much discussion, the Banjo team reached a consensus and what you’ll see below is the result of many weeks of discussion, playtesting and some name-calling.
So, without further ado, let’s reveal (in alphabetical order) the community’s top seven custom contraption creators, along with the masterpieces they designed. We asked each of them to share their thoughts as well, so you’ll also get a small glimpse into their construction.
 
We loved this one because it really has a natural, organic feel to it. When you get a chance to play with it for yourself, you’ll be amazed at how naturally the wings unfurl when you take it into the air. aChosenSoldier had this to say about his creation:
“I was in the mood to make something creative that has realistic qualities to it and was fun. I have a lot of ideas for the game.”
 
Black Shiba’s creation really has the “wow” factor and that will be immediately apparent when you take it up into the air. It reminds me of something from anime or a Saturday morning kids’ cartoon from the ’80s – it’s just *that* cool! Black Shiba had these words to share:
“I wanted to make not just an ordinary robot, so I tried to make a Transformation machine which can transform just like one in Japanese animation. This game has unlimited possibilities to make even more sophisticated vehicles and I am currently working on new version of this.”
Mechs are a very popular contraption in B-K:N&B, as even the quickest glance around the forums would show, but this one really knocked our socks off, both in terms of how it works and also how gosh-darn pretty it is! Amazingly enough, this robot’s arms move, allowing you to aim its lasers with a bit of careful manipulation of your controller. BusierDonkey told us:
“I have a history of finding ways to sneak around the programming in games (in the actual game I had found ways to reach inaccessible areas of Showdown Town long before actually even entering Nutty Acres) so for me the whole point of building a vehicle was simply to use the vehicle creator to its fullest. It's the best creation tool I've used since I was eight years old playing with my LEGOs.”
 
While it may not be the most practical contraption ever devised when it comes to completing challenges, this AA gun really demonstrates something we’d never seen before – a rotating, firing turret weapon. Expect to be amazed when you see it fire for the first time – this beauty packs one heck of a punch! CR3AM SODAH sent along these thoughts:
“It’s an Anti-Air Gun. It’s mostly for looks and was built purely for fun. I just wish I could bring it into multi-player!”
 
This hulking juggernaut is sure to strike fear into even the most hardened multiplayer opponent, for what it lacks in manoeuvrability it makes up for in both strength and speed. It reminded us a bit of a certain famous transport as used by a rag-tag team from an ’80s TV series, only much more badass. ExtraKr1spy went on to tell us this:
“I created the tank/APC as a test bed for using the tow attachments as hinges combined with a balloon to create an opening and closing hatch. After I got the hatch working I decided to keep working on the vehicle and after some failed concepts I ended up with the current vehicle. It may not be the most versatile off-road vehicle or the most agile but I believe it will be Banjo’s vehicle of choice should the zombie apocalypse make its way into BK:N&B.”
 
This magical carousel really impressed with its sheer originality and innovative use of the detacher. In fact, disconnecting the top part of the carousel and reattaching it is a mini-game in itself! Best of all, the whole contraption acts a bit like a helicopter, able to float in the air and make taxi runs. If you’re looking for a unique ride to ferry Jinjos around the various game worlds, look no further. HypnoticCoqui had these thoughts to share:
“The carousel was my first successful attempt to think outside the box in vehicle creation. I wanted to probe the flexibility and robustness of the physics rules. I was elated with the result. The one downside to all the gadgets in a device with tow bars is that the button assignments seem impossible to sort out ahead of time. The game insists on assigning 2 functions to a single button, requiring manual reassignment by the user when the vehicle is loaded from the database. If I had control over the assignments, I would have foldable props, balloons, and radio assigned respectively to the 3 buttons. Spotlights would be optional. Tow-bar detach is never needed.”
