Chibi-Robo! might not be of the same stature as Zelda, Mario or even Kirby, but it's a Nintendo franchise that has plenty of fans, and its refreshingly original gameplay and quirky sense of humour have set it apart from similar titles over the decades.
However, since the launch of Chibi-Robo!: Zip-Lash on 3DS in 2015, we've heard nothing from the company – which has led One Controller Port's Benjamin Yoder to do a little digging.
His findings – which are outlined in this video – make for grim viewing. Skip – which also made the amazing Captain Rainbow on the Wii – hasn't posted anything to Twitter since the release of Zip-Lash, and its Facebook page is currently inactive.
Field System – an associated developer which made smartphone apps – appears to have fallen off the radar, too. In 2018, the company changed its name from Skip Co., Ltd to Skip Inc., which Yoder suggests could be because it is no longer actively developing games and is instead seeking other investment to continue operation.
You might not find this especially shocking as Zip-Lash was a critical and commercial disappointment. Even today, it's possible to find the game and amiibo pack for bargain basement prices, which – as Yoder points out – isn't very often the case with high-profile Nintendo games. In fact, the character's main claim to fame in recent years is being turned into a meme.
The video is well worth a watch as Yoder gets pretty deep in his research, but the end result seems to be beyond doubt – Skip is no longer in the business of making video games and appears to exist in name only at present. Whether or not that means the company is totally dead remains to be seen, but anyone expecting a new Chibi-Robo game soon might be waiting for longer than anticipated.
[source onecontrollerport.com, via youtube.com]
Comments 30
Well. There haven't been much news about Retro Studios either since DK TF released in early 2014.
These devs, alongside AlphaDream, belong among Nintendo's greatest. Period.
@Ventilator You know, apart from the fact they’re developing Metroid Prime 4.
Did I misunderstand Chibi Robo's gameplay, or could we really not extend the cord at angles? This is the sole reason I didn't play it. Even Bionic Commando let you grab at an angle.
Such a shame. I was hoping that I could one day play the Chibi-Robo games ever since I was introduced to the character itself via SSF2.
Dunno why Zip Lash was so badly received. Definitely worse platformers out there, and uglier ones too. I had a lot of fun with it tbh.
@nin10dobot You could, by using X instead of Y. It's slower but covers more angles.
Zip Lash was an enjoyable game, but the problem was that the gameplay never evolved past the first world. You saw nearly everything it had to offer gameplay wise by that point.
It's a shame that they seemingly couldn't commit to producing an experience that put them in the spotlight to begin with. These days the Switch would be a golden opportunity for such a game.
@Sonicvic
Dang, I missed out. If I find Zip Lash I'm gonna go ahead and buy it.
@TheFanatic I forgot that.
Well, Nintendo said that the future of chibi robo depended on the success of chibi-robo zip lash, and since it was a dumpster fire, I have worries for chibi robo and the company
The truth is that so many great games (especially cheaper ones from indie developers) come out every year. The last Chibi Robo was mediocre at best, and definitely not worth £35.
A shame for the company, but it's the way of the world.
@nin10dobot If I remember correctly, you could definitely shoot the cord at an angle. But I think it was just 45 degree angle.
Like others here, i played it and wished it was a better game.
I recall that back before it was released, Nintendo saying that the future of the Chibi Robo series rested on the crtitcal and commercial success of Zip-lash.....
.... RIP Chibi Robo
@Ventilator Were you in hibernation during early 2019
Prime 4 is like their big project happening right now
Chibi-Robo had 6 games, the first four of which I immensely enjoyed because of their fresh gameplay, charming graphics, breathing worlds, humorous cast, unique stories, and fantastic soundtracks.
Knowing that Chibi-Robo was a collab between Shigeru Miyamoto and Kenichi Nishi (Chrono Trigger) I expected quite much, and obviously it delivered with ease:
1. 2005 - 10/10 Chibi-Robo! Plug Into Adventure (Gamecube)
2. 2007 - 10/10 Chibi-Robo! Park Patrol (DS)
3. 2009 - 10/10 Chibi-Robo! Clean Sweep! (DS)
4. 2009 - 10/10 New Play Control! Chibi-Robo! (Wii)
I leave the 2 latest ones out, they're just spin-offs from different genres - and as everybody knows they're simply not in the same league as the other 4 Chibi-Robo games.
Chibi-Robo, Animal Crossing and Wind Waker brought me back to gaming when every game felt like a stale copy of something else.
