Back in the day, Star Fox was a big deal.
Using the SNES graphics chip and being one of the earliest
3D games released.

Back in the day it was a lot bigger.

But now, I can't help but question whether Nintendo cares
so much anymore. No wii title, and relatively little media for the
series (I could be wrong though)  And the quality of the series lately
some would find quite. . . stale. Will we get a Wii U title?

I just doubt that Nintendo thinks nearly as highly of the series as
it once did. 

For the most part I would say they've just been letting things go and trying to focus more in Mario, more what games they can make for the Wii U, which I have nothing against Pikmin 3 for it, I think its awesome. That being said, one would think Star Fox would be getting some more attention with new tech and graphics brought to the table and yet nothing has shown, the quiet blackness that is space in the Lylat system has been quiet for awhile (i'm not counting the DS titles much, i'm mainly talking about console based). 

With the last two games it was okay. Assault was actually very good, bringing some new ideas in and giving more focus to ground based warfare which I think is great, find new ways to get the Star Fox team involved with things, make big scale operations, make things more challenging that just swooping in with an Ar-wing (not that I don't love the Ar-wings). Adventure on the other hand was surely..well..something. A Zelda-esque game all about Fox. It was good but...left something to be desired from it for sure. But at this point.."stale" could be a fitting word for the series at this point. Not much new life has been breathed into the bodily franchise that is Star Fox and it is quite sad.

HOWEVER! I myself have heard rumors that Shigeru Miyamoto himself mentioned that he would personally like to see some new Star Fox brought to the Wii U. Now whether or not that will be a glimmer a hope appearing over the horizon of Corneria but its something to keep in mind for a bit until rumors point to truth or not.

If Nintendo can focus on one of its older franchises other than Mario for a change and put effort into it, they could make another great Star Fox game and rake in some money which could bring more inspiration to continue making more games for it. I know that after the sales of Assault and Adventure it wasn't as great so if anything that has lead to them kind of setting Star Fox aside and focusing on what makes them more money...at least from a business perspective. But hey, they could always redeem themselves if they pick it back up and put some soul and life into the next game. Until then, I guess we'll either be holding our breath or shaking our heads and reflecting and reliving the past that is STAR FOX.

zerothesaint :

Yes, Miyamoto talked about a Star Fox game for the Wii U.
I would have to agree with your post all to much.

They should pay much more attention to the series
then they have, dogfighting is to much fun. Of course
Nintendo would make lots of money if they would just remember
the name Star Fox.

Yeah, I agree with you two. Starfox isn't as beloved by Nintendo as it used to be. Mario has always been popular, but he's really exploded recently with the young crowd, and I suspect Nintendo will keep feeding that trend as long as possible. It's only good business. Unfortunately for Starfox fans, Fox and friends will likely be put on the back burner until then.

Eirinn :
zerothesaint :

Yeah, as of late, Nintendo has been focusing on a younger age
group. They made two Mario games for the Wii, and not even one Star Fox game.
They've been making the Zelda series graphics much more kiddy, the handhelds
never have graphic style different than cell shading anymore, and it makes me upset.
Fi had to tell me about every little hiccup in Skyward Sword.

Nope, Nintendo isn't interested it Star Fox anymore, they want more
9-year old freindly games, like pikmin. 

How did that series become so popular so soon?
Hasn't Star Fox been around a lot longer?
And Star Fox didn't even get a minigame at Nintendo land.

*sigh*

One thing that I liked about Star Fox 64 is how balanced it was 
in maturity, although it was a little to childish in some ways. 

I'll keep Star Fox alive with my RPG though.

I'm jealous of Pikmin.

Sword legion : Its all about pokemon, the DS, and more child-friendly games for the Wii. That's the audience today and that's whats sad. They've kinda forgot about us, those who have been around and been Nintendo fans for a long time. We're kinda missing on the good games that blew our minds and now..its just..bleh. And don't get me started on Skyward Sword..I've had enough of that.

Now don't jump on me, but I do love Pikmin. Not because of cuteness or any of that but its a puzzle game, makes you think about how you approach things and what not. I love games like that so i've been a fan of Pikmin for awhile. But surely Pikmin doesn't hold higher than Star Fox and any series of old, no, no, no.

And I guess Pikmin may have become popular because of art style and it was something new and unthought of and it was coming out for the Gamecube so everyone was like "OMG THIS IS GONNA BE AMAZING". If you ask me, I found Luigi's Mansion to be more amazing than Pikmin but I am a Ghostbusters fanboy.. XD

But right now these are just dark days for Star Fox until the day comes Nintendo possibly decides to revive it. And I feel ya, Star Fox should've had a minigame for that.