 
Well, obviously we were going to choose this one! This gigantic Gruntling replica should be familiar to all Banjo-Tooie aficionados. The images here can’t convey the scale of this beast, it really is a mammoth construction, sure to frighten the living daylights out of Grunty if it were to hover into view. There were a number of other Banjo replicas made, but this was by far the team’s favourite. Tomajko sent these words along:
“Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie are two games which I hold near and dear to my heart. I created this because I have a fondness for B-K characters; they brought me entertainment back then, and thanks to the wonderful mechanic of this game, they still do.”
And so on to Stop ‘N’ Swop... it’s not often you’ll find us explicitly talking about this, the most fabled entry in all of Banjo lore, but that time has finally arrived.
For the uninitiated, you will need to collect the various eggs of different colours as well as the Ice Key in Banjo-Kazooie XBLA and then use them in their proper places in Banjo-Tooie XBLA. What, you didn’t think we’d spell it out for you, did you?
So long as you have the L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges Add-on, then completing the SnS journey in Banjo-Tooie XBLA will award you the special blueprints in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, one for each of the seven SnS items you need to collect. Each of these little marvels will then be found in turn in Mumbo’s Motors.
You’ve no doubt already learned that collecting all seven items in Banjo-Kazooie XBLA unlocks seven crates dotted around Showdown Town in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, however the rewards of Banjo-Kazooie to Banjo-Tooie SnS are far more glorious than that. We shan’t tell you exactly what your rewards will be, we’d much rather you found that out for yourself. It’s what’s known in industry terms as “a surprise”.
All that remains to be said is a big *THANK YOU* to all our custom contraption award finalists, as well as everyone else for taking part. We hope you enjoy taking your place in Banjo lore and becoming part of the history of Stop ‘N’ Swop for evermore.
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Hello, friends of the furry and feathered ones. You’ll no doubt all be super-excited to hear that we’ve just this second released a brand new HD trailer for classic Banjo-Tooie on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
To see it in all its extended draw-distance, stable-framerate glory – just follow this link to download it directly to your Xbox 360.
But that's not all! Just to whet you appetite even more for the gigantic portions of nostalgic gameplay served up by Tooie’s release next week, you can check out the latest, freshest batch of screenshots below.
Enjoy - not long to go now!
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Greetings and salutations, Bear brethren. The moment so many have been clamouring for has arrived – today is the day we announce the release date for classic Banjo-Tooie on Xbox LIVE Arcade.
4J Studios’ stellar port will be yours to own for 1200 MS Points from Wednesday 29th April – exactly two weeks from now. Set a reminder in your reminding appliance of choice, as it’s full to the brim with updates and tweaks from the original release, not least being a super-charged frame rate and some fully-featured Stop ‘N’ Swoppery.
Now that would normally be enough to satisfy even the staunchest Jiggy-hunting aficionado, however we’ve never been the types to settle for the expected. Accompanying the release will be a double bill of Tooie-themed Gamerpics – yours for the miniscule sum of 80 spacebucks MS Points. Cast your gaze downwards to see what we have on offer...
    
    
But that’s not all! We’re only too aware that two whole weeks will seem like an eternity to those of you looking to relive the bear ‘n’ bird’s struggle against Grunty and her wicked sisters. So in an effort that’s sure to both frustrate and delight you, we’ve opened up a whole section purely devoted to all the almost-yours action on the Rare website. Just follow this link to get the full lowdown - Rare > Games > Banjo-Tooie.
But what of teh Stupz ‘n’ Swupz, we hear you wail? Don’t panic! We’ll have more juicy details about that last nugget in due course. Until then, make your voices heard in the comments field below.
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Has an epidemic of rabbits been stealing chocolate eggs only to hide them around your garden in some kind of elaborate ruse? Well, that can only mean one thing… it’s Passover! Oh - and it’s Easter too.
What with it being Easter and all, that makes it the traditional time for… Rare to put fresh Banjo trinkets on Xbox LIVE (yay!). Is it really a tradition, we hear you cry? Who cares! Just show us your appreciation.
