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Nintendo scraps 'Metroid Prime 4' development and starts over
Nintendo announced Metroid Prime 4 all the way back at E3 2017, but there's hardly been a peep about the game since. The Japanese giant finally offered an update, but it's one that fans won't be happy to hear.
Hey Nintendo, where's 'Metroid Prime 4'?
If you've been patiently waiting since last year's E3 conference for the reveal of the new Metroid Prime 4 game, we're sorry. The hotly anticipated next iteration of Samus Aran was nowhere to be seen during Nintendo Direct, the venerable gaming company's main announcement video that broadcast live this morning.
'Metroid' is really, truly back
Oh boy. We thought Nintendo's E3 showing would center entirely around Super Mario Odyssey, but it had another bombshell for us in its Direct livestream showcase. A decade later, Metroid is truly coming back -- and we're not talking Freedom Force. We're getting Metroid Prime 4.
'Metroid Prime: Federation Force' launches August 19th
It's been eight years since the last Metroid Prime game came out for the Wii, but a successor was finally announced for the New 3DS handheld system at the game conference E3. Today, Nintendo announced that Metroid Prime: Federation Force will be released on August 19th in the US and September 2nd in the UK, but players can get a hands-on demo at PAX East this weekend.
The new 'Metroid Prime' is made for the New 3DS
It's been eight years coming, but Nintendo has a new Metroid Prime game. However, it's a little bit unusual -- at least that's what a lot of people (including us) took away from the teaser trailer revealed during E3. The controls look pretty "Metroid," but where's Samus? Why are there multiple (albeit color-coded) stocky protagonists? And what exactly is Metroid Prime: Blast Ball? Armed with questions and 20 minutes of playtime on the aforementioned sporting spin on Metroid, we talked (with some translation help) to Nintendo's Kensuke Tanabe, who heads up development on the Prime series.
Full-size downloadable Wii games come to the Wii U
If you own a Wii U and wish you hadn't missed out on years' worth of classic games for the original Wii, you're in luck. Nintendo has revealed that full-size downloadable Wii games are coming to the Wii U's eShop, starting today. Only Super Mario Galaxy 2 will be available at first, but that'll soon be followed up by Punch-Out on the 22nd and Metroid Prime Trilogy on the 29th. It'll probably be a while (if ever) before you're playing an epic like Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword without finding a hard copy, but you have to start somewhere.
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.
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.
Metroid preview channel lighting up PAL Wiis
PAL gamers-- welcome to 2007! Oh, that doesn't work, because it implies that it's later than 2007 here and just now 2007 where you are. Okay, let's back out and start again.PAL gamers-- welcome to August of 2007! There we go-- burn. Of course we're kidding, and it's all done with love for our Fanboy friends in Euroland. The point is that the Metroid Prime 3 preview channel is now available in your region. Chances are you've already watched all of the videos featured on the channel, unless you've been avoiding spoilers. But now you can watch them on your Wii via a somewhat different interface!Much like Super Metroid, just because you're getting it a bit later doesn't mean it's not awesome. Go enjoy some videos!
Behold! The gorgeous Metroid Wii mod
Have you seen anything that's been totally awesome today? How about totally rad? Or totally sweet? What if we told you that an object had been fashioned that was not only all three of those adjectives, but required the dipping into the vernacular of the 80s to summon up ... "tubular"? Behold, for this Metroid-based Wii mod is just such an object. Ramon, of the God of War PSP mod fame, is back with this gorgeous addition to his canon, currently up for grabs on eBay. As with his last piece, a portion of the proceeds are going to benefit Child's Play. So dig down, bid hard, and get yourself a big chunk of awessweetubularad.[Via NWFB]
Retro: Metroid Prime 3 was all about proving the controller
Not only were Retro trying to make a great game in Metroid Prime 3, they also set out to prove that the Wiimote could be a viable control method for not only the FPS genre, but on the whole, apparently. And, if we had any say in the matter, we'd say they did an excellent job on both counts easily. But, it's not like they didn't run into their fair share of problems."When we went to Japan and first saw the controller for the first time I got really concerned because there weren't a lot of buttons," says game director Mark Pacini. But, that didn't turn out to be an issue, as most will agree the game controls wonderfully. So, do you think Metroid Prime 3 proved that the Wii's control method is a viable solution for genres outside of minigame compilations? Or, do you think that Retro just doesn't settle for anything less than the best in what they do?See also: Taking a stroll through Retro Studios
Taking a stroll through Retro Studios
Oh, how lucky some are.We wish we could be strolling around the halls of Retro Studios, trusty camera in hand to capture all of the wonderful things that happen within its walls. But, no, we have to settle for watching GameSpot's video tour instead.[Via Infendo]
More Metroid Prime 3 videos, bland commercial
We're not too crazy over this Metroid Prime 3: Corruption commercial, but we suppose it gets the job done. To us, the "Wii would like to play" approach just doesn't fit the game's atmosphere, its loneliness and oppressive environments. Also, when was the last time you played a Metroid title with dozens of people, young and old, behind you and craning their necks to get a better view of your Morph Ball clumsiness. We would hazard a guess at never.Thankfully, the two movies from last night's Corruption preview channel update make up for the flavorless advertisement. In addition to throwing light on Dark Samus's relationship with the Space Pirates, the videos also offer a glimpse of a hectic battle between Samus and a group of enemies in a mine. Head past the post break to watch both clips.
