The Story Of The Super FX Chip - The Chip That Made Star Fox On The Super Nintendo Possible

[@hgbugalou]

I remember playing Starfox in Sears for the first time back in the 90s when FX just came out. I was completely blown away by it and played that demo longer than any other game that ever was featured in those demo setups in Walmart and Sears. After getting the game for Christmas, it inspired me to make a 'simulator' in my room. It was basically a box that was covered with thick blankets to make it dark, with my 34" color CRT TV angled down against one of those low to the ground rocker chairs. Then I combined it with stereo speakers hooked through my radio/tap/CD player head unit. Then I figured a way to split the video from the SNES to an old black and white TV I had so I setup an 'operator' section of the simulator. The operator would flip on and off a flashing red light that was inside the 'cockpit' when you had critical damage, as well as pumping in bursts of smoke and shaking the frame that held everything up to simulate shit blowing up as you took damage (it was just a couple of cans of air freshener that was ducted into the 'cockpit' and a piece of cable tied to the frame that was pulled). We probably killed some brain cells inhaling all the propellant from the air freshener. Between the darkness, the stereo sound, and the TV being so close it took most of your visual field it really go you into the environment and your heart would pump playing. When Starfox 64 came it a few years later, I rebuilt the whole thing and it was even better.

[@crono3339]

That sounds absolutely amazing. We used to put a blanket over my small tv and play Top gun on nes. Of course my little brother had to sit behind me as my copilot.

[@rossbarr-scragg4076]

Mate, this sounds amazing! How on earth did you make a unit respond to instances in the game??

[@hgbugalou]

@@rossbarr-scragg4076 It was just me or one of my friends watching what was happening on the second monitor outside of the "simulator" and then creating all the effects manually. On the back side there was an operator booth that had a cheap, tiny black and white TV, some light switches for alert lights inside, a pipe where "smoke" aka air freshener was sprayed in, and a few strings tied at various points that could be pulled to make panels and wires fall to simulate damage. Nothing fancy at all and completely manually operated by a human. That said I am very tempted to try and make something like this again now that I am older and understand electronics a lot more, and arduinos and such are so cheap and easy to program.

[@rossbarr-scragg4076]

@@hgbugalou Absolutely love the creativity of 'Friendgineering' you had together. Get it up and running again! 'GOOD LUCK'⭐🦊🪐

[@olsonbryce777]

@@hgbugalou wonderful story. Have you seen that device which is an LED strip you wrap around your TV that responds to the colors being displayed from the TV? For instance, if a fire is displayed the LED will glow bright red and orange and shimmer all about. It's very immersive

[@Winston0Boogie]

I lost my shit when I first saw this game especially when they said, "why go to the next level when you can go light years beyond." Amazing slap in the face to Sega.

[@technicalmachine1671]

@HONOR the console wars are over.

[@camulodunon]

Vectorman: hahahahaha bitches!

[@ErMcValdemar]

Even if in 1993 SEGA already presented the SVP chip that is far more performing compared to this one, and that would be used in a game released the following year. But it was the time were each company was playing the game of "I have a bigger tool" :)

[@miamijules2149]

Lol remember??

[@tskraj3190]

@HONOR First off, the S.V.P. Chip is six times the size of the FX chip, Second the FX2 chip was three times faster than the S.V.P. chip, third the "Star Fox" homebrew doesn't work on real hardware. It only works on a built in emulator that uses the 32X color pallete and a emulated S.V.P. chip.

[@livefreeprintguns]

Amazing that the Starfox franchise was essentially started by a couple of teenagers.

[@tonyrandal9124]

If that's not inspiring I don't know what is

[@drunkensailor112]

Dude. Codemasters were already publishers when the darling brothers were 12 and 13 years old and multi millionaires

[@charlie1234500]

And now the franchise is deader than dead.

[@MasterOfFaster666]

@@charlie1234500 We need a movie.

[@tricksalot2]

if only they couldve had better follow ups after 64.

[@seabit253]

This is beautifully edited and written and definitely gives you the full picture. I actually learnt quite a lot from this. Nice work man.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+CactusErebittsu Thanks for the kind words. I really enjoyed making this one. Thanks for checking the channel out.

[@PEA600]

Wrestling With Gaming I agree...the only problem I have is how you introduce your topic....it feels as though you are continuing from a previous topic....apart from that....I’m loving it :)

[@JustinWhangYt]

When I was a kid, I lied and told people that they invented the Super FX Chip by dumping a regular chip into apple juice.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Lol what the hell?

