Metroid Prime
Latest
Rumor: Metroid Prime remake in Japan February 12?
According to Gamekyo, the Wii de Asobu/New Play Control remake of Retro Studios' Metroid Prime has been scheduled for release in Japan on February 12. We're not sure where they got that date, but it seems reasonable enough, given the biweekly releases so far in the series of Gamecube updates.While it will be interesting to see how the Japanese Wii audience reacts to Prime, this is most relevant to gamers outside of Japan due to the fact that the Pikmin and Mario Tennis remakes are expected to be out in North America and Europe in February and March, very soon after the releases of those two games in Japan. This means that we could possibly see Metroid Prime sometime in the first half of this year -- although Donkey Kong Jungle Beat came out in Japan before either of those others, and we haven't seen that one yet.
Nintendo dates Pikmin port, names other Play on Wii titles
IGN has confirmed that the "Play on Wii" Pikmin port is more than just a repackaging -- it and the other Play on Wii GameCube games will have updated Wiimote controls. Pikmin is actually the second of these to be released, and it'll hit Japan on December 25 of this year for 3,800 yen ($36). It'll be preceded on December 11 by the game we officially nominate Least Likely to Benefit from New Controls: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. If these games are released here, we would expect them to be slightly cheaper than the Japanese price (like all games). Titles announced for 2009 include Mario Tennis, Metroid Prime 1 and 2, Pikmin 2, and -- best of all -- Chibi-Robo! It'll be interesting to see if Skip makes it a point-and-click like it was originally. [Via Joystiq]
Former Metroid Prime devs found Armature Studio, partner with EA
If you'll recall, three of Retro Studios' key developers – Mark Pacini, Todd Keller, and Jack Matthews – left the Nintendo-owned studio, famous for the Metroid Prime series, last April. Now the trio has announced the formation of an entirely new entity: Armature Studio. Armature isn't your run-of-the-mill developer though – a "core creative team" will be tasked with creating new intellectual properties and then partner with an external development team to implement the design. It's an outsourcing model (think Wideload) that allows smaller creative teams the ability to develop AAA titles. But while the model is great, it's not very valuable without a publishing partner to help get those games out there. Cue: "a long term, exclusive publishing deal with EA" – presumably the secretive EA Blueprint, since that imprint's Louis Castle is serving as executive producer for the Armature titles. For the guys at Armature, they're just excited to "rethink how games are developed for this generation of consoles." Yup, "consoles" – no longer limited to Nintendo hardware, Pacini says, "What really gets me going is that now, no platform is off limits." Xbox 360? PS3? Gizmondo?
Top 5: Where Do They Go Now?
As someone who's been following Nintendo for quite awhile, they've almost never failed to surprise me. Though their origins are classic, Nintendo-developed games are continuously refined, retooled, and revitalized. Some may buy into that old standard line used mostly for musical artists that makes you sound cool: "their older stuff is better." Such broad generalizations are silly: to ignore Super Mario Galaxy because of a fetish for Super Mario Bros. would be dogmatic.But for those of us growing long in the gaming tooth, we're led to wonder where all of these classic IPs are headed. It's hard to imagine a gaming world without Nintendo's current A-listers, but does anyone have a solid idea of what future iterations of our favorite franchises will be like? Now that just about every gangbuster franchise has been successfully embedded in 3D, we're at a loss as to the next big step for gaming. Some of us have really good ideas, but I'm positively stumped as to where these franchises are going. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Wii Warm Up: Best. Trailer. Ever.
Because you probably should watch it againWe were pleasantly surprised by the House of the Dead: Overkill trailer. We haven't seen such a quality trailer since ... well, maybe ever. We're genuinely pumped for the game.But, enough about us. What was your most memorable trailer? The Metroid Prime E3 trailer? The first Wind Waker footage? What was your favorite and most memorable trailer?
Phazon Suit Samus statue is ridiculously nice
First 4 Figures has come back around full circle, after completing Sheik and Sonic and his pals, now they've got yet another Samus statue. This one, in our opinion, totally trumps all of their past efforts. Just look at the thing.Of course, the catch is that this costs a bunch of money. $224.99 in money, to be exact. For those of you with a winning lottery ticket, this goes on sale Q1 of next year.
DS Daily: FPS
The latest footage of Renegade Kid's Moon convinced us (and IGN's Matt Casamassina) that the game could be something special, though a few of you evidently still need some encouragement. In the comments, reader John B. argued that no matter how much impressive technology Renegade Kid throws at Moon, it wouldn't be enough, because first-person shooters just don't work as well on the DS.We're of the opinion that the handheld currently lacks a great FPS, but do you think the DS will ever see a triple-A game in this genre, given its obvious technical limitations?
