Kirby, Kirby, Kirby… that’s a name you should know.
Fans of Nintendo’s #1 tough cream-puff and Smash Bros. star have had a rough time of it as of late, first with the mysterious E3 2005 game fading from the eyes of the public and the press, and then more recently with Nintendo’s official UK magazine saying there’s nothing doing, dashing hopes that maybe the mysterious Smash-esque platformer would be on the Wii-bound.
To solidify the pink tombstone over the GameCube game, a Go Nintendo reader asked Nintendo themselves specifically about the title, to which they were told “Unfortunately, I’m sorry to report that Nintendo no longer plans to release that unfinished Kirby title for any system. While I don’t have a specific reason that the game was canceled, I can tell you that it can happen for a variety of reasons. Nintendo is able to produce only a limited number of titles each year; when it comes time to pick those titles, we choose those that will provide the best entertainment value to the most people.”
Another reader, ever hopeful and ever optimistic, sent their own inquiry to Nintendo, asking… well, put simply, if there would ever be another Kirby game again, at least on consoles.
A beam of light has apparently shone down from the cliff of Mt. Olympus upon which Nintendo resides, as a more positive reply came forth:
“As you may have already found out, a Kirby (working title) game has been announced in Japan. So far, there hasn’t been an official announcement of a release outside of that market.”
Given the game doesn’t even have an official title yet, it’s not too surprising that Nintendo isn’t announcing it as a worldwide release. But, there’s more, as they continue:
“There are many reasons that Nintendo or any other Japanese publisher may decide to release a game solely for the Japanese market. These can include difficulty or cost of localization, the size and financial strength of the publisher, and (most often) the idea that the game will simply not be accepted or enjoyed in other markets.
However, there are (like you) real fans of those games or franchises in this market who would love nothing more than to see these games on store shelves here. I understand (and sometimes even share) your frustration! Having said that, please understand that those fans constitute a very small portion of the gaming public, too small to justify the costs associated with bringing a game here.”
A little more grim for the Kirby faithful, and a familiar feeling for fans of many games and franchises. However, hope springs eternal from this Fountain of Dreams, as Nintendo’s rep closes with this statement:
“Of course, you never know what the future holds, as evidenced by the appearance in this market of previously Japan-only franchises like Advance Wars and Fire Emblem. Keep an eye on our website for all the latest news as it becomes available.”
So hope remains for followers of the Warpstar Warrior, that he should get another chance to save Dream Land from upon these shores. In the meantime, the representative from Nintendo reminds us that “there have already been some Kirby games released as Virtual Console games, these games were originally from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo Entertainment System.” Perhaps in lieu of a new game released any time soon, they can bring some more of those to the Virtual Console as well?
