Topic: Is Retro Working on Star Fox Wii U?

[NWR_pap64]

I'll be painfully blunt with you guys... I am getting sick and tired of all the "OMG RETRO SHOULD TOTALLY WORK ON X GAME" comments, rumors and speculation (ironic since I wrote this article :p ).

I get that they did a fantastic job on Metroid Prime (even though I could care less for them), and many people liked DKC Returns (I wasn't one of those people), and that with Mario 3D Kart they are building a strong relationship with Nintendo. But WHY do all of a sudden people want them to handle ALL of Nintendo's IPs? I get that they are good, but it's like Retro is becoming the "go to" developers for everything Nintendo, to the point where it is making Nintendo look like they are not capable of working on their own franchises and need to outsource them.


I will admit that I think Retro Studios is an overrated game development house, so maybe I am just biased and don't like the idea of them working on EVERY SINGLE NINTENDO GAME. Once more, I get that they are one of the better development groups at Nintendo right now. But still, they shouldn't be the ones saving Nintendo's franchises or making every franchise their own. Let them grow as something else, not as the house that worked on Nintendo's franchises exclusively.

[Oblivion]

Well, if it means a good Star Fox game, I say let them do it. Where's the harm in doing that? It gets Nintendo money, we get a good game, and Retro gets to continue making games. Everyone's happy. Well, apparently except for you.

[NWR_pap64]

I'm not saying they shouldn't develop Star Fox if that's what they want (and Nintendo allowed them to), I'm just against the idea that Retro should handle EVERYTHING at Nintendo.

For some odd reason Retro has never clicked with me. At first I thought that it was just the Metroid Prime games since I never really cared for Metroid. I was honestly more than looking forward to DKC Returns since I love the DK games dearly and he is my favorite Nintendo character. But then I played it and felt absolutely nothing. I played it, and then just stopped playing. I was even very quick to sell the game back, I simply did not have any attachment or emotional reaction to the game, and it's ALWAYS Retro.

And the thing is that I don't quite understand why. I will admit that they have great knowledge in technical presentations, their level design is great, yet I just don't feel their games. It's like they get sooooo much hype out of people that when I play their games I feel like something is not living up to the expectations people have set up for it.

[Leont]

Brilliant! Star Fox has had a rough trip since the N64. Namco tried it and it was ok, but not amazing. IO am sure that Retro will put Fox back on the main track!


I love to see anything that Retro does.

[Dasmos]

Haha wow, pap64 didn't like DKC Returns yet he somehow found something I clearly missed in Kirby's Return to Dreamland to warrant giving it a 9.0 in his review? Someone please explain this to me?

[NWR_Neal]

He prefers Kirby to Donkey Kong?

[Caterkiller]

I think for the last 7 E3s I have been shouting baseless predictions for a new Star Fox, this year I don't know... I really really doubt it, still no hints at Star Fox at all.

[NWR_Neal]

I did hear back from the writer of the article that details the rumor. Apparently it's a friend of a friend (who works in the industry) and he hesitated to say it was 100% legit.

So basically, who the hell knows.

[NWR_pap64]

Haha wow, pap64 didn't like DKC Returns yet he somehow found something I clearly missed in Kirby's Return to Dreamland to warrant giving it a 9.0 in his review? Someone please explain this to me?

The short version of it, Neal already gave it to ya.

If it's the long answer you want... I liked that game better than DKC Returns.

Any more questions?

[Fiendlord_Timmay]

Yeah, remember that amazing retro game Raven Blade, which they were working on BEFORE Metroid Prime (and was eventually canceled)?  Dude, it's just a name.

Ok, point taken, the name ultimately doesn't dictate what they do. But all of those new IPs they were tinkering with prior to Metroid were all cancelled, so obviously Nintendo thinks (or at least thought at the time) that Retro's efforts are better spent revitalizing old franchises. And I'm glad that they're working on different series now, because the Prime games got pretty stale by 3. If Metroid Prime 4 were announced for Wii U, my reaction would pretty much be "meh."

