Trivia Browser
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In a 1999 interview published in a Japanese strategy guide for Ocarina of Time, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that Chain Chomps from the Super Mario Bros. series were planned to appear as enemies in Gerudo's Fortress. According to Miyamoto, the Chain Chomps would be able to capture Link and wrap him up in chains, requiring him to use the Megaton Hammer to break them and free himself. Chain Chomps were present up until the final revisions of the game; Miyamoto did not explain why they were removed.
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Originally, going by some of the initial concept art as well as early gameplay footage for Star Fox Adventures, the tip of Krystal's staff was meant to transform whenever Fox performed one of its magic abilities. For example, when Fox performed the Ground Quake ability, it'd transform into a hammer. Curiously, one of the pieces of concept art mentions the staff transforming into a wing tip to give Fox the ability to glide, which goes unused in the final game. The models for these staff transformations were also found within the E3 2002 kiosk version of Star Fox Adventures. Ultimately, this went unused in the final game.
SFA concept art:
https://imgur.com/a/OtnVRSg#ZaUTRtz
SFA Space World 2001 trailer showing Krystal's staff tip transforming into a hammer when Fox performs the Ground Quake ability:
https://youtu.be/OliAnoALccg?t=15
Unused Staff End Tips:
https://www.models-resource.com/gamecube/starfoxadventures/model/20685/
https://imgur.com/a/OtnVRSg#ZaUTRtz
SFA Space World 2001 trailer showing Krystal's staff tip transforming into a hammer when Fox performs the Ground Quake ability:
https://youtu.be/OliAnoALccg?t=15
Unused Staff End Tips:
https://www.models-resource.com/gamecube/starfoxadventures/model/20685/
subdirectory_arrow_right The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Game)
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According to Eiji Aonuma, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was inspired by "The Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy, as he wanted the game world to be vast enough to match expectations fantasy audiences had at the time:
"It's undeniably big, but I believe all those fun elements which make up this world justify this size. Now that we have finished, I feel that with a generation accustomed to watching epic films like Lord of the Rings, when you want to design a convincing world that sort of vast scale becomes necessary."
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The story section of Sonic Underground's manual has numerous inconsistencies with the plot of the show it's based on, though are still featured in early production documents. These include:
• Robotnik at one point being referred to as "Sheriff Robotnik", likely a reference to the Sheriff of Nottingham from the legend of Robin Hood. He does not bare this title in the show itself; early leaks to the show's plot prior to release also reference his role as a sheriff, suggesting it was a scrapped concept from early on in development.
• The Oracle of Delphius being banished to the Frozen Wastes by Robotnik and passing away from unknown causes sometime after, telling Sonic how to reunite with his siblings in his dying breath. While the Oracle does take up residence in Ice Cap in the final show, he was not banished there, nor does he ever die.
• The Medallions being stated to be golden, but in the final show they bare a more silver coloration. Another detail stated in the manual but not in the final show is that they each possess three notes engraved into them.
• Robotnik's given motive for finding Queen Aleena is so that he can marry her and make her his consort, as he believes that by doing so he can become the rightful ruler of Mobius. While not his overall motive in the final show, the episode "Wedding Bell Blues" did use a similar premise for its plot.
• While not in early production documents, the game's manual states that it ends with Sonic, Manic and Sonia reuniting with their mother, which never actually happened in the original show, making it the only piece of Sonic Underground-related media where this goal is actually accomplished.
• Robotnik at one point being referred to as "Sheriff Robotnik", likely a reference to the Sheriff of Nottingham from the legend of Robin Hood. He does not bare this title in the show itself; early leaks to the show's plot prior to release also reference his role as a sheriff, suggesting it was a scrapped concept from early on in development.
• The Oracle of Delphius being banished to the Frozen Wastes by Robotnik and passing away from unknown causes sometime after, telling Sonic how to reunite with his siblings in his dying breath. While the Oracle does take up residence in Ice Cap in the final show, he was not banished there, nor does he ever die.
• The Medallions being stated to be golden, but in the final show they bare a more silver coloration. Another detail stated in the manual but not in the final show is that they each possess three notes engraved into them.