I was in a real quit-gaming-mood. Thank you Nintendo for saving my hobby in 2005 and bringing out innovative new IPs like these every once in a while. Even though I had to import 75% of those. Ironically, the 2 mediocre spin-offs got a worldwide release. Clear case of wrong marketing to have such a strong series fade away to obscurity.
PS: Why is Chibi Maruko-San part of the ''related games''? That's nothing to do with Chibi-Robo!
I never understood why they based their decision to continue making a new Chibi game on how well Zip lash did. I’m sure some people liked Zip lash, and that’s fine. But I didn’t, and I take issue with them thinking that this was a failure of people embracing the character, not their own failure of placing him in a game that’s interesting. If they wanted Chibi to be successful, then they should have made it a true successor to the Gamecube game. Zip lash was nothing like that. Can you imagine the outrage of Pikmin fans if Miyamoto decided that Pikmin 4 would only be considered for development based on the success of Hey Pikmin?
I also don't get the Zip-Lash hate. It was a little low budget in some regards but it was a very fun game. I don't buy that it never evolved, either. Each world built more complicated uses of the concepts as you went.
I bought chibi robo and thought it was quirky and cool. Then I traded it in because it just... it never evolved, as another said here. Still, I wanted to like it enough to keep it, I just couldn’t. What I will say, is that it will forever be the game with Utz chips. Having moved to the west coast around the time it came out, seeing the chips from the east coast was really cool, haha. I suppose one thing the game did right was collecting. I love collecting real-world things like that and viewing them in a gallery. Even Mario Sticker Star was cool with looking at your sticker collection.
Hope this isn’t the end of Chibi-Robo! He would’ve made a cool Smash character.
@flipbot you make and EXCELLENT point regarding Pikmin. I actually kind of saw them both as a watered-down version of their better half. Both are stellar IPs, executed poorly.
No no NO! Its horrible that we only got one truly good game in the series, and now we probably wont get a remake or anything, we have to cough up 90 bucks for the original...this sucks man
@Doofenshmirtz
They should have tested the game during development. I bought it for very cheap a year after it came out and I can say it's not worth the original retail price. Some games are just doomed for the bargain bin because everyone buys the best games first. Today I ordered etrian nexus from amazon germany and in order to get free delivery I bough dillon and sushi striker, would have never bought them day one.
Zip Lash was the only one I played, bought it at release and regretted it. I didn’t hate it, but I lost interest before I could even finish it. Shame I never tried the original and now probably never will. RIP Chibi Robo.
They were actually working on Wario Land 3DS. It was going to release but obviously Mario and Luigi 3DS tanking caused Nintendo to cancel ALL their new 3DS projects
Dang, that's terrible to hear! I was secretly hoping they'd remake the first game or perhaps the first three for the Switch. Given the Switch's success, it likely would've revitalized the series.
I still recommend Zip Lash to 3DS owners. It's a pretty decent time if you know what you're getting into, and it's a bargain now.
@TheFanatic that’s true but they only took over MP4 earlier this year so that was still ~5 years of hearing nothing about them or any output...
I'm friends with Hirofumi Taniguchi on Facebook. He's the man behind the music for pretty much all the games Skip Ltd made and his profile has listed for quite some time now (in Japanese of course) that he doesn't work for Skip Ltd anymore. I have a screenshot of it for the curious. I connected and became friends with him through my liking of his band he's in outside Skip Ltd called ZUBOLA FUNK LABOratory. You can hear stylistic snippets from all the games he's made music for through his band. He plays the keyboards. Thought I'd share this in light of Skip Ltd's status. RIP Skip
If this is the truth, then this is a massive disappointment for me.
Chibi-Robo was one of my Nintendo franchises (I even got my dad to get the Japan-exclusive Chibi-Robo Clean Sweep when he visited for example) and to hear that the original developer will probably no longer be associated with them hurts.
The main reasons why AlphaDream went bankrupt was...
> They are a tiny studio with under 50 employees
> They have no HD game development experience outside of some irrelevant mobile games
> They work with a franchise that isn't super popular and doesnt generate that much revenue
> Their last game sold absolutely terrible (though I'd blame Nintendo for making them work on 3DS remakes well after the 3DS's prime).
Skip suffers from those exact same problems, but even worse (only ~20 employees, no HD game development experience, super niche franchise, poor sales).
You can pretty much treat them as if they were bankrupt.
@RazumikhinPG I think it's because the game was such a departure from what the character was known for. People were expecting a quirky game with unique gameplay and instead they got a rather forgettable platformer.
"Well. There haven't been much news about Retro Studios either since DK TF released in early 2014"
I totally agree!
Of course they are working on Metroid Prime 4 now, but they where presumed dead.
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