Being a weirdo that I am, I think to myself "If I was Nintendo, what would I do for the Wii?" I'm sure a lot more people are asking this due to Wii sales slumping in 2009. Many answers have come about like "Make more traditional games," or "make older franchises." I think I may have found the answer. Nintendo will/is successful by making a diverse library of games, and Star Fox is going to be one game to accomplish this goal.
Looking at how Nintendo has been doing their games, we can see that they have a similar idea in mind. Their "10million+" games rarely repeat a genre. Wii Sports is the only sports game. Wii Fit is the only fitness game. Mario Kart is the only racing game. New Super Mario Bros Wii is the only platforming games. Along with this, Nintendo is also making new genres like fitness games. Excluding the two sequals, Nintendo has struck, so far, to only focusing on a genre once. Why would they, and why is it importaint?
Despite everything the company has done, their goal is to expand gaming. To expand gaming, thus must make many different games. Let's look at Wii Sports Resort. The game has sold well, but has not really driven hardware save for a little in the US. Japan and Europe seemed uneffected by the release save for in the short run. Why? Because Nintendo got all the sports fans with Wii Sports. Why not release F-Zero. F-Zero would only be a higher tier racing game. While some may argue the difference between kart racing and realistic racing, Nintendo got all the racing fans with Mario Kart. They will have the platforming fans with New Super Mario Bros Wii. If they made a multiplayer FPS (that was successful) they will get all of the FPS fans. Nintendo is successful when they make a new genre rather then sticking with an old one. One idea I've had was to make Waverace, b ut they shouldn't. There is no need for a more fleshed out waveracing game (what ever those things are called) when they already have Wii Sports Resort.
Now what does Starfox have to do with any of this? Simple. Nintendo needs to make a SHMUP (shoot-em-up) to expand gaming, like they need to make many different geres. Some may point to the Airsports games in Wii Sports Resort like I pointed to Waverace. Waveracing would only be a more fleshed out version of the one in Wii Sports Resort no matter what. The airplane game in Wii Sports Resort, however, is not a SHMUP. It is Pilotwing. Pilotwing was a flying game. It's focus was on flying a plane around, much like Flight Simulator. No matter what, Pilotwing will only be a fleshed out version of Wii Sport Resort's airsports. In fact, it would be hard to top in Pilotwing because Wuhu Island was a fun place to explore. It would be hard to do that again, especially since you actually did more on Wuhu then flying, making it more memorable. While some may mention dogfighting as being like Starfox, this is only half the game. Also, it is all within the context of a flying game. A lof of the dogfighting was about exploring the island.
Star Fox fills a void that has been there for a long time since the times of the arcades. SHMUPS have been ignored for a long time despite being big in the arcade era. Galaga and Space Invaders are famous arcade games. Surprisingly, they genre has been forgotten. Bullet Hells have murded this genre. The games have become too hard for anyone to get into. Now, rather then being about dodging bullets and attacking aliens, it's just about dodgingf insane number of bullets. In fact, looking a screens of these games I can't keep track of what is going on; I doubt most people could keep track of the action on screen. Naturally, most fans left the genre. But, many people pointed out that the Wii is really trying to bring arcade sytle games back, much like the 8-bit and 16-bit days. Some may have noticed a difference here. "Hey," they say. "Starfox is a 3D SHMUP, not a 2D one." This is true, but a 2D shmup probably wont be able to utilize motion controls in the same was, or they wont be as exciting. The 3D gameplay will give the player more of a feel for flying.
But, how should the game be? Star Fox, as many people will note, has not been successful for a while. Starfox was most successful on the SNES (with 2.99 million sold) and the N64 (at 4.03 million sold). Naturally, the games should focus on what those games did well over the others in the franchise. This means no adventuring or walking at all. "But how could these games be 10million+?" you ask. Simple. Infuse new values into the series. The first thing a designer may want to do is have the character's chatrer be more indepth, and develop them. This is a big no-no. Players will not care about the dramatic characters or some kind of love triange (which is what Star Fox Command did). Their chatter should be used only sparingly. Have them have a banter once in a while, but never go very far. Star Fox Assult and Star Fox 64 did it well. What is also helpful is that they can give the player a tutorial while he/she plays. They don't have to be forced to play one, the game gives it slowly as you play. In this way, you are always in control.
The big aspect is going to be the game's controls. One way Mario Kart Wii became big is because how you control the game. It is like you are driving the car. You have motion to your game. Star Fox Wii's contols will be a big reason why it is succesful. Using motion plus, the player can control the game like Wii Sport Resort's airsports. A lot of people liked this, even kids. It was simple enough to get. Also, any complex button combination (like summersaults) are not graphed to the controls. Anyone can figure out how to do a summersaults with an airplane. The same is true of barrle roles. It will make 3D SHMUPS more accesable then ever. Just make the levels interesting and have enough action ans the game is a sure fire hit.
Here's the big deal. Multiplayer. Star Fox Wii will be big with multiplayer. One problem with Wii Sports Resort's Dogfight is it had only two players playing. Instead, have four people playing. This is where Star Fox comes in. In the 64 game, multiplayer was never a huge focus. There was very little, yet people still enjoyed it. It's because the game lent itself well to being a multiplayer game. So what will Star Fox Wii make a big deal? Multiplayer, of course. Consoles do well with multiplayer. This is one reason why Smash Bros and Halo are so big. They are multiplayer heavy games. So, naturally, make it a huge focus. Have online play similar to Mario Kart where you can have up to 16 players go at it. Make lots of modes. Instead of just dogfights, make a game where players race to shoot down the most enemy ships. There is a lot of potential for multiplayer.
But perhaps the biggest reason for Nitnendo to make Star Fox Wii is how it will fit into Nintendo's 2010 strategy. I beleive we will see the Vitality Sensor and Zelda Wii in 2010. Like I mentioned earlier, these games can keep momentum strong because they are genres not already there (or ones that did not expand). One big flaw of both games is they lack multiplayer. Multiplayer is something that has made the Wii huge, but it is also what has been hurting the HD twins. Halo made such an impact because it was a local multiplayer shooter. But, in 2010, if what I say is right, there is no multiplayer games. This is where Star Fox comes in. It will not only fill a void in genre, but it will also fill a void in multiplayer games.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, Nintendo should not repeat genres. I know a lot of people will argue and say lots of things, but let me say this. Nintendo should A)Make a genre if there has been not huge game to fill it or B)towards the end of the Wii's life.
For the former, the genre void is not filled unles a huge games comes to fill it. Excite Trucks did not fill the racing void. Mario Kart Wii filled the void. Twilight Princess wont fill the adventure void, but Zelda Wii (the next one) will. As for the latter, Nintendo does not need to make a game if it wont expand the user base. If the Wii last more then 5 or 6 years, then it will have time to try other games. Nintendo will eventually run out of genres to make, so they can focus on making other games players would like to see. F-Zero or Excitebikes should come latter in the system's life, just as perhaps a Donkey Kong platformer should. These games are not high priority with the void filled and many others left to tend to, but as the Wii ages, there will be time to make these games that will keep players happy.
Overall, Nintendo has been bad about some of there older franchises. Star Fox is one that has been ignored. But now, there is reason to make it. With Motion Plus and a demand for SHMUPS that has been left unfulfilled, the time is right for Star Fox to make a come back. Nintendo needs a game like this if they want the Wii to continue it's avalance, or to restart it anew.