• Robotnik's given motive for finding Queen Aleena is so that he can marry her and make her his consort, as he believes that by doing so he can become the rightful ruler of Mobius. While not his overall motive in the final show, the episode "Wedding Bell Blues" did use a similar premise for its plot.
• While not in early production documents, the game's manual states that it ends with Sonic, Manic and Sonia reuniting with their mother, which never actually happened in the original show, making it the only piece of Sonic Underground-related media where this goal is actually accomplished.
Full details:
https://twitter.com/SatamHistorian/status/1538585617600335872
Sheriff Robotnik origin:
http://www.tesp.co.uk/TESP/main.php?FrameURL=Articals/Reports/RoadSU.htm
"Wedding Bell Blues" - Sonic Underground:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Hr-chOCtI
Wiki page with game manual scans:
https://sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Sonic_Underground_(LCD_game)/Manuals
https://twitter.com/SatamHistorian/status/1538585617600335872
Sheriff Robotnik origin:
http://www.tesp.co.uk/TESP/main.php?FrameURL=Articals/Reports/RoadSU.htm
"Wedding Bell Blues" - Sonic Underground:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Hr-chOCtI
Wiki page with game manual scans:
https://sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Sonic_Underground_(LCD_game)/Manuals
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When writing the story and setting of the first two The Legend of Zelda games, Takashi Tezuka was inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien’s "The Lord of the Rings" high fantasy book series.
Club Nintendo April 1996 Issue (Page 72):
https://archive.org/details/ClubNintendo1996German/page/n35/mode/1up
https://archive.org/details/ClubNintendo1996German/page/n35/mode/1up
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Found within the E3 2002 kiosk version of Star Fox Adventures is an unused cutscene of Fox talking with Tricky, Peppy and Slippy after placing presumably the final SpellStone. Various unused SFA voice clips sync up perfectly with this sequence, revealing the dialogue exchange to be:Tricky: You did it, Fox! You saved Dinosaur Planet!
Fox: Don't get too excited, Tricky. We haven't delt with General Scales yet.
Slippy: Fox, Fox! Where are you going? You've completed the mission so let's go home!
Peppy: He's right, Fox. We don't need the extra bonus. I can finally retire with what we got.
Fox: It's not the bonus or even General Scales that I'm worried about...
Peppy and Tricky: Krystal!
Peppy: Ha! It's always the girls that get him!
Fox: Look guys, I promised I saved her. You wouldn't want her to die, would you? So I'm going to the Walled City, to find the final Krazoa spirit!
Fox: Don't get too excited, Tricky. We haven't delt with General Scales yet.
Slippy: Fox, Fox! Where are you going? You've completed the mission so let's go home!
Peppy: He's right, Fox. We don't need the extra bonus. I can finally retire with what we got.
Fox: It's not the bonus or even General Scales that I'm worried about...
Peppy and Tricky: Krystal!
Peppy: Ha! It's always the girls that get him!
Fox: Look guys, I promised I saved her. You wouldn't want her to die, would you? So I'm going to the Walled City, to find the final Krazoa spirit!
This presents bit of a different story from what is presented in the final game. In the retail release, it's discovered that returning all of the SpellStones to the Force Point Temples does not single handily restore Dinosaur Planet to its original state, and that Fox also needs to return all of the Krazoa spirits to Krazoa Palace to fully stabilize the planet, in addition to freeing Krystal from Krazoa Palace.
Here, it does seem returning the SpellStones restores the planet, and collecting the Krazoa spirits is for a separate task, that being merely freeing Krystal.
