Let's work together to recover the lost 480p trailer for Donkey Kong Racing that IGN once hosted (UPDATE: Success!)

[Hero of Legend]

UPDATE: Mission accomplished! :D



With a lot of folks coming together, we managed to pull this off! Huge thanks to all involved! Here are the credits I put in the video description:

This is the LONG searched for Hi-Res 480p version of the Donkey Kong Racing E3 2001 GameCube trailer that was on IGN via their Insiders program. The kind folks at IGN (specifically Peer Schneider and Dave Toole) apparently JUST uploaded the trailer to their site today because of my thread on ResetEra!

Let's work together to recover the lost 480p trailer for Donkey Kong Racing that IGN once hosted (UPDATE: Success!)

UPDATE: Mission accomplished! :D With a lot of folks coming together, we managed to pull this off! Huge thanks to all involved! Here are the credits I put in the video description: ### MANY years ago, back at E3 2001, Rare revealed Donkey Kong Racing for GameCube. Well like Chunky Kong...

www.resetera.com

Here's the IGN video link:

Donkey Kong Racing GameCube Hi-Res Trailer - IGN

At E3 2001, Rare and Nintendo showed off a pre-rendered trailer of its kart-influenced animal racing game, Donkey Kong Racing. The trailer used in-game models and, according to Rare, tried to simulate the look the developer was trying to achieve with the final game running on Nintendo GameCube...

ca.ign.com

And here's a Mediafire download of the raw file:

Donkey Kong Racing Hi-Res Trailer

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

And finally, a very special thanks to metsallica at ResetEra for using his IGN Prime membership to check and verify if the trailer even was still on the site, and for just helping me out in general! And thanks go to ErrorJustin at ResetEra (aka Justin Davis at IGN) who also dropped on by to get this really going in the first place! Can't forget to thank Lucas M. Thomas (formerly at IGN, now head of Nintendo Force!) for being a big help as well!

Buy Nintendo Force here:

Nintendo Force Magazine | Home | NF Publishing

An homage to Nintendo Power, Nintendo Force is a subscription-based magazine covering all things Nintendo. Join the NF magazine community by subscribing today!

www.nintendoforcemagazine.com

There, hope that can help return the favor. :P

Click to shrink...

###

MANY years ago, back at E3 2001, Rare revealed Donkey Kong Racing for GameCube.

Well like Chunky Kong... it's dead.

IGN somehow was able to get their hands on a 480p version of the trailer that we all know and love, which they had in this article:

Donkey Kong Racing Hi-Res Movie (GameCube) - IGN

Check out a high resolution video of Donkey Kong Racing for GameCube. The 640x480 resolution is the only way to see the lush worlds Rare is hard at work designing.

ca.ign.com

With the URL itself being:

Video Game News, Reviews, and Walkthroughs - IGN

IGN is your #1 destination for all video game news, expert reviews, and walkthroughs.

insider.ign.com

Now back then it was an IGN Insider-exclusive. Clicking on it takes you to their IGN Prime page (same thing).

What sucks is that I DID have Insider back in 2007 (thanks to a kind person who gifted it to me back then) when I'm certain this was still up... but stupid me didn't know about this and didn't know to grab it when I could have. Sorry guys. :(

I asked the man himself who wrote the article; Fran Mirabella III and he said it seemingly wasn't accessible. Now at the time, I recall the link not working period, so maybe there IS hope now that it takes you to IGN Prime's page.



We have to options:

1. This could be solved straight away if someone here has IGN Prime and can check.

2. Failing that, if someone on here remembers this and did download and save the video on their hard drive and can retrieve it, then viola!

This is crucial since the only footage we have is this crusty thing that's been on YouTube for years:



This is all we have of a fairly important game that we so close to getting but alas, Microsoft bought Rare, they attempted to reboot it as Sabreman Stampede, that got canned, the rest is history.

Let's get together and try to recover this seemingly HQ version of the one trailer we did get!

 

[Bishop89]

There are a few 480p ones on YouTube but the quality looks poor so I don't think they're what you're looking for.

Never knew they had a sequel in the works.

 

[AncientReptileBrain]

I have a VHS with it lying around somewhere but that won't help

 

[Stuart Gipp]

I think this may have been on an old Ngamer DVD. I'll check ASAP, I still have them.

 

[SiG]

I have a VHS with it lying around somewhere but that won't help

Click to shrink...

If you have a player that can output S-Video/RGB/Component/etc. and a capture card, the quality might end up being better than what IGN hosts on their website, since I do recall them using Quicktime MOV format at 30fps for videos.