[@jesspace4069]

lol k Om0

[@legolloyd2009]

Haha very NOT funny.

[@commandertaco1762]

That's because it was, Nintendo just didnt tell you, trust me, my uncle works at nintendo

[@popojijospaintball8304]

Whang!

[@SaccoBelmonte]

Sadly the Super FX was a transitional chip. Amazing nonetheless but short lived. I still remember trying StarFox on a special ship shaped booth on one Nintendo store. The ship had speakers on each side of the cockpit. I already knew starfox but the experience in the booth with stereo sound and a joystick was mind blowing. The most memorable moment, the selected planet zooming in, and it's wooooough! sound. And the "good luck" delayed on each ear....ahh man! I wish more people coded games like that, 3D but still 2D in a way too due to pixelation. It's an art on itself.

[@Movie_Games]

I remember LOVING Stunt Race FX as a kid. I tried playing it today and the extremely low framerate actually made me physically ill. It's weird because Star Fox doesn't do that.

[@BroodingAcorn]

because star fox runs smoother than stunt race FX. stunt race fx puts a heavier load on the super FX chip

[@beemrmem3]

Star fox still looks like 15fps LOL

[@markhaus]

It’s insane how much I played both games as a kid and today that frame rate just makes both unplayable. 3D was so novel back then that people would put up with basically anything for it

[@olsonbryce777]

@@beemrmem3 you get used to it tho

[@jameslighterGTR]

The composer Hajime Hirasawa had a falling out with Nintendo as well after Star Fox. Apparently over the ownership of the music he composed. The dude ended up basically inventing the technology for ringtones after getting into it with Nintendo, he's a CEO currently at his own company. Amazing that he came up with the major themes for Star Fox on game one, and dipped afterward with Nintendo obviously still using the music for decades. The design process for Star Fox was really groundbreaking and it seems like a lot can be learned about the industry from that game alone. Great work here, WWG that was enjoyable!

[@thomaspleacher2735]

After watching this, Nintendo seems way less like a whimsical factory of magic and rainbows to me. It reminds me a little of their heavy handed policies with 3rd party software publishers in the NES days.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Thomas Pleacher yeah, I hear ya. Nintendo can certainly be jerks, particularly to 3rd party developers.

[@Smokydoggg]

In those days they were sharks in the pond of fish. It doesn't take away from their importance in the history of video games, it's pretty common for the top company in any given field to strong-arm other companies with their influence and power. Microsoft and Walmart's business practices come to mind.

[@justsomeguy8385]

Yeah they pulled some shit with Sony too, but it ultimately just led to the creation of the Playstation, which really hurt Nintendo in the long run.

[@foxymetroid]

@kwyjibo O_o: That was after Sony tried to pull some shit with Nintendo. If the Nintendo Playstation was released, Sony would be the company that got the royalties from the CD game sales, which would have seriously hurt Nintendo. So Nintendo dumped them. Sony then tried to make a deal with Sega, but Sega of Japan basically told them to go fly a kite.

[@Rationalific]

+Thomas Pleacher: Yeah. Almost every historical account dealing with Nintendo deals with how they screwed someone over or were jerks. (Unfair exclusivity, suing Game Genie, no blood Mortal Kombat, StarFox 2, and on and on.) Even now, they have fan games that include Mario removed, and although they have that right, Sega got fan game developers to make a game (Sonic Mania) for them. One thing Nintendo has over Sega, though, is that they still make great games with their classic characters, while Sega really does need fans from the outside to make great stuff for them.

[@Riz2336]

Apparently Nintendo didn't really appreciate those guys work.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Riz2336 I tend to agree.

[@feckingud]

The relocation may not have been so well for the devs... Or they made them do work on a game they knew they will never release, making them loose their time while developping N64... Who knows.

[@jerkfudgewater147]

These kids showed up delivering THEE GAMES that expanded the Nintendo player base, DOOM & Star Fox, i can say that their games were the ones that every games playing kid in my school was talking about, how they were possible and the magical upgrade to the playing experience... if it turned out that these kids somehow made Golden Eye... well that would be too much

[@lugaidster]

@* AnimalHeadSpirit * What long history? Their relationship started in the 80s, by then, Nintendo had no history with unfair practices for devs. At all.

[@kawanxros]

Ikr

[@dwindeyer]

What I find most impressive is that they made the chip cheap enough to include a GPU with every copy of the game

[@ChairmanMeow1]

was thinking the same thing!!

