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Metroid Prime producer hints at future Prime titles
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!
Nintendo dev leaves company, heads to Microsoft
For those of you who keep track of developers and programmers like children keep track of baseball cards, this bit of news is going to be old hat to you. For the rest of the Nintendo loyal, prepare to light some torches and sharpen some pitchforks, because longtime programmer Colin Reed has bailed on Nintendo and taken up a position at Microsoft.Reed was with Nintendo for 11 years, working on such titles as Metroid Prime: Hunters and Pikmin. He now joins Microsoft's Turn-10, an internal studio that is responsible for the Forza Motorsport line-up of games.
DS Daily: Cheating
It's a depressing fact that cheating will always be a part of online gaming, regardless of your platform of choice. For some time, those of weak moral fiber have been able to grant themselves infinite energy, infinite ammo, and the ability to levitate in Metroid Prime: Hunters (encouragingly, Nintendo claims it is now taking measures to prevent this), while the whole Mario Kart DS/snaking debate has rumbled on for some time (though we know of at least one Nintendo representative who would argue that the method isn't actually cheating, and we're sure many of you would concur).Today, we'd like to hear about some of your own experiences of cheating opponents. Which games do you find attract the most online cheats, and have any of you indulged in this dark art yourselves?
DS Fanboy presents: Game Night 9/13/07 aftermath
Sadly, I was unable to partake in the festivities last night. No worries, we've been doing this Game Night thing for quite awhile now. So, you can bet next week I'll be there, with several bells on. In the meantime, why don't we figure out what our theme game for next week will be by voting below. What should be our theme game for 9/20/07? Picross DS Planet Puzzle League Clubhouse Games Tetris DS Metroid Prime Hunters
DS Daily: On shooters
Shooters are rare on the DS, but not unheard of, though they often debut to mixed reactions. Metroid Prime Hunters is one of the system's most polarizing titles, and the same seems true of the more recent Touch the Dead. Yesterday's impressions of Dementium: The Ward seemed promising, and of course, IGN's Matt Casamassina continues to insist that someday, we're going to see Halo DS, maybe, kinda, probably -- not really. But do shooters really belong on the system? The touchscreen and other controls manage to do a lot of things really well, including some things that are really off the wall, such as acting as a full-fledged guitar. But is the DS suited to shooters? Considering the smaller screen size, some system limitations, and the unique control system, we can't help but wonder if we really need shooters, or if they're suited to the system.Don't get us wrong -- we love a good FPS. But that doesn't mean we necessarily have to have one on every available system, so we think it's a fair question. On the other hand, is there any reason not to have any FPS titles on the DS? Where do you stand?
DS Fanboy presents: Game Night 2/13/2007
We've tallied up the votes and our Game Night title has been chosen. We'll be meeting up in the same room as last week, at the same time. All of the details, including the results of the poll determining what game we'll be playing tonight, are after the break.
Nintendo Wi-Fi site hacked
How far would you go to get Nintendo's attention to tell them that their security is not efficient? Aside from stripping naked wearing nothing but a Mario hat running around their HQ screaming the Zelda theme song, you could hack their Wi-Fi site. Apparently, such was the tale of the hackers who actually succeeded in taking down the Metroid Prime: Hunters leaderboard, scores and usernames. Downtime was brief but they may have gotten their point across. Shortly after the attack, the page reappeared seemingly untouched. The question is -- effective or not? Did these hackers make their point? Or did they merely have their 15 minutes of fame? [Via QJ Net]
Collectible Metroid statue; where's Samus?
The guys at First 4 Figures dropped us a tip to let us know about their upcoming Metroid Prime Hunters collectible, a 9" tall figurine of super-soldier bounty hunter Kanden. "Who?"Oh, Kanden. He's one of the six "hunters" in Metroid Prime Hunters. Yeah, the ones that most people thought were annoying in the otherwise stellar single-player game. What is cool about the statue is that it was recreated from the actual game data (like this guy), so expect a slightly less polygonal -- though highly accurate -- collectible. The website says the figurine will "feature an interconnecting base with the other upcoming hunters." Does that mean we will get a Samus? She's a bounty hunter! Samus is coming ... but not in just one suit. Oh no, we'll have four versions to plunk our would be gaming dollars down on, as well as all the other Hunters.As long as we're on the topic of the Hunters, am I the only one who thought their names sound sort of like American Gladiators: Noxus, Stylux, Spire, Trace, Weavel, and of course, Kanden?See also:Samus returns as... a Metroid paperweightSpore figurines at E3[Update: Noted that they're making additional figurines, including Samus. More info here.]
