Shigeru Miyamoto Suggests Low Key and Accessible amiibo Support in Star Fox Zero

I kinda wanted a set of the whole Star Fox team so that kinda sucks that they seem to be planning on just using the existing Fox and Falco from SSB. D: That transformable arwing idea did seem cool too, though...

How about this; If you scan a Samus amiibo, you unlock Metroid Prime 4.

It's good to hear this. Small perks unlocked from amiibos are nice, but I dislike locking mode to amiibos like what happened in Splatoon.

I think ace combat did it the right way

Something small and nice like Splatoon, Codename Steam, Ace Combat, and a few other games.

I'll be fine with whatever functionality Star Fox Zero does as long as it doesn't go the route of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

Fox is one of the few amiibo I own, so I look forward to seeing what it will do, even if it is minor.

Great. Now just announce online multi-player and ill buy the game day one.

The level of amiibo support either way is going to upset people. Give 'em something really good and people complain it's physical DLC, give 'em nothing and they question why they bought the lump of plastic Personally I like the idea of really good unlockables from the start of the game, that non amiibo owners can get by achieving certain things later in the game.

I'd like to scan Samus and unlock her ship to use instead of an Arwing, bit I'm not crossing my fingers.

Thank god he's not going to cut anything just because of amiibos. I hated that in Splatoon.

@Frank90 Codename STEAM's amiibo support isn't "small", that's the kind of stuff that shouldn't be present (same with Fire Emblem Fates)!

Fine by me.

I'm fine they're not being integrated in StarFox, but I need more of a reason for these amiibo other than skins. I'm disappointed in the lack of creativity for these figures. They placed themselves in a very hard place, where they want to to be inclusive with their games and not create a game solely for amiibo. So... then... what are amiibo for? I have yet to see anything that matches Sakurai's use of amiibo :/

Fine by me, I don't think many of us would be will to pay out the nose for an extremely hard to find Slippy Toad Ammibo....

@Grumblevolcano - or to play devils advocate - that is the kind of thing you should get for spending $13 on a toy. It doesn't change the game whether you have it or not, but it is something substantial if you do have it. Captain Toad Treasure Tracker was complete idiotic nonsense. Slaton is pretty good too, once I came to terms w/ what it did and didn't do. It only unlocks challenges, not new maps, missions or levels. If the entire single player was locked away, I never would have bought the game.

For Starfox, which I have, I'm OK w/ unlocking his N64 airwing. It would be interesting to see if anybody could tell the difference between that old 1 and the new one 3 generations later.

Nice to see more amiibo support. Nintendo really didn't disappoint here and the list of amiibo supported games is really increasing!

@Junkface Online play is confirmed to not be coming to the game on day 1. However it has been stated that the development team will think about adding it post launch if the game does well enough.

@GammaPhonic We're done here, folks. That comment got all of it.

Why always such miniscule cosmetic awards? You really cannot come up with anything better than that?
Why not allow you to copy High Scores (assuming those will exist in SFZ, and I really hope so) onto your amiibo, which you can then carry to a friend who also has the game, and then transfer your scores to his list?
I'm really baffled that outside of Smash, not a single damn game makes any use of the possibility to write data onto the NFC chip (making amiibos of characters not in Smash halfway useless), so at least such big titles should strive to find a way. And the same goes for the fact that Nintendo tries its best to promote the portability of amiibos - we don't buy these overpriced bags for bragging rights (well, most of us)!

@Chaoz For the most part, they didn't. The costumes are 100% cosmetical, and when taking competitive setups into account, they're potentially the most difficult equipment to specialize, the minigames are entirely inconsequential to the main game, and the Hero Weapon Replica are reskinned beginner weapon loadouts. Nothing could give you an advantage at any point. The only unfair point is the actual challenges, since the singlepalyer does play fairly different with the other weapon types.

@Fillytase
Same here. I was really looking forward to a Peppy Hare amiibo.

@Captain_Gonru - You liked something? Maybe you should take an aspirin and lie down. Slaton was a bit much, until you realize all the gear was skins. I'd rather see them try maybe too much like that than whatever it is they do in Kirby. I really like Yoshi, use an amino as a friend, but w/ 2 player it doesn't matter. I bet my youngest son will play it both ways just to compare. I thought that's what they did in SSB, tag team partner, but the way they are used in there now is almost useless unless amino only SSB tournaments start taking off.

