Nintendo Explains Lack of Online Play in Star Fox 64

i would wait for the online.

An update?, DLC, I assume the 3DS can do these things?

Well, I don't have this game, but I'm fine either way.

"The popular online games work in lots of things, so they play well online"

True, there is a great deal of gray-area logic and behind the scenes adjustments for the constant shifts in lag, as I understand it. The smooth experience you get in an online game doesn't really come from the web actually being that fast or simultaneous... it's more of a constant adjustment and correction (by the server?) to create a seemingly smooth experience out of chaotic timing, lags, etc.

As was said above, DLC?

I don't know much about DLC, but I doubt it's as easy as that. That would require one heck of a patch and the developers have probably moved on to a new project now

Honestly, I don't care that much about online, especially for a game/series that's more about the single-player experience. Even for a Nintendo game that actually uses it, like Mario Kart, I've probably only played a dozen or so online matches with friends elsewhere. Fun, but a minor addition. Local multiplayer vastly outnumbers that, and I'm out of college (AKA without scores of friends nearby all the time). But that's just me — I get that others play almost exclusively online, and if Nintendo wants to cater to this segment, they best spend the time and money to do it. Doesn't seem like it's high on their priorities, though. The frankness of Amano's response is refreshing. ("Why not? Costs too much, and we didn't want to take the time to do it." Oh.)

Nintendo Is so hesitent to bust into the online world.

they try to act like there is eventually gonna be great online play like xbox live.

They could do it easily, but its about business.

just give us the online

Hmm... I'd rather wait. I mean, I love Star Fox 64 in the N64 days, and I remember the multiplayer was just awesome. Just thinking about an online mode for it gives me chills of excitement! I'm sure it will work, that's all this game needs to be perfect. I fully support this idea

Why should allowing the multiplayer which is already coded take such an long time to provide it online. Buying the online infra-structure shouldnt be that hard?

They were pressed for time. It's understandable. I would have waited, albeit complaining the whole time, but hey I'm over it.

Still doesn't explain the lack of streetpass for highscores or wevs... ._.;;

@sgtsch: That's what I thought. Nintendo thinks in weird way sometimes. In the Gamescom special of the German Nintendo News on 3DS/Wii a kid even said that he wanted to buy it because of the online.

I'm happy they didn't delay. This game needed to come out now.

Make the sequel Star Fox 64 has ALWAYS deserved, and add it to that. Release it say.... in the next three-four years. Should be right around the middle of the 3DS life (maybe not this model, but the 3DS family)

I expect my consulting fee, Nintendo.

I would have waited a year for online. Star Fox isn't one of those games that I absolutely needed on launch, and with all of the other titles coming we don't need to worry about it.

The article was very weirdly said. I guess they just rushed it out in launch and didn't add all of the features that the game deserved.

But It's still worth $40. Great game. I'm getting it for christmas and can't wait to try it out, but online would have been amazing.

BTW Can someone answer this question for me? Anyone who owns SF64? Do you HAVE to get 4 players to play locally or can it be 2?

@matsanderson11 The 3DS is capable of DLC and such, Dead or Alive Dimensions almost updates with new costumes for the game everyday.

But I don't think transferring a whole online mode for a game is possible... but I'm not really sure.

Those are rather poor excuses, star fox command did online just fine at the same price as every other DS game. And if time was really an issue, why not put more people in the development team devoted to putting online mode in? I'm pretty sure graphics programming and online programming can be handled by two separate teams at the same time (if making an already existing multiplayer mode online would really take that much time)

That and they were bragging about multiplayer aspects that don't mean anything if the person you're playing with is right there. And even ignoring all this, a high score chart among people on your friends list and streetpass is really something that should have had time made for it, it IS one of the 3DS's selling points.

It's a fun game, but if it's meant to showcase the 3DS's appeal and many capabilities, it did a very poor job of it outside of 3D and gyro controls.

@sgotsch I assure you, it can be THAT hard. In many ways, it's almost like doing a new game because of the debugging required. One can easily almost double the debugging of a typical game.