Final SpellStone scene in Star Fox Adventures kiosk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j69M1G6GXKY
Final SpellStone scene Star Fox Adventures retail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiwMDcOEY2E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j69M1G6GXKY
Final SpellStone scene Star Fox Adventures retail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiwMDcOEY2E
subdirectory_arrow_right Dinosaur Planet (Game)
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Phil Tossell, the lead software engineer for Star Fox Adventures, had mentioned that Dinosaur Planet had begun development before The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time had released, and thus the development team didn't start taking inspiration from it until afterwards. He also talked about how understaffed the development team was in comparison to most Zelda games, specifically mentioning how they initially had only five programmers, only adding in more later on. This resulted in the team facing many technical and design problems during the development of Dinosaur Planet/Star Fox Adventures:
"When we first began Dinosaur Planet, Zelda wasn't out yet, so the game had a slightly different feel, but when Zelda came out, I think the designers were really inspired and amazed by it, and to a large extent, we emulated a number of features. The problem was we were making Star Fox Adventures with a tiny team in comparison to Zelda; for most of the development, we only had five programmers, only adding more much later on. I don't think anyone would even attempt such a large game with such a small team nowadays.
Star Fox Adventures was one of the first games to utilise a fully streaming world on a console that had a relatively small amount of memory, squeezing everything in and making what I still think is one of the most beautiful-looking GameCube games was a real challenge. When we first conceived the idea of a 'no-loading' world, it was on the N64 which of course had cartridges, making instant loading much more straightforward. However, by the time we moved to GameCube we were faced with our first experience of a disc-based medium, which added complications. In addition, with the move to Star Fox branding, we had space levels which we had never envisaged in the beginning."
Star Fox Adventures was one of the first games to utilise a fully streaming world on a console that had a relatively small amount of memory, squeezing everything in and making what I still think is one of the most beautiful-looking GameCube games was a real challenge. When we first conceived the idea of a 'no-loading' world, it was on the N64 which of course had cartridges, making instant loading much more straightforward. However, by the time we moved to GameCube we were faced with our first experience of a disc-based medium, which added complications. In addition, with the move to Star Fox branding, we had space levels which we had never envisaged in the beginning."
subdirectory_arrow_right Dinosaur Planet (Game)
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What exists as LightFoot Village in Star Fox Adventures was originally merely a subarea in a greater location known as SwapStone Circle in Dinosaur Planet. This was essentially Krystal's equivalent to Sabre's SwapStone Hollow, acting as a hub for her adventure and thus connecting together her stages such as Cape Claw, BlackWater Canyon, Discovery Falls, Golden Plains and Moon Mountain Pass. It was also where she'd utilize her namesake SwapStone, Rubble, to transport to Warlock Mountain to deposit Krazoa spirits.In the transition to Star Fox Adventures, when it was decided to scrap Krystal's co-protagonist role, thus leaving Fox as the only playable character outside of the prologue, Krystal's stages were either removed entirely or given to and reworked for Fox. SwapStone Circle as such would be heavily revamped, expunging the SwapStone element and heavily expanding the LightFoot Village mini-area into its own full distinct location. Similarly to Dinosaur Planet, the area would link to Cape Claw. It's worth noting that within the game files, LightFoot Village is internally called "SwapCircle", as ThornTail Hollow is similarly internally called "SwapHol", referencing their original names.
In Dinosaur Planet, Krystal and Kyte were tasked by the LightFoot to lit their ancient beacons that had gone out. Doing this in turn would reward them access to Discovery Falls. This quest would appear in the final Star Fox Adventures, but re-contextualized as the ThornTails in ThornTail Hollow asking for Fox and Tricky for help in reigniting their beacons, and doing so rewards them a key that let them access Moon Mountain Pass, as well as the Volcano Force Point Temple.
