Star Fox 64 3D lacks online multiplayer due to cost, time

Nintendo's Yusuke Amano talks about why Star Fox 64 3D didn't add online functionality to its multiplayer mode, but claims that they did tests that might find their way into future releases.

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Star Fox 64 3D has received a fairly warm reception, but one common complaint is the lack of online multiplayer. As it turns out, cost and time constraints got in the way of including the feature, which Nintendo's Yusuke Amano thinks would need some revision to make it a proper online experience.

"Personally, I play a lot of online [first-person shooter] games," Amano told Official Nintendo Magazine. "This leads me to think that just making multiplayer parts of existing games playable online isn't enough to create a satisfying experience for users. The popular online games work in lots of things, so they play well online--and if we wanted to satisfy everyone who bought the game, the costs required for including online support would be vast."

Amano also cited time constraints, stressing that the team wanted to create a proper 3D experience to show off the capabilities of the system. "For this project what we needed to do was use Star Fox to provide users with a game that shows the appeal of Nintendo 3DS as quickly as possible," he said. "We put a lot of effort into the graphics, and if we had included online support then we couldn't have reached this level in the time allowed."

The time allowed may have been short, since the port was a volley in getting quality games out for the 3DS. Nintendo has admitted that lack of software carries the brunt of blame for the system's sluggish sales, so granting extra time for online play probably wasn't in the cards.

But, the development team did at least experiment with online play, and Amano says those tests included new features to boot. "Working on the multiplayer part was a nice, satisfying challenge, and if I get the chance to work on another Star Fox title, I would definitely consider an online multiplayer mode."

While Nintendo's ports have been well-received, the 3DS user base seems to be getting hungry for new games from the company. They'll have to wait a little longer, though, as Super Mario 3D Land is coming on November 13, followed by Mario Kart 7 on December 4.

Editor-In-Chief
From The Chatty
  • reply
    September 21, 2011 3:30 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Star Fox 64 3D lacks online multiplayer due to cost, time.

    Nintendo's Yusuke Amano talks about why Star Fox 64 3D didn't add online functionality to its multiplayer mode, but claims that they did tests that might find their way into future releases.

    • reply
      September 21, 2011 3:56 PM

      they didn't even make the game from scratch. cost and time?

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      September 21, 2011 4:01 PM

      It took so long to port a game that's already completed that we didnt have any time or money left to add multiplayer with shitty friend codes!

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        September 21, 2011 11:05 PM

        It wasn't really a port, though. All new assets and extremely tiny amounts of code would be able to be reused (I'm guessing that there was a good chunk of assembly code written for the N64 version). Like the new OoT on the 3DS isn't a port either. It's pretty much a new game that looks and behaves like the original.

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      September 21, 2011 4:58 PM

      Man, fuck that noise. Not even worth it without multiplayer.

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      September 21, 2011 5:19 PM

      What a ridiculous argument....

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      September 21, 2011 5:23 PM

      Yes, Nintendo, please continue to sell your first-party titles short so that more people don't pay the new, lower, entrance price because THE GAMES ARE NOT FULL-FEATURED.

      In my personal opinion, they are trying to kill this system earlier rather than later.

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      September 21, 2011 5:43 PM

      Nintendo, pro at being behind the curve.

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      September 21, 2011 5:44 PM

      Wait, what? I thought that was gonna be awesome with the ability to see the faces of your opponents. That sucks! :(

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        September 21, 2011 7:17 PM

        So much for being in a squad and doing my best Slippy impression to my teammates.

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      September 21, 2011 7:14 PM

      Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha... Fucking lazy ass developers! I'm sure they will suprise us a month or two later with the good ole "DLC" garbage so they can ring more money out of ya!!!

      The new way of designing games! Design half, sell at full price then sell each update as DLC! Priceless!!!!

    • reply
      September 22, 2011 8:45 AM

      Even with all this said. The game still is great.

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      September 22, 2011 9:50 AM

      One more notch on the list of "why I'm glad I didn't buy the 3DS at launch".

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      September 22, 2011 2:53 PM

      So they are charging £35 for a half baked port. You stay classy nintendo.

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      September 24, 2011 10:19 PM

      it does suck but damn i love this game

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