Mini-Scribes for every situation
Moving through the doorway of the nation…

Q: Hello and thank you for taking the time to review my question.
     Last night I was playing Kinect Sports with a friend and his family. To be specific, we were bowling. During our game I started having a conversation with my friend’s dad about the difficulty of the game. My theory is that the difficulty levels are progressive within each character or “account” AND also within each individual game. I believe that if I start off playing very well and hit all strikes during the first 5-8 frames by the time I’m having to bowl the 10th frame the difficulty has increased. Is this accurate or not?
     Also, if this is true, could you provide me with some details about how it is that the difficulty increases? Does the game start measuring your movements more closely, are the margins for error reduced, etc…
     Thank you again for taking time to read this. I look forward to your reply.
     Rene Ruiz

A: Bowling designer Paul (that’s right, we went and got a proper response, calm your fluttering hearts) says: “Thanks for the question! It would make the game very hard for players to continually get better and know how to create a consistency in their play if we did something like that. I reckon it’s more the pressure coming through when trying to get the perfect game!”
      But by all means tell your friend’s dad something entirely different, e.g. 25 consecutive strikes and the Kinect sensor projects a hologram of Rare cleaners dressed as cheerleaders, or a dire downturn in performance on the tenth ball causes Sadako to crawl down the lane and out of the screen.

Q: Dear Rare,
     I know, I know, it’s COMPLETELY WEIRD that one of the fans for your older game series would write you, but where is the future headed for them? Banjo and Kazooie, Conker, even the generic characters from Diddy Kong Racing. Will they fade into obscurity? You can always throw them to Retro Studios. Just an idea.
     Swifty

A: SO WEIRD. Nothing’s ruled out, Taylor (assuming it is you and not 18th century author Jonathan Swift) – we’re not making a stand against 27 years of Rare heritage. We’ve devoted time to Kinect Sports as it’s been our greatest success in years, and several million people are playing the heck out of those games just as you did with Banjo and Conker. Doesn’t mean we’ll never do anything else ever again. There’s love for every franchise both within and beyond Rare, but it’s all about opportunities and when to jump on them. The games marketplace is a vast, gnashing beast and nothing’s ever guaranteed (apart from melodrama).

Q: So, when are you guys going to finish Mire Mare?
     “Big” Johnson

A: Didn’t you play it, Dwayne? It was a secret level in Lunar Jetman after you jumped on the trailer.
     PS Happy 30th anniversary, Spectrum. We love you long time.

Blast from the Past: October 19, 2004

Q: Dear Scribes,
     First of all, I’m sorry to ask this stupid question, because I think it was asked like 10 zillion times before, but please at least try to read on:
     I was on xbox.com (USA) and it says Conker: Live & Reloaded will be released in March 2005, then I went to xbox.com (Australia) and there it says July 2004. So what’s the right date? I’m pretty sure it’s March 2005 because July would be just too f%$§ing cool, but please prove me wrong!
     Thanks for reading this far, btw. Do I get noticed if my email makes it onto the page?
     Guerrilla

A: Let’s see. It’s now October 2004, so unless the game was released, unfinished, three months ago without anyone here being told to stop working on it, I’d say the US site could be nearer the mark. Of course, you did send this in May, so the sarcasm is entirely unwarranted. Never stopped me before, though.
     Do you get ‘noticed’ by appearing in Scribes? I’m not sure. Possibly you’ll make your way onto some kind of Government blacklist, or maybe Steven Soderbergh will add your name to his dream casting sheet for the upcoming live-action Scribes movie.

Got a question for Scribes/Mini-Scribes? Send it here. We reserve the right to worship at its altar of witty ingenuity or spit out peanut fragments at its brazen foolishness (then maybe print it anyway). Get asking. But bear in mind that even the wittiest ingenuity cannot compel us to announce a sequel to your favourite game if we’re not working on the thing.