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Star Fox: Assault
Star Fox: Assault (2005)
subdirectory_arrow_right Battle City (Game), Star Luster (Game), Xevious (Game)
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Attachment Star Fox: Assault is notable for including three unlockable Famicom/NES games originally created by Namco:

• Xevious
• Battle City
• Star Luster

As explained by the development team in an issue of Nintendo Dream, this was done to highlight Star Fox: Assault being a collaboration between Nintendo and Namco, with the latter being its primary developer. With the Star Fox franchise being a sci-fi shooter series, Tsuyoshi Kobayashi and Takaya Imamura had carefully decided on which classic Namco games would fit the best with that vibe. There were considerations to also include Nintendo created Famicom/NES games (one person, for example, had suggested including Balloon Fight), but ultimately Imamura and Kobayashi couldn't come up with any games that would have fit the Star Fox world and atmosphere.

Unfortunately, as the Famicom versions of Battle City and Star Luster had never been released in Western territories, they in turn were excluded from all Western versions of Star Fox: Assault, leaving Xevious as the only unlockable Namco game outside of Japan.
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Bonus Content, Bundled/Pack-In Game, Development, Inspiration, Regional Difference
person Dinoman96 calendar_month January 5, 2024
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Star Fox Assault Nintendo Dream interview:
https://shmuplations.com/starfoxassault/

Footage of Xevious, the only unlockable Namco game in the western version of SFAss:
https://youtu.be/BrMv7tKA74A?t=6
Star Fox: Assault
Star Fox: Assault (2005)
subdirectory_arrow_right Assault (Game)
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The subtitle of Star Fox: Assault was suggested by Nintendo of America. Initially, there were legal concerns as Namco had already trademarked the name "Assault" for their 1988 arcade game of the same name. Fortunately for Nintendo, the trademark was only valid within Japan, and Namco, who were already the developers for Star Fox: Assault, had granted them permission to use the title.
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Copyright, Development, General, Title
person Dinoman96 calendar_month January 3, 2024
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Star Fox
Star Fox (1993)
subdirectory_arrow_right Star Fox (Franchise)
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Attachment During the development of the original Star Fox, character designer Takaya Imamura originally wanted to make the characters generic humans and aliens, similar to his character designs from F-Zero. It was Shigeru Miyamoto who convinced him to instead make them anthropomorphic animals, as he wanted the game's aesthetic to stand out from every other science fiction property coming out at the time.

Fox in particular being a fox was inspired by the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine located near Nintendo's offices.
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Character Design, Development, Early Idea, Inspiration
person Dinoman96 calendar_month December 28, 2023
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Iwata Asks - Star Fox 64 3D:
https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/3ds/starfox/0/2/

2002 Nintendo Dream interview with Takaya Imamura on Star Fox Adventures:
https://shmuplations.com/starfoxadventures/

2002 Nintendo Official Magazine interview with Takaya Imamura:
https://web.archive.org/web/20030416023122/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/nom/0210/fox_03/page03.html

English translations of above NOM interview:
https://www.reddit.com/r/starfox/comments/18rek3h/just_throwing_out_a_translation_of_this_old/

Nintendo Classic Mini: SNES developer interview – Volume 1: Star Fox + Star Fox 2:
https://www.nintendo.co.uk/News/2017/September/Nintendo-Classic-Mini-SNES-developer-interview-Volume-1-Star-Fox-Star-Fox-2-1273086.html
Ultrakill
Ultrakill (2020)
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Bonus Content, Controls, Development, Meme, Technology, Update Difference
person VinchVolt calendar_month December 23, 2023
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Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon (1993)
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Cheat, Development, Early Idea, Removed Feature, Unused Graphic
person VinchVolt calendar_month December 21, 2023
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The Cutting Room Floor article:
https://tcrf.net/Bishoujo_Senshi_Sailor_Moon_(SNES)#Body_Model

Excerpt from a Twitter thread translating posts from a hashtag where Japanese developers share their contributions to old games:
https://twitter.com/gosokkyu/status/1517753335373254657
Star Fox Adventures
Star Fox Adventures (2002)
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Attachment In an interview with Phil Tossell (the lead software engineer for Star Fox Adventures) within an issue of Retro Gamer, he admitted the development team thought the game may have never actually even been released because of the impending Microsoft buyout.
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Acquisition, Development, General
person Dinoman96 calendar_month December 19, 2023
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Star Fox Adventures
Star Fox Adventures (2002)
subdirectory_arrow_right Dinosaur Planet (Game)
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Contrary to popular belief, Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo did not singlehandedly force Rare (who was never even fully owned by Nintendo) to convert Dinosaur Planet into Star Fox Adventures. It was merely an offer and suggestion Miyamoto gave to Rare, and at the very least, the higher ups such as the Stamper Bros. and Kevin Bayliss were on board with it. An October 2004 edition of Rare's Scribes says as such:

Q: First of all, what’s the true story here, did Rare approach Microsoft because Nintendo raped Dinosaur Planet, or did Microsoft approach you guys because of your talent?