[@origintrackz5235]

Definitely that's some soviet style engineering lol.

[@fearlesswee5036]

To be fair, they did foot that cost on the customer. Star Fox cost a bit more than other SNES games. But still, it wasn't a *huge* price hike, so it's still super impressive that they were basically packing a GPU with every copy.

[@randywatson8347]

Doom on snes is quite an achievment.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Domm can run on a Printre, but is more an arechivement due to the number of sourceports.

[@ViralKiller]

you think that's impressive? check out FX fighter which was gonna be basically Virtua Fighter on the Snes, and commanche..both unreleased

[@DannyCD]

I was so grateful that Doom came out on the SNES when I was a kid. I didn't have a PC and only had a SNES at best in '97. I saw the game on PC at a friend's house and I needed to have it. So I couldn't believe it when I saw Doom for the SNES behind a glass case at K-Mart back then. It had its shortcomings, but it was certainly better than not having Doom at all. Yes, it was quite an achievement.

[@nightruler666]

Like Doom on the switch

[@AlexOjideagu2]

Viral Killer FX fighter was released on pc

[@IngeldGaming]

Really interesting video. I miss the 16 bit era for this reason; being able to beef up graphics by including additional hardware with the games themselves.

[@inlovewithi]

I was hoping for this ability for the Switch. For faster cheaper chips would be able to add extra abilities to it, after a year or two. But I don't think it has that ability.

[@paul1979uk2000]

Microsoft does have that online power thing for the Xbox One but it doesn't seem to deliver what they promised, as for the Switch, with how tech moves nowadays so fast, it's better to just release new consoles in a quicker cycle whiles keeping full compatibility, if Sony, Microsoft and NIntendo sticks to x86 and ARM's, that should be much easier to achieve a bit like how the PC can play pretty much any game going back decades.

[@defeqel6537]

Moving from passively cooled systems to actively cooled ones, pretty much killed the idea (and of course the fact that games are now just digital). Adding any passively cooled system to an actively cooled one would see only minimal gains and be way more work and cost.

[@niccusworth]

Great video, and mostly accurate. Argonaut was allowed to develop other games while working with Nintendo. Vortex was developed by Argonaut (and the first game I worked on), and published by Electro Brain - as well as a bunch of other SNES/PC games. Brought back some fond memories!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Nic Cusworth whoa, Nic Cusworth! This is a pleasant surprise. Thanks for taking the time out to watch the video. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I also appreciate the correction. When I get home from work I'll add a note about it to the video's description. Thanks for all of the memories from the games you've worked on and please excuse my fanboy moment 😊

[@casinowilhelm]

Also, after the success of the FX chip, the chip design part of the business was spun off from Argonaut into a separate business called "Argonaut Risc Cores" (ARC) which survived way longer than daddy Argonaut - until 2009 when it was bought out. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synopsys#ARC_International. According to the blurb on wiki the SuperFX chip was initially sold to businesses as a general purpose accelerator and they developed it further into a range of chips which apparently are still shipped in bazillions of IoT type devices. I also used to work at Argonaut in the late 90s, the ARC crew took up the top floor of the office and they had a lot of very boring looking charts and whatnot on the walls, so I didn't pay much attention to them though they did join in with our Quake sessions after work . They were rubbish at it :)

[@jblsucks321]

Very well structured and planned out. I enjoy how you stick to theme and story - keep it up and keep making documentaries and you will have 100k subs!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+jblsucks321 Thanks! 100k would be nice but what I really want is a limo with giant horns on the hood like JBL used to have. Haha.

[@7thHanyou]

Gotta say, man, just discovered this channel yesterday and it's one of my favorite gaming channels already. Really good content. Look forward to seeing more of your output.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+7thHanyou Thanks! Really appreciate it. I had a long list of topics I want to cover so there will be plenty more to come.

[@LordMarlle]

Nintendo is like the cool kid in school, but he's really a douche towards everybody but he's soo good at sports and everything. Sega is like the friend you had that OD'd

[@zakutheferret8182]

And your friend SEGA always had the best indie movies, and the newest anime, and the coolest music you'd never heard of, and you had tons of fun with him even though he didn't have much money because that didn't matter, you could just hang out and have more fun than anywhere else anyway. RIP Sega, I didn't have a Genesis growing up but I had a Dreamcast in adolescence and I loved it so much.

[@Firguy_the_Foot_Fetishist]

Not really an appropriate comment to put your 'haha!' rubber stamp, there.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

I agree and deleted my comment. I'm pretty sure he edited his comment after I left mine but either way, I agree with you.

