Release date: locked on!

Fox McCloud and his motley crew of wingmen are back this summer as they barrel roll their way into an upcoming Japanese release.

Announced back at E3 2010, Star Fox 64 3D is an updated 3DS instalment of Star Fox 64 on the Nintendo 64, and thanks to the depth perception achieved by the handheld's 3D visuals, it will hopefully be a prime example of how a game can take advantage of this unique benefit.

Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Konno talks about how beneficial it is to be able to express three-dimensional space in a game like this:

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... in StarFox, there's the mode where you're flying through rings: on a 2D screen, sometimes that's hard to do, because you can't understand how far one ring is from the other. But now, with the 3DS, it's easier to see where they are.

The game page on the Japanese Nintendo website reveals the launch date has been set for 14th July, so hopefully, that means the rest of the world won't have too long to wait. Expect more information about the game by the time E3 2011 kicks off in June.

[source nintendo.co.jp, via guardian.co.uk]