While the majority of Shigeru Miyamoto’s works enjoy huge success in Japan, there is one franchise that has been steadily declining in popularity. Miyamoto spoke to Multiplayer about the sad decline of the Star Fox series.

I’m a big fan of the ‘Star Fox’ games. Every time we make a ‘Star Fox’ game I’m hoping people will enjoy it as much as I do. Of course the goal every time is to try and make it more and more fun but, at least in Japan, the people that purchase the ‘Star Fox’ games has decreased over the years. But we still try to make them more fun and hopefully people will see the appeal in those games.

Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that there hasn’t been a full-on flying Star Fox console title since 1997’s Star Fox 64? Star Fox Adventures for the Gamecube was a rather huge deviation from the winning formula, and while Star Fox: Assault did have ship combat, it was watered down with sloppy on-foot missions. Give Japan an all-flying, all-shooting Star Fox title for the Wii and the fans will come.

Mario Creator Talks Disappointment With ‘Star Fox’ [MTV Multiplayer]

Who needs Shenmue 3 when you can get the total Shenmue experience playing as Ryo Hazuki in Sega All-Star Racing? Ryo puts the kitten-feeding and gashapon collecting to rest in order to make sure Sonic, Tails and that damn monkey from Samba De Amigo don’t prove themselves faster than his motorcycle. If that fails, Ryo can also get behind the wheel of a forklift to truly fork with the opposition.

With the inclusion of Ryo as a Sega superstar, could Shenmue 3 be far behind? Probably.

Ryo Hazuki Returns [IGN]

According to Marshall County Sheriff Kenny Dickerson, “The younger brother allegedly got mad because he got beat at some video games and got the gun.” The father was outside mowing the law at the time.

The older brother, De-Andre Finley, admitted the weapon automatically went off when the two tussled over it. The story coincides with police investigations which have stated the weapon was too long and too heavy for the young boy to fire. “That version we can live with because it’s consistent with the evidence,” the police added.

It is unlikely that De-Andre will be charged, stated police. He is under 13-years and “it appeared to be an accident anyway”.

Boy, 9, Shot Dead In Video Game Row [Sky News Thanks, A!]

Shigeru Miyamoto is no longer suffering the GameCube blues, we learned at E3. In fact, he’s been turning heads. But he is still trying to shake the criticism that Nintendo’s Wii games are shallow.

This is part of a longer interview conducted by Kotaku with Miyamoto, the lead creative director for Nintendo, at E3 last week.

[via NeoGAF]

I’ve been following UK:Resistance since the late 90’s, and while I can’t say I’ve always agreed with the way they chose to cover Sonic and friends (with various, NSFW bodily fluids usually), I have to say I respect how long they’ve stood by him in the face of sub-par game after sub-par game. Well now they’ve finally had enough. They want fans to design them a new logo, and the guidelines are pretty simple:

You can be serious. It doesn’t have to be Blaze Fielding sucking Ryo Hazuki’s cock, although that would probably get linked to by Kotaku so if you have the art skills and time…

There’s no probably about it, Commander. Hit up the link below to see how the love has died.

The Now-Official Design UKR A New Logo Competition [UK:Resistance - Thanks hahnchen!]
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So, shortly after hanging up the phone, I sent him a follow-up. There was one MGS4 idea that we hadn’t discussed that I thought was deserving of an NYT spotlight: How sad the game is. And how rare it is that we get a chance to play a sad game.

In my letter, I wrote:

MGS4 is the rare effort of video game blues and tragedy. Gamers are used to being asked to save the day and be the hero. Metal Gear Solid 4 is so unusual in that it’s the rare game that asks them to be interested in something else: a march toward defeat, an interactive tragedy.

I’ve printed my full e-mail below. No spoilers beyond what was in the game’s trailers.

Anyone else want more video game tragedies? (cue mention of Conker’s Bad Fur Day)

David,

One other thing that we should have talked about: the novelty of a video game tragedy.

The video game medium has largely been one of triumphal fiction. One could argue that that’s because of the nature of games. Designers need to keep their players entertained, which, in character-driven games as far back as Pac-Man, involves giving the player obstacles and enemies to overcome. And many modern video games keep the player engaged by rewarding the player with an expanding arsenal of abilities. Get this far in a game or conquer this challenge in a game and your character will now be able to jump further or replace her pistol with a shotgun or finally be able to swing not just a sword but now a sword engulfed in magic flame. Players are compelled, so often, by a sense of progress. And that’s why, I think, so many games’ stories are necessarily ones of triumph, of Horatio Alger status climbing or Joseph Campbell heroic feat.

So it was a bit strange when the first major MGS4 trailer premiered a few years ago and culminated with Old Snake finding a quiet spot of the battlefield away from the gunfire an placing the barrel of a pistol in his mouth. That’s what feels so unusual about MGS4 even compared to the other MGS games. This is a sad story, one that feels destined to end in defeat. Snake is aging and dying. He’s literally become toxic to the people around him. And his back hurts. (Which you’ll see him clutch in pain if you let him crouch too long). MGS4 is the rare effort of video game blues and tragedy. Gamers are used to being asked to save the day and be the hero. Metal Gear Solid 4 is so unusual in that it’s the rare game that asks them to be interested in something else: a march toward defeat, an interactive tragedy. That’s what feels novel. And, like I said, it’s still a challenge to parse the value of novelty from any sense of how the work will hold up in the long term.

Hope that helps!

-Stephen

Well, now The Wiicast has gotten on the phone with Adam Spencer of Nibris partner Fog Studios to mess with our heads some more, saying that things are still underway:

Obviously there’s only so much I can say. I can tell you for sure that the project is real, they’re actively developing it. There’s no publisher for the game yet and as such it’s impossible for us to say when the game is going to be released. Basically, that’s the official statement.

Spencer says he’s even seen the game in action, but they haven’t found a “fit” yet in a publisher.

Breaking News! Sadness is Real! [The Wiicast]