MyLifeInGaming did host some old VHS transfers on their channel.

 

[Ashhong]

I feel like reddit would find you the link in like 5 minutes

 

[Syriel]

I have a VHS with it lying around somewhere but that won't help

Click to shrink...

If you want to mail it to SF (or if you're local), I can capture and encode it.

 

[Pancakes R Us]

I was so gutted that this game was never released.

 

[Wesley]

N64/NGC magazine had this on VHS along with a bunch of other upcoming GameCube games.

Nintendo GameCube Promo VHS (NGC Magazine)

Nintendo GameCube Promo VHS (NGC Magazine) Visit our online store www.ObsoleteGaming.com

youtu.be

Not a great upload here either. I've got a copy of it in some plastic tub somewhere.

 

[Hero of Legend]

N64/NGC magazine had this on VHS along with a bunch of other upcoming GameCube games.

Nintendo GameCube Promo VHS (NGC Magazine)

Nintendo GameCube Promo VHS (NGC Magazine) Visit our online store www.ObsoleteGaming.com

youtu.be

Not a great upload here either. I've got a copy of it in some plastic tub somewhere.

Click to shrink...

Yeah it's... better, but not by much.

Does no-one here have IGN Prime to check the link in the OP? I guess it's not a very enticing subscription. :P

 

[MazeHaze]

Damn that game looks awful lol

 

[AtomicShroom]

Damn that game looks awful lol

Click to shrink...

At the time this was unveiled I couldn't bring myself to comprehend why people were excited about it. It looked like it would be awfully dull. Also there was a vast majority of people who believed this was real-time footage, when it was so obvious it was a pre-rendered pitch video. I was made to be a fool pointing out why this couldn't possibly be actual footage from the game. Fucking lol.

No wonder this got shitcanned. The leaked footage from the Sabreman Stampede reboot looks even more boring.

 

[TheDinoman]

Damn that game looks awful lol

Click to shrink...

I mean it was just a CG trailer with no real gameplay to go off of.

 

[Qwark]

I mean it was just a CG trailer with no real gameplay to go off of.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I don't get it. From the limited CG, it's just more DKR, I don't really know how you can make a judgment off of that.

 

[elLOaSTy]

I watched this a hundred times at least back then. What I wouldnt do today for a true DKR successor.

 

[MazeHaze]

I mean it was just a CG trailer with no real gameplay to go off of.

Click to shrink...

I think the whole concept of riding animals is bad. And the video also looks bad. Nothing about it looks good.

 

[-shadow-]

Many trailers of those days are lost, the old N64 trailers of Eternal Darkness are also in such a dire state :(

 

[EvilBoris]

Crazy. How did I forget about that?! I watched that VHS so many times.
The Kameo video 🥰

 

[Deleted member 3465]

I think the whole concept of riding animals is bad. And the video also looks bad. Nothing about it looks good.

Click to shrink...

The concept was amazing actually, especially following up a phenomenal game like Diddy Kong Racing.The idea of switching animals mid race in safari like worlds would have been incredible with the right execution. Kirby Air Ride did it brilliantly with one zone, but imagine multiple zones that also had consistent lore to pull from.

 

[MazeHaze]

The concept was amazing actually, especially following up a phenomenal game like Diddy Kong Racing.The idea of switching animals mid race in safari like worlds would have been incredible with the right execution. Kirby Air Ride did it brilliantly with one zone, but imagine multiple zones that also had consistent lore to pull from.

Click to shrink...

I think the concept is whack, sorry.

 

[Deleted member 42484]

At the time this was unveiled I couldn't bring myself to comprehend why people were excited about it. It looked like it would be awfully dull. Also there was a vast majority of people who believed this was real-time footage, when it was so obvious it was a pre-rendered pitch video. I was made to be a fool pointing out why this couldn't possibly be actual footage from the game. Fucking lol.

No wonder this got shitcanned. The leaked footage from the Sabreman Stampede reboot looks even more boring.

Click to shrink...

I remember being about 12 when this trailer dropped and being really hyped.
I think being a follow-up to Diddy Kong Racing was enough. And riding on animals and various environments seemed like a natural fit.

If Nintendo announced a DKR sequel, even by just showing a logo like they did for Metroid Prime 4, I'd be hyped today.

 

[InASnowBoundLand]

I think the whole concept of riding animals is good. And the video also looks good. Everything about it looks good.

 

[Deleted member 3465]

I think the concept is whack, sorry.

Click to shrink...