[@thisisJim85]

That's dark

[@RobertNES816]

I loved the Super FX chip! As a kid I remember being blown away with it when I first played Star Fox. I remember all the adds that were around for it at the time to, the hype was all over the place. I also got Stunt Race FX as a birthday present for my 8th birthday. I loved playing that game and it just so happens to still be one of my all time favorite SNES games. I have the most nostalgia for that game and also the most memories playing it. I remember how impressed my Dad was when I first played Stunt Race FX. He was big into tech back then so he took the controller from me and started driving the buggy slowly around the track just looking at all the polygons and textures in amazement. So many fun memories from the 90's thanks to that little chip.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Robert NES816 Yeah man, I loved the Super FX chip games. As a kid it was like magic to me to see that kind of 3d on the SNES.

[@lookoutforchris]

6:30... the worlds first GPU? I don't know if it was the first but Silicon Graphics had a chip doing hardware accelerated triangles, transform, and lighting in 1982. They added texture mapping and other advanced features soon after. SGI was built around graphics hardware from day one and they had been producing generations of their chips for 10 years by the time the FX chips came along.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

I'm with you. That's why in the video I say that "Jez San (the founder of Argonaut) considers it the world's first GPU." It's something he's said in interviews before. I'm not saying that it actually is the world's first GPU. In hindsight I probably could've been a little more clear by adding something like, "although others disagree, Je San personally considers it the world's first GPU." I can see how someone might miss that I say it's JEz's opinion.

[@Simonio8]

It just shows you Nintendo isn't quite as wholesome as you think it is. Very well made and informative video, I enjoyed a lot.

[@jfitnesshealth]

I hope they get paid after the SNES MINI CLASSIC since full Starfox 2 is on there.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+jfitnesshealth they're not 😕. Technically Argonaut Games doesn't exist anymore so there isn't a company to pay.

[@Tempora158]

Cut "them" a check? The individuals who worked on the game are not the one who gets royalty from the game, it's Argonaut, which doesn't exist anymore.

[@deusexaethera]

On a related note: Still no Tetris? What is wrong with Nintendo? Pay the damn licensing fee and include the most popular Nintendo game of all time already!

[@mygaffer]

They don't own the IP anymore, they got screwed big.

[@jon-erich9752]

How exactly would you pay them? The original contract was for Argonaut, not the individuals. That meant Argonaut would get the money and they decided who would get what? In order to give these individuals a paycheck, a new contract would have to be drawn up. Since StarFox 2 isn't being sold separately, that means that they would have to get a cut of the SNES classic edition profits. On top of that, the worth of the individual game in the collection of games might have to be determined. Unless they sued, which they would have no case for, they're not getting a paycheck.

[@tomservo5347]

Starfox...ah what memories for my 13 year old self. It was quite an experience playing for the very first time. The graphics of course, but the game play, music, variance of courses, and for the time fast screen rendering was an experience I'll never forget. Today if a teenager showed a company he had hacked their system they would immediately lawsuit him out of existence as the video game industry today is stifled as the indie game developer movement has shown.

[@brett84c]

It's kind of sad how things fell apart for Argonaut especially given how talented they were and what they were capable of delivering on.

[@HedgehogStudios1]

Nowadays Nintendo would probably just sue anyone that makes a technological breakthrough with their hardware and then steal the idea 2 years later.

[@1anre]

Glad to learn about all these technicalities behind the development of some of these outstanding games. Wish parents & primary school science teachers had videos like these back then so they’d fully disregard the hobby of gaming and actually appreciate that it took really intelligent people to make those games that kept us captivated in from our CRT TVs back then.

[@CarsSimplified]

I wonder how the release of Star Fox 2 on the mini retro system went over with those that had been involved.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Cars Simplified Dylan Cuthbert has said in interviews that he's happy it's finally being released. Don't know about everyone else.

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

having your work being put out is worth more than money i guess

[@jon-erich9752]

When it is something that happened decades ago, it's easier to get past it, especially since these guys seem to be doing pretty well for themselves.

[@Aluze]

Like most of us, probably would be happier if he could actually BUY it

[@Nelwyn]

I briefly tried it, but was unimpressed. I don't know if it's just because it's so many years later or that it wasn't similar enough to the first title which I beat many times.

[@dwarfbunni]

"all it took was putting a little faith in a couple of kids" man, if only the inspirational speakers in highschool were that good.