Dinosaur Planet - SwapStone Circle:
https://youtu.be/CuKPMHg_qzY?t=2757
https://youtu.be/h4BEE87fOMo?t=123
Star Fox Adventures - LightFoot Village:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KMw_aQmxTw&t=95s
Star Fox Adventures - Lighting the beacons:
https://youtu.be/rGc0KkSX3pk?t=128
The Cutting Room Floor article:
https://tcrf.net/Star_Fox_Adventures#Extra_WarpStone_Destinations
https://youtu.be/CuKPMHg_qzY?t=2757
https://youtu.be/h4BEE87fOMo?t=123
Star Fox Adventures - LightFoot Village:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KMw_aQmxTw&t=95s
Star Fox Adventures - Lighting the beacons:
https://youtu.be/rGc0KkSX3pk?t=128
The Cutting Room Floor article:
https://tcrf.net/Star_Fox_Adventures#Extra_WarpStone_Destinations
subdirectory_arrow_right Dinosaur Planet (Game)
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What exists as ThornTail Hollow in Star Fox Adventures was originally called SwapStone Hollow in Dinosaur Planet. It more or less functioned the same as it does in SFA, serving as the hub for Sabre's adventure, connecting his stages such as SnowHorn Wastes, Walled City, Diamond Bay, Willow Grove and Dragon Rock. It was where he'd utilize his namesake SwapStone, Rocky, to transport to Warlock Mountain to deposit Krazoa spirits.ThornTail Hollow retains most of the same layout, but has noticeable differences: the shop that was originally situated underneath the SwapStone (now WarpStone, as the character swapping mechanic was dropped with Krystal's co-protagonist role scrapped) is now its own distinct establishment settled in the middle of the map. The winding series of tunnels right by the Swap/WarpStone has been replaced by the Mother ThornTail egg mini-game. The areas it was originally connected to such as Willow Grove, Walled City, Diamond Bay and Dragon Rock were either entirely removed or split off the mainland Dinosaur Planet in orbit. ThornTail Hollow also now leads into Moon Mountain Pass on the right side of the area, and what originally led to Willow Grove in the bottom left now leads into LightFoot Village.
Dinosaur Planet condensed story:
https://rarethief.com/dinosaur-planet/
Dinosaur Planet - SwapStone Hollow:
https://youtu.be/WaZigM-iX9w
Star Fox Adventures - ThornTail Hollow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfxzbsK9v3M
https://rarethief.com/dinosaur-planet/
Dinosaur Planet - SwapStone Hollow:
https://youtu.be/WaZigM-iX9w
Star Fox Adventures - ThornTail Hollow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfxzbsK9v3M
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subdirectory_arrow_right Dinosaur Planet (Game)
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Golden Plains was another of Krystal's stages in Dinosaur Planet that was cut in the transition to Star Fox Adventures. It was an open desert area that Krystal and Kyte would have to trek through in order to reach the Desert Force Point Temple. It would be home to other interests, such as the spell page for the Portal ability required to open the way into the Desert Force Point, another jetbike race, and as well as Krystal's final Krazoa shrine test, the Test of Knowledge. Golden Plains featured a unique mechanic in that Krystal would take damage by vising this area during the day because of the extreme heat, hence why the SpellStone guardian previously encountered at CloudRunner Fortress (who appears in Star Fox Adventures under the name of "Gradabug") warns her to instead travel at night when the sun is gone.
Golden Plains was removed in the final Star Fox Adventures, but some of its elements would remain: the Desert Force Point Temple was reworked into the Ocean Force Point Temple and would be now accessed through Cape Claw. The Ocean Force Point would even inherent Golden Plain's original background music. The Test of Knowledge would be moved over to the top of the temple in the Walled City and fittingly enough would be Fox's final true Krazoa test, although one more was planned in place of the General Scales "boss fight" in Krazoa Palace.
Dinosaur Planet - Golden Plains:
https://youtu.be/oz9q086xjTc?t=10
Dinosaur Planet - Test of Knowledge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6tvLPYnNwI&t=146s
https://youtu.be/oz9q086xjTc?t=10
Dinosaur Planet - Test of Knowledge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6tvLPYnNwI&t=146s
subdirectory_arrow_right Dinosaur Planet (Game)
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One of Krystal's many areas from Dinosaur Planet that got scrapped in the transition to Star Fox Adventures was Discovery Falls, which consisted of a massive series of waterfalls and hidden caves. This was the first area that Krystal was meant to visit after rescuing Princess Kyte from the SharpClaw within Cape Claw, and was also home to her first Krazoa shrine test, the Test of Combat. Other notable characters encountered here include a member of the HighTop tribe (a race of sauropods), a friendly SharpClaw that teaches Krystal the Foodbag mechanic, and a mysterious mole creature that Krystal must feed in order to to help her dig additional tunnels within one of the caverns. This mole creature, internally referred to as "DFmole" in the game files, has been affectionately named "Capy" (short for "capybara") by some within the Dinosaur Planet community. This area was also where Krystal would eventually acquire an artifact of the Krazoa that would let her access more areas previously barred off in Cape Claw.As mentioned before, this area would be scrapped entirely in the final Star Fox Adventures game, but some elements of it would live on elsewhere, namely the Test of Combat (which now exists in Moon Mountain Pass, fittingly as Fox's first test) and its background music, which now plays in Cape Claw, and was also remixed in romantic saxophone form as Krystal's theme.