In the case of Star Fox 64 3D on a recently developed and released system, it could slip to an extra year before the game would be out.

TRANSLATION:

We're lazy on our products, and can't devote any of our money-flooded bodies to make an online that even works.

The unfortunate thing about these statements is that time and money is a hurdle for all games to have decent, robust online components. Sony and MS have not spent years developing and supporting online gaming. If Nintendo does not get it's act together with online, be it purchasing content, sharing experiences or multiplayer gaming, it's going to be too late for whatever system they have after the 3ds.

Nintendo is a pretty poor company, so the money issue totally makes sense.

at least nintendo didnt delay the game. thats one of the LAST things the 3DS needs on its back

@Bigdog It dont see many causes of bugs compared to offline wireless multiplayer, but i have no clue for programming anyways.

But there were other Games (StreetFighter IV for example) who managed to implement a pretty solid online multiplayer months ago.

Honestly, it seems to me that alot of people want online just to have online. There are alot of games that just dont benifit from it.

Those complaining about money issues, you can only assume that if this was the only game in development. Think about it, money not spent on this , could be going to a new IP.

@ tealovertoma
Nintendo is far from poor...dunno where you got that idea from
On the subject of this article...I think online play is over-rated. I much rather some face to face banter. Now, I agree that as an option, it is nice to have online, but not at the cost of nicer graphics and earlier release dates. The 3DS needs more AAA games now if it's to get a proper foothold before the Vita comes along...that thing looks sweet!

PS: I love my 3DS, never once regretted my day 1 purchase and believe the DSlite to be the greatest games console ever made.

@sgotsch Actually with online there are a lot of issues you need to deal with, especially if a server is in use. It is never as simple as just hooking up the server and it will work. Testing for a reasonable of lag can take a while and depending on the number of total players you want to support, the server maintenance costs can be huge.

All I heard was, "because we're Nintendo."

It doesn't matter to me that much anyway. While online would have been nice, the original didn't have any (it was 1997, after all) and it was still a fun game. Besides, there's Mario Kart 7 coming out in December to satisfy my online tastes.

DLC is highly unlikely and more than likely not even possible. I wouldn't expect online anytime soon if ever.

@The_mysteron Ever heard of something called sarcasm?

Excuses excuses. By this point ant flagship title with mutiplayer should have online. I find it a step back when command had a really great online mode and find it sad that the fanbase is ok with getting an inferior game.

Only one nintendo game so far on 3ds will even use the connection and thats scary.

I'm not saying the 3DS is as powerful as a PS3 but Resident evil 5 shipped with no online multiplayer and later got one via DLC, using the existing maps, where there is a will there is a way!! An SD card can hold a lot of data!!!

Yeah, save the money for the next Star Fox project. SF64 has a very strong single player versus multiplayer. It's nice they added things to the multiplayer, also. Can't wait to get the game soon

Plus, maybe it's why MHTriG won't have an online mode- money. Capcom rather save it's resources for MH4.

im totally fine without online i dont care for it much anyway

Sounds like a load of old to me.

Id prefer online to be honest!

I dont know anyone who has 3DS so 4 player mode probably wont get used anytime soon:(

Yes i do enjoy playing it with cpu characters but that defeat's the point of having multiplayer doesn't it.

If i want to play by myself ill play the story mode or score attack.

If it had online play i would of played it alot more.

Take for example Resident evil mercenaries ive logged in 89 hours into it.

Most of that time was spend online in the Duo mode however compared that to 8 hours played star fox says alot.

Online does offer hell of alot more game time in my opinion.

Am having terrible thoughts of buying a home console that is good at online gaming. Because i just dont think nintendo are ever going to go full strenght with online play on there systems?

I love my 3DS dearly!!

But my poor wii as been put in to early retirement and am playing it less & less.

My 3DS has took top priority at moment and love using it.

"so get your fingers out of them bags of gold coins nintendo and make use sum good online nintendo experience's"

So we dont go looking else were for it!!

(Raise eyebrow )

They could have just been honest instead of giving us these weak excuses.

