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NL: NoE had asked Criterion for a take on F-Zero U [Up: Alex Ward Comments]
- Thread starter PtM
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It did seem weird that they had worked out co-development deals with Activision (Sing Party) and WB Games (LEGO City Undercover) and helped Ubisoft out with ZombiU and Rayman Legends at kind of the forefront of the early hardcore gamer appeal push, but EA was seemingly left to their own devices. Now, we know that there was something pretty significant in the works.
The question is should we have known, when it was something as tantalizing as this?
The question is should we have known, when it was something as tantalizing as this?
It's interesting how F-Zero as a mainline series is the one that seems to get outsourced the most. Maybe it has to do with how Miyamoto said that if he'd be making one he wouldn't do one unless he had an actual new idea for it. Perhaps that's why they choose to outsource it to developers like Amusement Vision (and in this case would-be Criterion) because they'd have a more fresh take on it.
I'd like to think this explains why there was an F-Zero game of all things in Nintendo Land. Maybe they were banking hard on the Criterion deal to go through and maybe F-Zero was actually on the cards during the Wii U. At least this gives me a little more hope that F-Zero will be the franchise that sees a "revival" on the next console (similarly to how it was Metroid for the GC, Punch-Out for the Wii and Star Fox for Wii U).
I'd like to think this explains why there was an F-Zero game of all things in Nintendo Land. Maybe they were banking hard on the Criterion deal to go through and maybe F-Zero was actually on the cards during the Wii U. At least this gives me a little more hope that F-Zero will be the franchise that sees a "revival" on the next console (similarly to how it was Metroid for the GC, Punch-Out for the Wii and Star Fox for Wii U).
MarkMclovin
Member
Jesus. So fucking close.
Criterion has been owned by EA since 2004. That's actually a big part of the reason why their very popular middleware engine wound up being abandoned.
yeah.. I read the internet wrong.. read 2014 instead.. sorry..
but that makes the whole story seems strange.. It must have been EA who turned them down then .. Criterion should have nothing to say in this matter then.
Nagoshi and Amusement Vision's golden age is long gone, but I'd be 100% okay with this.
I honestly expect this to just be a tease for F-Zero X in the N64 virtual console. I hope I'm wrong, of course.
Nintendo....
Triggerhappytel
Member
I mean, how serious were they really if they didn't approach other devs? Why not go to Bugbear or Sega (does the same team who made F-Zero GX still exist?) or Sumo Digital or Codemasters or Playground or Lucid instead of/as well as Criterion? I mean, there's always the chance that they did, but the fact that a new F-Zero game isn't happening suggests to me they didn't push very hard for it, if they can't find even one developer who was able to take the project on.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
?
F-Zero is the feature of Retro Gamer magazine this month. Don't see how that's a tease for anything...
Amusement Vision (GX development team) doesn't exist anymore. I might be wrong but I think the team merged back into Sega and became the leading dev team for the Yakuza series.
After the restructure Sega did about a decade ago, Amusement Vision ceased to exist and Nagoshi was promoted to being a general manager of development, where he's been the steward for the Yakuza series since. I don't know how much of the staff is still at Sega besides Nagoshi, but given where Sega's at these days, I doubt they're in a position to reshuffle again if requested.
Agent Icebeezy
Welcome beautful toddler, Madison Elizabeth, to the horde!
First thing I read when I get to work. Now I'm fucking sad.
sixteen-bit
Member
I probably wouldn't have liked it, but I would enjoy seeing Criterion's take on it regardless.
You don't see why EA would make a game in a 5+ million an entry series instead of F-Zero?
DaSorcerer7
Member
Well, at least it shows that nintendo is still somewhat interested in the franchise
Sumo were already preoccupied with Sonic Racing Transformed during Wii U's lead-up, and after that were hard at work on LBP3 as well as a "genre-defining triple A game" for current-gen consoles.
TheSlySoul
Member
Criterion would be pretty awesome making an F-Zero game.
Banjotanooki
Member
Didn't know GX was playable of N64...o__0
Pretty much any independent racing studio makes more sense than asking a mega publisher.
Wasn't it only 30 fps though? :/
Not sure what's the problem with asking. If they wanted a F-Zero game it would make sense for them to ask for several pitches from different companies if they felt like they weren't up to it themselves. They might have and they might also have rejected all of them for all we know. The number of games pitched to Nintendo every year must be pretty impressive. Not all of them even make it past the initial gate that is NoE and NoA.
Whitman's Ghost
Banned
Why not just get this game ready for launch on NX. Would be a huge waste just on WiiU IMO.
Shuggananas
Banned
Sure, but it's like asking Treyarch to make Metroid.
You know the answer before you start.
shiftplusone
Member
Criterion has always had games with a fantastic sense of speed, would have been interesting if they got the chance to get f zero fast
That's almost exactly a wipeout game, which is nothing like f zero
And you're a giant demanding baby if you dare to criticize it
That's almost exactly a wipeout game, which is nothing like f zero
And you're a giant demanding baby if you dare to criticize it
Relaxed Muscle
Member
A megapublisher is not gonna stop developing one of their IP's so they can give one of their internal studios to create an F-Zero, which outside of the initial deal, they are unlikely to see any money (and a possinble potential damage to their own IP)
Taco_Human
Member
Really? By the name alone and kind of racing, I don't think I would have trusted Criterion making a futuristic racer.
I think it's pretty clear at this point that there's a lot we don't know about what went behind the scenes with EA and Nintendo and the "unprecedented partnership". We probably never will fully know. So maybe in that light it made complete sense? Worth noting that after Most Wanted Criterion pretty much stopped making Need for Speed and moved onto a new IP. It's not going to be a guaranteed seller. The least F-Zero would have been is guaranteed revenue.
But the choice was not between Need for Speed and F-Zero. The choice was between a new IP and potentially F-Zero (guaranteed revenue like I said above). Ghost Games was formed in 2011. Back then EA had a pretty good idea where to develop the future of their racing IP.
EDIT: Actually nevermind most of my post. Misread the article a bit. If I'm reading this correctly they would have created a pitch while working on Most Wanted and then perhaps continue onto making a full game after Most Wanted was done? Still think it was good for them to ask for a pitch at least. I hope Nintendo doesn't think the next entry for F-Zero from the viewpoint of "who's available" rather than "who would be suitable".
I still think that giving Shin'en a small development EAD supervisor's groupd would be the smartest idea. An art director, a Lead programmer, a Supervisor, and probably within the next 18 months we'd have a proper Fzero on Wii U (too bad the Wii U will not be on the market anymore LOL )
thomasmahler
Member
So, I'm not sure how bigger companies handle it, but I highly doubt Nintendo can just go to any developer and ask 'Hey, can you spend the next 3-4 months to work on a F-Zero pitch that we might totally reject?' and expect developers to jump on that. I know I wouldn't.
If Nintendo pays for the pitch, then why pay for multiple pitches from different developers? That's probably super goddamn costly right from the start and I doubt publishers want to become pregnant with a product before they even know if it'll be any good.