Dinosaur Planet condensed story:
https://rarethief.com/dinosaur-planet/
Dinosaur Planet - Discovery Falls:
https://youtu.be/cf2c8VII3sA?t=1
https://youtu.be/MVV-DQa9HOY?t=162
Star Fox Adventures - Fox partaking in the Test of Combat in Moon Mountain Pass:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8D-goTwpVc
https://rarethief.com/dinosaur-planet/
Dinosaur Planet - Discovery Falls:
https://youtu.be/cf2c8VII3sA?t=1
https://youtu.be/MVV-DQa9HOY?t=162
Star Fox Adventures - Fox partaking in the Test of Combat in Moon Mountain Pass:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8D-goTwpVc
subdirectory_arrow_right Dinosaur Planet (Game)
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Found within the files of the E3 2002 kiosk of Star Fox Adventures is a file called STORYBOARD.bin which reveals a set of storyboard images pertaining to a cut subplot in Dinosaur Planet's CloudRunner Fortress that would have dealt with Princess Kyte's traitorous uncle.It seemed for two centuries, Kyte's uncle had been cast out by his tribe and now was seeking vengeance by allying himself with General Scales and the SharpClaw. It appears that Krystal and Kyte would combat and defeat this evil uncle, resulting in General Scales betraying him, and in retaliation, Kyte's uncle would attempt to perform a kamikaze attack on Scales and thus sacrifice himself.
While the storyboards otherwise are mostly similar to what is presented in the Dinosaur Planet condensed story and also leaked December 2000 build, there are some notable differences, just to name a few: as Krystal and Kyte enter CloudRunner Fortress, they witness a CloudRunner soldier get killed by one of the SharpClaw's spaceships (presumably provided to them by Drakor). The imprisoned SpellStone guardian, presented as a pachycephalosaurid type dinosaur from the BoneHead tribe in the leaked Dinosaur Planet build (who also appears in Star Fox Adventures with the name "Gradabug") is illustrated as more of a strange stegosaurid type of dinosaur here.
It's rather apparent that these storyboards were meant to pertain to a subarea within CloudRunner Fortress that had already been scrapped by the time of the condensed Dinosaur Planet story and also leaked build: the Trap Rooms, which would of featured an extra set of puzzles and challenges Krystal had to solve before acquiring the area's SpellStone. The storyboards show that the Trap Rooms were to be accessed through the underwater passage in the Fortress' main courtyard, which in the leaked build, instead leads to the jetbike race (in the final Star Fox Adventures, Fox accesses it through the CloudRunner's treasure rooms. Funny enough, Adventures' CloudRunner Fortress also has a scrapped area found beyond the Fortress' flooded courtyard pathway). It is worth pointing out that the March 1999 level list includes "CloudRunner - Treasure", "Dungeon", and "TrapRooms", but doesn't feature "CloudRunner - Race", which makes it all the more apparent the latter replaced the Trap Rooms in the December 2000 build, which would then carry over into Star Fox Adventures.
