After the floodgates broke on coverage of Rare's new Banjo Kazooie game, you might've found yourself wondering whether this was the Banjo you remember. And depending on your slant, it can be interpreted as good news or bad news—it's familiar territory, certainly, but populated by a whole new breed of animal.

As you may well have heard by now, the new focus in Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is, of course, vehicles. And from what we saw at Microsoft's Spring Showcase demonstration, the developer is not at all shy in making use of this new cornerstone of gameplay.

Banjo Kazooie QA lead Chris Chamberlain estimates that vehicle use takes up some 70% of total gameplay time, while traditional Banjo-style platforming assumes the remaining 30%. With such a significant portion of gameplay chalked ... Read more

Earlier today at the Microsoft Spring Showcase in San Francisco, I got a chance to check out an entire early level of Gears of War 2. The shorthand? It's Gears, but louder.

First the setup, courtesy series creator Cliff "CliffyB" Bleszinski: "It's six months after the events of Gears 1, and the Locusts have actually returned. We're right at the onset of winter, it's the last day of fall as we open the game. Basically the Locusts have returned with a force that's capable of sinking entire cities."

Faced with utter destruction, the last bastion of humanity suits up to take the fight into the underground home of the Locusts.

"The way that we do this is with a massive assault scenario, in which the humans have these devices called grind lifts," continued Bleszinski. "These are essentially express elevators to hell, in which two guys get in, and it tunnels down into the depths of the underground, and then they go into the Locust cities and kick their ass."

The opening of the sequel sees Marcus hooking up with an armored column on its way toward Locust-held territory, as seen in the few minutes of footage released last week. The whole of the chapter consists of an on-rails sequence, the player... Read more

During Microsoft's Spring Showcase today, Epic Games employee and Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski teased that the much-anticipated cover-heavy sequel could include four-person cooperative play.

When asked directly if Gears of War 2 will feature four-player co-op, Bleszinski responded: "We're not announcing anything about co-op at this time, we'll probably get around to it around E3 time, but rest assured, it will be bigger and better."

"The multiplayer is incredibly robust," he continued. "We're not saying too much about it right now due to embargoes and whatnot, but lots of multiplayer maps, lots of modes. We'll have the multiplayer functionality that gamers have come to expect this day and age."

Gears of War 2 is slated to arrive on Xbox 360 this November. The original, which hit Xbox 360 in 2006 and PC in 2007, featured local and online two-person co-op play along with an eight-player online deathmatch mode.

Be sure to hit up our Microsoft Spring Showcase Roundup for all the news and media from today's event.

As evidenced by our countless posts, a ton of stuff was shown at Microsoft's Spring Showcase. It's a lot to take in, we understand.

Thus, we present the entirety of our continuing coverage in one easy-to-read page. While we've got more on the way, here are our current highlights:

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Preview
What happens when you cross a bird, a bear and the ability to create your own vehicles within a platformer? Aaron Linde reports.

Gears of War 2: CliffyB Presents the Third Chapter
Nick takes a look at the first stage from Epic's cover-heavy sequel while creator CliffyB talks taint. Yeah, you read that right.

Gears of War 2 Might Have 4-Player Online Co-op

Too Human Arrives August 19

4P Too Human Co-op Too Ambitious, Reduced to 2P

Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise on DS This Fall

We also have a truly insane amount of new screnshots and trailers, spanning from Gears of War 2 (X360) to Fable 2 (X360) to Halo Wars (X360).

Wrapping up the deluge of media from Microsoft's Spring Showcase is this footage of Rare's garden-tending, pinata-rearing sequel Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. It's due out in September, and Maarten tells me that it has a train in it! Choo-choo!

Note: The following is unedited b-roll footage. It is meant to be chopped up into little bits for a larger segment and has not undergone the traditional editing process of a trailer.

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First there were screenshots, then there was an official name and gameplay details. Now there is gamepay footage of Rare's Xbox 360 platformer Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, which is due out in November.

Note: The following is unedited b-roll footage. It is meant to be chopped up into little bits for a larger segment and has not undergone the traditional editing process of a trailer.

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The good news? Silicon Knights is finally bringing its long, long in development action RPG Too Human (X360) to retailers on August 19.

The bad? The player count for the game's co-op mode has been halved. Initially planned to allow four players, it now only supports two-person play. For a closer look at co-op in Too Human, scope out this video publisher Microsoft sent along:

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Continuing its Spring Showcase blowout, Microsoft has released concept art and a number of screenshots from Team Ninja's slash 'em up sequel Ninja Gaiden II (X360), which is due out on June 3.

The latest media out of Microsoft's Spring Showcase relates to Lionhead's open-world RPG Fable 2 (X360).

Microsoft claims that the game world of Fable 2 is ten times larger than that of the original, with the sequel set to arrive during the relatively vague "holiday" season.

For more on Fable 2, check out our coverage of creator Peter Molyneux's GDC lecture and our following interview with the man himself.

Note: The following is unedited b-roll footage. It is meant to be chopped up into little bits for a larger segment and has not undergone the traditional editing process of a trailer.

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Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden 2 (X360) will be released in three weeks, and to mark the occasion Microsoft has released a launch trailer. The video runs for sixty seconds, and can be streamed below.

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Publisher Microsoft has unveiled plot and gameplay details for UK-based Rare's recently dated platformer Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (X360).

The title features a pronounced focus on building vehicles for Banjo to pilot over land, water, and air. By combining a total of over 100 parts found throughout the game, such as body panels, engines, wheels, and weapons, players can design vehicles to suit virtually any goal in the game.

