Studio Head Hints at Future Plans for XBLA

January 19, 2010 –Sometime within the next month or two (hopefully), Rare is expected to release Perfect Dark onto the Xbox Live Arcade. The game centered on secret agent Joanna Dark and was one of the first games to successfully integrate bots into console multi-player (as well as introduce all N64 owners to the expansion pack). Rather than settle for a direct port of the N64 classic, and spiritual sequel to Goldeneye, Rare has gone back and given Perfect Dark a bit of a makeover. Changes include improving the graphics and adding leader board and achievement compatibility to go along with online multi-player. Perfect Dark will join Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie on XBLA, which were released in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

Speaking to CVG, studio head Mark Betteridge hinted that fans can probably expect more ports in the future. Betteridge said that while he didn’t have anything to announce at the moment, “we’ve got over 25 years of IP to dip into so there’s no shortage of possibilities.”

Rare is the owner of such properties as Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct, Battletoads and Blast Corps. Of course there has been news in the past about a rumored port of the uber-classic Goldeneye to XBLA, but as reported by 1up Games back in January of 2008, the deal to bring the game to the Xbox stalled when Microsoft and Nintendo could not come to an agreement over financial concerns. Here’s to hoping that if Perfect Dark is well received that the two sides will be able to make amends and we’ll all get a chance to argue which each other about whether being Oddjob counts as cheating or not (of course it does!).

Regardless, though, of whether Goldeneye ever does see the light of day again, its great to see a developer like Rare at least hinting at a deeper commitment to porting old school games to Xbox Live, something that has been lacking for Xbox owners especially when compared to the plethora of classic games available for Wii and Playstation 3 owners.

Source: CVG