I mean it's literally just GTA in a safari like setting as the developers described. I don't think that's absurd at all, but to each's own! I think it would be a great alternative for people like me that dislike realistic settings in games and I'd love to see someone tackle the idea again in the future.

 

[Openrob]

Maybe @trailerjones on Twitter might be able to help

 

[MaitreWakou]

When the ostrich looks at the camera and goes "whaaaaa !!" it always makes me laugh and think "what a shitty ass trailer", but in a sympathic way lmao. I like this trailer, but can't help to think that it's a really dumb ass trailer lol, good ol dumb Rare.

 

[anaa]

I always appreciate an effort to preserve this kind of stuff. keeping my fingers crossed for you that high quality version surfaces! did you ever end up finding the Pokémon battle revolution trailer you were looking for ?

 

[mute]

There still not being such a thing as a "DK Racing 2" makes me sad.

 

[JJConrad]

I just checked my old backup drive and no luck. I do have the Spaceworld video, Luigi's Mansion, Waverace, and Rebirth... but no DKR... and nothing at 480p.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Damn that game looks awful lol

Click to shrink...

It looks like absolute trash

 

[Symphony]

Might be worth looking at one of the DVDs that NGC Magazine in the UK gave away with some issues in 02/03, they had a lot of trailers on them, unfortunately I got rid of 90% of my magazines in a prior move so I don't have them any more.

It would be these 3 particular issues: 1, 2, 3

Edit: Oh also, Giant Bomb has their Game Tapes series where they showcase (and upload clean rips of) old promo footage, could be worth shooting a message to Jeff to see if the Nintendo E3 2001 footage is in the huge box of tapes they nabbed from the Gamespot vault.

 

[Anth0ny]

I wanted, and indeed STILL want, this game so fucking badly

It's been so long since Diddy Kong Racing. Still the GOAT kart racer.

 

[ChristianH94]

I don't think this game would have been very good but like after reading all of this I kind of wanna see either it or something like it made just because of how unique it would have been

 

[daTRUballin]

It's so weird to be seeing some people shit on this game despite this being one of those titles that people constantly regret not happening due to Microsoft's buyout of Rare.

Judging things off of a 20 year old CG trailer is also a bit silly.

 

[SiG]

It's so weird to be seeing some people shit on this game despite this being one of those titles that people constantly regret not happening due to Microsoft's buyout of Rare.

Judging things off of a 20 year old CG trailer is also a bit silly.

Click to shrink...

I'm not shitting on it. As a matter of fact, I'm really curious as to all of these canned/concept project Rare has laying about... I subscibed to Unseen64 for a reason!

Seeing better quality footage of SpaceWorld demos for the GameCube is...quite something!

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

Not sure I like the idea of the boar/polar/pura riding sections in Crash as a racing game. (Yes, I'm aware you ride animals in DKC, but the behind the back perspective is what I was getting at).

Maybe it's my CTR preference with its hops and boosts and (oddly I admit) wheel visuals that make it hard for me to imagine running/hopping animals meeting my kart racer needs.

 

[Betelgeuse]

It's so weird to be seeing some people shit on this game despite this being one of those titles that people constantly regret not happening due to Microsoft's buyout of Rare.

Judging things off of a 20 year old CG trailer is also a bit silly.

Click to shrink...

Agreed.

Lord what I would give to see beta footage of this and other GCN/Xbox era Rare titles that were cancelled/rebooted, like GCN-era PD Zero.

 

[Bitanator]

me and my brother wanted this game so bad, and we're dissapointed it went nowhere.

 

[Cipherr]

I try to save stuff like this I like for this reason. Like that first GDC footage of that demo stage of Media Molecules first Little Big Planet. It was a great reveal. I felt it was one of the best previews of a game I had ever seen. Then I lost the fkn footage somehow. I had it saved for years in my folders with all the other game trailers Ive really liked and somehow misplaced it. Only low res versions online now.

 

[daTRUballin]

Agreed.

Lord what I would give to see beta footage of this and other GCN/Xbox era Rare titles that were cancelled/rebooted, like GCN-era PD Zero.

Click to shrink...

I'm with you 100%. So many games we had missed out on........That lost era of Rare has always fascinated me.

I may be in the minority on this one, but I've always been curious about how Grabbed by the Ghoulies would've been like on GCN. I know that game is kind of a running joke, but who knows? It might've turned out to be something interesting.

There was apparently a rumor that it originally may have started out as a Harry Potter game. Dunno if it's true, but a Harry Potter game made by Nintendo-era Rare on GCN? Yes please!