Gamefly sales continue to tempt us
Gamefly is having a sale on some of its used-but-in-great-condition games again, also offering free shipping to spice up the deal a bit. As always, we're passings these savings along to you, while picking out a few we think are worth highlighting for their respective prices: Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire for $12.99 Dewy's Adventure for $14.99 NiGHTS for $14.99 Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law for $14.99 Manhunt 2 for $14.99 Victorious Boxers: Revolution for $15.99 Soulcalibur Legends for $15.99 Bleach: Shattered Blade for $17.99 Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for $27.99 Super Mario Galaxy for $36.99 Click on the picture or "source" link to see the full list of Wii games, but keep in mind that you might be able to find some of them cheaper elsewhere.
Rumor: Metroid Prime Trilogy?
A mysterious tipster sent a rumor in to GoNintendo that a retailer database now lists a product called Metroid Prime Trilogy for the Wii. GoNintendo's RawMeatCowboy speculates that this would be "Prime 1, (2), and 3 all on the Wii ... but Prime 1 and 2 with all-new Wiimote controls."We believe that, if this is a real product, it's a lot more likely that it's the three Prime games ... in a new box! Or maybe even in the same boxes, but with those inside a new box! Not that that's a bad thing -- the Prime games are very high-quality (even if you hate first-person!), and quite reminiscent of the real Metroids. The first two are definitely among the best GameCube games, and any opportunity to get them in new Wii owners' hands would be welcome.
Three Retro Studios staffers escape, save Etecoons on the way out
Three high-level members of Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios have left the company. Design director Mark Pacini, art director Todd Keller, and technology engineer Jack Mathews' last day at the Austin-based, Nintendo-owned developer was Friday. Shacknews speculates that the three are going to start a new company, which is certainly more likely than the three of them simultaneously tiring of game development.Retro's last released project was, of course, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, after which Pacini said the company would be working on non-Metroid projects. Apparently, even that wasn't enough change for these three -- or they just feared for the condition of their tea tables.(Yes, the title is a Super Metroid reference and not a Metroid Prime reference. Close enough.)
Shacknews: Key staff leave Metroid Prime dev Retro Studios
Shacknews reports that several "key" employees of Austin, Texas-based developer, Retro Studios, have left the company. The studio is best known for its work on the critically acclaimed Metroid Prime trilogy, which concluded in August last year on Nintendo's Wii.Staff members said to have been escorted off the premises last Friday include design director Mark Pacini, art director Todd Keller and principal technology engineer Jack Matthews. There's no word yet on what their futures entail, but Shacknews notes that Retro Studios is in no danger of closing. Which is just as well, really, since we're in no danger of not wanting more games from them. We'll let you know when we hear more on this subject.Update: There's some unconfirmed gossip from mysterious dealer in rumors, Surfer Girl, who mentioned that "something definitely went down at Retro" in a post dated Sunday, April 20th. An unnamed individual is quoted in the post as saying, "Pretty much no one at retro would agree to relocate at nintendo's behest, as asinine shenanigans are typically met with little fanfare."
Metroid Prime senior engineer passes away
Unless you're the type of person who carefully analyzes a game's credits upon completion (we only know one such man), you probably don't know who Mark Haigh-Hutchinson is. His most recent achievement is the titles in the Metroid Prime series, where he served as senior engineer and created the camera system for the game. His other past projects include Zombies Ate My Neighbors (who doesn't love this one?!), Paperboy and Star Wars: Rebel Assault.Mark passed away on Tuesday at the age of 43 due to pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Paperboy, Metroid Prime programmer dies at 43
You probably don't know the name Mark Haigh-Hutchinson, but you've almost certainly been entertained by one of the games he helped to create. From Paperboy and Zombies Ate My Neighbors to a series of Star Wars titles like Dark Forces and Rebel Assault, his career has spanned several years and several genres. Sadly, the programmer died on Tuesday after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was 43 years old.Perhaps the part of Haigh-Hutchinson's legacy that will be familiar to most of you though is his work with the Metroid Prime series, for which he served as senior engineer and helped to create the game's camera system. Besides his gaming legacy, he leaves behind him a wife and two daughters.[Thanks, Donald]
Best of the Rest: Ludwig's picks of 2007
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii) Though its puzzles may occasionally infuriate, the real source of frustration regarding Zack & Wiki stems from the fact that nobody bought it. Every year has its share of titles that deserve an audience yet never find one, and in this regard, Zack & Wiki is easily one of the most tragic games to put an uncontrollable smile on your face. Relentlessly charming and beautifully presented, the debut of Capcom's choc-chomping pirate and his simian sidekick challenges the mind and warms that cynical, meh-spouting lump in your chest. How refreshing it was to overcome obstacles and bosses by choosing the power of the mind over an impossibly large bazooka.
