To celebrate Rare's 25th year in the industry EDGE magazine have done a profile on the company featuring many interesting facts about some of their Nintendo games.

Prior to being sold to Microsoft Rare were one of Nintendo's most celebrated Second Party Developers, releasing popular titles such as GoldenEye 007, Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie to name a few. In the latest issue of EDGE the company's history is explored and some interesting information about these titles have been revealed. A few of these include:

• Nintendo wanted Diddy Kong to essentially look like "Donkey Kong in a nappy", although Rare obviously fought against that design idea.
• Banjo was originally a pirate-fighting sword-swinging boy, then a rabbit and then of course the bear we know and love.
• His backpack was initially just for decoration but Rare decided they need a way of speeding Banjo up and Kazooie was born.
• Rare didn't want to work on GoldenEye 007 and preferred to create their own original IPs.
• In spite of going on to sell millions of copies the development of the title was troubled and it was ignored at E3.
• Dinosaur Planet had been knocking around since about 1993, before eventually being released as Star Fox Adventures in 2002.
• The Game Boy Camera function in Perfect Dark was removed due to fears children may take photos of their teachers and shoot them, with the Columbine High School Massacre occurring just a year before the game was released.
• The crude and adult Conker's Bad Fur Day was not initially well received by NOA.

The full details, as well as art work from the various titles, can be found in the latest issue of EDGE.

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Harmonix have released a trailer for the DS version of Rock Band 3 to show how the game plays.

While the console versions of Rock Band 3 are played with the bundled instruments the DS version will be played differently. Players will have to switch between note highways to play riffs, beats and vocals.

The DS version will feature eight gameplay modes including Career Mode, Road Challenges and Competitive Multiplayer. In total the game will feature 25 songs spanning several decades.

2000s

• Ida Maria, “Oh My God”
• Metric, “Combat Baby”
• Paramore, “Misery Business”
• Phoenix, “Lasso”
• Rilo Kiley, “Portions for Foxes”
• Tokio Hotel, “Humanoid”
• The Vines, “Get Free”
• The White Stripes, “The Hardest Button to Button”

1990s

• Faith No More, “Midlife Crisis”
• Jane’s Addiction, “Been Caught Stealing”
• Smash Mouth, “Walkin’ On The Sun”

1980s

• The Cure, “Just Like Heaven”
• INXS, “Need You Tonight”
• Joan Jett, “I Love Rock N’ Roll”
• Night Ranger, “Sister Christian”
• Ozzy Osbourne, “Crazy Train”
• Roxette, “The Look”
• Whitesnake, “Here I Go Again”

1970s

• The B-52’s, “Rock Lobster”
• Doobie Brothers, “China Grove”
• Foreigner, “Cold As Ice”
• Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
• Yes, “Roundabout”

1960s

• The Doors, “Break on Through (To the Other Side)”
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Crosstown Traffic”

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Warren Spector claims that he is looking to make those who are sceptical of the Wii say "‘holy cow I didn’t know you could do that on a Wii.”

Ever since Epic Mickey was first announced numerous critics of the Wii have stated it would be better suited on consoles that house advanced technology. This has not deterred Warren Spector, the game's director, however as he is determined to prove that the Wii can hold its own against its more powerful rivals.

Speaking to Develop Mr. Spector states that he is looking to push the Wii to its maximum with Epic Mickey.

“It’s going to have the lush, beautiful, bright colours of a Disney feature film on the Wii. And I want players and I want our competition to think ‘holy cow I didn’t know you could do that on a Wii’.”

Mr. Spector also commented that when he first began the game he knew one day he'd end up at E3 showing off the title amongst thousands of other games. He claimed that he knew the majority of them would be brown, mockingly stating "Welcome to brown world!", while his competitors claim that their games are "hyper-real! Everything looks real now!".

The title is due out later in the year but you can read the full interview over at Develop.

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