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Nintendo not done with Metroid Prime series

by David Hinkle { Nov 17th 2009 at 5:40PM }

You may have completed Metroid Prime Trilogy and begun to enter Full Excitement Mode™ for next year's Metroid Other M, but there could be even more Metroid in store under Prime's banner of first-person action. Nintendo's Kensuke Tanabe, who oversaw development on the Prime games for Nintendo at Retro Studios, recently told ONM that Nintendo is "always planning to make new games in the Metroid Prime series."

Tanabe didn't speak of a continuation on Wii, but noted that depending "on the timing and the situation, we cannot deny the possibility of realising it on DS or DSi." Though Retro hasn't isolated itself from the franchise, we know Nintendo isn't shy about sharing Samus with external developers. Just don't call it "Metroid Dread," guys. Bad memories.

Batman: Arkham Asylum creator focused on quality over quantity, hasn't played BioShock

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 19th 2009 at 8:00PM }

In a lengthy post-mortem with Gamasutra this week, Rocksteady Studios creative director Sefton Hill spoke his mind on a mess of topics regarding this summer's surprise hit, Batman: Arkham Asylum. "There are too many games out there that deliver lots of average content," Hill said when asked about the relative "tightness" of Batman in comparison with other games. Personal inspiration for the game's design came from places like Zelda and Metroid, two game series he's been a fan of "for years," as well as Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness. And though Arkham's audio logs and "environment as a character" motif hearken back to 2007's BioShock, Hill claimed he's never played it. "It's on my list of games to get back into ... I can't say for me that was a big direct influence."

Truth be told, we're just scratching the surface of Gamasutra's thorough dissection of Batman -- a game we loved with all of our jaded, rancorous hearts -- so do yourself a favor and stroll through the entire five pages. Call it an afternoon treat! You deserve it, dearest Joystiq reader.

Gallery: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Metroid Prime producer hints at future Prime titles

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 23rd 2009 at 11:02AM }

With the recent release of Metroid Prime Trilogy, it was easy to presume that the Prime series of Metroid games had received a final nail hammered into its coffin. According to a recent interview with Kotaku though, it appears the series' producer isn't quite done. In response to a question regarding multiplayer in the series, Kensuke Tanabe said:

"As all I take part in is the Prime series, I am not capable of commenting on the whole Metroid series. But we will keep considering multiplayer for the Prime series. For instance, I think I can come up with some unique ideas using the Morph Ball, which is a specific skill of Samus'."

Though the series got a spinoff for the DS in Metroid Prime Hunters, and it's possible Tanabe is speaking about future Prime titles for Nintendo's handheld system, hearing about more Prime games in any capacity is intriguing news. While Team Ninja is busy working on Metroid: Other M, it's possible that Prime series dev Retro Studios could be working on the future of its brand of Metroid. Don''t just take it from us, take it from Retro Studios prez and CEO Michael Kelbaugh who said so himself!

Swag Sunday: Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii) [update]

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 20th 2009 at 8:30PM }

Update: The comments have been closed and the winner will be contacted shortly. Check your email, folks! And thanks to everyone for entering!

How is it that every time we run a Swag Saturday/Sunday post for a Nintendo Wii game, it's something wonderful? Last time we offered you Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, and this week we're treating one lucky winner to a copy of Metroid Prime Trilogy! To get your hands on it, leave a comment below telling us your favorite moment in the Metroid series -- yes, you can go all the way back to NES. We'll pick one answer at random tomorrow evening to receive the fancy "Collector's Edition" you see above. One stipulation: Automatic disqualification should your answer include the Zero Suit in any way. You know why, ya scoundrels!

Leave a comment telling us your favorite moment in the Metroid series, excluding those that involve the Zero Suit.
You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, for obvious reasons)
Limit 1 entry per person per day
This entry period ends at 8:31PM ET on Monday, September 21
At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive Metroid Prime Trilogy on Wii ($50 ARV)
For a list of complete rules, click here

Retro Studios could return to Metroid 'some day'

by Xav de Matos { Aug 28th 2009 at 11:15AM }

Promoting the recently-released Metroid Prime Trilogy, IGN posted a video tour (embedded after the break) of Retro Studios' Texas offices. In the video, Retro President and CEO Michael Kelbaugh discusses the franchise and the possibility of a Retro return to the Metroid series.