I'm not getting Star Fox anytime soon. So the addition of an online in my buy timespan would be great.

In all honesty, the multiplayer of Star Fox 64 is pretty weak. It's fun for a few matches, but gets pretty boring afterwords. The appeal of free-range combat in the campaign is that either (A): you're fighting something larger than you, or (B): the battleground becomes a absolute chaos, with 8+ ships all shooting at each-other. In the multiplayer both of those never happen, meaning that the mode comes off as dull.

@pizzacore: You can play Star Fox 64 with 2 players but the screen is always split 4 ways, so it's kind of annoying.

Online would have been cool for this game, but I have a feeling that it would just be one of those games that you logged onto and nobody was playing. I really wasn't interested in online till I heard they completely overhauled the multiplayer anyway.

@tate24: It not about playing with or without other people the multiplayer is a completely different game. It's nice that they included bots, it gives me something to come back too after I've finished the main game.

If it had online it wud of been a day 1 buy but nooo Nintendo was just to lazy jk but online be way better

Wow, they admitted to being cheap. Well if that was worth it to them, fine. But I won't buy it until I can pick it up for $20. So for me, you're making half the amount b/c you went cheap.

Think about that Nintendo.

Makes sense, really.

The main issue the 3DS has at the moment is a lack of decent games and Starfox 64 was always about the single player.

Imagine the doom and gloom articles we'd have to read if Nintendo announced that a N64 Remake was delayed until 2012.

I find the online for SSFIV laggy and almost unplayable, but that may just be my ISP. If Starfox online was going to be like that, better to be avoided.

TheDarkness 4 player mode has no substance though!

After a couple of matches you've see everything it has to offer!

you cant pick and other airwings u cant play as landmaster for example you cant even pick any other characters apart fox?

which seem so silly!

So it makes the mode quite dull to play.

Also only 4 areas to play in considering there are 15 planets in game they could have had far more maps to choose from no excuse there?

it seem the mode was after thought in my opinion.

while do think its great game!

they haven't given multi player enough thought and offered enough options to warrant lasting appeal.

and do understand some people saying star fox is a single player experience.

But were not playing the star fox 64 of old its been revamped with cool graphics, gryo control, 3D and multi player that could of been so much better with little more time!

Were in an age of connecting to other people, sharing fun and gaming experiences.

Nintendo have had there heart in right place but not expanding the experience seem terrible mistake on there part.

Didn't miyamoto once say a late game is only late once while a bad game is bad forever? I'm not saying this game is bad, but I thought that meant they never rush releases.

@The_Mysteron haha, it was obviously sarcasm!

this game fully worth its 40 dollars.
but now thats its out...please make an update ???

I hate Nintnedo at this point

as already said, just update the game, there's no excuse for not doing it

I never really thought Star Fox's type of gameplay was well suited for multiplayer anyway. Sure it's a nice bonus, but once we've got online games like Mario Kart and hopefully another game like Metroid Prime Hunters, I'm sure we'll all get over it.

They should never have bothered remaking these N64 games. Failing to add ANYTHING of value to them is just pathetic.

I would've agreed with Nintendo if this game had been out at launch. Yet again, I don't understand why Nintendo didn't have Starfox and Zelda available at launch. Even if they had to reprogram the games from the ground up (which I doubt they did), Nintendo still has the resources to get it done in a more timely manner (besides that the creative process should be significantly shorter on a remake).

I guess I just don't understand what Nintendo thought was going to happen when they launched the 3DS with nothing new (especially since the DS phat had a crappy launch line up).

Oh, well. The moral to the story is this: don't be an early adopter. I've learned my lesson.

No excuses Nintendo. This game needs online multiplayer. Kid Icarus has been pushed back with a really boring looking online multiplayer. But Star Fox would be awesome for it.