A: None of it had anything to do with Dinosaur Planet. That was way before the negotiations started, and besides, the Rare-Nintendo relationship didn’t work in such a way that they’d just force the SFA switch on us.
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Development, Misconception
person Dinoman96 calendar_month December 19, 2023
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Dinosaur Planet/Star Fox Adventures Development Explained:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-bPiQr9AoE

Rare Scribes – October 19th 2004:
http://www.raregamer.co.uk/scribes-october-19th-2004/
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VI (1994)
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The character Ultros from Final Fantasy VI’s Japanese name is pronounced as “ortorosu” and was intended to be a reference to Orthos from Greek mythology. When the game was localized, the translator was presumably unaware of this reference and transliterated it as Ultros. Later entries in the series would alternate between calling the character Ultros and Orthos.
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Etymology, Inspiration, Mistake, Mistranslation, Regional Difference
person Kirby Inhales Jotaro calendar_month December 18, 2023
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Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (2012)
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While the game's Project Giana Kickstarter campaign was active, voice actress Cristina Vee went to Black Forest Games' forums and offered to voice Giana for the game. While her offer was considered, voice actress Katie Leigh got the role instead.
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Celebrity, Credits, Crowdfunding Campaign, Development, Early Idea, Real Life, Voice Acting
person GianaSistersFan64 calendar_month December 18, 2023
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Sonic & Knuckles
Sonic & Knuckles (1994)
subdirectory_arrow_right Sonic The Hedgehog (Franchise)
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Attachment Thrash the Tasmanian Devil, a character introduced in Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics, is based on a purple sprite that is created for several milliseconds on the game's title screen if the player quickly switches between Sonic and Knuckles' sprites. Notably, Ian Flynn stated in the graphic novel "Sonic Universe 3: Knuckles Returns" that Thrash was meant to be another rogue of Knuckles who could "throw down with Knuckles and have it mean something", which did not line up with his role in his debut during "Sonic Universe" Issue #11. However, this would later be conveyed during the "Endangered Species" story arc of the main comic, where it's revealed that he has a strong hatred towards the Echidna species due to their actions against his ancestors. When asked about the possibility of bringing Thrash back in the comic's reboot, Ian Flynn said he would love to bring him back, but "it comes with all that baggage... We can't really bring him back without people going 'Oh boy! And here we go!'"
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Artwork/Illustration, Backstory/Lore, Character Design, General, Glitch, Inspiration, Menu, Multimedia Adaptation, Real Life, Reference
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month December 17, 2023
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Giana Sisters DS
Giana Sisters DS (2009)
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According to level designer and artist Alex "Pikomi" Pierschel, since Giana Sisters DS lacks a multiplayer mode, Giana's sister Maria couldn't be playable or even appear in the game, and revealed that Punk Giana took her place.
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Development, Early Idea, Unused Character
person GianaSistersFan64 calendar_month December 17, 2023
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Radiant Silvergun
Radiant Silvergun (1998)
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According to developer Hiroshi Iuchi, the reason that Radiant Silvergun features no power-ups is because he thought items in shoot ‘em up games like Thunder Force or Gradius could often result in cheap deaths, and he wished to streamline how players switched between their ship's guns in an effort to create a game that progressed through just shooting and dodging:

"There’s been many previous games where you swap weapons, so adding a button just for switching weapons seemed too boring, and you always have to be keeping track of where your weapon gauge is. I wanted something where the way you used your hands was managed mentally. If the different weapons were all based on finger combinations, you wouldn’t need to visually confirm weapons, you’d just automatically know what you were using.

We also deliberately made the bullets slow. If you’re going for a gameplay style that involves threading through tiny cracks in bullet curtains, then a slower bullet speed will allow a wider audience to enjoy the pleasure of bullet dodging."
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Complaint, Controls, Development, Inspiration
person Kirby Inhales Jotaro calendar_month December 17, 2023
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Sonic Underground
Sonic Underground (2000)
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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.
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Adaptation, Backstory/Lore, Development, Early Idea, General, Manual, Mistake, Pitch Bible/Proposal, Reference
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month December 15, 2023
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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.
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Development, General, Magazine, Misconception, Real Life
person VinchVolt calendar_month December 13, 2023
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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
Franchise: Sonic The Hedgehog
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Attachment On March 17, 2019, in response to a post on the Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account celebrating St. Patrick's Day, YouTuber Jacksepticeye jokingly asked if he could voice "Irish the Hedgehog", to which the Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account responded:

"Absolutely.