[@Taporeee]

Art blender The Alex Ferguson effect

[@acethebest6028]

Have you noticed that many 2D games from the old days have aged much better than early 3D games?

[@josecarlosxyz]

That’s because polygons don’t age very well

[@SomePotato]

Yeah, but to be fair, 2600 games also don't age like a Monkey Island.

[@albertnortononymous9020]

Idk every game for the magnavox odyssey kinda sucks

[@willissudweeks1050]

I like Mario Kart and Star Fox for 64 but the SNES versions are almost unplayable for me.

[@georgezubat7225]

Early 2D games didn't age too well either. New things take time to get right.

[@erniesdeck7550]

I just discovered this channel, and after watching a couple of videos. . . I'm pretty much a fan of the channel now. Thanks for the content!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Ernies Deck thanks man, appreciate it

[@fotografritz_]

what a fascinating story... It kinda seemed they had genius stroke of luck, but didn't have the experience to negotiate a more promising deal. The lack of success seemed to have made them choose to mostly produce license games - crap options but sure cash flow. Who knows what might have become of them, if Nintendo would have been more fair or more inclusive.

[@700gsteak]

I dont think the Japanese pay that much to anyone, like Shigeru Miyamoto is only worth 40million even after all the great games hes released.

[@robertwilson3866]

The SNES is still the most recent console I own. I am very happy the Super FX chip was made because it meant I didn't have to buy a new console to play the new 3D games. There are still many games on the SNES I have yet to play. I love it!

[@cthru2k]

I loved StarFox and was very impressed with the 3D graphics when I first loaded up this cartridge into my SNES. I am even more impressed with it now, I always thought the FX chip is something Nintendo made. Thank you for this.

[@XrisD147]

Outsourcing, a standard business practice.

[@ckent23]

Well done. I only learned a few months ago that the FX chip was built into the cartridge , I always thought it was in the system. Really amazing engineering.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+ckent23 thanks man. Yeah, it's pretty incredible what they were able to do with it.

[@Thex-W.I.T.C.H.-xMaster]

Nintendo isn't the family friendly company they want you to think they are.

[@jaymounes9473]

Thank you, this took a refreshing level of depth, and even if you don't work in 3D graphics you seem to at least understand the terms on a basic level. I don't know about the first GPU though... you'll have to ask someone else but I think it'll be contentious.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Jay Mounes thanks, glad you enjoyed it. I agree, it's up for debate whether or not it was really the first GPU. I made this so long ago I'd need to go back and watch but I believe i said that it was Jez San that considered it the world's fittest GPU, which is what I found he said during an interview when I was researching the FX chip. I couldn't personally find something comparable before it that was dedicated to graphics on the same level but I'd be lying if I said it was my area of expertise. Jez did like to talk a big game so I suspect he was exaggerating a bit.

[@arthurbrax6561]

Hey my dude, awesome video but you forgot to mention that when the Nintendo/Argonaut deal ended Nintendo took some of the best people from argonaut with them and screwed them. The head of Argonaut said that he disliked Nintendo from then on in a Eurogamer interview. I would have been pissed as well

[@CastleKnight7]

I remember taking this home from the shop, plugging it in and being blown away by the graphics and gameplay!

[@carloscoy6635]

Damn i remember that starfox commercial

[@thanasysdim]

Super FX was amazing back then. I remember how it seemed to us when we first played Starfox. There are simply no words to describe the awesomeness of that game. Nice video. Thank you for this.

[@quarterswede]

This was the most informative video I’ve seen on the SuperFX chip history. You’ve earned another sub Sir. Kudos!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Aaron Soderholm thanks man! Glad you liked it

[@Demeterkitty]

Anyone notice the Back to the Future theme music in the Spanish SuperFX promo clip?

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Demeterkitty I know, right? So strange.

[@Sean-D78]

Demeterkitty they were probably too lazy to make their own music

[@CarsSimplified]

I noticed that too; I wonder if/how they got away with that. The movie was pretty recent back then.

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

wel lit suits it

[@Azuris190]

Maybe the Copyrights where not so hard back than or they just licenced it :>

[@esnebta]

This is one of my favorite videos on KZbin. It's encouraging me to reach out to developers of projects that have influenced mine

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks! That's awesome to hear!

[@AshtonCoolman]

Starglider 2 for MS-DOS is a childhood favorite of mine. It makes sense that these guys did the SFX and Firefox. It all looks so similar.

[@johnlewisbrooks]

To this day i remember seeing the final boss of Starfox. The giant face still scares the shit right out of me! XD!