Personally, I'd just download it off WiiVC and save 30$. Though just between those 2 choices, I'd wait the six months and get online multi-player. Though DLC and updates are always a good idea. Honestly though , I think online play is overrated. So you can battle, but usually, it's not much different from battling an NPC. (With Nintendo at least)

Just make a Star Fox 64 sequel with online play and all will be forgiven

People do not understand the problems with making a game suitable for online play. It isn't just a matter of "take the multiplayer, make it online. YAYZ!" @warioswoods comment seems to hit the nail on the head, for me. I think Nintendo really wanted, and needed, a strong title on the system to try and raise its sales. The 3DS didn't have enough good titles, so Nintendo wanted to get this out as fast as it could. Simple as that.

Sure, some of us would've waited. But Nintendo felt that the game being released now, with no online, would be more beneficial than waiting a year and releasing it with online, It makes sense to me.

@Amano Cool story bro.

@Radixxs Hell, I would just be happy with a Star Fox 64 sequel. SF64 is one of the best games of all time and anything that resembles a sequel of that game would instantly warrant a purchase from me.

@C7_ - have you been online with starfox command recently, it is dead. It wants a certain number of payers to start a match and guess what there is no longer enough. However this one is clever because when my friends are done with me I can play against cpus and not worry about cheaters, lagging out due to bad connections and everything else that didn't work with command and although it would be nice for it to be another option, given the choice after command, I'd pick cpus over terrible online. Besides it's always has been more fun to play with friends in person and afterwards practice when they aren't around and be more prepared for next time, over dealing with online issues. I'm good at waiting here but come 2012 this game would sell poorly compared to how well it's likely selling now because of all the new games coming out and that money can go to getting a new game produced now instead.

"...use Star Fox to provide users with a game that shows the appeal of Nintendo 3DS as quickly as possible."

Gimme a break... This guy's kidding, right? Why don't do Fox Party for that?

I'd just get it off VC like my brother said. Not as good graphics, but overall pretty much the same game.

If you didn't want to take the time to make a full game, you shouldn't have released it for full price. And if you are of the "online wouldn't be worth it" crowd, that's fine, I kind of agree. But then there's no way to excuse the full-price ($40) price point. Slightly improved graphics do not make one game a full price re-release. You'll notice when they do this on PS3, they add features (3D, trophies) on top of the better graphics AND they feature 2+ games! There is no excuse for this, and frankly OOT 3D is nearly in the same boat. (Well done port but not equivalent to a full-price new game.)

Well online would have sold me honestly. Instead its a remake of a game I've played hundreds of times with updated graphics and a new control scheme that I've hear most people prefer the old way anyway. There just is no way to justify $40 for this game and I played this game religiously back on the 64.

The funny thing is, Star Fox 64 3D was originally classified PG in Australia for "Mild violence", but a later build of the game was classified a couple of months later receiving the consumer advice "Mild violence, Caution: User generated content may change online", which is the rating advice printed on the final product despite being devoid of online multiplayer.

Somehow, I suspect that the game does in fact feature coding for online multiplayer, but Nintendo probably skimped out on investing in servers at the last minute. Either way, something doesn't quite add up here...

I would have rather seen the game delayed. For $40 they should have included more.

I cud wait it be a day 1 by if it had online

Wait, you mean Star Fox 3D was a simple port rushed out to fill a lackluster release schedule after a premature launch? I can't give them too much crap though. Major releases on PS360 cost $60 (of course, those games actually get price drops), and companies are still struggling with the cost of maintaining online infrastructure for games. The stronger engine/graphics drives up the cost as well. $40 is in a weird area. Probably a bit too much for a game with Gamecube level graphics (even in 3D) nowadays, but probably not really enough to support a robust online system. We're not going to see it with every game.

Seriously, in a perfect world, this would have had online, but when you rush everything else, things are going to have to get cut. Personally, I would prefer an online mode on a portable system than a home system. Friends don't have a Wii? No problem, come on over. Friends don't have a 3DS, well, I can't convince them to drop $170 on it if they're not interested.

that's a pretty shocking press statement. I'm pretty disappointed that I can't get any use out of that feature b/c I don't know anyone that has a 3DS, and I let Nintendo know it in the Club Nintendo Survey. I guess I'm mostly just surprised that they actually admitted that there's no online because they were in a rush.