Dinosaur Planet storyboards:
https://dinosaurpla.net/Main/Game-History/Storyboard-Images/
The Cutting Room Floor articles:
https://tcrf.net/Proto:Star_Fox_Adventures/Dinosaur_Planet/Unused_Areas_%26_Maps#CloudRunner_Fortress_-_Trap_Rooms
https://tcrf.net/Proto:Star_Fox_Adventures/E3_2002_Demo/Dinosaur_Planet_Leftovers#Level_Names
Dinosaur Planet condensed story:
https://rarethief.com/dinosaur-planet/
https://dinosaurpla.net/Main/Game-History/Storyboard-Images/
The Cutting Room Floor articles:
https://tcrf.net/Proto:Star_Fox_Adventures/Dinosaur_Planet/Unused_Areas_%26_Maps#CloudRunner_Fortress_-_Trap_Rooms
https://tcrf.net/Proto:Star_Fox_Adventures/E3_2002_Demo/Dinosaur_Planet_Leftovers#Level_Names
Dinosaur Planet condensed story:
https://rarethief.com/dinosaur-planet/
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The development team behind Donkey Kong had concerns that the game had "no dream", in that the theme of construction sites and carpenters lacked a "sense of beauty which inspires you to dream about the future."
subdirectory_arrow_right Radar Scope (Game)
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Some concepts considered for alternate games to use unsold Radar Scope cabinets for if Donkey Kong couldn't be developed were a Jack & the Beanstalk game, a fishing game, a space shuttle construction game due to space shuttles being a hot news topic at the time, and a game about fighting a disease in the human body, based on a movie (likely Fantastic Voyage).
Company: Nintendo
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Nintendo's development philosophy is often described with the quote "a delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad," which is generally attributed to Shigeru Miyamoto. However, there is no evidence that he actually said the quote: a 2022 investigation by video game researcher Ethan Johnson revealed that it was first documented as "an industry catchphrase" in a November 1997 issue of Gamepro magazine. The quote was first tied to Nintendo in the June 1998 issue of Edge, in which an article about the protracted development of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time alleges that Nintendo saw it on a poster in a developer's office and took it to heart.
Over the next three years, the quote circulated among Usenet forum members when describing a variety of game developers, Nintendo included, and in 2003 it started being attributed to Miyamoto specifically. Johnson speculates that this came from people conflating it with comments Miyamoto made in a 2001 interview looking back on the making of Ocarina of Time, where he stated that "the entire staff starts to feel like 'if I let the game be released in this state, I will be ashamed.' Because if the development team doesn't end up feeling like craftsmen, artisans... then it won't be a good game." Johnson attributed the quote's longevity to the emergence of modern hype culture and growing public awareness about the significantly longer development periods needed for 3D games.
Over the next three years, the quote circulated among Usenet forum members when describing a variety of game developers, Nintendo included, and in 2003 it started being attributed to Miyamoto specifically. Johnson speculates that this came from people conflating it with comments Miyamoto made in a 2001 interview looking back on the making of Ocarina of Time, where he stated that "the entire staff starts to feel like 'if I let the game be released in this state, I will be ashamed.' Because if the development team doesn't end up feeling like craftsmen, artisans... then it won't be a good game." Johnson attributed the quote's longevity to the emergence of modern hype culture and growing public awareness about the significantly longer development periods needed for 3D games.
Article about Johnson's findings:
https://gamerant.com/miyamoto-famous-quote-delayed-games-good-misattributed/
Johnson's original Twitter thread, including a correction about his statement regarding the poster Nintendo allegedly saw:
https://twitter.com/GameResearch_E/status/1504850248107188234
https://gamerant.com/miyamoto-famous-quote-delayed-games-good-misattributed/
Johnson's original Twitter thread, including a correction about his statement regarding the poster Nintendo allegedly saw:
https://twitter.com/GameResearch_E/status/1504850248107188234
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Reportedly, Alan Wake II's budget stands at €70 million: €50 million was spent on development, while the remaining €20 million was spent on marketing. This makes the game one of the most expensive cultural products in the history of Finland.
[Both sources are in Finnish.]
