I am pretty sure that everyone saw this one coming after the release of the NES Mini. Nintendo has announced that they will be releasing an SNES Mini for Fall/ Christmas season of 2017. The system will include 20 ROMs as well as the unreleased Star Fox 2, which was cancelled near the end of it's development cycle so Nintendo could put more focus on Star Fox 64. Which was a Star Fox game released on the Nintendo 64 console.
Release Date: September 29th 2017 Price: $79.99
Games: Contra III: The Alien Wars™ Donkey Kong Country™ EarthBound™ Final Fantasy III F-ZERO™ Kirby™ Super Star Kirby’s Dream Course™ The Legend of Zelda™: A Link to the Past™ Mega Man® X Secret of Mana Star Fox™ Star Fox™ 2 Street Fighter® II Turbo: Hyper Fighting Super Castlevania IV™ Super Ghouls ’n Ghosts® Super Mario Kart™ Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars™ Super Mario World™ Super Metroid™ Super Punch-Out!! ™ Yoshi’s Island™
As cool as this thing sounds, it will be another ARM powered emulation device (It might even use the same hardware as the NES mini). There are also reports that there may be supply shortages for this one as well. Good luck finding one.
Eh, more feeding off nostalgia. Good news for scalpers to resell, and for filthy casuals that don't know that emulators and roms are free on certain websites.
Not a bad list (though could use more) and surprised they added Earthbound in there. The thing I don't get is why Chrono Trigger is not there other than Square IP. Really surprised they are adding the unreleased Star Fox 2. I wonder if it is the fully complete version compared to the beta rom that was like 95%+ complete on the web. I'm sure that is the biggest selling point especially when Star Fox Zero was poorly received.
That being said, knowing Nintendo, they will have a limited supply and playing the excuse of "We didn't think this would have a hug demand. We only made enough for the holidays". I get the appeal behind these machines but if I want a box that can play old games, I would go do my research on how to make an emulator box out of a raspberry pi, build a portable mini-ITX build, or buy one online. We have extremely accurate emulators for the NES and SNES.
There's speculation that this version of Star Fox 2 is not the leaked beta ROM, but another version that Nintendo still has internally that is even closer to completion. Possibly even an early review copy that could have been sent out to magazines and gaming press back then.
I would imagine as there I remember reading an article about the game where there is a developer with a more developed ROM but legally he cannot release it.
If it is the real thing on the SNES mini, then there will be people that will extract that and put it on the Internet to play on other emulators.
That happened with the NES mini? Is that what the whole Nintendo selling a ROM news was about?
Same beta rom with the developer options and that incomplete testing level in there. That would be funny but would piss off some people I would imagine.
The person you're talking about is Dylan Cuthbert who was one of the founders of a game studio in the UK called Argonaut Software. Argonaut Software was responsible for designing the SuperFX 1 and 2 co-processors for Nintendo. These chips were math co-processors that would add basic 3D capabilities to the SNES by including them in certain game cartridges like Star Fox and Stunt Race FX and even a port of Doom and Yoshi's Island (which used a lot of scaling and rotation effects).
Apparently he has the most complete version of Star Fox 2 in his possession and he may have actually worked out a deal with Nintendo to release it on this collection.
Also, interestingly enough, this is the first time that Nintendo has ever re-released their SuperFX chip games in emulation form. They never had these games available on the virtual console previously. I think it had something to do with the patent for the SuperFX chip itself, which expired recently. This collection includes both Star Fox 1 and the SNES version of Yoshi's Island, this is the first time that Nintendo has re-released these versions of both titles.
Also, it seems like Star Fox 2 may be using some weird DRM on the SNES Mini to prevent people from ripping it and using it in an emulator. Nintendo's website claims that you need to beat the first level in Star Fox 1 to unlock Star Fox 2. I think this locking system is a weird way to circumvent people from ripping the ROM file for Star Fox 2. There needs to be some sort of handshake verification with Star Fox and Star Fox 2 ROM's.
This is more common than people think it is. Very few emulation based retro collections ever have the means or want to put in the effort to rip their own ROM's, so they would take them from ROMZ sites. I'm not surprised that Nintendo was caught doing this to.
IGN just did an interview with Dylan Cuthbert about the inclusion of Star Fox 2:
Apparently he was surprised by the inclusion as well.
Here's some quotes...
IGN: It was a surprise to see a release for Star Fox 2 announced with the SNES Classic! Were you involved in this version at all or was it a surprise to you too?
Dylan Cuthbert: All a big fantastic surprise - awesome news! I think it is the main selling point of the new SNES classic - that and the original Star Fox finally getting a re-release!
Do you know whether the game will be identical to the one you made all those years ago or has it been changed in some way? I believe the game was only 95% complete when you finished working on it, but what was left to do for the final 5%? Were you involved in any new tweaks?
I have no idea, but we mastered it up completely back in the day, internationally too - I presume it will be that mastered version? It is one of those games that got fully completed but then due to market changes was shelved.
He thinks it could be a fully completed build that was axed at the last minute. Interesting!
I don't see why not. Last thing you want is a debug menu when playing.
Obviously this is the main selling point of the SNES mini. Lock a historical game that has never been commercially released, essentially being new, on a console you have to buy. I can't wait for people to rip the rom out and as for DRM, I have been on the Internet long enough to know that it will always get cracked by those willing to do so.
It will happen, without question. But if Nintendo plans on re;leasing this system in limited quantities like the NES Mini, I could only imagine that they put in a DRM just to last through the console's initial sell through.
Here is the original press release from Nintendo of Japan's website:
The legendary title Star Fox 2, developed as the sequel to Star Fox, is included (Star Fox 2 can be played once you beat the first level of Star Fox).
To me it just seems weird that the game would need to be unlocked. It does make me think that they are using some two rom verification thing for Star Fox 2 to throw off current emulators from using it. I dunno, maybe I could be wrong?
