"Personally, I play a lot of online FPS games," began Amano. "This leads me to think that just making multiplayer parts of existing games playable online isn't enough to create a satisfying experience for users. The popular online games work in lots of things, so they play well online - and if we wanted to satisfy everyone who bought the game, the costs required for including online support would be vast."
Yet it wasn't just a matter of cost. There was also a time issue and the developers decided to prioritise the 3D visuals over online play.
"For this project what we needed to do was use Star Fox to provide users with a game that shows the appeal of Nintendo 3DS as quickly as possible. We put a lot of effort into the graphics, and if we had included online support then we couldn't have reached this level in the time allowed."
Having said that, Amano wouldn't rule out the possibility of online play in a future Star Fox game. "We didn't cut any corners for the multiplayer mode in this game. We did lots of experimentation for the normal wireless local multiplayer and included lots of new features. Working on the multiplayer part was a nice, satisfying challenge, and if I get the chance to work on another Star Fox title, I would definitely consider an online multiplayer mode."
Star Fox 64 3D is still a brilliant game without the multiplayer mode. Read our Star Fox 64 3D review to find out why.
You can read the full interview with Yusuke Amano in the new issue of Official Nintendo Magazine which goes on sale tomorrow[/p]
Really? Nintendo I'd have brought Star Fox if you'd included online and I wouldn't have minded waiting a bit longer for a perfect game.
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