Budget:
https://www.hs.fi/talous/art-2000009952209.html
Most expensive cultural product statement:
https://yle.fi/a/74-20057197
Budget:
https://www.hs.fi/talous/art-2000009952209.html
Most expensive cultural product statement:
https://yle.fi/a/74-20057197
Company: Ape
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Ape Inc. was founded as an outlet for new talent in gaming, born out of Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi's concerns that the video game industry was at risk of stagnating in its current form. This belief additionally influenced Yamauchi's decision to pitch the idea for the company to celebrity copywriter Shigesato Itoi, who he was fond of. Itoi previously became acquainted with Nintendo when he was tapped to help out with marketing the Famicom Disk System visual novel Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School, and used the founding of Ape Inc. as an opportunity to start work on Mother.
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During the mission "Initiation 4" (also known as "We Sing"), Alan goes through a surreal set while his psyche Mr. Door and other characters sing "Herald of Darkness", a musical summarizing Alan's story up to that point. Notably, the music for this sequence was provided by Poets of the Fall as the fictional band "The Old Gods of Asgard". According to director Sam Lake, the idea was inspired by both the first Alan Wake's concert standoff and the Ashtray Maze level from Control, both of which were set to Poets of the Fall's music. Lake knew that both Michael Porretta and David Harewood (the actors behind Alan Wake and Mr. Door, respectively) could sing, and Poets of the Fall helped with the choreography.
During development, however, developers questioned the need of the musical sequence due to both the strangeness of the sequence in a horror game and the difficulties that came with pulling it off. Despite this, Lake insisted that the sequence be kept. The sequence proved to be highly popular, so much so that "Herald of Darkness" was performed live at The Game Awards 2023 by Poets of the Fall, with Ikka Villi, Matthew Porretta, David Harewood, and Sam Lake all reprising their roles from the game during the performance.
During development, however, developers questioned the need of the musical sequence due to both the strangeness of the sequence in a horror game and the difficulties that came with pulling it off. Despite this, Lake insisted that the sequence be kept. The sequence proved to be highly popular, so much so that "Herald of Darkness" was performed live at The Game Awards 2023 by Poets of the Fall, with Ikka Villi, Matthew Porretta, David Harewood, and Sam Lake all reprising their roles from the game during the performance.
Article about the sequence:
https://www.polygon.com/gaming/23935450/alan-wake-2-we-sing-flare-gun-talkshow
Development details:
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/alan-wake-2s-best-scene-was-nearly-cut-from-the-game-sam-lake-reveals/1100-6518924/
The Game Awards 2023:
https://www.polygon.com/game-awards-tga/23992657/musical-guest-alan-wake-2-old-gods-of-asgard
https://www.polygon.com/gaming/23935450/alan-wake-2-we-sing-flare-gun-talkshow
Development details:
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/alan-wake-2s-best-scene-was-nearly-cut-from-the-game-sam-lake-reveals/1100-6518924/
The Game Awards 2023:
https://www.polygon.com/game-awards-tga/23992657/musical-guest-alan-wake-2-old-gods-of-asgard
subdirectory_arrow_right Dinosaur Planet (Game)
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The original Dinosaur Planet storyline had Sauria, the namesake Dinosaur Planet, a part a group of eight planets dubbed the "Majestic Eight". Said to be the first planets created when the universe began, the seven other were, as described by the Krazoa:• Animus, the home world of Sabre, Krystal and Randorn
• Aleminach, the home world of the Krazoa
• Eridal, the home world of Drakor's race, the Kamerians
• Nibiru, the home world of the "Nephilim", and "a land of giants"
• Earth, the home world of the "newest universe members, a very evil race, the humans"
• Melqua, a planet of water with rings of gold
• Selaf, the home world of the "Anunnaki"
Interestingly, in place of Animus, the voice lines for the Krazoa in Warlock Mountain instead mention Corneria. Obviously, this was to accommodate the presence of Fox McCloud in the leaked December 2000 build of Dinosaur Planet, as it was beginning to transition into Star Fox Adventures.
Some of these reference actual myths and conspiracies, such as the Nibiru Cataclysm, a doomsday theory that states that Earth will catastrophically collide with another planet, typically believed to be an object known as "Planet X" or Nibiru. The "Annunaki" are a group of deities in ancient Sumerian myths that are theorized by some as aliens from a planet called Nibiru that came to Earth to harvest gold, and also were reptilian humanoids. The myths surrounding the "Nephilim" tend to vary: some say they were giants (as mentioned by the Krazoa in DP) while others say that they were fallen angels or the offspring of humans and angels.