@Kaze_Memaryu - Mario Party 10 writes to amiibo, and it deletes all your SSB info in the process.

That's why most games don't, there is only enough memory storage on amiibo for 1 game at a time, so it has to be worthy of overwriting everything else. It's a catch 22.

Serious question - is this really Nintendo's "holiday" game? And if so, do they really expect to sell a lot of Wii U b/c of it? Are we expecting Star fox bundles? As bad as ACaF looks they would probably be better off bundling that and a couple of AC amiibo w/ Wii U for the holiday family buying crowd than Starfox. Will XCX get a bundle like Japan did considering JRPG are still niche in the US? Maybe all of Sony marketing of FFXV and the FFVII remake will help create interest in XCC?

All that said, Splatoon may be their best bundle option for families that still don't have a Wii U. Maybe put all 3 amiibo in the box for $299?

Always appreciate the Miyamoto approach; we might have avoided this whole fiasco had gameplay been allowed to retain its usual precedence.

@GammaPhonic Gave me a belly chuckle.

@rjejr
For many fans, Star Fox is about as big as it gets, but you do have a point about the big Holiday Game. I'm hoping the big Holiday game is a big price drop and some great bundle deals. Don't forget that Disney Infinity, Skylanders, and Lego Dimensions are the big Holiday games for many families as well. For adults, there is XCX, but I don't know if a bundle is appropriate for that. In fact, that is the problem isn't it. Maybe it just needs to be a high profile marketing effort where you get one game free: Splatoon, XCX, Mario Maker, or Star Fox. IDK.

I was just showing highlights of the Digital Event to my kids, and the 3DS AC looked good to my kids. Then they saw the Wii U version and got excited for a couple seconds (just like I did) and then — oh. Really, they should be combined into one game on both the 3DS and Wii U. I wouldn't mind a fun little time-wasting board game with that AC charm if it was attached to the actually kind of fantasy-fulfilling 3DS game that lets you build the village more directly. That would make a great holiday gift with those amiibo.

Also, KK Slider might be the first Amiibo I get that I don't care if it works with any games. I really wish he'd have a little music playing chip in him, though... of course, that's what a game should do. :/

Amiibos are being used for every single nasty "unlock this and that" but their real purpose: storing and carrying game data. This is ridiculous. It's just a deluxe DLC for most part of games.

@rjejr
Splatoon. My kids both made it to Level 10 over the last two days and I was a little worried how they'd take to the Ranked Battle. My daughter went up to C in no time. lol. They are passing me because they are playing more, but this thing is magically universal, IMO. I'm completely into it myself and I even care what my avatar looks like not just the gear bonuses.

I saw people talking about an NX sequel in the plaza, but I'm just thinking about how much more there is to get out of it from just a mode or two.

Imagine if the Wii U had been more popular.

@rushiosan I hear you on that. I kind of wish there were more interesting storage uses. Oddly enough, the Mario Party game (which I don't really recommend) does that part best with bonus coins you can keep and use between games.

On the other hand, I kind of prefer the little bonuses I get from them. Yes, I'd like a dedicated game to really make them Toys 2 life that isn't as automated as SSB, but I like how it is really expanding into many games and you can bring just a touch of your favorite characters to games where they'd never belong.

You better believe I'll be trying every one of amiibo looks in Yoshi's Woolly World and Super Mario Maker, and if the Arwing paint jobs look cool and not goofy, that's actually a cool addition to that series. That look has remained solid over all the games and to break that would be pretty rewarding to me at least.

As with HW they will use a bunch of existing amiibo instead of making new ones. And they are not essential or anything. I guess that is smart but I still wanted a Peppy amiibo as I wanted a Fi amiibo.

Splatoon was the only game that had me excited enough to open the amiibo and get the content.

@rjejr

Dont think they have a Holiday big game, so they should use X, Star Fox, AC amiibo game and Mario Maker and advertise to each age group. Japan already got X though. For Mario Maker there will be a ton of user made levels by Xmas.

Price drop or selected amiibo would do wonders too.

@rjejr It does? Huh, a good friend bought it and said the game only scanned them... gotta give him the fish slap tomorrow. Do you know what kind of data Mario Party writes onto the chip?
As for the data issue: they could simply release something similar to amiibo Tap: load the program, scan an amiibo, create a data backup. It could even offer some sort of presentational function with pedestals, stages, or cupboards - maybe even the option to place virtual amiibos (which represent your backups) in Nintendo-related environments. Better than releasing new amiibos for every single game they make...