 

[Betelgeuse]

There was apparently a rumor that it originally may have started out as a Harry Potter game. Dunno if it's true, but a Harry Potter game made by Nintendo-era Rare on GCN? Yes please!

Click to shrink...

Really? I'd never heard that before. Interesting!

I actually beat the game for the first time ever about a month ago or so (the X-enhanced Rare Replay version). I was poking around on its Wikipedia article and found an interview with one of the developers of the game describing the difficulty they had creating the game, due largely in part to having to port the game from GCN to Xbox and all the rework that came with it.

Apparently the game was originally conceived as more of a traditional platformer a la BK. The pressure they were under to release the game (IIRC Xbox was nearing its end at that time) and development troubles forced them to cut it down into what it was, which ended up a very unique mishmash of challenge rooms and minigames.

I actually enjoyed the game and feel its bad reputation is a tad unmerited. Each room stipulates different rules on what weapons you can use and what enemies you can kill, keeping things fresh and forcing you to keep thinking. The Grim Reaper is also an interesting mechanic that can work both for you and against you. The game's length is short but appropriate, without overstaying its welcome. The right stick combat system is unorthdox but actually enjoyable.

Of course, there's a reason it was criticized - you're often fighting the camera, some enemies and encounters are unfair and frustrating, etc. - but it's a fun and charmingly odd romp.

Oh, and let me say I always enjoy our exchanges about Rare games. It's fun to talk to someone who shares the same interest and passion in that regard. If I invent an alternate universe machine I'll PM you and we can go to the universe where Rare ended up thriving during the GCN era.

 

[daTRUballin]

Really? I'd never heard that before. Interesting!

I actually beat the game for the first time ever about a month ago or so (the X-enhanced Rare Replay version). I was poking around on its Wikipedia article and found an interview with one of the developers of the game describing the difficulty they had creating the game, due largely in part to having to port the game from GCN to Xbox and all the rework that came with it.

Apparently the game was originally conceived as more of a traditional platformer a la BK. The pressure they were under to release the game (IIRC Xbox was nearing its end at that time) and development troubles forced them to cut it down into what it was, which ended up a very unique mishmash of challenge rooms and minigames.

I actually enjoyed the game and feel its bad reputation is a tad unmerited. Each room stipulates different rules on what weapons you can use and what enemies you can kill, keeping things fresh and forcing you to keep thinking. The Grim Reaper is also an interesting mechanic that can work both for you and against you. The game's length is short but appropriate, without overstaying its welcome. The right stick combat system is unorthdox but actually enjoyable.

Of course, there's a reason it was criticized - you're often fighting the camera, some enemies and encounters are unfair and frustrating, etc. - but it's a fun and charmingly odd romp.

Oh, and let me say I always enjoy our exchanges about Rare games. It's fun to talk to someone who shares the same interest and passion in that regard. If I invent an alternate universe machine I'll PM you and we can go to the universe where Rare ended up thriving during the GCN era.

Click to shrink...

That rumor may just be a bunch of BS, so take everything with a grain of salt, but I did make a more detailed post about it on another forum. If you're interested, you can check it out here: http://www.dkvine.com/interactive/forums/index.php?showtopic=14943

The stuff that I talk about in that post are literally the only things I could find about this rumor, so it'd be cool to somehow find out more about this.

And thanks for the kind words! It's always cool when someone recognizes me and especially when they also share the same interests. I'd gladly accept that time machine invitation! ;p

 

[Kazooie]

I'm with you 100%. So many games we had missed out on........That lost era of Rare has always fascinated me.

I may be in the minority on this one, but I've always been curious about how Grabbed by the Ghoulies would've been like on GCN. I know that game is kind of a running joke, but who knows? It might've turned out to be something interesting.

There was apparently a rumor that it originally may have started out as a Harry Potter game. Dunno if it's true, but a Harry Potter game made by Nintendo-era Rare on GCN? Yes please!

Click to shrink...

It released so soon after the purchase, I would assume it would have turned out almost exactly the same on GCN. Which would be fine, because GbtG is a pretty underrated game in my opinion.

 

[blueredandgold]

This is similar to what I was thinking about ye olde articles on the big two game sites of the 90s IGN and Gamespot, but sadly they are lost.

On IGN there was a blog-before-we-called-them-blogs diary article about a person's days in a little game called Animal Forest. Imported from Japan for the N64. You probably wouldn't recognise it today.

On Gamespot they had 'Features' and there was a brilliant one where they interviewed young kids about how they thought NES and SNES games looked compared to the rudimentary but at the time very amazing 3D graphics that the 'current' gen consoles at the time were capable of. Playing Link to the Past after only ever knowing Ocarina of Time, things like that.