As previously promised, a seasonally themed Banjo-Tooie teaser trailer will be available to download from Xbox LIVE Marketplace tomorrow. Just like the holiday itself, you’ll only be able to enjoy this multicoloured egg laden trailer from Friday April 10th to Monday April 14th. Make sure you don’t miss out, especially those of you that are especially fond of stopping and swopping.
Also due to materialise over the weekend are the two sets of equally provocative Tooie-themed Limited Edition Gamerpics – especially limited as they’ll only be available to take home for a few days.
Lastly, in answer to what is quickly becoming the question I’ve been asked the most in my life, classic Banjo-Tooie for Xbox LIVE Arcade is still scheduled to arrive later this month. Just hang tight and we’ll have more details for you really rather soon indeed.
All that remains to be said is to wish everyone a very happy Easter! (Chag Sameach, too ![Smile [:)]](/emoticons/emotion-1.gif) )
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It has come to our attention that a small minority of players have encountered an issue with unlocking a couple of the DLC achievements - L.O.G. Master and L.O.G. Ranked Apprentice.
Note that this will likely be experienced by a very small subset of users (people who play the DLC for free with those who have bought the DLC, meet the achievement requirements, and then decide to upgrade and purchase the full version of the DLC later).
If you encounter the problem, please use the following guidance:
There have been some very rare incidents where players are unable to unlock either the L.O.G. Ranked Apprentice or the L.O.G. Master achievement from the new L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges downloadable content package. Fortunately, it is a simple matter to unlock these achievements. If you have encountered this problem, all you need to do is clear your system cache, re-download the Title Update, and re-earn the achievements on a clean save file. Here is a complete step-by-step walkthrough:
1 – Make sure you have purchased and downloaded L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges from Xbox Marketplace.
2 – Ensure you have at least one storage device without a Banjo save on it.
3 – Clear your system cache:
a) On the Xbox Dashboard, navigate to My Xbox.
b) Select System Settings.
c) Select Memory.
d) Select one storage device, and press Y.
e) Press X, X, LB, RB, X, X.
f ) Confirm the system maintenance message.
g) Repeat for all storage devices.
4 – Launch Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts with an Xbox LIVE profile, and download the update when prompted.
5 – Press A at the title screen, and select the device WITHOUT a Banjo save on it when prompted.
6 – Continue through the following steps for whichever achievement you need.
L.O.G. Master achievement
1. Enter a multiplayer lobby (it can be Xbox LIVE or Local).
2. Set the Match Choice to League and the League Type to Custom League.
3. Add the following games into the league: (Races) Terrarium Tussle, Iced Prix, Don’t Lose Your Nuts, (Sports) Downward Spiral, Don’t Flee the Nest, Hot Cargo!, King of the Knoll.
4. Play and win each game. This can be done without any other players present. NOTE: These games can be won under any condition; the above method is simply the easiest and fastest way of attaining this achievement.
L.O.G. Ranked Apprentice achievement
1. Enter an Xbox LIVE multiplayer lobby.
2. Set the Match Type to Ranked Matches and the Playlist to L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges.
3. Let the game place you into a DLC game, which can be any one of the following: (Races) Terrarium Tussle, Iced Prix, Don’t Lose Your Nuts, (Sports) Downward Spiral, Don’t Flee the Nest, Hot Cargo!, King of the Knoll.
Win the match. NOTE: It is possible to be placed into a DLC match in the other playlists, but the DLC playlist is the most reliable way to do so. Each game also has team and individual variants, as well as Player’s Choice or LOG’s Choice vehicle selections, and winning any of the games in a Ranked setting will be sufficient to unlock this achievement.
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Howdy, Bear watchers. Another day, another spectacular Banjo-related content update.
If DLC and free Gamerpics weren’t enough for you – and this being Rare, that’s more information then we usually release in a year - then rejoice! On Friday 10th April the Xbox LIVE Marketplace will be graced with a brand new Premium Banjo-Tooie Theme.