DS gets a rumblin'
The DS Rumble Pak is now available direct from Nintendo ($9.99). The peripheral plugs into the DS's GBA slot and is compatible with games such as Metroid Prime Hunters and Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time. One question: is the rumble pak gonna stick out on the DS Lite? Ewww!
Metareview - Metroid Prime: Hunters
Metroid Prime: Hunters marks the return of Samus and the arrival of several new bounty hunters, each vying for victory in deadly online arenas. Judging by the initial batch of reviews, it would appear that the demo which introduced many of us to the DS for the first time has flourished into an excellent, platform-defining game. Yay! IGN (90%) praised the game's presentation and online play, but were a bit annoyed by the game's lazy boss designs. "Metroid Prime Hunters is easily the best handheld first person shooter developed to date, even with its somewhat high learning curve and cramp-inducing control." Gamepro (90%) loved the graphics and multiplayer aspects of the title, but thought that the touch screen aiming was a bit tricky when precision was required. "Although the single player game will provide you with hours of entertainment, the multiplayer in Hunters could be a game all unto its own." Gamespot (86%) was particularly impressed by the controls, but not so much by the apparently linear level design. "The online action is smooth and lag free in our experience, and you're likely to find stiff challenges online against other human opponents." [Note: Gamespot has since taken down their review due to an error. We'll post their updated score as soon as they publish it. Thanks Adam! Another note: Okay, the review is back up and the score is unchanged. That was fun. Thanks Andrew!] Gamedaily (80%) said that the lacking single-player mode was more than made up for by the excellent online component. "The game's controls take a bit of time to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, you'll realize NST has done an extraordinary job in bringing Samus to the Nintendo DS."
Metroid Prime Hunters dishes out "chump points"
An interview on the official Nintendo site with Nintendo Game Designer Rich Vorodi has revealed a couple of important aspects of Metroid Prime: Hunters' online play. Firstly, MP:H features a comprehensive stat tracking style system which counts everything from headshots to how far you've walked in the game. Secondly, in an attempt to counter the bane of every online gamer's life--diconnecting players--MP:H will feature a stat called "Connection Percentage" or "Chump points" that tracks how often you get disconnected. That gives other players a chance to choose not to play people that repeatedly disconnect before the game even begins. The interview states that you won't get any "Chump points" for losing your connection but we'll believe this when we see it. How the game will be able to tell between a wireless router blowing up and a player taking out the battery because they were losing, we just don't know. With Metroid Prime: Hunters due out on March 20th it's not long until we find out.[Thanks, Ben Striegel]
DS Meet introduces online tournament system
A while back we asked you to tell us how good you really were at Mario Kart DS. Now we might ask you to prove it. You see, the guys over at DS Meet, one of a few sites that allows users to share their friend codes and meet new players online, have implemented a cool new online tournament system. It allows you to join up with existing tournaments or create your own, all via a reasonably easy to use interface.Once you've created a tournament, the site will automatically take care of rostering (though you can manually alter this as well) and keeping track of the friend codes of those competing. You also have the option of having a forum to discuss and coordinate matches with your fellow DS players. The onus is on the tournament operator to keep track of everybody's scores though, so a level of honesty may be required if you're going to take charge of a tournament. Being the best Mario Kart DS players in the known universe, we're all about the honesty.Mind you, it's not all about the snaking. With support for Animal Crossing's various competitive activities and the upcoming Metroid Prime: Hunters, it's about fishing and shooting too. It's also about competing with people from all over the world. How about a DS Fanboy reader Mario Kart tournament? Can we have a show of hands from those who would be interested? [Thanks echelon! Keep up the good work.]
Fanboy Roundup: That's a good look for you
Let's talk redesigns! DS Fanboy has an interesting consideration of Nintendo's converging design aesthetic, from the Game Boy micro, to the Revolution controller, to the new DS lite. PSP Fanboy wonders where the different colors are in Sony's black & white world; you could always upgrade the look of your PSP with a nice external battery though. And, with the announcement of the first replaceable cases for the console, Xbox 360 Fanboy considers the impending surge of Xbox 360 case modders. Here are the Fanboy highlights for the week:DS FanboyLinux on the DS: Now with Wi-Fi support Nintendo Power has a flood of Metroid Prime Hunters infoNintendo: Converging design PSP FanboyPigs fly! Get eight hours of play on a PSP!Multicolored PSPs missing in actionWill Rez sound off on the PSP?Xbox 360 FanboyRadeon equivalent to Xbox 360 over $500Xbox 360 replacement case conceptsXbox 360 could still be MIA through spring