Month of Metroid Prime 3 videos continues
With the third and final Metroid Prime title coming in just a week, we're being blitzed with previews from all directions. GameTrailers's extended hands-on impressions, embedded above, builds up the hype without spoiling too much of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption's story. The six-minute clip examines the first-person adventure's graphics, controls, and token system, lauding each point at every corner. If you're still craving some new preview footage after all that, the video site also has a variety of gameplay movies, as well as a comparison between Corruption and its GameCube predecessor, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.Nintendo also updated its Metroid Prime 3: Corruption channel with two new clips. The first video documents the aftermath of a Space Pirates attack on Galactic Federation ship Valhalla, whereas the second clip has Samus knocking down her enemies while in Morph Ball mode. You can watch both of them past the post break. The next two movies, Dark Samus and Mine Battle, will show up on the preview channel this Thursday.
Metroid Prime 3's token feature a small taste of achievements
It's not the system-wide accomplishment tracking that we've grown to love on the Xbox 360 (some more so than others), but according to a GoNintendo tipster, Nintendo fans will get a taste of the sweet life on August 27th when Metroid Prime 3 finally lands on the Wii with bonus content for in-game tokens.So how does it work? The tokens are doled out in four tiers: red, blue, green and gold. Red tokens are gained by scanning enemies and items, blue for scanning lore and completing side quests, green ones you receive from friends and gold is achieved by destroying bosses on various difficulties.According to the tipster, tokens can be traded in for bonus content in-game, but are also used to track progress amongst your friends. Vouchers for those friends can be found and then sent in the form of green tokens as well. We've seen these tokens in recent videos of Metroid Prime 3, but we may have a wait ahead of us to find out exactly how they function.
Super Metroid, Shinobi III, Neutopia hit Virtual Console
The original headline was something along the lines of "Samus and Shinobi tour Neutopia on Virtual Console" but honestly, the less time spent thinking up trite headlines the better. Today's incredible Virtual Console update has steamrolled our Monday productivity into a lackadaisical mush of "meh." Super Metroid (SNES, 1 player, 800 Wii points): Considered by many to be one of the greatest games of all time (evar), Super Metroid hardly requires a descriptive paragraph such as this one. Needless to say then, that it features Samus doing what she does best: murdering metroids, blasting evil brains and reminding us why we need to stay alive until August 27th. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii points): The third entry in Sega's ninja kill-em-up series and arguably the best. As far as side-scrolling slashers go, the Shinobi one is your only hope... for gaming fun! Neutopia (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 Wii points): Neutopia is often labeled as a Legend of Zelda clone. Somehow, we don't think it minds. Look for these games in the Wii shop after 9AM PST.
Today's most first-person-waggle video: Metroid Prime 3
Metroid. Prime. 3. So close to release. After delays and forgotten promises of online play, will this be the first great Wii first-person shooter? This new GameTrailers clip gives no idea to how this thirst quenching title will control. We're trying to to get sucked into the hype. (There's that other game to strum us into a frenzy for now.) But here's hoping that Metroid will be a much-needed oasis. (The thing in the desert, not the band.)See the new video for this August 27 game after the break.
Mother Brain in Metroid Prime 3? New trailer hints heavily
A new trailer for Metroid Prime 3 focuses on an awful familiar... uh, "face." That's right: Mother Brain appears front and center in "Aurora Unit," the newest preview video being featured on Wii consoles everywhere. After a number of confusing lobe-focused shots, the scene pictured above is shown, revealing the layout of Ma Brain's oh-so-famous Tourian hangout, and essentially confirming that the big boss of both Metroid and Super Metroid will at least be making a cameo appearance.But how large a role will she play? The non-gameplay footage is labeled "Cross section of future aurora complex." Does this mean we won't be battling Mother Brain in Prime 3? Will the reconstruction of Zebes be a part of the storyline? Take a gander at the video after the break, and let us know what you think.
Second set of Metroid Prime 3 videos rolls onto the scene
True to its word, Nintendo updated the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption channel with two new videos. Since they're streaming clips, you won't have to go through the download process again to grab them. Seeing this implemented so seamlessly made us a lot less annoyed with the steps we originally had to take to pluck the preview from the Wii's Shopping Channel.Like the last two clips, the first video provides a few details pertaining to the story, background info on the malfunctioning Aurora Unit in this case; the other movie, more focused on gameplay, shows Samus Aran in her Spider Ball form, navigating a series of winding rails and tracks. The Aurora Unit's resemblance to a certain previous antagonist has us tingling. Yes, tingling! The next two videos, P.E.D. Suit and Air Assault, hit the preview channel this Thursday.[Via NeoGAF]
