In case you were living under a rock today, or you saw this and thought it was a fake, let me be the first to tell you that this trailer is real. The Nintendo Switch 2 was officially shown for the first time today, along with very few details. Much of the rumored hardware features appear to have been correct. As such, it has larger, magnetically connected Joy Cons on a larger screen. The rumor is that it uses Hall-Effect joysticks (awesome) and will have power at or slightly better than a PS4 (very nice). We already knew from a previous announcement that the Switch 2 will be backwards compatible with Switch games, and this video confirms that again.

Check the video and look at other articles about rumored features and specs to get a better idea of its capabilities. No games were announced, but we did see Mario Kart shown. It's probably Mario Kart 9, since there are some tweaks visible, including a redesigned Donkey Kong that more closely resembles the Super Mario Bros Movie look.

I've heard rumors that there are over 20 third party games ready to release for Switch 2 on launch. It's likely that Yooka-Replaylee will be there, as well as Hi-Fi Rush, which I've been wanting to play. I've also heard rumors that a new 3D Mario title is already waiting in the wings to be the system's launch title. Given the recent cancellation of Metroid Prime 4 preorders (one I had for many years btw), I think Metroid Prime 4 will be available at or soon after launch, possibly also launching on the Switch like how previous Zelda games came out on multiple systems (Breath of the Wild, Twilight Princess). No info on Star Fox, F-Zero, or other older series, but I remain hopeful.

No doubt more information will come out slowly until the next major Nintendo Direct about it on April 2nd, 2025. I suspect the launch will be mid-summer, since there are going to be Switch 2 Experience tours all the way through June.

Recorded on January 11th, 2025, I did this episode while sick, so my voice sounds very rough.

I explain why the podcast was so long coming and why the site has been almost abandoned until recently, as well as what I'm doing to rectify the situation.

After that, I go over all the major events on the site from 2020 to 2025.

Finally, I respond to your questions and comments. There were a lot!

Thanks for listening and sticking around all this time.

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Show Notes

A new, high quality Krystal puppet was recently made by mypuppetpal for commissioner nickisdoge. The puppet is just from the torso upwards and has a moving mouth as well as hands and arms controlled by arm rods.

Here's a demo video of the puppet's movement capabilities and details.

Nick got in contact with me about the puppet project because he is looking into creating a mini Staff to give her and saw the recent Staff Project post. He inquired about the reference shots. Thanks to Nick for giving me a heads up on this project.

According to him, there isn't a concrete plan for projects using her. He collects puppets as a fun hobby and wanted a Krystal to add to that collection. However, he's thinking about maybe commissioning Estelle Ellis to do some voice lines for the puppet to act out. Also, he will probably bring the Krystal puppet along to some cons in the future as he has done with other puppets of his.

There's also a work in progress video by mypuppetpal detailing the creation process from start to finish.

One of the stories I didn't get a chance to post about last year was Kevin Bayliss (Lead Artist on Star Fox Adventures) doing a traditional painting of Krystal from Dinosaur Planet, holding a leash to a CloudRunner. He would later go on to sell prints of this painting, one of which I have purchased.

But long before he finished the painting, a 3D artist, Daniel B., had recreated the scene in 3D using 3D Studio Max, ZBrush, and Substance Painter. I'm pretty sure he did this based off the initial illustration, rather than the painting, since this was posted long before the painting was finished. I just love the detailed fur texturing. This looks like it was a lot of work. Nice work, Daniel! Check out the original post for high resolution renders.

Here's what the painting by Kevin Bayliss looked like. I believe this is a work in progress shot, and Kevin removed the photos of the finished work after having made the prints. At least, I can't seem to find those posts.

Update
Updated text to reflect the fact that this 3D rendering predated the finished painting. I initially got the timeline wrong when looking at the posts.

YouTuber Luck Stat has produced a concise, yet deep video about Rare's mysterious canceled game, Dinosaur Planet: the game that would become Star Fox Adventures and bring Krystal into the world. It's called Dinosaur Planet: Inside Rare's Cancelled Zelda Clone.

The video pulls together interviews, archived footage, promotional materials, and website archeology to explain the development of the game. It starts with the initial conception of the game, and goes all the way through the transition to Star Fox Adventures and Rare's sale to Microsoft, followed by some detail about the discovered partial build of the game.

For anyone not familiar with the Dinosaur Planet saga, this is an excellent introduction to it. Give it a watch!

Thanks to Plague Doctor Lawrence for bringing this to my attention.