While Kelbaugh notes the team was aware it would only be responsible for a trilogy within the franchise, he could not say the team will never return to Samus' universe. "I think Retro will always be associated with the Metroid Prime franchise and who knows, maybe we'll do another one someday," Kelbaugh said, leaving the door to a possible Metroid return slightly ajar.

For now, Retro Studios has hung up its Galactic Federation club coat and is working on new projects, in hopes to "refresh" its development team. Metroid continues to grow elsewhere with Team Ninja currently developing Metroid: Other M for the Wii. An exciting game on the Wii's horizon -- albeit with a terrible name.

Continued →

These Metroidvania games are neither Metroid nor Vania

by JC Fletcher { Aug 20th 2009 at 9:00PM }

"Metroidvania" is a term used to describe side-scrolling games with large, open worlds, new areas of which are accessible only with certain items or powerups. Take away the side-scrolling element, and you've got Zelda; take away the powerups, and you've got Pitfall. It's named after the two most famous series to make use of the format, Metroid and (later) Castlevania.

Shadow Complex has suddenly thrown the Metroidvania genre back into mainstream gamers' attention, thanks to its fancy graphics and being an Xbox 360 game. It isn't the first game that isn't a Metroid or Castlevania to apply this formula -- in fact, many developers stumbled upon the Metroidvania formula or a close variant even before Symphony of the Night.

Join us on a brisk tour of some notable free-roaming games. If you are overcome by Metroidvania fever, you can read more detailed writeups of many of the games in GameSpite's ToastyWiki.

Click here to start your adventure!

This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Metroid Prime Trilogy dev diary

by David Hinkle { Aug 17th 2009 at 6:45PM }

This Week on the Nintendo Channel presents the lengthy video you see above. It's a developer diary talking about all of the hard work that went into combining all of the Metroid Prime games into one delicious, tinned package. Hey, it may be the highlight of this week, but that's certainly not all there is! Hit the break for this week's videos and DS demos.

Continued →

Buy Metroid Prime Trilogy in the UK, get Metroid free

by JC Fletcher { Aug 13th 2009 at 10:50AM }

If you're in the UK and your Metroid Prime Trilogy purchase will be the second time you've bought one of the Prime games, Nintendo has an enticing offer for you. Be one of the first 5,000 to purchase the Wii collection and register it on Club Nintendo, and, provided you've registered Metroid Prime 1, 2, or 3 in the past, you'll get a free Virtual Console download of the NES Metroid game.

Sure, if you're a big enough Metroid fan to be buying Trilogy despite already owning the game, it's likely you already have Metroid, either on the NES, the Virtual Console, or as a connection bonus on the GameCube Metroid Prime disc. But it's still wonderful precedent to have Nintendo giving away a Virtual Console game to promote a new release.

But why limit it only to the suckers buying one of the games twice? And why only 5,000? A Virtual Console download costs Nintendo nothing.

[Image]

Metroid Prime Trilogy trailer: We're sold

by Randy Nelson { Jul 23rd 2009 at 10:00PM }

Is it the music? Nah, it's everything about this montage of footage from all three Metroid Prime installments that comprise the upcoming Metroid Prime Trilogy compilation that has us saying, "do want!" And hey, you really can't argue with three excellent games, two of which have been retrofitted with widescreen support in addition to Wii Remote / Nunchuk based controls.

In fact, there's nothing about this release that hasn't struck us as top-notch, from the packaging to the killer pre-order bonuses. See you soon -- August 24, to be precise -- Samus.

Shadow Complex Achievements arrive with a handful of screens, new trailer

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 21st 2009 at 2:30PM }

Will Shadow Complex be this year's Bionic Commando: Rearmed -- ya know, minus all that direct nostalgia? Between the 2D platforming, arsenal of weapons, huge bosses, and frosted camera lens, it's getting harder and harder for us not to draw the comparison. One thing the new gameplay you see above features that BC:R lacked? Jumping! (Thankfully!)