Each of the eight spirits Sabre and Krystal were told to collect by the Krazoa during their adventures were meant to represent these eight planets. The ultimate endgame of the Krazoa in Dinosaur Planet's original narrative was to align these Majestic Eight worlds by reuniting the eight spirits of Quan Ata Lachu (a deity the Krazoa worship) at Warlock Mountain in order to revive their people and bring "peace" to the universe. In reality, as Drakor describes it, this will result in the most deadly weapon in the universe, as the alignment of the Majestic Eight gives the Quan Ata Lachu (described by Drakor as being "a rare lifeform of pure evil") the opportunity to utilize the immense powerful energy that this will produce, and it will be focused through Warlock Mountain, creating the ultimate weapon of destruction that will allow the Krazoa to remold the universe into their image/liking, spreading disease, terror and chaos as they please. This is why Drakor has come to Sauria to revive the Kamerian war dragon that fell in battle against the Krazoa at the beginning of the universe, to prevent this from happening and exact revenge against the Krazoa.
This plotline would be revised and ultimately dropped in the final Star Fox Adventures game, as Dinosaur Planet is said to just simply exist in the Lylat System, and Krystal's home planet was renamed to Cerinia and was said to be mysteriously destroyed, hence why she's searching the galaxy for the truth of the death of her family (though this was omitted in the Japanese version). The plotline of Fox collecting the Krazoa spirits in promise of something good (in this case, saving Krystal from the top of Krazoa Palace and ultimately putting Dinosaur Planet back together) would in someway remain, but would instead result in Andross reviving himself as the true final boss of Star Fox Adventures.
Majestic 8 lore:
https://out-of-this-dimension.tumblr.com/post/182184829753/majestic-eight-lore-giants-reptile-people
Dinosaur Planet condensed story:
https://rarethief.com/dinosaur-planet/
Ask Uncle Tusk - July 7, 2000:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010127012800/http://www.rareware.com/bites/agonyaunt/july700.html
Dinosaur Planet - Quan Ata Lachu cutscenes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpDKgmjko4Q
https://youtu.be/QcJMAL-SycI?t=180
Dinosaur Planet - Krazoa voice lines:
https://youtu.be/1-xAld46K8c?t=12
Dinosaur Planet - Krazoa Keeper/Guide of Krazoa Palace voice lines:
https://youtu.be/EutERirNXhg?t=16
Dinosaur Planet - The Countdown of the Majestic fan reconstruction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfJvQRkes3I#t=10
Dinosaur Planet - The Majestic Eight Alignment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9GOY-NvFFA
Star Fox Adventures - Moon Mountain Pass:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2lwNn3z10Q?t=167
Star Fox Adventures - General Scales and Andross boss fights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coeDs2f-6N8
https://out-of-this-dimension.tumblr.com/post/182184829753/majestic-eight-lore-giants-reptile-people
Dinosaur Planet condensed story:
https://rarethief.com/dinosaur-planet/
Ask Uncle Tusk - July 7, 2000:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010127012800/http://www.rareware.com/bites/agonyaunt/july700.html
Dinosaur Planet - Quan Ata Lachu cutscenes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpDKgmjko4Q
https://youtu.be/QcJMAL-SycI?t=180
Dinosaur Planet - Krazoa voice lines:
https://youtu.be/1-xAld46K8c?t=12
Dinosaur Planet - Krazoa Keeper/Guide of Krazoa Palace voice lines:
https://youtu.be/EutERirNXhg?t=16
Dinosaur Planet - The Countdown of the Majestic fan reconstruction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfJvQRkes3I#t=10
Dinosaur Planet - The Majestic Eight Alignment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9GOY-NvFFA
Star Fox Adventures - Moon Mountain Pass:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2lwNn3z10Q?t=167
Star Fox Adventures - General Scales and Andross boss fights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coeDs2f-6N8