The Tooie’s Splendid Theme will not only beautify your dashboard with all your favourite B-T characters, but will also make you exactly 17% more excited for the April release of Banjo-Tooie on XBLA (excitement levels may vary, please see Mumbo for more details).
Cast your gaze downwards for a glimpse of what the theme holds in store – all this can be yours for a mere 250 points.
Will this deluge of April-orientated Banjo news ever finish? Not likely...
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Greetings and salutations, bear ‘n’ bird fanciers. You’ll be pleased to hear that The ‘Great, Free B-K: N&B & Tooie Goodies Giveaway’ has just got ever so slightly greater and eve more free.
We have just received word the release timing for the limited edition Klungo’s Arcade Gamerpics has been adjusted slightly –now they will be available for three extra days.
For Xbox LIVE Gold members, this means you will be able to download them on the same day as L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges, i.e. Tuesday 7th April; for Silver members, you’ll be gaining access on Tuesday 14th April.
Don’t forget that as these Gamerpics are limited edition, all and sundry will only have until Thursday 16th April to grab them for their tired looking Gamercards and spruce up with everyone’s favourite minion-turned-ally.
So according to our calculations, these Gamerpics will be available tomorrow so remember to pull yourself away from L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges to check them out.
We’ll have more to say about the free limited edition Banjo Tooie themed Gamerpics as well as a release date for Tooie oin the comings weeks.
April – fast becoming the greatest month for Banjo-Kazooie fans evar :)
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As you’re no doubt all intensely aware, we at Rare have a few Banjo bits and bobs that we’re preparing to sling down the intertubes straight into your Xbox 360s.
By now you’ll have gotten the full skinny on L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges, the Premium Game Add-On for Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts that will be available to download from Xbox LIVE Marketplace on April 7th, so I won’t retread old ground. No, I’m talking about brand new cool stuff, lovingly crafted here in Twycross as a service to you, our long-suffering supremely loyal fans.
Want to know the best part about it? These babies are completely free. Yes my friends, that’s free as in beer – not free as in speech. However, there is a catch: the goodies will only be available to download from LIVE Marketplace for a limited time, after which they’ll disappear – phhht! – just like that.
First up, it’s come to our attention that you’ve all really taken to the old-school precision platforming in Hero Klungo Sssavesss Teh World. So, to celebrate the addition of brand new levels as part of L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges, we’ll also be giving away a set of free Limited Edition Gamerpics to give your online gaming persona a nice little makeover.
    
These retro-tastic morsels will be released day and date with L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges on Tuesday 7th April, but you’ll only have a seven-day window in which to grab them. Add them to your Gamer profile and you’ll be able to swear you were there.
Our next gesture of free love (as opposed to free as in love) is the release of two Limited Edition Banjo-Tooie themed Gamerpics. These will only be available for download from 10th – 14th April, that’s, like, less than a week, guys! You’d better be bringing your A-game if you want to own these bad boys.
    
    
Notice something slightly... unusual about those Gamerpics? Unexpected and new, even? Well, good for you, you’ve got much better eyesight than Bottles. Now we’re going to be all Rare about it and not give you any further hints for a while.
Lastly, we’ll be releasing a very special Easter-themed trailer for the high-definition release of Banjo-Tooie on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. As we all know, Easter doesn’t last forever and neither does this trailer – you’ll only be able to get your mitts on it from 10th – 14th April, just like the Easter-themed Gamerpics.
Without wanting to send you on too much of an Easter Egg hunt, it comes to us on good authority that if you combine what fresh info you can glean from the Easter Banjo-Tooie Gamerpics with the contents of the Easter Banjo-Tooie trailer, you should be able to work out some pretty big clues to soon-to-be-revealed secrets.