I had an awful time in Star Fox Command online, but I still would have given it a shot. Sadly, I won't even have my 3DS until December, so I could definately wait. Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart sure would tide me over...

I would get it if it had online play.

i'l wait for online :3 So online takes a whole year to make ?

There's coming online then? Alright, I can wait for a few months, no big deal.

How does Kid Icarus' online look boring in any way? It looks amazing!

What a cheap excuse, so putting so much effort in the graphics (what graphics start fox has anyway) would prevent to have other people working in decent online modes at the same time? So, their graphics department is the same as these that can program MP routines and functions? Sure, and pink elephants fly around Eiffel tower every night. Minimum development costs, maximum profit, that's the only policy Nintendo knows, and that's the only reason, money, money and more money.

If there were online, I would have already gotten this :3

This is starting to look pathetic from Nintendo. No time? It's a remake for goodness sake. Were they too busy making great games available at launch ? Obviously not. Costs? If Nintendo want to fall behind the competition (in making an alleged costs based calculation) in regards to online play, it's up to them; and up to consumers to make a choice, but this explanation is lame.

For those who say Nintendo are rich, so cost isn't an issue, well, the cost decision is based upon the extra money earned in sales for adding a feature compared to the costs incurred in adding the feature.

I suspect a huge part of the decision would come down to quality. Making the game work well over the internet would be pretty difficult due to lag. There may also be issues with raw grunt of the 3DS hardware - it has to do a ton of additional work compensating for lag and running prediction to try pretend that everyone is seeing the same thing in the game. With whatever else is going on in the game code, this might just not be possible.

And for anyone who thinks that because a game works locally it's dead simple to add online, that is simply not the case. When playing locally, it's possible to run at 60fps with pretty much guaranteed data transfers. With this you can simply send controls data round from each system and perform all the game processing on each system individually. If the link gets interrupted, you just freeze the gameplay for a frame and then carry on. This is what Mario Kart DS does.

When it comes to online, you're pretty much certain to miss packets of data, get packets in the wrong order and get packets very very late (in real-time gameplay turns). For this you need one machine acting as a host (even if the players don't know there's a host) running all the game logic and sending out info to the others. The data packets get bigger so the problems are multiplied. This is why in Mario Kart DS you can't bump other players. They might be next to you on your screen but on their screen they are probably in completely different places.

It saddens me to see how many people are quick to attack Nintendo as greedy and lazy. All they do is to try to make the best products for the majority of their customer base. Yeah, it means some people miss out on features that they'd prefer, but the majority don't care. If the online play was rubbish due to technical constraints, I'd rather it wasn't there at all.

Lots of Nintendo bashing going on at this Nintendo-based website! It's like the Sonic fanbase or something!
(Referring to the comments, not the articles, by the way)
Personally I'm in love with Nintendo right now - because I live in England, and Nintendo of Europe localised Xenoblade and Solatorobo.

I believe Nintendo also don't have many developers with expertise in online mode, after all, they haven't released many games with it. Their team is probably spread all over 3DS and Wii U projects and thus it would take too much time to take care of StarFox 64 3D, while Nintendo knew they have to release as many titles as possible.

I hope they are hiring more help as developing games with HD graphics and online mode demands a lot of work Nintendo and usual rate of releases will not feasable without a large staff.

Killzone Liberation on PSP had online multiplayer patched in, along with medals to obtain in the single player. If the PSP could handle online mode DLC, the 3DS should be able to.

Personally though, I don't care about online. I prefer a good single player experience and/or story.

Yeah, how about including online MP with DLC at a later date, like in Lara Croft on XBLA. I don't believe you can't do DLC stuff on 3DS, right?

@ Nintendolife & "or wouldn't you have minded another six months' wait to get the game and online play?"

Why should take the implementation of online play such a long time? O_o

Staf Fox hasn't really a complicated game structure, so this should be done in a month...

