No Metroid Prime 3 Wi-Fi for you
by David Hinkle 
{ Jul 3rd 2007 at 1:00PM }
Sure, we wouldn't take the Soup Nazi's claim that Samus' latest jaunt will not include Wi-Fi multiplayer as truth, but when Michael Kelbeugh, the main man over at Retro Studios, says so, then we kind of take it as fact. And, that's exactly what he said in an interview with GamePro recently, dashing hopes here at Wii Fanboy Estates that the small delay the game has received was so that online multiplayer could be tweaked.So, why no online multiplayer in a game that is begging for it? Mikey K. (it's alright, we're BFF) says it's so the single-player campaign can be the best it can be, stating "It's something we talked about early on, but we only have so many resources. We opted to devote those resources to making a better single-player experience." We're sure the single-player portion of the game will rock our socks right off our feet, neatly fold them and place them in our top dresser drawer, but we don't think it'll be so good we'll be thanking Retro for not including online multiplayer.
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
vidGuy @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:07PM
I agree with the majority of the comments on Joystiq - MP3 was never meant to be an online multiplayer game. The solo mission is where it's at. Now, if Brawl doesn't have online, then we have something to complain about, but this? I'd rather see a 1st or 3rd party game dedicated to FPS (rather than solo adventuring) be the first to do Wii online shooters right. It would at least fit the bill a lot better than Metroid.
Nushio @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:08PM
No online is a dealbreaker for me.
Not buying it.
...Jan... @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:13PM
- Yeah...I still refuse to believe this. I'm pretty sure if anyone can pull off keeping online multiplayer secret until last minute, it's Nintendo.
- You hear that soup Nazi? I'll follow your rules and garner your respect for now, but I will get my soup...I mean Wi-Fi.
Jonxman @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:21PM
Deal breaker for me too.
What's the point? Graphics won't be so much better than GC's Metroid Prime, so I'll just play that. I don't need a new 'story'..
Billy_McBong @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:22PM
i dont see why they wouldnt have this game online, hunters had it
and i am on the verge of not getting this game so no online play will also be a dealbreaker for me
Nushio @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:26PM
That said, I still regret buying Hunters. And Metroid Prime (1) for Gamecube.
Bring on oldschool Metroid!
theboy @ Jul 3rd 2007 2:25PM
Since when did metroid need multiplayer. MP2's sucked and hunters was OK. Metroid has always been adventures, exploring, upgrades, and bosses.
Tom @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:38PM
Well, this certainly helps me make up my mind: Retro Studios, because of this, I'm NOT buying your game.
Mr Khan @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:38PM
(Smiles in a smug and self-satisfied way, reveling in the glory of having been right about something from the beginning)
Its Retro Studios people, not Nintendo Software Technology!
hvnlysoldr @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:44PM
Maybe after Prime they can get back to work on Raven Blade and make that online multiplayer.
vidGuy @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:46PM
Fine, you guys boycott it, maybe I'll buy 10 copies and hand 9 out to the homeless...
Reality @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:52PM
These are just my thoughts on this issue.
I'm not surprised by this because I wasn't expecting an online multi-player with Prime 3. Retro said it in the beginning that they were going to focus on making the game single-player only but they were looking into the ability of downloading new content via WiiConnect24. Besides, it can still set the stage for future FPS on the Wii as far as controls.
I don't think they could pull off a quick multi-player because of two reasons. One, it needs to be a good step forward than what it was in Prime 2. More characters, better stage designs, online capabilities, these are but of a few issues for multiplayer. Two, because retro focus on a single-player and no multi-player, they have more room on the media to improve graphics to what the Wii is fully capable of. The story line could be much longer than the previous two primes as well.
One final thought, I don't think I could handle another long delay of this game. I'm so looking forward the end of this trilogy (and I have enjoyed it considerably) and I'm also looking forward to the start of a new trilogy for Samus.
