Nintendo Pitched F-Zero Wii U to Burnout Dev

Nintendo asked Burnout and Need for Speed developer Criterion Games to work on a demo for a new F-Zero title.

According to Nintendo Life, former Criterion Games creative director Alex Ward confirmed Nintendo wanted the studio to pitch a new F-Zero game for the Wii U in early 2011.

According to an unnamed source, Nintendo was "hard pressed for time" as it wanted to unveil the game at E3 2011 alongside the console.

Criterion, however, was working on multiple versions of Need for Speed Most Wanted for its parent company EA at the time. As a result the studio was not able to work on F-Zero.

As pointed out, it's interesting to note that Nintendo--at one point--was seeking to revive the dormant futuristic racing series for Wii U. Furthermore, it wanted a third-party developer to collaborate with, instead of developing it internally.

This is a strategy Nintendo has continued to use in bring back old properties. At E3 Nintendo revealed Star Fox Zero, which is being developed by Bayonetta and Wonderful 101 studio Platinum Games.

No new game in the series has been released since F-Zero GX, which shipped on the GameCube in July 2003. That game was co-developed by Sega.

It is unknown whether Nintendo has decided to drop plans to bring back F-Zero, either for the Wii U, or its next home console.

Nintendo chief executive Satoru Iwata has previously said the company does not plan to fully reveal its next system, codenamed the Nintendo NX, until 2016. Although he has been coy with details, Nintendo is calling it a "new concept," and not thinking of it as a simple replacement for the 3DS or the Wii U.