Wii Warm Up: Recommended
If you're anything like us, people are constantly hitting you up for Wii game recommendations. And we don't necessarily mean other gamers, to whom you can squeal, "Metroid Prime 3 OMG," but often, these people aren't gamers at all. You can pass off Super Mario Galaxy, because nongamers get Mario, but what else do you recommend? How much do those recommendations differ from those you offer other hardened gamers?
The road to corruption: Retro Studios and the making of Metroid Prime
As gamers, our focus is often on playing games and not the subtleties that go on behind the scenes. If we only knew about all those details, though, we might be shocked to find out how something like the Metroid Prime series almost never came to be.Retro Studios president and CEO Michael Kelbaugh recently talked about the Prime arc at the 2007 Montreal Games Summit. In the conference, he explained the pressures of having his (at that time) rookie studio pick up such an important franchise, and how Miyamoto was influential in taking the series from third person to first person.
A year of Wii: The PAL verdict
Being a devotee of Nintendo in a PAL region is probably a bit like marriage (I'd urge you to stick with me here, because I've thought this analogy through for at least four minutes). For years, you slog away at the relationship, mildly irritated by the other person's foibles and imperfections, like that weird bumpy mole on their back, or how they noisily slurp soup, or how they insist on playing nothing but Keane during long car journeys.Then every so often, you have your disputes, arguing about the merits of Magnolia Eggshell and Cream Eggshell in the aisle of Lowe's. And sometimes, these disagreements might build up to something bigger in your mind, begin to fester, and perhaps you occasionally think, "Is this it? Is this the rest of my life?" But then, something strange happens -- every so often, the other person does something really fantastic, something that reminds you exactly why you got hitched in the first place, and why you settled on this individual as your soul mate. And suddenly, everything is well with the world, or at least until it's soup night again.The point of this long-winded comparison being: as a gamer in the UK, that pretty much sums up my relationship with Nintendo. For years now, PAL region gamers have often been treated fairly shabbily by Nintendo. I'll freely admit it doesn't take much too rile us -- we hardcore types are notoriously tough to please -- though Nintendo doesn't always help itself. Its insistence that we receive games or hardware late, or not at all, or borked ... well it's just plain infuriating is what it is. The prices, as well, leave a lot to be desired. And totally rad free gifts? Yea, forget about those.
August NPD: Madden and Wii on top, but not together
While August yields some noteworthy NPD data in terms of hardware sales, the games populating the top twenty spots in the software chart provide the most interesting commentary. Before we get to that, however, we should gaze at the gargantuan pile of cash that represents the U.S. game industry. GameDaily BIZ reports that total sales climbed to $993 million dollars, a 46% increase over the same month last year, with hardware sales alone reaching $302 million. Nintendo's Wii once again sold the most units, followed by the DS and a now cheaper Xbox 360. Microsoft had best hope the jump in sales extends to more of a protracted hover, as it seems the PS3 has already come down to Earth following its July "clearance sale." Nintendo Wii: 403.6K (4 million total) Nintendo DS: 383.3K (12.7 million total) Microsoft Xbox 360: 276.7K (6.3 million) Sony PlayStation 2: 202K (39.1 million total) Sony PSP: 151.2K (8.3 million total) Sony PlayStation 3: 130.6K (1.75 million total)
Apt timing for Nintendo's pre-E3 downers
On Tuesday, we saw two announcements from Nintendo that we're sure caused a handful of fanboys to tear up: no online Metroid and no playable Smash Bros at E3. Why did the House of Mario decide to break hearts just one week before their E3 press briefing? It's just good business, as observed by Newsweek's N'Gai Croal. Nintendo PR revealed their "damage control playbook" last year, Croal said, when they announced the then-distressing final name for the Revolution, Wii, just 12 days before E3 2006. (Check the linked post and its 593 comments for a look back at the announcement.) Of course, the oft-teased title change did little to waver its hype and Nintendo is widely regarded as having a stellar E3 showing that year. Sony, as Croal noted, gave their bad news at the very end -- namely, the $600 price tag. And with it being their final note, they left a sour taste in all gamers' mouth. With Nintendo's bad news out of the way this year (hopefully), Iwata and company can end on a high note. We've illustrated this phenomenon on a chart above. (Note: all values are approximate)
Metroid Prime 3 box art battles evil twin
There's just no trusting those terrible twins, duplicitous doppelgängers and conniving clones, is there? A word of warning to those who may encounter them: If you're striking a dramatic pose in space, chances are your evil double is doing the same... right behind you. The full Metroid Prime 3: Corruption box art is right after the break.