That deaf guy @ Jul 3rd 2007 1:53PM
*sigh* silly humans complain all you want... yer gonna buy it eventually!!!
Nushio @ Jul 3rd 2007 2:03PM
That deaf guy: But not at 50 dlls!
Shadow31 @ Jul 3rd 2007 2:14PM
*sigh* I never expected online play; in interviews, Retro Studios has said it was not very likely, though they've been looking into WiiConnect24 and downloadable content. You people shouldn't have got your hopes up.
As for whether it should've, I also agree with them. Play the multiplayer mode in MP2:E. It is horrible. The Metroid Prime games are too focused on adventuring rather than FPSing. Metroid Prime Hunters is an exception, being built as an FPS game and centered around mutliplayer. In that case, the single player mode sucked. Oh, and it lost most of its Metroid feel. Don't get me wrong, I loved Hunters, but it wasn't meant to fit into the series in terms of gameplay.
And fine, you all can boycott it if you really want to. The Metroid Prime games are amazing, and I am definitely buying it. Possible downloadable content? Score. Who cares if the graphics aren't significantly better (though they are nice). Seriously, graphics shouldn't be such an important factor in purchasing a game; fun factor and replayability is way more important.
I'm buying it, all my friends are buying it, and refusing to buy it just because of no online mode is not only a stupid move, but those people will just miss out.
If you want an online FPS, there are many other games to turn to, so stop whining about this one game when there was never any hint to it having online.
sean @ Jul 3rd 2007 2:28PM
I don't give a damm I want online. We all know the MP3 will be great but after you beat the campaign then what? play it through 3 more times fine. Now what? online gives a game so much more replayability. I remeber buying a GC game almost every month, because after I beat the single player campaign I got bored with them the same goes for MP and MP2
Ghen @ Jul 3rd 2007 2:28PM
BFF = emo, kk?
Michael K. @ Jul 3rd 2007 2:42PM
I'd rather have no wi-fi than have the single player ruined.
B-Ry @ Jul 3rd 2007 2:55PM
Who needs multiplayer wifi, this is metroid not Halo. Focus on the story not shooting a buncha random ppl via wifi, there will be plenty of games that allow this in the future
Aaron @ Jul 3rd 2007 3:01PM
I'm going to go on record and say that everyone so far in this post claiming they won't buy the game, will in fact own it within a few weeks of launch.
Take that.
nawtyeravgjoe @ Jul 3rd 2007 3:14PM
i feel so abandoned by nintendo. i waited in line for their dumb console, and i've been defending it since day one. how can a name like 'super mario strikers charged' get online but not METROID?! i'm beginning to think the only reason nintendo still exists is for smash bros.
jman @ Jul 3rd 2007 3:22PM
Anybody that says they wont buy this game cuz it doesnt have online play is jsut so ridiculous...i mean who buys metroid for a multilayer expercience?? NO ONE...ppl buy it for the quality of the campaign, not the multiplayer...if u want a bad campaign but fun online multiplayer go play halo 2
Tom @ Jul 3rd 2007 3:28PM
@Aaron
Wow, is the game really that irresistable? That's odd, I somehow managed to avoid playing the first two games. I was too busy playing games like Mario Sunshine and Zelda: Wind Waker. I almost cared about Metroid, but no online means no purchse. EVER.
Take that.
WhatIsThatThing @ Jul 3rd 2007 3:40PM
Metroid NES: No online. No multiplayer.
Metroid II NES: No online. No multiplayer.
Super Metroid: No online. No multiplayer.
Metroid Fusion: No online. No multiplayer.
Metroid Prime: No online. No multiplayer.
Metroid Prime 2: No online. Terrible multiplayer.
Metroid Prime: Hunters: Online. Terrible single-player.
Metroid Prime 3: No online.
Hmm...do I sense a pattern here? Stop complaining! Also,feel free to correct me on my facts. They may be slightly off. I'm not a big fan of the Metroid series.
