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The team of Rare Ltd. veterans at Playtonic Games launched their Kickstarter campaign for a spiritual successor to the Nintendo 64 classic Banjo-Kazooie today. They have already crushed their original goal and are now well past half a million British pounds.

Check out some gameplay footage from this IGN exclusive reveal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTXBjstzwNE

I was a bit worried when yesterday's IGN article made no mention of Linux. However, when the campaign launched today, Linux was listed as a day one platform at the base funding goal of £175,000 (~$265,000), along with Windows and Mac. The goal was met within 40 minutes, and at the pace it's currently going, it won't be long until they run out of stretch goals.

If you wonder why people are going crazy over this campaign, it's because the team behind it consists of the creator of Banjo and Kazooie, Steve Mayles, along with a handful of other former Rare Ltd. veterans. Rare was responsible for some of the most popular third party platformers on Nintendo consoles before Microsoft bought the company and had them making Kinect games.

The game will feature the titular dual-protagonists Yooka and Laylee. Yooka is a chameleon with a tongue that can be used as a grappling hook, and Laylee is the bat that can pick Yooka up for short bursts of flight.

There has been no mention of a DRM free version so far, but if you're OK with Steam, you'll get a digital version of the game by pledging £10 (~$15) or more to the Kickstarter campaign. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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A big fan of platformers, puzzle games, point-and-click adventures and niche indie games.

I run the Hidden Linux Gems group on Steam, where we highlight good indie games for Linux that we feel deserve more attention.
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16 comments
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r2rX May 2, 2015
And the progress they've showcased is 3 months of work.....so the final game, come end of 2016, will be epic. :)
Nezchan May 2, 2015
I am highly disappointed that in the video on the Kickstarter site includes ZERO ukulele music. I mean seriously, people!
flesk May 2, 2015
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  • Contributing Editor
Quoting: KelsI am highly disappointed that in the video on the Kickstarter site includes ZERO ukulele music. I mean seriously, people!

They rectified that shortcoming of the campaign in the second update though:

View video on youtube.com

@tuubi: That is probably just an oversight, but I sent them a message about it anyway. With 30,000 backers, it might take them a while to process feedback though. They did tweet this a couple of hours ago:

https://twitter.com/PlaytonicGames/status/594487419560419329

Quote£1 MILLION! #YookaLaylee will release day-one on Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, Mac, Linux and PC!
BillNyeTheBlackGuy May 2, 2015
Really nice to see this genre coming back. I know I'm not the only one getting sick of side scrollers.
flesk May 2, 2015
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  • Contributing Editor
Quoting: MadeanaccounttocommentI've been waiting for a game just like this since I heard about the Steam Machines. There'd be no point in putting a steam box in my living room to relive the glory days of console gaming in the 90's if I didn't have a 3D platformer in my game catalog. I've already backed it and secured my $15 copy.

There's also the Kickstarter funded Lobodestroyo. I think they're aiming for a release this fall, but I missed out on the campaign, so I haven't been able to follow it very closely.

In addition to that, there's also Clive 'n' Wrench, that I've written about on GOL. It's a one-man effort though, and as a result of that, it looks very rough so far.
HadBabits May 3, 2015
Quoting: tuubiIn the FAQ it says: "If funded, Yooka-Laylee will be released for Windows, Mac, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Wii U." But Linux is clearly included in the main text, so this seems to be just a simple oversight. One of you backers might want to get them to fix this anyway. Personally I won't back the project, but probably will buy it when it's released.

Messaged and fixed :D Also, closing in on 2 million bucks! I gotta learn how to make games, there's all kinds of stuff I'd like to revive :p
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