@Aqueous it shouldn't have taken another 6 months, it should've been worked on at the same time by another team devoted specifically to the task, and if it was delayed at all it should've only been a week. And when command came out, I had loads of fun with the online, lag and cheaters weren't even a problem on my end. And yes, online games die after a while, it's unavoidable and this one would've too; it's just how things work. My point with command is they've done it before with a game that didn't really brag about its multiplayer, and yet it worked incredibly well for it.

I would of definitely waited for the online. I didn't buy the remake becaue I basically got the same game(minus the 3D and better graphics) downloaded on my wii. Local multiplayer with cameras is not enough to satisfy the real Starfox fans who wanted to play their friends online so they didn't all have to be in the same place.

this is just further proof that nintendo is all talk, first reggie reports that they "learned their lesson and the launch lineup will be strong" which was total bull****. then they claim that online features are a priority... LIAR LIAR!!! so far the only thing they have used the net for is firmware updates and threatening people with bricked systems. i am sorry i bought a 3ds to be honest i am selling my 3ds to my son and getting a vita. i love how SE said there will be a final fantasy game for the 3ds.. and what did we get? rhythm heaven FF edition. metal gear, Res Evil, and Kingdom hearts pushed back to 2012... Oh and we paid extra to have half finished firmware, late eshop, no flipnote, and shovelware collection from the "admittedly poor" lineup of the dsi era. and now there is a second slide pad revision on the horizon.. bend over and see whats next?

Thank you IamDiggerDan, well said.
While I would have liked it, it wouldn't be the major selling point for me, and probably would have been tough to make it good enough to keep the same people from griping even after delaying 6 months or more.
I'm really glad it's out now and local is great, and so much more robust a feature for this game than online could have been. The maps are small, and few, but it looks great. Like the 007 classic, friends in the room really is the most fun. This means, when the game is less prominent in a year or two and more people have a 3DS all you need is one cart, and no reliance on servers. I'll forever have the ability to battle someone with just another 3DS now that I have it. One cart, no servers, video pic, no delay; it's great. why is it such a deal breaker to not include the ability to play with 8 other people you'll never know? For close quarters battles it's more annoying than fun, with friends in the room it is hilarious fun.
That plus for Nintendo they have this classic REMAKE well done, out now, with nice new content, without hurting profit or development on anything else. Add an update later, or even an entire separate 3DSware game of new dogfighting online later a la WarHawk. Do it right then (big maps, good servers, new ships, weapons, etc)
Complain all you want, but you guys know you'd have cried "it was ruined" if they pushed it out half-ed now. As it is it remains an updated classic with great new modes. I'm just surprised by his honest statement, but it totally makes sense.

although the lack of online content in general is still a huge problem. Don't claim you learned your lesson until we see something change. It's got to be a priority with all new games FOR REAL.

Again, it still doesn't explain why they failed to use play coins or street pass for any aspect. You know a company has a problem when a 3rd Party Company is using your hardware better than you are.

@64 @69 @82 - I agree with all of you.

@80 You are right about the way businesses look at making decisions with regards to costs. However, I believe that in this case developing online gameplay must be treated as R&D or a sunk cost for the company as a whole rather than looking at online costs game by game. Nintendo needs spend the money upfront to develop the infrastructure and expertise with regards to online gaming ASAP. Once that happens they should be able to reduce the costs of implementing online in future games, which should make the company more profitable long term. While it costs more up front, I believe that Nintendo needs to do this (even though it will probably be rough going at first). The approach you mention is exactly what Nintendo is doing, and I feel that they are ultimately thinking too short term in their analysis.

I agree that not every game needs an online mode, but I'm kind of wondering if Nintendo is even capable of doing online well. I'm beginning to think that it is something that they can't figure out, but aren't willing to admit that they need 3rd party help. The best online game on a Nintendo console (that I've played) was Monster Hunter - and that was done by Capcom not Nintendo. With the Wii U, it sounds like Nintendo isn't planning any sort of structure (a la PSN/XBL), but is just letting 3rd parties run wild.

