There hasn’t been a new F-Zero in almost two decades. Most fans have made peace with the possibility that a series revival is unlikely, but one bought over $40,000 of Nintendo stock to ask executives about what’s going on with F-Zero.
A report by Business Insider states that the Nintendo fan spent 5.6 million Japanese yen (roughly $40,000 USD) on 100 shares back in February. He didn’t do this all willy-nilly either – the goal was to ask executives about F-Zero’s future. During an annual shareholder on Wednesday, the fan did precisely that. Asking Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa if there were any plans for a franchise revival at the company. VGC then went on to translate his response.
“It is realistically difficult to develop new titles and remakes, including sequels, for every Nintendo game that people request,” Furukawa said. “But we are very grateful and appreciate the expectations our fans have for our games.”
Senior managing executive officer Shinya Takahashi followed up with a more in-depth answer.
“We are always considering how to develop new titles and remakes that can be enjoyed by many players,” Takahashi explained via VGC. “During the 79th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders in 2019, we were asked if there were any plans to remake the Famicom Detective Club series, and, at that time, we happened to be planning a remake. That is an example where we were already actively developing such a title. We cannot tell you if there are any plans for future remakes of any specific game, but, during development, we are always thinking about various possibilities that players can enjoy.”
Business Insider spoke with the self-described “die-hard Nintendo fan” who goes by Momiji on Twitter about why he went to such wild lengths to inquire about F-Zero.
“I have been playing Nintendo games since I was a child,” Momiji told Business Insider. “Among them, I can’t get enough of that sense of speed of F-Zero.“
You can’t help but admire the dedication. Nintendo held two Direct showcases recently, one for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and another for third-party publishers, but neither (unsurprisingly) featured the scifi racing series. F-Zero GX was the last mainline entry, and that came out way back in 2003.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.