Wow. I'm actually surprised. I had originally thought Nintendo had a very accelerated development period for Star Fox Zero, but it seemed like they had everything under control. Technically, I guess that's still correct, but Nintendo has decided to voluntarily delay the game to drastically improve the control scheme and add more polish to the cutscenes. This is going to make Nintendo's tough holiday season even tougher, because they delayed their biggest release in their most financially important season. These changes must be really worth it.

Here's the official announcement.

A Message from Mr. Miyamoto Regarding Star Fox Zero

I made a big decision last week.

We have been developing Star Fox Zero for Wii U with the aim of releasing it this year. Although we felt that the development had been progressing well, we now believe that we will need a little more time to work on areas such as the unprecedented discovery that we want players to experience in the game by using two screens, and further polishing the level designs and perfecting the tone of the cut scenes. While we have already reached the stage where it would be technically possible to release the title in time for the year-end holiday season, we want to polish the game a bit more so that players will be able to more smoothly grasp the new style of play that we are proposing.

To the people looking forward to the launch of the game this holiday season, I am very sorry. Star Fox Zero is going to bring new game play and experiences that take it far beyond the framework established by Star Fox 64. All the members of the development team are doing our best so that the final product will not betray your expectations. And the game will not be delayed for a very long time – we’re aiming to launch the game in Q1 2016. Please stay tuned for further announcements.

So, that's a small disappointment. On a funny note, there's a huge number of comments on the Facebook post requesting Nintendo add Krystal to the game.

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Finally! A new audio podcast featuring guest host Brian from the UK. We talk about all of the E3 news, the Smash Fighter Ballot, and Ayano updates before getting into upcoming plans for the site. Hope you enjoy!

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Show Notes

If you haven't already, now is the time to vote for Krystal to be a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. The Fighter Ballot entry period officially ends on October 3rd, just over two weeks from now. After that, we'll hopefully get some early results to find out if our beloved vixen has drawn the eye of Mr. Sakurai.

If you have already voted, please do not vote again. That's dishonest, and we're better than that.

Ayano just posted some new photos on her Twitter account of the upgrades to her Assault suit. It appears to have a larger black neck collar area and the backpack plate has been replaced with colored fabric. There are probably other changes too, but I can't see them with these photos. Ayano will be premiering this suit publicly at the Tokyo Game Show on September 20th!

Ayano's Twitter

That's all the new photos of Ayano's Krystal cosplay, but there are a couple of final things I need to say.

First and foremost, I want to thank Ayano Harumaki for all her hard work, for the great job she did and continues to do modeling Krystal and making amazing suits. I also thank her for allowing me the privilege to post her photos.

Next, Ayano is by no means done with Krystal cosplaying. It seems she's only just beginning! In addition to the "Adventure Suit: Summer Fur Version" she showed off in the previous two posts, she tells me she is almost done with a brand new Assault suit. No doubt she'll send along pictures when that's ready to be revealed. She also has plans to do a Star Fox Command suit, but I do not know how far along she is on that.

Finally, if you wish to see Ayano in person, pay close attention. Ayano will not attend Furry Fiesta in 2016. However, Ayano will be at Further Confusion 2016 in San Jose, California from January 14th to the 18th. She and her friends already have their hotel rooms reserved, so as long as nothing unexpected happens, she will be there! Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend. Perhaps in 2017. :(

Ayano has a Twitter account where she posts photos and cosplay updates. You should follow her!

Here we see Krystal dressed in a Yukata, a casual summer kimono designed to be light and cooling for the hot summer months. Ayano adds even more details to her new suit with the addition of fingernails.

Krystal does her best swimsuit model impression as Ayano shows off her new bodysuit dubbed "Adventure Suit: Summer Fur Version." If you compare it to the previous Adventures bodysuit, you'll notice that this one has much more distinct lines between the blue and white fur. The arm and hip tattoos are more distinct and game-accurate. Her toes have white fur and toenails. Finally, and it's very subtle, but if you look very carefully, you can see one other tiny difference on this bodysuit. Post in the comments below if you figure out what it is. ;)

In our first batch of photos from Ayano, these come from a visit she made to a local horse farm, an Inari shrine, and a couple other locations. Krystal had a lot of fun riding horseback. The nearby shrine is dedicated to Inari, the God of Harvests. This is the same kind of Inari shrine with its red gates that inspired Mr. Miyamoto to pick a fox as the main character for the Star Fox games, the same kind as we saw in the E3 video about Star Fox Zero. However, this particular shrine is not the same one Mr. Miyamoto visited, but it is dedicated to the same Inari. These kind of shrines can be found all over Japan, according to Ayano.

Brian and I took a bunch of photos of Ayano at Furry Fiesta 2015. Now that the videos have been posted, it's time to post the pictures! You can find all of Brian's photos on Flickr. My photos are below. There aren't that many because I was spending almost the entire time recording video instead.

Ayano has sent me several sets of new photos too. I will be posting those over the next couple days. For now, please enjoy these!

Nintendo unveiled its entire Holiday lineup this morning. Star Fox Zero and the Falco Amiibo launch on November 20th in America and Europe (and probably Japan too). The Falco represents the last Smash Bros Amiibo to release in 2015. So it looks like we'll get a day of Star Fox this year after all!

By the way, check out the new box art for Star Fox Zero compared to the original)! It looks like they changed the shape of Fox's face slightly to make it a little more realistic, and added more fur to him and the other characters. They also added little details throughout, like battle damage/wear-and-tear on Fox's helmet and scouter. I guess the E3 demos didn't represent the final style after all! Hopefully this means slightly more realism and detail without loosing the simplicity of their earlier cartoon style.

Also notice that they added the Amiibo logo to the box art. Miyamoto has said he wanted to do something special with the Star Fox Zero Amiibo compatibility, but I think he also stated elsewhere that it wouldn't be things like extra levels or other hidden gameplay content like what they did with the Splatoon Amiibos.

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