I know some about game coding, and I can't imagine that starfox would be that much more of a challenge than Mario Kart which they already do it for... Lately it seems like Nintendo wants to do the least amount of work and get the most amount of money, quality be damded, gamers wants barely met. The want to just cookie cutter press out sinlge player experience and sell it on a catridge, having nothing to do with the internet either sellin games or multiplayer. Thier either trying to grow too fast or being too cheap. Other smaller companies manage what Nintendo says they can't what's up with that? remember when Nintendo said they couldn't do dual touch screen? How come Seems Vita and apple proved that wrong. It was all about profit margin.

He said gamers didn't want It? BS, jsut read all the WANT ITS.

all these extras, gyroscope, 3d, motion sensor will all be like the voice control or the camera on the DSi, bascially NOT USED AT ALL.

what was the point of having the camera, if you playing with soeone oppiste you, wouldn't you only need that for online multiplayer

I just hope that the MarioKart7 online mode rocks. Starfox is, after all, a remake. That's why the development time was short. It was the campain mode that truly shines, anyway. Many people forget that a lot of games with stellar online mode often have lackluster single player experience. I believe that fifteen years from now, long after the servers have been shut down, a lot of current gen online games (especially FPSs) will be sitting in the bargain bin at used game stores alongside the sports titles, for like $1.95, because the single player experience can't cut the mustard without online mode.

That said, as an adult gamer into both retro and current Nintendo games, it's often pretty hard to find people to play games with face-to-face. I don't even know anyone else who owns a 3DS, and my Streetpass encounters are still rare and far between. Hopefully I start to get more hits on Streetpass after Christmas season.

Back to portables, I believe the multiplayer aspects of portable systems has always been under-utilized, and part of that is the need for two consoles. I mean, how many people back in the day, actually used the four-player adapter for Game Boy classic, with 3 friends who all happened to have the same game? With a home system, it is easy to play with multiple people. In fact many games, old and new, allow new players to jump in and gain immediate control of CPU opponents simply by plugging up a controller and hitting "start".

@C7_ - Glad you had some fun with commands online, personally I got bored with it and now I can't do anything with it, not to say it wasn't fun, for the first few rounds before I got tired of waiting for groups to form, and finish only to split a-part and start it over again. I could have waited but really online would not have meant too much. So you know metroid prime hunter still has a really strong online after a much longer amount of time for being avaliable then command and what's the point of a feature that will die out and won't always be there. Unlike command, star fox 64 3D does not need online because it has a really good single player.

Either way at this point it does not matter, it's not in the game and that's part of the past, so it does not matter anyways.

Gamers are a lot more patient than developers think. We may get iffy when a product gets delayed but we still buy the game.

I really don't care for online play unless its a computer game. {That and my internet is not fast enough to handle online play anyway}. So I'm fine with the way it is.

In laymans' terms...
"We only offer Nintendo WiFi on really popular games because we're not getting any money from it"
and
"We rushed the game because the 3DS was in trouble"

Typical Nintendo deciding what's best for the customer.

I see no reason to feel pity for Nintendo not adding online because it would've taken too much extra time. Maybe if they didn't release the 3DS so damn early without any appealing launch titles they wouldn't be in this mess to begin with... "Oh, we need to release good games very soon or else people will hate the 3DS". It's not like Sony was rushing the Vita out the door. Come to think of it, if the 3DS launched for this holiday season instead of when it did, it probably would've sold great at its original price given that it seems there will be a good handful of games available in the next few months. Oh well, guess I'll start hoping that they release a sequel to this with online multiplayer in a few years (although hoping for a sequel to original Star Fox 64 didn't work too well for the past 10 years).

Star Fox 64 3D and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II for 3Ds are 2 games I heavily was disappointed with regarding online support despite they are good games. Nintendo still acts like we live in the N64 days with the 3DS and Aksys release the BB game for the 3DS thinking it was the GBA. Hello you're making a 3DS game, take advantage of all the features, not some of them.

Nintendo Explains Lack of Online Play in Star Fox 64 - We are damn lazy, so go buy our $40 game!