And I agree with you on the maturity of Star Fox 64. It had a serious tone in some places but there was always joking and what not amongst the team. That's character development and a good story, that's what drives Star fox 64 home for me, its why I say its one of the best games ever. You just go with it, the game gives you the ground up story, and then you're on your way to take on Andross. Simple, no filler, just straight up game and a lot of baddies to take out.

Games now have these fillers and gimmicks and such and they suck or something becomes repetitive over time. That's so stale when it keeps happening. I'm not saying every new game has that but so many of them do. Star Fox was a game that changed everything and is a gem but for whatever reason a lot of people have either overlooked it or was pulled into something else instead and Nintendo just gave up. If they make another Star Fox there better be some new good stuff and nothing stupid crammed into it. Keep it real, keep it fun, keep it serious. But make it wow everyone. That's all i'm asking out of Nintendo at this point aside from them looking at Star Fox and paying attention to it.

Sword legion : I highly doubt that Nintendo cares about Star Fox anymore. They have been focusing mostly on Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Pokemon games the most since most people like them. I don't think Nintendo will make any more Star Fox games at all.

Superstar7 :

And at that they made Zelda a lot kiddier.
It's kinda sad. I think that they'll be making a new
Star Fox game for the Wii U nonetheless. It's just 
that Star Fox is on the back burner for now.

*sigh*

zerothesaint :

Oh, I don't hate pikmin.
I think that it has a pretty good formula, but I 
agree that it as being a new series should not
override Star Fox.

Maybe Nintendo will revive it someday.
I think that it might happen.

Yeah, I don't like the kiddy tones they've added to Zelda games. It really takes away from the experience, but I honestly understand why Nintendo is doing what they are to it, and their game lineup as a whole. you see, Sony and Microsoft are putting out more and more graphic games all the time, as well as more shooters and such, which is costing Nintendo customers in the T-M game crowd range. so Nintendo is left with the younger crowds, and family titles. This is why Nintendo is moving in the direction they are. They're actually smarter in a way, in that they're letting Sony and Microsoft duke it out in a bitter war for their crowds, while they (Nintendo) sit back and net all of the crowds that the other two are too busy fighting to notice. I actually think this could be a good thing for the industry though. It give households a reason to buy at least two consoles, and makes selecting a console much easier for the single man or woman.

Eirinn :

How about Nintendo makes (some of) their games for the whole family?

Ocarina of Time was not to mature for me, nor to childish for my Dad back in the day.
Also, look at G rated movies, they make gross profits that are ten times the size of Adult movies.

It doesn't seem like it's as special as it used to be. Like Eirinn said, Mario games print money, so t's smart to keep it up. But don't forget that the Star Fox series started with Rareware, so maybe they feel like they can't make it. But then again, Retro studios could be working on a Star Fox game, since DKC was just a side project. So, although they've mostly ignored it, they know it exsists, or else they probably wouldn't have ported Star Fox 64 to he 3ds.

Well that is true, but to be honest, there is a bit of a difference between games and movies, in that movies all play on the same systems, whereas games can only run on one single console (PS3 discs won't play on an XBox 360, etc). So keeping games meant for young crowds as your main focus gives parents an obvious choice for their kids entertainment.

It was once said that if you wanted RPG games, the Playstation was the system you needed. It's the same way with parents today: if you have a six to twelve year old, you want a Nintendo system, because you'll have a much wider range of games that they can play. I Must admit, despite what I say at times, I think Nintendo has a certain charm about them because of this. Now if only they would make a normal game console again.

I've also noticed that Sony is trying to reach a wider audience than Microsoft (Kingdom Hearts and Rayman being a part of their E3 show, as opposed to Microsoft;s almost all shooter lineup at the show). But even with that, it appears that they want to keep it themed. Maybe giving Nintendo a Family name is what keeps their business going so well. If you think about it, this trend was around back during the SNES days, when they were hosting games like Mortal Kombat, but leaving the blood out (unlike the Genesis). It's just become more prevalent lately.

Star Fox isn't gone yet, but it definitely needs a very solid reception with it's next title, if it's going to be staying around for good.

Scourge the Hedgehog : 

I would be pretty mad if what happened to Kid Icarious
happened to Star Fox.

It is kinda ridiculous that we had two Mario Galaxies for the wii
and endless Mario party titles + more, and not even one Star Fox game for the Wii.
And it took Nintendo five years just to release one Zelda game for a major console?
And then, when it was released, Star Fox adventures made a better Zelda game then
Skyward Sword.

That having been said, it would be hard for a hacker to make Skyward Sword
into an awesome game, and I hope to see a lot of stuff from Skyward Sword appear in
future Zelda games.

Then the idea of having a Kid Icarious and Star Fox forum
would make all to much sense if Fox Mcloud got the same treatment that Pit did.