We also have some premium Gamerpics and a Dashboard Theme on the way to mark the release of Banjo-Tooie on Xbox LIVE Arcade, about which we’ll be sharing more info in due course. Now you’re probably wondering when we’ll be announcing the release date for Banjo-Tooie on Xbox LIVE Arcade... well, you won’t have to wait much longer as an announcement is just around the corner.
Until then, don’t you have some secrets you should be trying to uncover?
For additional information on Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, you can visit both the publisher’s site and the developer’s site.
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Exciting New Discoveries Abound in the World of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts with L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges Game Add-On
The Lord of Games (L.O.G.) has spoken, and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts DLC is confirmed!
For those of you who can't get enough bear-themed contraption jiggerypokery, L.O.G. has prepared a slew of invigorating new challenges, collected them together and bundled them into the conveniently titled L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges Game Add-On pack.
Worried that Banjo and Kazooie may be falling back into their lazy ways, L.O.G. has created a fresh series of tests and seven additional multiplayer modes for players to continue building their own distinctive vehicle creations. Find your way to the Test-O-Track under Mumbo's Motors via the alternative entrance and you can take part in seven all-new Jiggy Games, with an on-site Jiggy Board to be completed and various rewards to be unlocked. Although Spiral Mountain has been rightfully won, L.O.G. has an enticing reward for completing his new challenges: an updated version of Klungo’s Arcade game.
In addition, L.O.G.'s latest multiplayer modes span the length and breadth of his worlds, and there are a whopping 250 new Achievement points to get under your belts.
Releasing on April 7th, L.O.G.’s Lost Challenges will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 400 Microsoft points. A promotional trailer is up on Xbox LIVE Marketplace now - click here to start downloading it to your Xbox 360 by modern witchcraft.
After that, well, there's just the little matter of Banjo-Tooie’s release on Xbox LIVE Arcade to look forward to… but that's another story.
For additional information on Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, you can visit both the publisher’s site and the developer’s site.
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You may have heard rumblings after the festive season had drawn to a close that the Banjo team were back at work. Well, we’re happy to reveal that this wasn’t just indigestion from the last of the turkey sandwiches, but rather a li’l sum’n sum’n that we’ve got on the boil to spice up Nuts & Bolts, as well as the incredibly exciting work that we’ve been putting into the forthcoming release of Banjo-Tooie on Xbox LIVE Arcade®. The game will be available to download this April, appropriate since Easter is the designated time for hunting multi-coloured eggs.
In what promises to be amongst the biggest and boldest – and certainly the bear-iest – releases on Xbox LIVE Arcade, Banjo-Tooie will be a note-perfect migration of Banjo and Kazooie’s second adventure. In their struggle against Grunty and her wicked sisters, the bear and bird can now rely on the extra grunt supplied by the Xbox 360, bringing with it silky-smooth frame rates and super-sharp HD graphics.
As with the Xbox LIVE Arcade release of Banjo-Kazooie, you can expect all the fully-featured fun from the original game. But there’s more – 4J Studios have dredged the Banjo team’s collective memory and implemented the original plan for Stop ‘n’ Swop, for the first time on any platform ever and after many long years of waiting. Without going into too much detail, the Stop ’n’ Swop items collected in Banjo-Kazooie will ‘magically’ appear in Tooie, resulting in... well, you'll just have to find out. What could be cooler than that? Nothing, that’s what – not even Kazooie turning into a dragon.
Naturally there’s still more to discover, but we want to keep some secrets. They’re not buried too deep in the game, but for now at least, our beaks are sealed.
“And what of Nuts & Bolts?” I assume you cry. You should remember an announcement from the Banjo team that they would be picking their top seven favourite player-built contraptions from all the ones uploaded to Banjo-Kazooie.com’s Showroom. I know, that’s so last year – you can read all about it on either the official blog or the Rare website. The team have drawn up a shortlist of 14 and are meticulously whittling it down to the final seven.
The entries vary from the powerful and commanding to the wild and wacky – should your creation catch our eye, you can expect to be contacted directly by MGS Rare through the email address associated with your Gamertag and asked for your full contact details. We will be sharing more detailed info on how exactly we plan to show off your contraption in February, when... ack! I’ve said too much already.
