Takaya Imamura, a veteran of Nintendo, shared that working at Nintendo made him feel a constant sense of inferiority due to the high talent level of his colleagues, highlighting the intense pressure and high standards within the company. He expressed relief after leaving to work on his own projects, though he felt sad about leaving his talented colleagues. Other former Nintendo employees have also described the company as both rewarding and draining, emphasizing its reputation as a hub of exceptional talent.
A former F-Zero developer, Takaya Imamura, suggests that the long absence of the F-Zero racing franchise is due to the success of Mario Kart, which has sold nearly 50 million copies for Nintendo Switch. Imamura believes that a new F-Zero game would be too risky and costly when Mario Kart is already highly popular. He also mentions that Nintendo executive Shigeru Miyamoto seems more affectionate towards the Star Fox franchise. Despite this, Nintendo has not completely forgotten about F-Zero, as they have released DLC for Mario Kart 8 based on the classic racer and added F-Zero X to the Nintendo Switch Online library.
Takaya Imamura, the artist and designer behind characters like Captain Falcon and Fox McCloud, believes that Nintendo hasn't revived the F-Zero franchise because Mario Kart is the company's most popular racing game and a new F-Zero would be expensive to develop. He also suggests that Shigeru Miyamoto's affection for Star Fox may contribute to F-Zero receiving less attention. Imamura emphasizes the need for a "grand idea" to revive F-Zero and mentions that careful consideration and selection were involved in the resurgence of other IPs like Metroid. While there are no new F-Zero games on the Switch, fans can still play older titles through the Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription service.
