Before I had a chance to post the below story, IGN took down the video and 404'd their own website's article about the interview. What's going on? Did the devs say too much? Did IGN release something early by accident?

The post below is what was originally going to be posted today.

In a developer interview with IGN, the Starlink team at Ubisoft showed off the other classic members of the Star Fox team: Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad, and Falco Lombardi. They gave no indication that those characters will be playable, only saying that the player could use Fox as a playable character. There are still four open slots for unrevealed pilots on the game's homepage and mentioned in the video, so any of these characters (and more) could still be playable. We also hold out hope that the lovely blue vixen will join the fight.

Also shown was that the other Star Fox pilots fly around with you in space and do a full-3D, go-anywhere dogfight above a planet. This is what the space battles will be like, which differ from the flight/hover gameplay on the ground.

After an initial failed start, VGM Classics, a new Video Game Music Label, is setting out to make a Star Fox 64 fully orchestral CD via Kickstarter. They're already 16% towards their goal of $15,000, with another 28 days to go.

Check out the project!

After fighting off a missile attack on the Orbital Gate, the Star Fox team and the remnants of the Cornerian Fleet prepare to warp to the Aparoid Homeworld.

This is the Waifu2x-enhanced version of the tiny pre-rendered frames to bring this video all the way up to 4K resolution!

Here's the Japanese 4K version.

Then, if you want to see it in the original resolution, with subtitles, there's the English Original Resolution Version and the Japanese Original Resolution Version.

Enjoy!

In a public event (and livestream), Krystal was announced today as the newest available fighter in the fan-made Super Smash Flash 2! The livestream is still up showing both the initial reveal reaction and a handful of example matches, showing off her abilities.

Krystal's moveset includes an aim-able sniper rifle, a staff-based shield, lots of kicks and staff attacks, and throwable grenades. Her design is a combination of her Adventures, Assault, and Command styles. She uses voice samples from both Star Fox Adventures and Star Fox Assault.

You can check out the playable game on mcleodgaming.com. It doesn't look like Krystal is playable yet, but hopefully she will be released with the next update.

Rare has put a bunch of their old artifacts and history on display in a museum exhibit called "Rare: From 8-Bit to Xbox One". As far as we know, there's only one piece of promotional art from Dinosaur Planet (above), and nothing for Star Fox Adventures. Still, if you have a chance to be in the city of Coventry, England, you should stop in and take a closer look!

The exhibit started running on June 30th, 2018 and will continue to be open until September 28th, 2018. It's at the The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.

Sources:

• NintendoLife Article
• Kotaku UK Article
• Photos by HenshinJosh

It should go without saying that several big characters got announced today, to my great surprise. On the home front, though, the Nintendo Direct showed off Krystal as one of the big Assist Trophies in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. We got a few more seconds of video of her fighting with other characters during the presentation, and more would be revealed shortly afterward.

The official Assist Trophy page shows off two new screenshots for her (one above, one below), where she is the first listed Assist Trophy! How's that for representation?

We also got to see her little mini figure representation:

And just for completeness' sake, I have been behind on updating the site, but last month, on July 4th, the Krystal Assist Trophy got a shout out on the Super Smash Bros Ultimate Blog. In the entry, which came with the below image, it says "In addition to attacking with her staff, Krystal also uses Ice Blast to freeze fighters. Don't underestimate her!"

Another thing: though I, and many other Krystal fans noticed it right away, long time Krystal fan, Tobias Amaranth, was the first to publicly publish the fact that Krystal's lower back tattoo appears to be missing in the Assist Trophy. It might be an oversight. Many artists miss it too.

If you were thinking that Nintendo decided to remove the tramp stamp from Krystal's back, believe it or not, there's something very interesting going on. As far as I can tell, Krystal's lower back tattoo, first shown in 2002, predates the term "tramp stamp" in popular usage. I have barely been able to find any references to the term prior to 2004, and the term didn't become popular until around 2006. Though lower back tattoos existed before 2002, the stigma associated with them didn't start until around the time Krystal was revealed. It's entirely possible that the tattoo was added by the design team without meaning for it to be a tramp stamp.

That's it for Smash Bros news today! Hope you all enjoyed the Nintendo Direct.

New social media app/platform, Amino, is starting to become popular. It's a place primarily focused on creating groups around specific subjects, characters, shows... whatever! Anim Fox has created a Krystal Amino Group if you are interested in joining one. It's just starting, but he hopes to build it into a large community. Apparently, Amino is pretty restrictive on adult content, so it should be a relatively safe social network if you are worried about that.

It's happening! The Nintendo Direct where Mr. Sakurai surely announces Krystal, Waluigi, and Goku as playable characters for Super Smash Bros Ultimate is happening in less than 22 hours. Ok, he probably won't announce Waluigi as playable. :P

In all honesty, I don't expect them to announce any new playable characters, but it is always fun to see what Mr. Sakurai is up to. Check out the stream above or watch it on Nintendo's Direct site. The Direct goes live on August 8th, 2018 at 7AM PST (10AM EST). You can also check out the Japanese stream, which sometimes shows slightly different information.

Maybe they'll do a profile on our new favorite Assist Trophy!

It's high time I finish these up! Here's this week's Star Fox Assault cutscene. General Pepper and the Star Fox team make plans to use the Core Memory to find the Aparoid Homeworld. However, Krystal senses a distress call from Sauria, hearing cries of agony.

This is the Waifu2x-enhanced version of the tiny pre-rendered frames to bring this video all the way up to 4K resolution.

We also have the "original resolution version," which has the subtitles.

Lastly, if you're into the original Japanese, there's the Japanese 4K Version and the Japanese Original Resolution Verion too, for your viewing pleasure.

Nintendo just tweeted about the Krystal Assist Trophy coming to Super Smash Bros Ultimate. We got an excellent front-view of her and her staff. They also spoke about the staff's ability to freeze opponents.