Yeah yeah, Viva Pinata 2, whoop de doo, we all know you're here for the info on the next Banjo game. Rare's new game is not actually called Banjo-Threeie (much to my disappointment) or Banjo-Kazooie 3, but Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. "Nuts and bolts," you ponder? "Why would they call it that?" Apparently, a major focus of the game is not only riding around in elaborately pieced-together vehicles, but constructing said vehicles from over 1600 parts. Building the vehicles is supposedly very intuitive, which is good because they are a major focus for most goals in levels. One example is given:

We saw one where you had to collect coconuts from a field and got a small truck that could suck them up. Unfortunately you couldn't fit all the coconuts in the truck and had to back and deliver them in a large barrel. We were then shown how you could create a helicopter with a hook, that could pick up this large barrel, fly to the coconut field and fly low to scoop the coconuts in the barrel.

The game also apparently has a robust multiplayer component, well advanced over the random multiplayer tossed into Banjo-Tooie.

As a giant Banjo-Kazooie fan...this isn't quite what I was expecting. The original poster, believed to be from GameReactor, goes on in the thread to emphasize how much fun the game is, which is all well and good, since Rare needs more games that are enjoyable. However, I can't help feeling disappointed that we're not getting "just another platforming adventure." Because honestly, that's all I really wanted. Needless to say, my anticipation has dropped. Sigh...and that teaser trailer got me all hyped up when they showed off Jiggies and Honeycombs on Spiral Mountain.

As for Viva Pinata 2: I don't care as much, since I never played more than the demo (I KNOW IT'S GOOD SHUT UP), but Rare's added some new features. The stand-out addition is Vision Camera support in the vein of Eye of Judgment, where new pinatas are added to the game by scanning in cards. (Brings me back to the days of the e-Reader.) This can also be used to generate codes for created pinatas, allowing you to openly share them on forums. I'm sure someone finds that enthralling.