But anyway, point being, people should be happy that a) Retro is working on something b) That it could very well bring back a beloved franchise and c) that based on their track record it will probably be good. Rather than bitching about what they're NOT making.

[BlackNMild2k1]

This is a really old rumor BTW (Jan 23, 2012)
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=16688.msg715904#msg715904

and this part of it is even older
(I meant to post this link earlier, but couldn't find where it was in the rumor list during a quick scan)
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=16688.msg667943#msg667943

Retro: “a project everyone wants us to do�

[joshnickerson]

The next Star Fox could be developed by EAD or Retro, be retail or downloadable, I don't care as long as it's closer to what made Star Fox 64 so great, and far away from what made the follow up games so terrible (I'm looking at YOU, Star Fox Command. Burn in hell.).

[LittleIrves]

I saw that Retro was hiring a character design artist recently, too, which would lend itself to a more Star Fox Adventures-style open world game. Although I guess if it's all space dogfighting, and they retain the little dialogue boxes with profile pictures, they'd still need to design the look of the character. Hmm.

Either way, I'd lap up a new Star Fox from Retro. Sorry that Pedro doesn't enjoy their games. But DKCR and the Prime games are tops in my opinion. And I think Nintendo is handling quite a bit of their own catalog, so no need to worry about them handing over the keys to Austin, TX. One platformer and a few Kart tracks in the past 5 years doesn't seem like an overreliance on one studio. Monster Games has done almost as much, if not more, in the same amount of time. (ExciteBots and Pilotwings.) Personally I'm excited to see what Next Level (Punch-Out!! Wii) has in store next, once they're done mangling licensed fare and get back under the cozy wing of Nintendo.

[NWR_Neal]

LittleIrves - Next Level is making Luigi's Mansion 2.

[Ian Sane]

I gave up on DKC Returns really quickly because of the stupid controls, but I blame NCL for that nonsense, not Retro. 

I want Retro to work on a new IP because I just want Nintendo PERIOD working on some new stuff.  I'm playing Xenoblade right now and I love it.  A big part of why I love it is that it is fresh and new.  The characters, the setting, the gameplay - all of this is new to me.  I like Skyward Sword a lot, too, but it's predictable.  The series is old enough now that I can call tons of it before it happens.  I have no interest in just playing the same series anymore.  I don't want just new stuff but I'm not interested in just going through the motions with safe predictable Nintendo sequels.

So Star Fox?  Whatever.  Yeah, it would be nice if they could make that series great again but I find I don't care one way or another if such a game is released.  If they made it and it was good, that would be great and all, but it's not something I'm going to get excited over.

Really what I want is variety and when Nintendo just milks out more Mario and Zelda, there is a lack of variety.  The weak third party support also provides a lack of variety.  What I like about Retro is that they're as talented as Nintendo but they're different.  They have their own style and don't make the same games EAD makes or Intelligent Systems makes.  I like EAD and don't want every game to feel like one of their's.  It's good that Nintendo has multiple devs that have distinct styles.  Retro can provide more variety if they create their own IP because they can truly put their stamp on it and not have to adhere to any conventions established by another team.  Back when Rare was with Nintendo I was glad we got stuff like Banjo-Kazooie, Blast Corps and Perfect Dark.  Those weren't games other Nintendo teams were going to make and that provided variety.  I swear if Iwata was running things then, Rare would have just made Donkey Kong games.

For Nintendo to have variety, encouraging their seperate devs to have their own IP is the easiest way to do it.  So if EAD just wants to make Mario and Zelda the whole time, fine.  Those franchises are still being tended to while the other teams do something else.  Instead every dev team is indistinguishable as Iwata and Miyamoto just assign them to work on the same old bullshit.  Monolith actually does something unique and we were THIS close to having NONE of their Wii games get released in North America.  Nope, we're just the Mario factory, pumping out the same old bullshit until everyone is sick of it.  And then we'll have NOTHING because we pissed away all the years we could have made a new hit with new IP.

What is annoying is that there is so much Mario content that no Mario fan in a million years could ever feel neglected.  They could cut out half of the Mario product being released and no one would complain because they wouldn't notice.  There is new Mario product every year.  You could cut it back to only one Mario title of any sort per year and that still would be tons.

