At Gamescom, TheGamer’s Rhiannon Bevan spoke with none other than Takaya Imamura, key character designer for Star Fox and F-Zero. In the interview, they talked about the two dormant franchises and whether a revival of one or both could be on the horizon.
Fortunately for Star Fox fans, Imamura believes that out of the two, Shigeru Miyamoto – the creator of both franchises – got the [the[ strongest feelings for Star Fox,” rather than F-Zero. He then suggested that, because of Miyamoto’s love for the Star Fox series, “we’ll see another game, film, [or] some kind of new development with the IP at some point, but I don’t know when or what.”
And on his behalf, Imamura has already told Miyamoto to “please call me” when and if the Star Fox movie gets the green light.
On that note, Imamura also talked about the benefits of adapting games into film:
“If you create a game on a specific platform or game medium, for example F-Zero on the Super Nintendo, once that hardware platform is gone, the IP itself will no longer be available. But if you create a film, then it’s available through the ages.”
As for F-Zero, the artist behind Captain Falcon hinted that Miyamoto would need a good reason or a new spin on the series to prioritize it over new games and new projects.
This is, of course, consistent with what we know about Nintendo’s way of doing things
In an interview with Venture Beat in 2022, former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé suggested the same thing as Imamura recently, saying that “at least during my tenure, Nintendo’s developers have always experimented with different styles of play, always thinking about where the unique game is . experience can be applied back, either to an existing franchise or perhaps creating a new franchise. I bet somewhere in the Kyoto development centers some developer is toying with an idea that could be applied to F-Zero. It’s never a situation, at least in my experience, where a company makes a conscious decision not to continue supporting XYZ franchise. Historically it just hasn’t worked that way, not when I was there.”
In addition, Imamura spoke briefly about AI, saying:
“It is human nature to want to see the face of the person behind the creative vision. So I think AI can be used […] but I think at the end of the day someone will stand behind it or create something with it, because without that there is no connection between the audience and the artist.”
And finally, he talked about his creativity in reference to his upcoming game Omega 6: The Triangle Stars:
“As a creative person, I just want to work on the things I want to work on. Just keep creating,”
“Omega 6 was born at a time when it is actually very difficult to start [a] new IP, so I’m really, really grateful to everyone involved.”
Fans of Imamura’s previous works may want to keep an eye out for Omega 6, which, despite not having a definitive Switch release date, looks poised to deliver some of the charm that defined Star Fox and F-Zero during his time at Nintendo.