An Achievement for melee kills (find the whole list after the break) helps to assuage our concerns of, well, not having a robot arm -- though anyone with half a brain knows that third-party human being parts beat out melee weapons every time. Hopefully the extra $5 for Shadow Complex over BC:R means those weapons are really sharp when you check them out on August 19.

Gallery: Shadow Complex (7/21/09)

Continued →

Metroid Prime Trilogy pre-order continues to get more awesome. Awesomeness refuses to end

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jul 1st 2009 at 1:30PM }

Not only does your GameStop Metroid Prime Trilogy pre-order come with a shirt and art book ... but now it also comes with a poster (for online customers only). GoNintendo takes note of the latest offering and states, "This is a lot of free stuff!"

It sure is! Now, maybe if we all put our collective will together, we can get an actual Chozo suit thrown into the pre-order mix. Come on, let's all think about it real hard ...

Metroid Prime Trilogy packaging cooler than a Chozo suit

by David Hinkle { Jun 24th 2009 at 4:45PM }

Click image to morph into gallery

We just got sent the box art for the upcoming Metroid Prime Trilogy and, wow, it's really nice. Featuring a badass Samus-adorned metal case, the box art is about as cool and futuristic as the retooled Metroid Prime content located on its disc. In addition to the metal case, the Wii Trilogy will also include a "special Metroid Prime Trilogy artbook." Looks like Nintendo's managed to weasel out another $50 out of us, huh? We'd go on more about it, but then that would keep you from going into our gallery below and checking out the various shots for yourself.

Gallery: Metroid Prime Trilogy box

Story will 'play a big part' in Metroid Other M

by Randy Nelson { Jun 17th 2009 at 7:30PM }

Nintendo's Yoshio Sakamoto, who's been involved with every 2D Metroid game since co-creating the original, tells Game Life that the latest in the series -- Metroid Other M -- will (in addition to looking awesome) help flesh out the character of Samus Aran. Bridging the gap between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion in series canon, the game's plot goal is to depict the legendary bounty hunter as "an appealing human character," according to Sakamoto, and the joint Nintendo / Team Ninja production team will be "explaining a little bit about what happened in her past as well as the characters that influenced her."

The Metroid Prime games haven't been devoid of story, but we get the sense from Sakamoto's comments -- "The story will play a big part," he said -- that Other M will offer something meatier, perhaps through more cinematics ... and no scanning. In fact, we hear that any planned instances of scanning in Other M have been replaced with badass.

[Via 1UP]

Reggie: Metroid Other M is a 'more traditional' Metroid game

by JC Fletcher { Jun 12th 2009 at 9:15AM }

With all the rapid-fire 3D action, Metroid: Other M may not look anything like any Metroid we've seen before, but according to Reggie Fils-Aime, it's a return to a more familiar Metroid style. "A year ago, someone could have asked me, what's going on with Metroid?" Fils-Aime told GameSpot. "When are we going to go back to the more traditional Metroid series versus the path that we went down with Prime? Here's the answer: Other M." The more traditional series -- with a "harder edge," according to Fils-Aime.

Reggie would like Other M to sell a bit more than the traditional Metroid game, however. "Metroid, for us, is a key franchise. And, in our view, really, since the SNES Metroid, we haven't broken through in terms of 1.5, two million units, and that's our bar," he said. He also told GameSpot that he's beginning to hear feedback from other companies, hoping to work with Nintendo in the same way Team Ninja is on Other M.

Gallery: Metroid: Other M (Wii)

[Via The Escapist]

See Metroid: Other M in action [update]

by Justin McElroy { Jun 2nd 2009 at 2:37PM }

Wanna see Team Ninja's take on the Metroid franchise in action? Yeah, we thought that would get your attention. We've got the video we captured straight from the show floor, so now you can feel the mind-melting thrill that we got just a few minutes ago.

Sorry about the shaky-cam nonsense, as Nintendo hasn't started spreading the clip around yet. We'll update as soon as we can.

[Update: official trailer!]