[NWR_insanolord]

They keep making Mario games because they keep selling insanely well. I agree that they should branch out more, but as long as they're doing as well as they are Nintendo isn't going to stop making Mario. We'll see if the market will support two different NSMB games in the fall, or if we're about to hit the saturation point.

Also, Ian, you should look into setting up homebrew on your Wii so you can play DKCR with a Classic Controller. It really is a phenomenal game once you get past the controls.

[Ian Sane]

Also, Ian, you should look into setting up homebrew on your Wii so you can play DKCR with a Classic Controller. It really is a phenomenal game once you get past the controls.

I'm always iffy about hacks so I haven't tried it.

[broodwars]

Also, Ian, you should look into setting up homebrew on your Wii so you can play DKCR with a Classic Controller. It really is a phenomenal game once you get past the controls.

I'm always iffy about hacks so I haven't tried it.

And in any case, as someone who played a LOT of Donkey Kong Country back in the day, the bandaid the homebrew people put on DKCR with that patch doesn't work as well as I'd like.  It really isn't their fault, but that Retro split the roll and run functions into separate actions in DKCR. Sure, you get your roll on a button, but you can't HOLD the button like you could in the old days to run (instead, you continuously roll).  It's frustrating having to "un-learn" doing that and getting used to Run being on one button, and roll being on another that you ONLY press when you want to roll.

[NWR_insanolord]

It's still a huge improvement over the standard controls.

[Ian Sane]

Also, Ian, you should look into setting up homebrew on your Wii so you can play DKCR with a Classic Controller. It really is a phenomenal game once you get past the controls.

I'm always iffy about hacks so I haven't tried it.

And in any case, as someone who played a LOT of Donkey Kong Country back in the day, the bandaid the homebrew people put on DKCR with that patch doesn't work as well as I'd like.  It really isn't their fault, but that Retro split the roll and run functions into separate actions in DKCR. Sure, you get your roll on a button, but you can't HOLD the button like you could in the old days to run (instead, you continuously roll).  It's frustrating having to "un-learn" doing that and getting used to Run being on one button, and roll being on another that you ONLY press when you want to roll.

Irony - Nintendo tries to make their games more accessible to non-gamers but taking something that used to be one button and seperating it into a button and a shake.  The controls are actually MORE complex and thus "confusing" than they were before.  Go figure.

[Mop it up]

I've never played a Star Fox game, but from what I know of it I think Retro could do a good job with the franchise. They are good at designing action scenes, so I'm sure they could make a compelling and exciting Star Fox game. Even if they aren't making it, I hope for the fans' sake that there is a new one in the works.

[NWR_insanolord]

If they're insisting on doing on-foot segments, which I think they have to do if the game is going to be a retail release, I think Retro is definitely the best team within Nintendo to do it.

[Kytim89]

Check out this nice Star Fox fan video:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XAJEDJJ_Bo

[ivanincubus]

 Oh boy, They're probably just working on character models and multiplayer maps for the game.

[Adrock]

I had a lot of fun with DKCR. The controls would have been better without the waggle roll but they worked pretty well. I beat every level of the game without the Homebrew patch. The areas I had trouble with had nothing to do with the controls. Rather, jumping on the tires and and timing jumps made me want to haymaker a basket of kittens. In that instance, it's not the control's fault that I suck at videogames.

Anyway, I think Star Fox is better suited as a downloadable title. Keep Fox in the Arwing. Taking Fox out and into grind missions makes it an entirely different game. Retro Studios or whatever company handling Star Fox could easily just make an entirely new IP and really go nuts with it, instead of making half a Star Fox game. I mean, I get it in terms of marketing but in terms of artistic integrity, I really don't get it. It's a shame that Nintendo doesn't have enough faith in themselves (anymore?) to establish new IPs based on just great ideas. To me, I don't get it because what made Nintendo into the company they are today was their ability to create classic characters. Don't stop making Mario and Star Fox but not every great idea had to be retro-fitted to be part of those franchises.