Swampy @ Jul 3rd 2007 3:42PM
My Metroid Prime: Hunters WiFi experience was one of walking around for 2 seconds and dying over and over and over again before I could ever get my bearings, so why would I care about that awesome functionality disappearing from MP:C? I don't care. Online play is for twitchy dorks whose lives are devoted to exploiting every glitch and fluke they can discover in the software, so normal people can't enjoy the game. You know what? I'm freaking GLAD it's not online.
Devine @ Jul 3rd 2007 3:49PM
Who gives a sh*t?
Jackson Pritt @ Jul 3rd 2007 3:49PM
No multiplayer means that I'll rent or borrow this title, not purchase it.
The Wii is a multiplayer machine. I won't buy any games for it that I can't play with other people.
Devine @ Jul 3rd 2007 3:51PM
@23...you played Sunshine over Metroid Prime?
Your loss.
my name goes here @ Jul 3rd 2007 4:36PM
I think its stupid not to buy it just because it doesn't have online multiplayer. Also I think MP2's multiplayer was pretty good with more than two people, though I would get bored of after about 2 hours at a time. I think it would be kind of cool if it had online. I might try online if I had the equipment. I trust Nintendo to make single-player so good it will blow our minds. Whoever said that the graphics weren't going to be much better than the GameCubes was wrong, The graphics are going to be spectacular. You don't buy a game just because of graphics and online play. I have tons of fun with the ones on the GameCube. MP3 is going to be the first thing I get when I get a Wii.
DrunkenKender @ Jul 3rd 2007 5:59PM
I think the people who won't buy Metroid Prime 3 because of no online multiplayer are missing the entire point of the franchise. MP was never.. EVER.. a FPS. It's an adventure game that happens to be from a first-person perspective. You do, in fact, do some shooting. The similarities end there.
If you took a game like Metroid Prime and made it into a typical first-person shooter with various kinds of guns, little to no emphasis on exploration, and multiple Samus clones of varying colors all competing with eachother in a deathmatch mode? It would simply cease being Metroid. Remember MP Echoes' "blech" multiplayer? Why would you want an online version of that? :P
So I, for one, will be more than happy to let some other game, preferably a brand new franchise, become the Wii's FPS killer app. MP never was.
Mr Khan @ Jul 3rd 2007 6:17PM
@ DrunkenKender
I don't know, if the new controls turn out to be all that, the same "blech" multiplayer with the GC MP Scheme could become awesome
But apparently people today assume that if it involves guns and is in the first person, it should have online multiplayer :P
Rakuen42 @ Jul 3rd 2007 6:28PM
How about this scenario:
1) MP3 releases on August 27.
2) Halo 3 releases... whenever it's supposed to release.
3) Holiday season comes, Halo fever dies out in the commercial sector by the end of December.
4) A little announcement from Retro Studios comes in January for a game called Metroid Prime Hunters Wii, it will be an online only title.
5) MPHW releases in early Q2 2008, quite possibly filling in an FPS gap in the process.
Metroid fans get their great single-player experience, and a (potentially) great multiplayer-experience, without ever having to directly compete with Halo 3 (which, honestly, would be suicide).
Of course, since Nintendo can't do anything completely right, MPHW will have an MSRP of $50...
Steve @ Jul 3rd 2007 6:58PM
If this is the case, then I've about lost my faith in Nintendo. Don't get me wrong -- I was a Nintendo fanboy from the beginning, but my Wii is starting to lose interest. All they do is talk.
PS3's the way to go, I guess.
Jackson Pritt @ Jul 3rd 2007 7:06PM
@ 32, Rakuen42
Keep dreaming. It ain't gonna happen.
Nintendo is doing everything they can to make sure that they aren't competitive in the online gaming market. We're going to have to wait for Ubisoft or some other 3rd party developer to bring us an online-playable FPS for the Wii. Nintendo just isn't going to do it.
