Nintendo Direct Video
The live-feed is online now! I'll be watching, and I hope you will too! If any relevant news pops up during the presentation, I'll post it below.
Updates
- Nintendo is doing more DLC characters for Smash, Lucas was just revealed.
- Iwata is asking for character suggestions!!! Smash Bros Fighter Ballot coming!
- No Star Fox, looks like. :( E3 can't come soon enough!
Alright, it's over! Time to go vote for Krystal! Be sure to mention some of the reasons she would make a unique and interesting new fighter:
- Capable of staff-based and gun-based combat
- Popular female character
- Telepathic character
- Previously popular request for Brawl
- More Star Fox representation while avoiding clone characters
- Finally, a Star Fox character with a Final Smash that ISN'T A LANDMASTER!!!
New Job Title
Here's exciting news that I've been holding back for a few weeks due to non-disclosure agreements. However, I now have officially received permission to reveal that I will be taking on a new role in the Star Fox fan community. To my shock and pleasant surprise, Nintendo contacted me in March to request that I act as an official fan liaison for the Star Fox series. Apparently word got around to the higher-ups that I was both a long-time Star Fox fan, and technically competent in the game development space, given my previous job at Electronic Arts and masters degree from DigiPen.
What does this mean? Well, it's my job to act as an intermediary between the development team working on Star Fox and you guys, the fans. I'm to gauge what the fans are looking for in a Star Fox game, both the upcoming Wii U game, and future Star Fox projects (which I unfortunately cannot talk about, but rest assured, Star Fox is not going away anytime soon.) As the Wii U game nears release, and during post-release, I will also be summarizing the Star Fox community's reactions, comments, complaints, etc. across all social media platforms so that Nintendo can best understand their hits and misses with hardcore fans and newcomers to the series alike. Historically, Nintendo has had a very secretive and disconnected modus operandi when it comes to fans. I guess with their recent interest in the mobile games space they're also taking more direct steps towards social media as a communication interface between creators and fans.
The part-time job doesn't begin until after E3 2015. Until then, I'm looking for what you want to see in the next Star Fox games, and also what you don't want to see. Leave a comment and tell me how you feel! Oh, and before you ask, no, I don't know if they'll be talking about Star Fox in the Nintendo Direct later today. They didn't tell me about it, so there may be little to no Star Fox talk in there. Again, I'll be operating in a semi-outsider, contractor-style role here. There are probably a lot of things in the development process that I will learn about the same time as you guys. On the other hand, NDAs are very strict, so there are hard limits on what I can say regardless of what I know. Please understand.
Update
Good news! I got permission to post a video about this new fan liaison role.
Greyfirefox Reappears

A couple of you have emailed me to let me know that someone going by CakeInferno might possibly be the long-lost Greyfirefox under a different name. I've conversed with him and can confirm that, yes, CakeInferno is Greyfirefox. The reason he disappeared was due to overly critical comments from some "hard-core Star Fox fans." They were badgering him about the technical accuracy of his Krystal rig and animations to the point that he was no longer enjoying himself.
After taking a break from the internet for a while, he has returned to do 3D graphics once more under this new name. However, this time he is focused on subject matter that is mildly NSFW using different, but similar characters. It is because of this potentially NSFW content that I urge caution if you wish to view his new gallery directly.
Meanwhile, Greyfirefox will be sending any future Krystal content to the Krystal Archive for posting, to the possible exclusion of his own gallery. No word yet on how often and what kind of content that will be, but he did state that he will not be using Krystal in any future NSFW projects.
Rumored Star Fox Appearance in April Fools Day Nintendo Direct
There was a big rumor floating around yesterday that Nintendo would be showing, among other things, the new Star Fox game in a Nintendo Direct scheduled for April 1st. It didn't seem all that plausible to me, but this morning, Nintendo announced a Nintendo Direct for April Fools Day, so... wow, who knows! If you want to see the crazy rumor and what Nintendo will supposedly announce, the translated information is on NeoGAF.
Thanks to Kevin for the info.
Krystal Cutie Mark SVG
As part of my research into the next version of the site, I've implemented one of Krystal's tattoos as a SVG image (Scalable Vector Graphics). Because it's a vector, this tiny file is infinitely scalable. You can make it as big or as small as you want and it will look correct. This is a stylistic version of the tattoo. It's accurate in terms of alignment and the number of spiral turns, but it's more 'perfect' and clean than the real one.
I had fun this afternoon learning enough of Inkscape to build and manually compress this image. Download and use for this vector free in your Krystal projects, no crediting necessary!
Zelda Wii U Delayed, Star Fox Next?
Yesterday, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma issued an apology and announced that the Legend of Zelda for Wii U will not be appearing at E3 2015 and will not release in 2015 at all. By way of explanation, he said new and exciting gameplay possibilities arose during the development of the game. So significant were these ideas that they decided to push out the release date so they could fully explore them. Nintendo has never been shy about taking as long as it takes to make good games. However, in recent years, they have adopted a strategy where they avoid announcing or showing titles until they are very far in development, or even ready to release, to avoid disappointment at missed deadlines. The fact that they so publicly promised the game this year, then delayed it, I think speaks to the significance of the gameplay innovations they are working on.
There's no telling what this means for Star Fox, since Mr. Miyamoto stated it would come out before this Zelda game. Hopefully we will still see this one at E3.
Paris Manga Krystal Cosplay
Another find by Brian, this cosplayer appeared at Paris Manga 2014, a manga and sci-fi convention in France. Neither of us know anything about this cosplayer other than their on-stage appearance here. Like Mancoin's performance in the previous post, this Adventures Krystal fursuiter does a short, choreographed fight sequence with Krystal's staff to music from Star Fox Adventures.
Mancoin Cosplay Videos
We have posted about Mancoin's Krystal cosplay before. Since then, Brian sent me a few videos of Mancoin's Krystal cosplay at UniCon 2014. The first is Mancoin's on-stage performance with music, sound effects, and voice acting integrated into the act (Alternate Angles: 1, 2, 3). The second video, below, is a quick cellphone video of Krystal acting catty.
Nayel-ie Cosplay Work in Progress

Artist and cosplayer, Nayel-ie, posted a photo of a work-in-progress Krystal cosplay back in 2014. It looks great! Nayel-ie has also done a lovely Krystal fanart too!
Quite a few new Krystal cosplayers have appeared in the last couple years. I'll be posting about as many as I can in the next few days.
Update
Nayel-ie tells me that she has discontinued work on the Adventures cosplay, but not to worry, she's planning to do an Assault version soon.
Podcast #35 Video Edited
Three days of editing and over 10 hours of rendering later, here it is, the fully edited Krystal Archive Podcast Live Panel at Furry Fiesta 2015! Featuring special guest Ayano as Assault Krystal and one other surprise guest. See all of the announcements that you missed out on in person.