 

[Imran]

That rumor may just be a bunch of BS, so take everything with a grain of salt, but I did make a more detailed post about it on another forum. If you're interested, you can check it out here: http://www.dkvine.com/interactive/forums/index.php?showtopic=14943

The stuff that I talk about in that post are literally the only things I could find about this rumor, so it'd be cool to somehow find out more about this.

And thanks for the kind words! It's always cool when someone recognizes me and especially when they also share the same interests. I'd gladly accept that time machine invitation! ;p

Click to shrink...

I believe Nintendo went hard on trying to secure the Harry Potter game license, yeah. Hard to say whether Ghoulies was ever meant to be that, but I wouldn't be shocked if they told them to start planning something that could slide Harry Potter in.

 

[Nessus]

I feel like you might be expecting too much from 2001-era online video. I doubt the direct feed from IGN looked much better than the ones posted in this thread. Look at other trailers on YouTube from 2001, they look about the same quality as that.

 

[daTRUballin]

It released so soon after the purchase, I would assume it would have turned out almost exactly the same on GCN. Which would be fine, because GbtG is a pretty underrated game in my opinion.

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure about that. As another poster already pointed out, the game did start off as a platformer type game more akin to Banjo Kazooie when it was on GCN. But they had to simplify the gameplay on Xbox due to time constraints and such. It would make sense as it WAS made by the Banjo team.

I believe Nintendo went hard on trying to secure the Harry Potter game license, yeah. Hard to say whether Ghoulies was ever meant to be that, but I wouldn't be shocked if they told them to start planning something that could slide Harry Potter in.

Click to shrink...

Wasn't it confirmed that NST was all set to make a Harry Potter game and then Nintendo either lost or gave up the HP license? If the Ghoulies thing is true, I wonder if the license "hot potatoed" from Rare to NST? Or maybe they both had something in the works simultaneously?

 

[Kazooie]

I'm not sure about that. As another poster already pointed out, the game did start off as a platformer type game more akin to Banjo Kazooie when it was on GCN. But they had to simplify the gameplay on Xbox due to time constraints and such. It would make sense as it WAS made by the Banjo team.

Click to shrink...

Where do you get that from? There is no platforming at all left in GbtG and the levels would not lend themselves well to platforming either. Since Rare already had two or three 3D platformer series (Banjo, Conker, DK), it's hard for me to believe that GbtG was ever planned as a platformer. Moreover, the other poster's argument of Xbox nearing end of life - GbtG released 2003, two years after Xbox launched and two years prior to 360's launch. Maybe Microsoft put pressure on Rare to release the game quickly, but the end of the first Xbox is probably not the reason for that.

 

[Petruccis Biceps]

Sorry OP. I used to have a lot of those trailers from back then in the higher quality, including DKR since I was so obsessed with the GC when it was announced(particularly Rogue Leader). They were on a disc I burned back then, unfortunately that disc is long gone. I'm pretty sure I have a few somewhere still of rogue leader, but I'm almost positive I dont have the DKR one anymore. I'll have to take a look later tonight.

 

[daTRUballin]

Where do you get that from? There is no platforming at all left in GbtG and the levels would not lend themselves well to platforming either. Since Rare already had two or three 3D platformer series (Banjo, Conker, DK), it's hard for me to believe that GbtG was ever planned as a platformer. Moreover, the other poster's argument of Xbox nearing end of life - GbtG released 2003, two years after Xbox launched and two years prior to 360's launch. Maybe Microsoft put pressure on Rare to release the game quickly, but the end of the first Xbox is probably not the reason for that.

Click to shrink...

From GbtG's Wikipedia page:

Development of the game took under three years. It was originally conceived as a larger, non-linear open platform game for the GameCube.[11] However, a simpler design and simpler concept were adopted due to the Microsoft buyout and increasing time constraints.[8][12] After Microsoft's purchase of Rare, the studio re-affirmed their "simple design" of the game so that players would be able to easily adapt and devote less commitment to it.[5] In a retrospective interview, Mayles stated that the change from GameCube to Xbox was difficult and required a lot of changes as Grabbed by the Ghoulieswas "an original game that started life as a Nintendo product".[8]

Click to shrink...

 

[Hero of Legend]

I asked yesterday in the Nintendo Lobby at IGN (specifically in their community thread) and not a soul even noticed it seemed. I just made a thread there, hopefully someone will actually give a damn. You'd think SOMEONE with Prime there would take a minute or two of their time to check.