@GammaPhonic So in other words still not happening? Greeeeat. So who else is excited for Half-Life 3?

@Kaze_Memaryu Well he's not completely wrong, it is scan only but for the non-Mario characters.

@GammaPhonic

Here's the internet. Take it. It's yours.

You know, Miyamoto, I'm not so much worried about the amiibo support as I am the gimmicky GamePad controller aiming that you've forced into the game, which has basically ruined it for me personally.

People can defend it and try to rationalise it all they want but if I don't want to have to concentrate on two screens, or twist and rotate my wrists around to aim, then this game basically isn't going to make me happy. It's gimmicky, convoluted and unnecessary in creating a worthy modern Star Fox game.

Ignoring all the issues with the lacklustre graphics and underwhelming presentation for now--this simply isn't the current-gen Star Fox experience I want.

Unless there's at least an option to turn the gimmicky GamePad aiming stuff off and just play Star Fox normally, in the classic way that feels natural, intuitive and just right, then I'm out.

In terms of using the amiibos; I think it would be cool to have a couple of Star Fox Zero specific ones and also be able to use most of the other ones too.

I've not really thought about any particularly good ways to reward the player for using the amiibos but...

With the general ones I'd maybe have something like changing the main character to look like the one of the scanned amiibos, including their model inside the ship and in cutscenes and headshots. They could probably just take the models from Smash Bros. Some simple variations on the ship designs and skins would also be nice. I think that would be cool.

In terms of scanning in the Star Fox Zero specific amiibos; I think it could maybe just be a unique costume for fox and a unique looking version of the airwing, or something like that. I dunno.

@Captain_Gonru - curmudgeon

Here's my day. Go to the Met game. 1-1 in the bottom of the 6th we leave the bases loaded and then a 53 minute rain delay ends in a tie, to be compelted tomorow, and the Steve Miller Band concert - which is the reason I got tickets to this game in the fist place to hear The Joker live is after tomorrows game as well. The good news i sI ca use my ticket for tomorrows game, bad news is I'm celebrating my mother's birthdya at my sisters.

I really need to learn to roll w/ the punches, b/c right now I am not a happy camper, just a wet cold old man. I may be in bed by 10 on a Saturday night, so sad.

@crimsontadpoles wrong

@crimsontadpoles wrong

@crimsontadpoles wrong

@crimsontadpoles wrong

Pretty sure "Amiibo" should be capitolised.

Like Yoshis Wooly World, a different skin for each Amiibo would be cool.

@Junkface if they announce online multiplayer then people will hate it like the new Zelda and Metroid online multiplayer games.

@Kirk if it ends up like Splatoon - being natural and more accurate with tilt aiming than just right stick aiming - then I'll be happy.

@MadAdam81 I dont think the reason people are upset about Metroid is because its online or multi-player. I read alot of the comments and I think its rather theirs no Samus. Cant comment on the zelda game. @KupaKing Thanks man.

@MadAdam81 It wouldn't be so stupid if you just used the tilt to both fly the ship and aim the cursor directly on the TV screen, without having to look at the GamePad, but having to keep switching back and forth between looking at the TV and the GamePad, steering the ship on the TV while aiming its shot on the GamePad at the same time, is just bad imo. It's like trying to rub your stomache and pat your head at the same time--unnatural--and while I'm sure people will get more used to it over time, it will never be more intuitive or make more sense in the premise of the game, which is traditionally a 3D scrolling shoot 'em up, than just flying and aiming on the main screen.

I'm sure it will actually be more accurate for aiming by moving the GamePad around and looking at your targets on its screen but that's beside the point. It's at the cost of the normal, pure and fun Star Fox experience imo and that is the problem I have with it. It's no longer a 3D scrolling shoot 'em up and is more like playing a gimmicky motion controlled on-rails arcade gun game in terms of the core aiming--a totally seperate genre--while also having to play and control a scrolling flying game at the same time. I just want the brilliant scrolling shoot 'em up that Star Fox originally was.

If there is an option to turn it off, which based on how it's done I'm thinking there probably won't be, then it wouldn't be such a big deal. Right now however, I'm thinking Miyamoto has just ruined Star Fox in its natural state, which was basically already perfect in terms of controls--being a great example of the scrolling shoot 'em up genre--and didn't need to be messed with in this particular area.