We've featured the Fox and Krystal cosplay duo Tom_MJCosplay a few months back when they won an award at the Montreal Comic Con in 2024. I was honored to be able to interview them afterwards and got some insight into their cosplay and future plans. I still haven't posted that info yet, and need a bit more time before I can get that together (thanks for being patient with me, Tom_MJCosplay).

However, a couple of days ago, some things changed for them. They changed their Instagram account address, and created a brand new Twitter/X account for their cosplays. Part of uploading all the photos included a new photoshoot featuring Fox and Krystal celebrating the Christmas holiday together.

Check out more photos:

• A Kiss by the Tree
• Prepared for Battle
• More Presents

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I've reworked my printable Krystal Staff parts to be much more realistic to the games. This was done as part of a commission for KeyBladeSonic, as he was planning a Fox McCloud cosplay. I just wanted to share what they looked like after being fully painted. Pretty cool huh?

This cosplay was worn at Anime Expo 2024. KeyBladeSonic posted some photos of the cosplay on his Instagram. Great work on the cosplay! He admits in the post that the shaft he chose was a little bit bent. I think it was the choice of material used. But as he says, it's all part of the learning experience. He'll be able to swap out the shaft with a different one with no issues so long as it's the same diameter. Photos by jonatcon_photos.

Over the course of 2024, I was commissioned to make another print of the Staff's head and tail (the two tips) for a Fox McCloud cosplay by KeyBladeSonic. He asked for a reprint of my existing parts, the Version 1 Staff Tips mentioned here before. I couldn't resist improving them, however, so I spent a while and created a much more accurate and nicer model. Those are the renders you see above.

This version 2 of the Staff head makes use of a pin and bolt structure instead of glue to secure the primary head part to the shaft interface part. You can see the pin alignment below. The pins provide rotational and structural stability. Into the central hole, I place a heat-set threaded insert so that the shaft interface and primary head part can be attached with a normal bolt.

Here's an example of how it works in real life.

There were dozens of improvements to this version. Not only is it much smoother, but it adds physical structures into the mesh that were previously only indicated via textures, such as the subtle creases to the sides and the implication that the two wings are separate from the internal nub at the center. Also, indentations are used on the bottom to indicate a separation, though the limitations of 3D printing as a single part make this an illusion rather than actual separation. Overall, this mesh is much more accurate to the games than my previous attempt.

After doing extensive testing to make sure the shaft size was accurate, I printed these out and shipped them off to KeyBladeSonic. Here's what they looked like after being printed, but before they were painted.

Like Version 1, these parts are available for purchase! If you'd like a set, you can purchase them for $100 plus shipping. It's a little steep because I put a lot of work into these and each print will require a little customization to make sure that the ends will fit your shaft's specific diameter. There's a special deal though. If you are planning to use these parts as part of a Krystal or Fox McCloud cosplay, they will be available at half price: $50 plus shipping. If you're interested, email me and we'll work out the details!

HopLaud has created a Krystal mod for Marvel Rivals, a popular new hero shooter. This mod works by skinning Black Widow as Krystal, keeping the suit but adding Krystal's head and tail. HopLaud is planning additional changes to the mod including a Star Fox Assault suit, UI and icon changes, possibly voice lines.

The mod is available as a free download on NexusMods.com.

On a day like many others of my college winter break, I pulled the trigger and published the Krystal Archive on January 8th, 2006, after a couple weeks of furious work to build it. At 19 years online today, the site is the same age as Krystal was when she first stepped onto General Scales' Galleon in the intro to Star Fox Adventures for the Nintendo GameCube in 2002. What a ride!

I know it has been quiet around here of late. Real life took precedence over the site work. I even promised to do better last year, but I didn't manage it. This time, it's a little different. Work is not quite as stressful, as I have adapted to my new role. Also, I've committed to posting at least once a day as one of my New Year's Resolutions. So far (other than over the last weekend), I've kept it up and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. I have more than enough content to post about, with many things stuck in backlogs that I never got around to posting. Get ready for some serious necro-posting! But hey, that's what it takes to be an "archive", right?

I can't fully express how thankful I am for those of you who have stuck around. I want to do right by you by posting more and interacting more.

On that note, there hasn't been a Krystal Archive Podcast episode since January 8th, 2020! 5 years ago!!! That's going to change soon. I'm planning to record a new episode this Saturday and post it when I get it edited. So, here's your time to shine. If you have any questions, comments, or things you want me to cover, please send them in! What were your favorite Krystal events that happened in the last 5 years? What do you hope to see in the future? Do you have any burning questions about the site or Krystal? Let me know! Comment down below with your question or comment, or email me at mrkrystal@gmail.com. Looking forward to read what you have to say.