@ #30, DrunkenKender
Just because the Metroid series WAS about something, does that mean it can't change and evolve? Metroid used to only be 2D and people talked about how 3D would "ruin" the series, but it's done just fine and many people now think that 3D Metroid games are better and more immersive than 2D ones. Just because Metroid doesn't have a history of having multiplayer modes doesn't mean that it wouldn't be a valuable addition to the franchise. There are a lot of people out there who bought their Wiis for multiplayer only (casual gamers) and who won't buy a game if it doesn't offer the ability to play with friends.
Mr Khan @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:22PM
@ rakuen
It would have to be Nintendo Software Technology, the developers of MPH, to do that
@ jackson; They're getting thier multiplayer franchises online, the fact is that Nintendo has no REAL FPS franchise to use, Metroid is the closest thing, but as others have said, isn't what Retro Studios wants to make into a proper FPS
But yeah, a lot of times it does look like Nintendo deliberately WANTS their online strategy to suck, maybe their plan is to A: Dominate the Industry then B: Continue with sucky online possibilities so that C: They kill Online's popularity, and thus make their own prediction that it would just be a fad come true
Ko @ Jul 3rd 2007 8:45PM
I was going to buy it, but now I will join the boycott.
the DS game was great and this one will officially be boring
Ken @ Jul 3rd 2007 10:03PM
*reads above posts and only sees: "WAAAH WAAAHHH I NEED A TAMPON"*
Seriously guys. Because a game doesn't have online doesn't make it bad. Look at RE4. That game has NO online, but I'm sure many of you guys like it.
Quit complaining, you bunch of inbred pansies!
Halover @ Jul 4th 2007 10:44AM
Um guys, here is my bet. we ARE going to get multiplayer in a metroid game for the wii. think, there are two ways :
A. when retro developed the controls to perfect, NST took the controls and made a counterpart to MP3, like Metroid Prime hunters was MP 1.5, this will be like metroid prime 2.5, and devoted to multiplayer ala hunters.
B. Retro said that they didnt make multiplayer due to lack of resources so once they release the game with excellent single player, they start making multiplayer and make it available to download via wiiconnect24
i still see us getting online multiplayer, as it IS a dealbreaker for most.
Nushio @ Jul 4th 2007 12:48PM
A download via WiiConnect24? You're insane if you actually believe that possible because
a) the game doesn't carry the nwfc logo and
b) It wouldn't fit in the less than 256MB we get for space on the Wii.
halover @ Jul 4th 2007 4:04PM
they already said it will use wiiconnect24 4 downloadable content, nwfc does not mean wiiconnect24, and yes, im insane
Masos @ Jul 5th 2007 3:15PM
@39
You must have got a wii lite cause my wii has well over 256 mb of space actually it has double the space so if you got less than 256mb its time to take it back to the store
KirbyMeister @ Jul 5th 2007 12:53AM
The game would have to be able to grab content from SD... unless they can fit multiplayer in 100MB or less - I don't think people want to fill their entire Wii just to play MP3 multi.
Plus, like other people said, it's not a multiplayer-centric game, so lack of multi isn't that bad... I was looking forward to some multi, but not enough to dealbreak.
Geek @ Jul 5th 2007 2:09PM
Wow, what a load of cynical misguided crap. Metroid Prime is a METROID game, so it was never intended to be a multiplayer game in the first place. You guys just saying "It's a dealbreaker for me." are jsut idiots who think that it's designed to be a shooter, when it's designed to be an adventure game. Honestly, people would be saying the same thing about Zelda Link had a gun and was blasting up enemies, "WTF! NO online multiplayer?!? Teh suckx0rs! I'm not buying it!", but they don't because it's not shooter like. If you people had brains in your heads, you would know that Metroid Prime is about single playe, and Multiplayer is just a side thing. Metroid isn't Halo, it has a lot of similarities, but those are only ont he surface, and you should know that.