Miyamoto has kinda "fixed"--see broken--an element of the game design that was basically perfect in the first place.

@conway1993 So what would you like them to do with amiibo in Star Fox?

Honestly, amiibo content has been filed under "things I wont get any longer". I got a few and just have no interest in collecting more. Dont even use them for content at all, but purely for display.

Thank god, Splatoon killed me with it's overhauled amiibo paywalls.

@Grumblevolcano - So I was half right? Way things have been going lately I'll take that as a win. (I spent 2 hours sitting in the rain yesterday for a suspended 1-1 tie baseball game)

@Kaze_Memaryu - "scan an amiibo, create a data backup"

Well they could, and should, but then they coudln't sell you separate amiibo for each game. Which they said they would't do, but then basically did when they made the SMB line, and the Spaltoon line.

It really bothers me that there is a huge box labeled "amiibo" sitting in the Spalton hub - I'm guessing you've seen it - but all our amiibo just give an error message. That really bothers me. It's Nitnedo's 1st party game, they are pushing amiibo, they put that big amiibo box there, but none of our amiibo work? Hyrule Warriors isn't Nintedo 1st party, the game came out before amiibo even launched, yet all my amiibo do something in it. How can Ntinedo not even match that w/ their own games?!?!? Give us some random money or experience points or something. Do experience points even matter anymore, most people in the game are sitting at level 20 now anyway. Maybe a random buff for single player like you get on the gear. But dont' give me error messages for my amiibo after making such a big production at launch about how amiibo are better than other NFC toys b/c they work in multiple games. Just no.

@sinalefa - Well there are a lot things Nintnedo could do for the holiday, but what will they? I think when I wrote that yesterday I was trying for it to be a real question and not just a rant. At 8AM this rainy Sunday morning I'm mostly just ranting.

I guess the thing is, I've usually had what I felt were good ideas for selling Wii U - price cuts, bundles, game discounts - the usual stuff that everybody seems to know EXCEPT Nintnedo. Now after E3, looking at the upcoming game line-up and Nitnedo constantly talking about not talking about NX, and I just don't see how Wii U sells well this holiday. Maybe they'll go all in on Skyalnders?

@aaronsullivan - Splatoon.

I just finally hit level 20 last night, so now I blend in w/ half the other players, they really need to raise that cap before we are ALL level 20, then whats the point? I'm B- in ranked, probably will be forever. My oldest has played some but the youngest is still doing Mincecraft, which he didn't get to play for 3 days after his account got hacked/stolen.

And yes, best is yet to come w/ Sapltoon - rainmaker and tower defense moving platform level should really change things up. We're invited to a 4th bbq at 3PM a few blocks away, I expect a lot of Splatfest up until then, after part 2 of Pokemon at 8AM, my kids favorite tv show.

@aaronsullivan - I just don't see Starfox as a big holiday seller, offline single player isn't what sells "family" gaming. And I actually just told Sinalefa that maybe they'll go all in on Skyalnders what w/ their own Wii/3DS Racers game which we havne't seen yet - maybe Activision is letting Ntinedo announce it in a Direct?

They had a great opportunity to market Wii U as a gaming machine last year w/ 2 gamer games - Hyrule Warriors and Bayonetta 2 - but I never once saw them in an ad together. And they were exclusives. If PS4 had thos 2 exclusives we would have been bombarded w/ ads last holiday.

So who knows, I just can't see it selling w/ what I know right now. I think even an HD remake of Sunshine, or a 2-pack of SMG 1 + 2 in HD would do better than Starfox, it's just too unassuming, and "Star" is right for this holiday, but not the Fox" part, DI 3.0 and SW:B have space pretty well covered. I don't see how it can compete w/ either of those, let alone both.

@rjejr Optimism I love it! Lol. Not sure what we are doing July 4th but I really want to be there for splatfest. Reminds me of Animal Crossing and not wanting to miss events.

I'm just at 11 (taking a little break while the kids obsess) and even I was surprised that the June 30th patch notes didn't mention a higher level cap.

Most importantly though, the new modes sound awesome and like I said before I was struck how the slight tweak of splat zones was an entirely different experience and I still like both modes.

It's almost stunning that Nintendo is pulling it off so well but I guess they did have Metroid Prime 2 and Hunters and now Federation Force — with the reaction to Splatoon you can see the mental processes that made it look like a good idea and I actually think it is a good idea: for a console or a handheld with much higher visual fidelity and alongside a big mainline Metroid game.