[@superdan5617]

Nice work! I'm not even really into video games, but you made this very interesting. I subbed!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Super Dan Wow, thanks so much. That's probably the best compliment I could get on my work. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@lojakz]

Well, you got a new subscriber. I've watched 2 of your vids now and I'm hooked. Love the history of gaming (both video and tabletop) so I'm happy to have found your channel.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+lojakz thanks! Glad to have you aboard.

[@TheSonic497]

I guess this is why any third parties hardly have their games made exclusively for Nintendo, they treat their third parties like trash.

[@therealjasonpark]

Super interesting! Love learning about the business/technical side behind beloved childhood memories.

[@OptimizedOptimism]

I'm a big Starfox fan from growing up, the first title (known over here in the UK as Starting) was the first game I ever played and completed. I never actually knew about the importance of the FX chip until a retrospective article I read in Nintendo Official Magazine in 2005, to celebrate the review and release of Starfox Assault, and how it was a group of young English developers that got the chip and the groundwork for the first game going, and then learning about the (then) unreleased sequel. I'm pretty open with the series in terms of loving 64 just as much as Adventures (Rareware fan also) through to Assault and Command, but I always appreciate learning more and more about Argonauts and how they got Starfox up and running :)

[@TheMovieCreator]

2:36 - In Europe, there was a game called "Elite" released for the NES in 1991. This predates X in being the first 3D-game on a Nintendo device.

[@MrMekmek29]

Another great video! Didn’t know that the fx chip wasn’t an original Nintendo IP. Maybe Argonaut games leaked the copy of star fox 2 in the internet out of sheer frustration. This is the kind of content you rarely see covered when talking about retro gaming. Good work sir!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+MrMekmek29 thanks! There were actually a couple versions of it that were leaked. One of them is a very early version that has a debug menu and a multiplayer head to head feature that was taken out of the final version. I didn't really go into it in the video since it's more about the chip that anything but it's a neat little tidbit of info.

[@torgrimmyt3549]

Thanks for this entertaining mini doc. Quite an interesting story around this particular chip and you even covered some of the technical aspects.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Torgrimm@YT thanks a lot!

[@prinzbach]

Damn ! What a story... Never knew it was that crazy. Great work ! I'm pretty sure it was a long and hard work to go and dig for all those details !

[@GTV-Japan]

One of the things I recall from the early 90s with the fx chip was constant reminders of not having to buy an add on for high level graphics. Of course in America we never got anything to expand hardware but in Japan there were all kinds of things out but each one let Nintendo not have complete control on everything how they liked it

[@virgobro2025]

Meanwhile on PC...

[@wasd____]

The FX chip claiming to eliminate the need to buy an add-on for high level graphics was a lie. You were buying a hardware add-on, it was just embedded in the cart instead of a system module. What's more, you had to buy the same add-on all over again with every single game (because every cart needed its own chip), instead of being able to buy it once and be done. It was a brilliant way to pump gamers for cash by invisibly (and unnecessarily) selling them the same piece of add-on hardware multiple times, while claiming to let them "avoid add-ons."

[@aham2903]

These series are so great. I hope your channel gets huge. Definitely underrated.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+A Ham thanks!

[@1x4x9]

Nintendo should have included the SuperFX co-processor on the SNES mainboard. It'd have been worth a $30 price bump, given that it's inclusion would have really pushed the SNES far above and beyond the capabilites of the Mega Drive/Genesis and the PC-Engine/TurboGrafx

[@Real_Retrophilia]

Nintendo has a front that so happy and colorful, but time and again they show to be a ruthless company.

[@Kaynos]

Amazing how far we've come in the past 25 years.

[@chooseymomschoose]

My teenage mind was blown by Starfox. Now, I look at it and think, "Wuzzat? 10? Maybe 15 FPS?" I love watching emulators outrun the soundtrack in the intro sequence now. Fantastic game, though.

[@Luix]

very nice advertisement in spanish, that was on a VHS on the magazine "hobbyconsolas"

[@Valitzu777]

How do you not have like 2 million subs already? You're awesome! Fantastically produced video, it was a real pleasure to watch and learn... It sucks that Argonaut didn't achieve the HUGE success they so deserved... they should be up there as one of the big AAA companies like Naughty Dog & Rockstar, setting the trend and pushing the heck out of the consoles and PC hardware...