HollywoodLeo @ Jul 6th 2007 6:31AM
I have to say that I am EXTREMELY dissappointed by this news!
These people delayed the game for 9 months... They recently pushed the game back once again. Yes, it's just a week, but still...
What in the world could they have been doing to this game for 9 freaking months!
It was supposed to be a launch game. The fact that they pushed it back for SO many months means that they were
NO WHERE near finishing production by launch.
I personally thought that the only reason why they would push it back so much would be to implement online on the game.
So for months I've been hoping, and actually thinking that it would have online play.
I just don't get it, why would they put an online mode on Metroid Prime Hunters, and not follow up with an online mode for the Wii. It makes no sence.
This is horrible news. This is a very bad way for Nintendo to start their online catalog. I mean come on, Pokemon?
I bought the game to have some online fun, and it sucks. So I returned it.
I reserved Metroid at EB Games, and I think that I'm going to get my money back. If anything I'll just rent the game.
I'm happy that Nintendo is expanding their market, but I'm beginning to think that they're forgetting about the people who kept Nintendo alive through out all these years. I've had enough of Nintendo catering so much to "non-gamers."
It's time to bring more games of substance to the Wii.
Enough of these freaking minigames.
I personally prefer the 2D Metroid, and the only reason why I got back into the Metroid fever was because I expected it to be online... and the only reason why I had this expectation was because of Metroid Prime Hunters. I'm sure many people feel the same way. They shouldn't tease us like this.
I mean come on, if they knew it wouldn't have online then they should've announced that back in November so that people wouldn't wait in anticipation for over 8 months.
I've always been a Nintendo fan, that's all I've ever bought as far as systems go.
This might actually drive me get a an XBox 360 for Halo 3 (and other games)...I've been wanting a game like Halo on a Nintendo console for a long time, but looks like we're not getting that for a while.
So go ahead Nintendo, keep forgetting about your hardcore fan base, and reach those non-gamers...eventually the hardcore gamers will forget about you, and move on to other things.
Nushio @ Jul 6th 2007 12:44PM
@Masos (Can we use names instead of numbers?)
Although the Wii has a measly 512 MB for storage, half of that space is reserved for either Updates that have already been downloaded, or useless channels such as Weather and Photos.
Perhaps its not 256, but its definitely not more than 300MB.
HGomez @ Jul 6th 2007 1:10PM
Personally, I'm not too heart-broken about this news. Metroid has always been a single-player game. Replay value is definately good, but I believe that developers can get a good ammount of replay value simply by making the game very fun, an in-depth story, and allow the player to go into the game's world. See examples like nearly all Legend of Zelda games, Oblivion, GTA, etc.
Games keep comming out now that are JUST online multiplayer, which I have never been interested in. I guess they are trying to catch some of the craze that is still (unfortunately) WoW.
I really do want a GOOD online multiplayer game for the Wii to finally come out. My brother (who doesn't live in the same state as me now) has a Wii as well, and I'd love to play a couple of games online with him and other family members on the system. A quick look around and you see that only a handful of games even touch the internet on the Wii. It has WIFI built in! How can internet NOT be an important part of the Wii? Granted, it's alot more fun to punch your friend in the arm when he beats you and that's good and all. But alot of times, you can't get both people in the same room, which is where online multiplayer would be a nice alternative.
B1gC72 @ Jul 7th 2007 4:20AM
well online multiplayer was the entire reason i was getting this game. im not really a big fan of single player FPS's but multiplayer ones are ok with me (wierd right?). but i really dont see any need to buy it now that i cant play it online. too bad.
Cam @ Jul 17th 2007 12:54PM
Yeah... It would have been a nice addition and I am a little disappointed that there won't be online multiplayer, but Metroid Prime, and to a lesser extent MP2 have held my attention really well as single player games, so MP3 is still at the top of my to buy list.