Anyway, happy inking!

@rjejr
Well, I'm actually more excited for Star Fox than DI 3.0 that's for sure and it is entirely different than Battlefront. Battlefront flight is going to be intermittent and okay in bursts but the single player experience and progression is just a different gaming itch to scratch for me.

As much as I'm psyched about Star Wars I don't think that will keep me from anticipating Star Fox. It's a kind of specific gaming and the type of controls they have been showcasing have me convinced it will be something special, I know I'm not the norm on this, but my track record with knowing myself with that sort of thing is pretty good.

Plus, that type of game is so rare nowadays that I don't mind having an embarrassment of riches in it for a short time. in fact, bring on console Kid Icarus!

@aaronsullivan - Glad to hear you're looking forward to Starfox, I know it has a lot of fans, but I assumed they all owned a Wii U by now

We're looking forward to Yarn Yoshi, maybe they'll bundle that and a yarn amiibo. I think Oct 16 is a wee bit early for a big holiday push but I suppose it's better than nothing. They made 3 colors of yarn Yoshi, might as well bundle 1.

I still don't know what my kids are buying and putting on their lists yet. Lego D and SKylanders will probably be gifts, SMM may be day 1 or a birthday gift for my son Sept 17, who then has his bar mitzvah Oct 17, day after Yoshi, so he'll have some money to get it if he wants it.

So we're set, we're happy w/ what we're getting - XCX is a huge game for me - I'm just talking about generally selling Wii U. Still looks to me like Nitnedo really doesn't make that much effort. They are really pushing Spaltoon, I'll give them that. If Wii U is still $299 at Christmas though then you have to admit they really aren't trying to sell it.

@rjejr - I think Nintendo believes no.matter what they do they will shift 1.5 million units for the holidays and have accepted the 3 million annual sales Wii U will bring. Anyone who buys a new Wii U will buy MK8, SSB, Splatoon and maybe a sprinkling of other games. I'd bet on a possible price drop of $50 to be announced in September and maybe a Super Mario Maker bundle but I'm guessing Splatoon and MK8 will be the holiday bundle black Friday deals.

I cant wait for December to pick up X and I am excited to see what Zero becomes. I loved SNES and 64 versions of Starfox and havent bought 1 since. Maybe this will be a 3rd if they suck me in. If not then the 4 or 5 retail games I was going to buy is now down to 2? Better for my budget that way.

I was kind of hoping for a set of the whole team.i think it's be cool if you had challenges playing as the different teammates a bit like splatoon.like you play the same levels but as falco flying off and scouting ahead finding different routes for fox etc.

@rjejr
If Wii U is still $299 at end of year it would be insulting, IMO. As far as Star Fox fans already owning Wii U: probably but I don't know. First of all, it's a relatively small group of fans sadly. It does fit in that group of Nintendo games that have touched a level of "cool" without being super cutesy: Star Fox, F-Zero, Metroid and sometimes Zelda. yeah, I know, animal puppets. I think there are some gamers that just wait for those games to appear on Nintendo consoles. Notice how many are on the Wii U so far.

Problem with this theory is Star Fox could have gone way further in the direction of "cool" many fans were probably hoping for.
So in the end, probably the type of Star Fox fan that is already sold on it also owns a Wii U. Lol. Oh well. There's some time to convince the others.

Remember the plan was to bring this and Zelda this year and I think that type of Nintendo fan for the "cool" games would have been swayed. Nintendo will still try to paint that picture by the end of the year I think.

Maybe that's the big bundle: Wii U with price cut, Star Fox and an exciting news stream about Zelda.

Plus, Super Mario Maker for the old school Mario fans. That has street cred with people who abandoned Nintendo a few generations ago.

For the Gamers keeping up with things online, though, the battle is against the perception that Wii U is dead, though.

@aaronsullivan - I think Starfox makes a really good B-side to Zelda for a holiday release, Starfox early Nov followed by Zelda U early Dec, but w/o Zelda U it looks like a B-side holiday for Wii U.

I know PS4 won't get Uncharted 4 until next year, but they'll be pushing COD and SW:B, so even w/o exclusives they have a marketing strategy ready for the holidays I'm sure. I just don't know how Wii U can be made to look like THE must have holiday gift?