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks, I appreciate it! Glad you liked the video. Unfortunately with KZbin these days it's hard for a channel to gain traction except through word of mouth. It really is too bad about Argonaut. Thankfully, pretty much everyone involved went on to be very successful afterwards.

[@Valitzu777]

Keep it up brother... IMHO, you clearly have what it takes, a great narrators/speaking voice, fantastic video editing skills and you've provided a well presented/researched piece to give the audience all the facts. RE: Argonaut, Yes, however, the level of success could have been so much greater for all those fellows involved with Argonaut in my opinion... Hey, Dylan Cuthbert is a better man than I, I would have had a huge problem swallowing my pride and having to do ANYTHING with Nintendo afterward... But I understand, a man has to pay the bills :) Well, I truly hope that they continue to thrive successfully in one way or another in the software/hardware industry... To me, these fellas are in the same respected light that reminds of John Carmack and I would hate to know that John Carmack (even though is now with FB) would soon ever pack up his bags and move to Tahiti, sipping on mai tais and not wanting to ever do anything more with the industry...

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks again man 😊. Dylan is such a good dude. He actually was nice enough to provide a correction for me on the first version of this video I made. Really talented guy too.

[@JohnnyCagePro]

What kind of geniuses were those guys at Argonaut anyway lol. A developer fairy tale.

[@kanesmith8271]

It was a generation of miracles

[@sirMAXX77]

Nintendo is like that kind of rich sleaze ball that is charismatic and would befriend you and make you feel important, just to steal your girlfriend and tell you piss off once they get what they wanted.

[@austins.2495]

How do you not have more subscribers? Great videos

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Austin HasAgun thanks man, I appreciate it! It just takes a long time to build up subs unless KZbin decides to heavily promote your channel. Hopefully the subscribers will eventually come. I'm just glad that the people that have found the channel generally seem to enjoy the videos.

[@DoomFinger511]

Not to defend Nintendo but a lot of people don't realize that the monopoly Nintendo had on video games in the late 80's and 90's was only a thing in North America. In Europe and other parts of the world Nintendo had MUCH more competition. There was never a video game bubble burst outside of North America that left a void for Nintendo to fill. So all the gaming publishers had strong sales outside of NA which gave Nintendo less leverage.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+DoomFinger511 that's a good point actually.

[@demonsty]

i remember being blown away by starfox and out of this world on snes as a kid

[@ShytPump]

I'm a huge Nintendo fan. But with so much information available now as compared to when I was a kid reading Nintendo Power it is clear that as a company they are greedy and cut throat in their policies and procedures. The way they manage to choke out competitors and capitalize on fans is really quite disturbing. I had no idea of any of this part of Star Fox's history. I feel that in using mechanics and concepts that Argonaut designed AFTER Nintendo cancelled the original sequel Argonaut should have sued. Because that's exactly what Nintendo would do. And it makes me wonder if they waited for the switch to release the game officially because they needed time to pass so as not to have to credit or pay Argonaut for their work.

[@aarongreenfield9038]

It is amazing how they could make such great games was so very little. Even just a few seconds of this video is bigger than most super nes games.

[@mtshark7]

Awesome documentary man! I had no idea there were 8 SNES games that used the Super FX chip. That's pretty neat learning about all the details of this chip that I've never knew before.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+mtshark7 Thanks 😊. Here's another fun tidbit about one of the Super FX chip games. The snes version of Doom supports the SNES mouse that came bundled with Mario Paint. It's (as far as I know) the only console version of Doom that can be played with a mouse

[@mtshark7]

Ah yes, I've actually found out about that earlier this year. I should pickup a Retron SNES laser mouse and see how that works.

[@oa3255]

I love looking at other people's accomplishments while all I do is watch KZbin

[@afriend9428]

*Wow! 2 teen made the Supet FX chip!* ⭐️

[@CosmicD]

I can't express how massively hyped i was for star fox, as a teenager who was dreaming about games looking more real , star fox was that leap forward. The woman at the videogame store must have been tired of me always showing up nearly every day in the store to play the version she had long before it was released here.

[@nimascolari1508]

Argonaut needed lawyers to check out that agreement with Nintendo. They got screwed over.

[@aeris2001]

I completely understand why Nintendo cancelled Star fox 2, but still think they should have compensated their partners a little more here.

