'Star Fox Zero' Delayed? [Release Date, Gameplay & Updates]

The year 2015 is perhaps not the year for Nintendo.

In a statement made by renowned game designer Shigeru Miyamoto in Nintendo Console Gaming Facebook page, he announced that the highly anticipated Wii U-exclusive 3D scrolling shooter video game "Star Fox Zero" will not be released this year, citing that the development team needs more time in order to ensure that the game will be able to live up to fans' expectations of bringing a new game play experience.

"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," Miyamoto said in his Facebook announcement.

Despite this announcement, the game designer cited that the game, at its current stage, is already possible to be released come the year-end holiday season. Nonetheless, he claimed that they wanted to polish the game more in order for the players to be able to "smoothly grasp the new style of play" that the game will feature.

"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," Miyamoto added.

As pointed by Game Rant, 2015 could have been a great year for Nintendo as it features a strong trio of games - "Super Mario Maker," "The Legend of Zelda," and "Star Fox Zero" - poised to be released. However, with both the Zelda game and the new installment of the "Star Fox" series already delayed, it left Nintendo and Wii U almost nothing to compete against Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.

The gaming news website, on the other hand, mentioned that Nintendo might really be planning to be all out in 2016 where it's "Zelda" game and "Star Fox Zero" are now scheduled to be released since the Japanese-based electronics company is also looking to launch its new game console codenamed "NX" on the same year.

According to Miyamoto, 'Star Fox Zero" will be released in the first quarter of 2016, but no specific date was given on when it will be available in stores both in Japan and other parts of the world.