(We just need to create him first.)"

A year later, they made good on this promise, releasing a video titled "Irish the Hedgehog" on the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel. According to Sega, the character was designed by artist Mark Hughes, and the video included a "folksy" remix of the song "Escape from the City" from Sonic Adventure 2 made by Hyper Potions and Jun Senoue.

A few years afterwards, Jacksepticeye would return to the Sonic franchise to voice another character: the appropriately-named Jack from the "Sonic Prime" episode "It Takes One to No Place".
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Celebrity, Credits, Easter Egg, Fan Works, General, In-Joke, Inspiration, Parody, Real Life, Reference, Social Media, Voice Acting
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month November 27, 2023
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Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 (2001)
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In a 2001 interview featured in the Capcom vs. SNK 2 Another Play Guide, it was revealed that the team wanted to include Linn Kurosawa from Alien vs. Predator as a playable character, but that they couldn't do it due to copyright issues. Because of this, they went with Maki from Final Fight 2 instead.

At another point, they considered giving Maki a moveset identical to the one Linn has, but eventually decided against it, instead giving her a moveset that more closely matches the one she had in her debut game.
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Copyright, Development, Early Idea, Moveset, Unused Character
person ZpaceJ0ck0 calendar_month November 26, 2023
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Monopoly
Monopoly (1993)
subdirectory_arrow_right The Monopoly Game 2 (Game), Ape Inc (Company)
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The Japan-exclusive Super Famicom version of Monopoly was produced by famed Japanese copywriter and essayist Shigesato Itoi (best known to people outside of Japan as the creator of Nintendo's EarthBound series), who is a champion Monopoly player and the leader of the Japanese Monopoly association. Itoi also served as a supervisor on the game's Japan-exclusive sequel, The Monopoly Game 2.
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Adaptation, Competitive, Credits, Development, General, Real Life
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 23, 2023
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Blog post by a developer of Super Famicom Monopoly, mentioning Itoi's involvement:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160624143841/http://www.omorita.com/monopoly/

Itoi's Monopoly page:
https://www.1101.com/monopoly/index.html

The Monopoly Game 2 credits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuLoEcw6pIw#t=3152
The Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail (1971)
subdirectory_arrow_right The Oregon Trail (Game)
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When The Oregon Trail was first being tested with 12-to-14 year olds at the Carlton College, the school faculty reacted negatively to offensive portrayals of Native American people in the game as tomahawk-wielding savages inspired by cowboy movies. While the developers of the game were initially offended by the prospect of changing the depiction, they eventually realized it was the right thing to do after questioning how an indigenous descendant would react to having to fight members of their race in the game.
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Censorship, Development, Early Idea, Race, Real Life, Test, Unused Character, Unused Text
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 17, 2023
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Drawn to Life
Drawn to Life (2007)
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Mari's name was originally Mayonnaise.
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Development, Early Idea, Name Change
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 13, 2023
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Dead Space
Dead Space (2008)
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During Chapter 3: Course Correction, after going through a brief Zero Gravity section on the way to the Engine Room, you have to proceed through a tunnel featuring blasting steam, flashing lights, and an extremely loud and dense noise lasting all throughout the room, referred to by some players as one of the scariest rooms in the game. According to series creator Glen Schofield in a 2019 Ars Technica interview, this sound originates from a recording of the trains in San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system.

For decades, BART trains were infamous for producing a "high-pitched squeal" during turns that stemmed from a conscious design choice when engineers started building it in the mid-1960s to make the train wheels solid axle - or connected - so that they rotated at the same rate. This made the trains relatively quiet on straightaways, which constitute a majority of BART's tracks, but because of the design, one of the wheels ended up getting dragged against the rail on turns, with this friction causing the noise.

During Dead Space's development when this was still an issue, audio director Don Veca recounted his experience riding a BART train to Schofield (the following quote paraphrased by him):

"'Glen, I was going in the BART train, we went under the Bay, and it's THE WORST SOUND IN THE HISTORY OF MAN!' or something like that, and I'm like 'RECORD IT!'"

The next day, Veca brought a microphone with him to record the noises. According to Schofield, the developers loved the resulting recordings, because it showed them a new way to use sound even more in the game's design by helping them realize how they could only use sound to scare people without relying on any enemies or other planned horror elements:

"-people are RUNNING in the room! They are just trying to get out of that room, it's so awesome!"

As for BART, they finally remedied the noise issues between October 2017 and February 2019, when they gradually replaced every train wheel in its fleet with new wheels designed to reduce the noise by as much as fifteen decibels, effectively making the riding experience "many times quieter than before".
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Development, Inspiration, Real Life, Sound Effect
person MehDeletingLater calendar_month November 12, 2023
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