Star Fox Zero

[The Qu]

I don't know, it's definitely rather snippy and condescending.

On topic, I wouldn't say *crowded* is the right word, but it was certainly a bit more loaded than Nintendo fans were used too. Ultimately, it's a small delay, though, so I don't think it'll hurt it too much.

[kirbychu]

Yeah, I'd say Leon's post was pretty inflammatory... and that that's becoming a theme with his posts...

The holiday didn't seem too crowded to me, but Yoshi Woolly World has already been out for a few months here, and Star Fox and Xenoblade were the only others I was really that interested in. I suppose that's good though, since I'm dirt poor right now.

[nocturnal YL]

Certainly isn't crowded for Japan, either. Many of the games mentioned (like Woolly World and Xenoblade X...) are out for long, and Picross 3D and Chibi-Robo are out in October - too early to be called year-end sales war titles.

That leaves Art Academy: Home Studio, Animal Crossing amiibo Festival, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, Tri-Force Heroes and Mario & Luigi 5. I'd say the Wii U lineup is a bit weak from the perspective of a general consumer.

On the other side, Star Fox Zero and Genei Ibunroku #FE are too late to be considered year-end titles, either. Overall, the holiday feels like it's not any different from the other periods for Japan.

[Leon]

Good lord you people are ridiculous these days. We all know deep down that SF0 isn't going to be a grand ambitious title from Nintendo. It will likely be a fun game, but it's not going to be something like Splatoon that keeps people coming back with a crazy online multiplayer (Miyamoto already said there wouldn't be multiplayer), nor will it be something with a massive campaign like Zelda. At least with Xenoblade we KNOW that it's an ambitious game because we have seen the massive campaign, as well we know that you can join up with people online to complete quests.

But no, I'm just trolling because obviously a game that has Miyamoto in the credits would always be of the highest quality, unlike those games developed outside the EAD offices.

[Nester the Lark]

Guys, let's not let the tone in here get too sour.

Leon, I think the point is that you're comparing an RPG to an arcade-style action game, two completely different genres that don't necessarily appeal to the same audience. For someone more interested in racking up high scores in an action game, the size of Xenoblade X is kinda arbitrary.

Also, I'll add that while I, personally, didn't find your initial post offensive, it seems a number of people did, and your above post does come off as abrasive. Please try to be more tactful in the future.

[Leon]

I don't think what I said was abrasive at all. The fact is, 60% of Star Fox games are generally viewed as lacking in quality. Whether that's an issue of a lack of ambition (Command), or simply a lack of time (Adventures) it doesn't change the fact that Star Fox doesn't have a good track record. Does that mean that SF0 is predestined to be a bad game?

No, but from what we've seen about the game does give us an idea if we put aside our hype and give some sober second thought. When we got the trailer at E3 I was excited, I am a big Star Fox fan (my username does come from this guy after all), but when I look at the game again I do see some very significant issues affecting it, that games like Xenoblade, Bayonetta, and Splatoon lack.

As for another thing, let's say that people do take issue with what I said. Why not act like adults and have a conversation about it? Manspeed and Kirbychu attacking me personally adds nothing to the conversation, but if they (and others) would say, "I disagree with that Leon, because..." we could have an interesting discussion.

[Nester the Lark]

Leon, I'm not trying to draw lines in the sand here. I get the difference between spirited debate and personal insults. I intervened when I saw personal attacks, which are not acceptable coming from anyone. But lately, people are taking issue with you, specifically.

I don't think you're deliberately trying to upset people, but that's what's happening even if you don't think you're being abrasive. Saying "why not act like adults" after a post telling us "Good lord you people are ridiculous these days" and making your point with a sarcastic remark doesn't exactly come off very well.

It's kinda up to you, Leon. Please try to be careful.

[kirbychu]

I think the problem, Leon, is that you're stating your opinions as facts. Quite often where you could just say "I don't like (insert name here)'s recent stuff" you go to "(insert name here) is creatively bankrupt", and right here where you could've just said "I'm looking forward to Xenoblade more than Star Fox Zero" and nobody would've minded, you went for "Xenoblade is better than Star Fox Zero could ever be". Stating your opinions as facts is the fastest way to piss people off on the internet. I know you hate Disney, but Inside Out had a pretty good joke about that.

[Boo Destroyer]

So where were we? I'm not surprised that this game got delayed. When did it start development last year? When did Platinum even get on board with it? Less than two years isn't a good enough time frame to make such a game, especially one coming from Miyamoto.

[Nester the Lark]

After all these years, I've learned to trust a Nintendo delay. If anything, I see it as a good sign, and it's one of the things I respect about Nintendo (lest they start acting like certain other big publishers who rush games out the door unfinished).

[nocturnal YL]

It does make me worry about their year-end lineup, though. I would have said it might be a better idea to release it earlier since the game is technically complete, but there's still the problem of first impression. People pay more attention to fresh games than updates, so in that aspect it's a better idea to ship complete products.

[Leon]

I'm not convinced that there's going to be a grand turnaround for this game. Sector Alpha was showing some serious issues, yet Nintendo was ok with showing it at E3. I think as long as the game has to render on both the Gamepad and TV at the same time, that will be an impassable bottleneck.

[kirbychu]

Uh, what are the serious issues? I watched the whole thing and didn't even notice any minor ones.

[Leon]

You didn't notice how the command ship is always visible, but the other battleships materialize out of thin air when you get close to them? Play Meteo on SF64 and you can see the same thing happening with the asteroids. The texture work on the Cornerian ships is also really bad, most noticeable when one of the ships gets destroyed near the start of the level and you can see its insides.The lighting that they use on the stage is odd as well, when Androssa appears on Corneria it looks quite nice and fits in with the level, but the command ship looks really unnatural by comparison.

There's also the baffling decision tho show off two levels with the character portraits not even finished, but that will likely be dealt with in the final version.

[kirbychu]

I noticed the ships appearing, but I just assumed they were using cloaking devices, like they did in Sector Y in SF64. It's not a draw distance issue, because like you said, there are objects further away that are perfectly visible. So... seems deliberate to me.

None of that stuff is really "issues", though. I was expecting things like slowdown or collision bugs. The game is functioning perfectly in those videos, I don't see a problem. It doesn't bother me if the textures inside a ship you see for a second are a little low res as long as the game is fun, and the cockpit view definitely seems a fun enough addition to make the sacrifice.

Then of course, there's also the chance that that stuff was just because the game was still in an unpolished state. They did point out that the voices for that stage hadn't been recorded yet, after all.