Star Fox Zero Delayed To Early 2016
Sad but true — you’ll have to wait a little longer for Star Fox Zero. Nintendo boss and Star Fox creator Shigeru Miyamoto posted this on Facebook last night:
I made a big decision last week.
We have been developing Star Fox Zero for Wii U with the aim of releasing it this year. Although we felt that the development had been progressing well, we now believe that we will need a little more time to work on areas such as the unprecedented discovery that we want players to experience in the game by using two screens, and further polishing the level designs and perfecting the tone of the cut scenes. While we have already reached the stage where it would be technically possible to release the title in time for the year-end holiday season, we want to polish the game a bit more so that players will be able to more smoothly grasp the new style of play that we are proposing.
To the people looking forward to the launch of the game this holiday season, I am very sorry.
Star Fox Zero is going to bring new game play and experiences that take it far beyond the framework established by Star Fox 64. All the members of the development team are doing our best so that the final product will not betray your expectations. And the game will not be delayed for a very long time – we’re aiming to launch the game in Q1 2016. Please stay tuned for further announcements.
Things smelled suspicious when Nintendo’s 2015 schedule came out and Star Fox’s release date wasn’t defined the way others close to its original release window were — it was listed for “Holiday 2015.”
You might think they have nothing to replace Star Fox with to market the Wii U this holiday season, but that’s not so. I said this when Zelda was delayed, but it’s still true: if Nintendo had any sense, they would put Xenoblade Chronicles X in place of all these delayed games and market the heck out of it. If they ran advertising showing off all the breathtaking vistas end expansive environments this game has, that alone would get consumers’ attention. All they need to do to make that game a hit is promote it properly. As for Devil’s Third, sweep it under the rug.