For those who want to skip the workshop and get straight to the gameplay, Nuts and Bolts also features pre-built contraptions for use in the single-player campaign.

In Rare's revival of the classic platforming series, Banjo is pit... Read more

Microsoft and Epic Games have released new screenshots from Gears of War 2, apparently captured from the same session as the recently-released gamepay footage.

An Xbox 360 exclusive, the cover-heavy action sequel is slated to arrive in November. Much like the first Gears of War, Epic has no plans to for a downloadable demo.

Shacknews will be attending a Gears of War 2 demonstration later today. Check back with us then for any new details unveiled during the briefing.

Microsoft has announced that Silicon Knights' long-in-development action-RPG Too Human (X360) will finally hit North American retailers on August 19, with a European release following on August 29.

While the game's official website briefly specified an August 12 debut, Microsoft told Shacknews that the information was incorrect and that the official North American release of Too Human is slated for August 19.

For more on Silicon Knights' efforts to reinvigorate the action-RPG genre, scope out our hands-on impressions.

Check back with Shacknews later today for details on Too Human's two-person co-op play, which is being demonstrated at Microsoft's Spring Showcase event.

Hothead Games has revealed that its webcomic-inspired downloadable RPG Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One will be available for PC and Xbox 360 beginning next Wednesday, May 21.

The downloadable game will sell for $19.95, or 1600 Microsoft Points. The PC, Mac and Linux editions will debut on Greenhouse, while the Xbox 360 version will be released through the console's online Xbox Live Arcade.

Beginning an avalanche of media and details, Microsoft has revealed that Rare's Xbox 360 action-adventure title Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (X360) will arrive in November.

Meanwhile, Rare's pinata-breeding sequel Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (X360) is officially slated to hit in September.

Furthering the silly amount of material leaked from Microsoft's Spring Showcase are new Too Human (X360) screenshots that show the action-RPG's cooperative play.As with the leaked Banjo Kazooie and Viva Pinata 2 screens, these shots recently began popping up on message boards and sites.

For more on Silicon Knights' efforts to reinvigorate the action-RPG genre, scope out our hands-on impressions of Too Human.

Check back with Shacknews tomorrow morning for the full scoop on Microsoft's Spring Showcase and its many titles, assuming there is anything left to cover by that time.

Though Microsoft's Spring Showcase event doesn't take place until tomorrow, more supposed details have emerged to accompany the already-leaked media and rumors of a motion-sensitive Xbox 360 controller.

Tomorrow's announcements apparently include a sequel to the Xbox 360 movie-trivia title Scene It?, a game called Ninja Blade, and something known only as Lips. That is, according to listings that supposedly popped up on a Microsoft's press site and were captured by NeoGAF.

Apart from the product names, no other details are available. Some believe that Lips could be a voice-controlled game or a voice-related accessory, though it is all just idle speculation at this point.

The listings also suggest that the Viva Pinata sequel that unofficially debuted this morning will be known as Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise.

Check back with Shacknews tomorrow morning for the full scoop on Microsoft's Spring Showcase and its many titles, including Banjo Kazooie (X360).

Much like Banjo Kazooie (X360), it seems that the first screenshots from a Viva Pinata sequel have begun circulating the 'net in advance of the Xbox 360 title's official unveiling.

Judging from the use of multiple player cursors, it seems the previously-unannounced followup to Rare's garden-building, pinata-breeding effort will add some sort of multiplayer component. The first Viva Pinata hit Xbox 360 in 2006 and PC in 2007.

As Microsoft is holding is Spring Showcase in San Francisco tomorrow, check back tomorrow morning for the official word on Viva Pinata 2 and the rest of the company's Xbox 360 lineup.

Update: Eleven more screenshots have surfaced to accompany the original two.

Be sure to hit up our Spring Showcase Roundup for all the news and media from Microsoft's recent event, including a hands-on preview Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

Original Story: Two supposed but rather legitimate-looking screenshots of Rare's upcoming Xbox 360 action-adventure title Banjo Kazooie began making rounds on the internet today.

Representing the first media of the game to arrive since its 2006 announcement trailer, the images provide an in-game glimpse of the first Banjo effort to hit a home console since the Nintendo 64 release of Banjo Tooie in 2000.

Rumors suggest the title, which is often referred to by series fans as Banjo Kazooie 3 or Banjo Threeie, will be compatible with the oft-rumored Wii Remote-esque Xbox 360 controller.

Given that Microsoft is set to show Banjo Kazooie at its Spring Showcase event on Tuesday, it is likely that these assets are from the media that is planned that day. Check back with Shacknews Tuesday for more on Banjo and the rest of Microsoft's 2008 lineup.

Microsoft's rumored Wii Remote-esque Xbox 360 controller could be unveiled Tuesday morning, according to the lastest round of rumors. Reportedly code-named Newton, the motion-sensitive device is said to have four face buttons, an analog stick, a speaker and a microphone.

Keeping in line with previous murmurs that Microsoft subsidiary Rare was playing a key part in the device's development, Kotaku claims that the device and its integration into Rare's Xbox 360 platformer Banjo Kazooie could be demonstrated at an event next Tuesday.

Further evidence that Microsoft will make some type announcement comes from the unusual timing of the event's press embargo, as Microsoft will be allowing coverage before any media is allowed to enter the showcase.

Check back next week for more information, as Shacknews will be attending the Microsoft Spring Showcase and will provide full details on Banjo Kazooie and any other titles shown or announced at the event.