F-Zero AX-GX connectivity for Japan only! Plus GX delay explained
Lukewarm feedback and western memory card blackout revealed inside.
We can reveal that the heavily-touted link-up between the GameCube and TriForce versions of F-Zero, with data transferred via the GameCube Memory Card, will only feature in the Japanese release of the game, with western F-Zero coin-op cabinets bereft of the necessary slot.
This startling news will no doubt come as a blow to gamers in the US and Europe, who’ll no doubt be asking why this has happened. It’s simply the age-old problem of Japanese companies deciding that such features are either unsuitable for or unattractive to a western audience. You will remember that similar systems, as pioneered by SNK for the Neo Geo and followed by Sega for Naomi-Dreamcast linkage, were also not officially released outside of Japan.
The MCRD Card system, as seen in Initial D Arcade Stage, will be available throughout the world, however.
In other F-Zero news, sources close to Sega have disclosed that F-Zero machines in test locations in Japan have performed below expectations, with apathy abounding for the key Sega/Nintendo collaboration. Indeed, we were told that the cause of the slippage of F-Zero is to buy Amusement Vision and Nintendo enough time to discern exactly why the coin operated incarnation of the game has not been as appealing to players as was hoped.
This news was compounded by Famitsu, Japan’s most influential gaming weekly, giving the GameCube version of F-Zero 32/40, which although not disastrous, isn’t the seal of approval the development team will have been hoping for. Reviewers complained that the game was too fast – strange, given that the speed of the game is one its key selling points…
We’ll bring you everything on F-Zero as we get it.
This startling news will no doubt come as a blow to gamers in the US and Europe, who’ll no doubt be asking why this has happened. It’s simply the age-old problem of Japanese companies deciding that such features are either unsuitable for or unattractive to a western audience. You will remember that similar systems, as pioneered by SNK for the Neo Geo and followed by Sega for Naomi-Dreamcast linkage, were also not officially released outside of Japan.
The MCRD Card system, as seen in Initial D Arcade Stage, will be available throughout the world, however.
In other F-Zero news, sources close to Sega have disclosed that F-Zero machines in test locations in Japan have performed below expectations, with apathy abounding for the key Sega/Nintendo collaboration. Indeed, we were told that the cause of the slippage of F-Zero is to buy Amusement Vision and Nintendo enough time to discern exactly why the coin operated incarnation of the game has not been as appealing to players as was hoped.
This news was compounded by Famitsu, Japan’s most influential gaming weekly, giving the GameCube version of F-Zero 32/40, which although not disastrous, isn’t the seal of approval the development team will have been hoping for. Reviewers complained that the game was too fast – strange, given that the speed of the game is one its key selling points…
We’ll bring you everything on F-Zero as we get it.
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