For now, you can feast your peepers on the first officially released screenshots of Banjo-Tooie... and if you're on Facebook, don't forget to visit the Banjo-Tooie fan page!    
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The team at Kraft have crafted (SEE WUT I DID THAR) an ultra-nifty web browser based game called LUNCHABLES Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Aerial Challenge to accompany their promotion of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts on packs of LUNCHABLES Pizza in the good ol’US of A.
True to the game’s focus, this online experience extraordinaire lets you customize a vehicle and test it out in a challenge. Complete the course and then challenge your friends to do better than you did! It’s genuinely good fun – to check it out for yourselves, just follow this link to LUNCHABLES.com.
Of course, if you’re in the USA, look for specially marked packages, including LUNCHABLES Extra Cheesy Pizza. Inside, you’ll find a 3-D Buildable Banjo-Mobile, modelled after in-game vehicles. Collect all four and build the Ultimate Banjo-Mobile.
If you pick one up, why don’t you share your thoughts in the commnets field bellow and let us know how you like it? Take photos!
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Greetings & salutations my bear-loving brethren... and a happy New Year all round, too.
In case you didn’t happen to catch what is in all likelihood teh most important newz of teh year, Banjo’s latest outing was elected the 2008 Xbox 360-exclusive title of the year by the team at GiantBomb.com.
The bear 'n’ birds’ latest adventure motored past Fable 2, Gears of War 2, Braid and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 to reach the top spot. In addition, Banjo was nominated in several other categories, including Game of the Year, Best Use of User-Generated Content, and Best Classic Revival.
Much appreciated, Jeff & Brad! You can view the accolade for yourself by following this link.
Above all, our thanks go to you lot - because without you, Nuts & Bolts would just be a collection of loose parts with no-one around to build a vehicle out of them.
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Good news, my Banjo brethren! The moment you've been waiting for has at last arrived and the text fix for the SDTV issue is ready to be downloaded. So, without further ado, allow me to present the official statement to you:Today we've released a title update for Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts over Xbox LIVE that improves players’ ability to read the text on standard definition televisions. Game players will need to log their profile on to LIVE and place their Banjo disc into their Xbox 360. At that point, they will be automatically prompted for the title update.
This title update will address the problems some consumers have experienced reading the menus and dialogue boxes in the game on standard definition televisions by improving the legibility of the text.
We're still working on a solution to allow B-K:N&B players who are not on LIVE to get the title update, and you can expect more on this as soon as we have additional info to share.Got something to say? Sound off in the comments field below.
Right, I'm back off to scoff a few more mince pies. Happy holidays everybody!
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Greetings and salutations, Banjo collective. We at Rare just wanted to let you know that we have something a bit special in store for those who have been uploading snaps of their custom in-game vehicles to the Showroom.
Key members of the Banjo team will be poring (pawing?) over the uploaded photos in a quest to track down the seven very best player-built contraptions. But for what purpose, we imagine hearing you cry? Only the sweetest award that can be bestowed on a gamer: in-game immortalisation. Who needs YouTube when your act of creativity could earn you a genuine place in Banjo history? Think of the bragging rights!
While it’s a secret (to everybody) as to how we will pull off this daring deed, we promise you it will be really very cool and probably not how you might imagine.
Once the Banjo team has made its seven selections, we’ll reach out to the contraptions’ creators via the email addresses associated with their Gamertags and ask them to send us their blueprints for our mysterious purposes.
For additional information on Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, you can visit both the publisher's site and the developer’s site.
For further information, please contact either myself or Brother Mike.
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To celebrate the launch of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Banjo-Kazooie on XBLA, you can now also download two very spiffy themes with which to adorn your dashboard.
Check out the pics below to behold their glory...
 
Click the images to place the desired theme on your Xbox download list.
Enjoy!
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