[@T3KNUG3T5]

10:52 sorta. They did design the ARC CPU. Which was used in the Leapster. and a few other things. And the ARC is the spiritual successor to the SFX 2

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

That M.A.R.I.O. acronym was a genius on Argonauts' part

[@duane8620]

Damn... I am so upset I've only just now found this channel. Really great video!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks. Appreciate it. This video is one of my oldest and way behind production quality of my current stuff so I'm really glad you liked it lol. This is my latest kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZummqmkqZqna5I

[@YavinPrime]

It's unfortunate that Nintendo didn't just buy out the small Studio and turn them into in-house developers. They seemed to have a lot of really good ideas.

[@user-zw4wh1tm9x]

very informative and well edited, you got a new sub

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+F thanks a lot. Glad you liked it!

[@MorganIsAway]

Great documentary, all the videos i have watched of yours so far are awesome!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks!

[@MorganIsAway]

@@WrestlingWithGaming my pleasure!

[@bluenothing720]

Love hearing about this kinda hiatory. Thanks a bunch!

[@vinman3773]

i love your channel. subscribed. this is some interesting video game history. well done man

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks for checking the channel out, I appreciate it.

[@SpiritedSpy]

4:55 wait is that the bttf theme?

[@KedViper]

Great video. I learned a lot. The Super FX Chip was the final thing for the Super Nintendo showing off how amazing that console was. Sucks Nintendo treated their third-party developers that way. They deserved what happened with the PlayStation, losing titles like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, etc. after the SNES days, and Resident Evil 4 losing it's exclusivity, imo.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Ked Viper Thanks, glad you liked it. Yeah, unfortunately Nintendo has a history of not treating third parties very well.

[@zaptrotix3]

brilliant video, man! Congratulations!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+zaptrotix3 Thanks!

[@orangedac]

The lesson here is beware of getting your shit ripped off by large companies.

[@sonictimm]

This is a beautifully made documentary! Instant sub

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Tim T Thanks man! Really appreciate it.

[@frankhdz]

I remember the first time I saw StarFox, my jaw dropped. At the time the graphics looked incredible. I just had to get a copy of StarFox, and the game not only looked great but it played great as well.

[@freeedom22]

Fascinating story, great rendition! Keep going !

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+freeedom22 thanks! It was one my favorite videos that I've done so far. I wasn't doing anything nearly as important at their age!

[@freeedom22]

Wrestling With Gaming I thought exactly the same when I heard of the guy being 18 years old !

[@pulphope]

I grew up literally around the corner from Argonaut House, a building they bought and were based at in Edgware (North London); had no idea what they did at the time

[@GottgleicherMaster]

what a well made video. you deserve much more attention. now start wathcing your other videos :)

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+Marc Tißler thanks! Glad you liked it. This was one of my favorite ones to make.

[@spritefun9362]

I love me some gaming documentary playlists, you won me over easily :D

[@thetinpin]

Awesome work! Learned a bunch!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

+tin pin thanks! Really appreciate the kind words.

[@imaxjunior6531]

The Presentation is of this video is Awesome. I was so captivated i forgot that i was not watching a movie. Great job.

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks! I really appreciate it!

[@JKZEROkenjiMB]

I'll be hype as ever when I play Starfox 2 on the mini. ^^

[@beardupbeerdown7355]

That Star Fox commercial is wild. What a trip.

[@OCPyrit]

Imagine these kids going to Japan to work for one of the biggest companies in the industry. In 1993! They probably couldn't even speak a single word japanese.

[@juergenhaas3530]

I hardly knew any of what the video told. Thank you!

[@EricAllenJett]

Why didn't Starfox 2 get brought over to the Nintendo64 as a launch title?

[@dynamicsketch]

I'm surprised that Star Fox was a commercial success. Back in the 90s I couldn't tell if anyone actually liked it since they would sneer at the mention of Star Fox or its commercial as well as the announcement of Star Fox 2. I felt as if I was the only one who liked the franchise. A few years ago I was so excited to secure a pre-order for the Super NES Classic so that I could finally try Star Fox 2 after 20 years of waiting and I did not feel disappointed. As dated as that game is I still enjoyed it more than Star Fox Zero. Like Star Fox 64, Star Fox 2 was designed for multiple playthroughs. Shame that Argonaut went under because they developed a great game. I would love a Star Fox 3 to continue with that series instead of its two reboots, Star Fox 64 and Star Fox Zero.

[@mattwigley203]

Absolutely love your channel! Have been extremely sick, but the bright side is, I have had the time to binge watch nearly all your videos. Definitely earned a sub and a like on each. Keep up the great work, I look forward to many more!

[@WrestlingWithGaming]

Thanks a lot man! Hope you feel better soon!