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Reggie on the Wii effect at the Nintendo Media Summit
This morning, at the Nintendo Media Summit, NoA President and resident badass Reggie Fils-Aime had some interesting statistics on the Nintendo juggernaut. While a lot of it may not be the best news for the hardcore gaming contingent, the massive revenue increases indicate that the wider potential market may well be what powers the industry in the coming years. One particularly telling statement backed up the figures: "We don't consider Sony and Microsoft as our only competitors. We're competing with other leisure time entertainment. If people stay at home and play Wii bowling instead of going to the movies, we win."It's not all gloom and doom for the hardest of the hard, however. Reggie had some interesting things to say about this summer's highly anticipated Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. It "will reinvent the control scheme for a first person shooter. It's the closest you can get to PC control in a [console] game." A lot of people hoped Red Steel would pull that off for the Wii at launch, but leave it to Nintendo to really show us what the Wiimote and nunchuk combo can do for the FPS.Reggie also added that the DS continues to print money, just in case none of us knew.
New Metroid Prime 3 screenshots rolled out
With less than three months away from its August 20th release date, Nintendo has started to put some push behind Metroid Prime 3: Corruption with five new screenshots. You won't see any previously unannounced features, and these images follow Nintendo's tradition of grabbing awful stills from games that otherwise look great in motion, but uh... the logo artwork is certainly impressive. Considering that we haven't gotten much media from the FPS-adventure series since last September, this will have to suffice for now. %Gallery-3355%[Via Joystiq]
New Metroid Prime 3 screenshots
After skirting the issue for months, Nintendo recently dated the third game in the Metroid Prime series for North America: August 20. Today five new images have been shoved out the door to keep the buzz alive. Content-wise, the shots are mostly ho-hum and don't show off anything radically new in the series. But the image above does raise a few questions, such as "What kind of hair gel does the purple lady use?" and "Have her arm muscles gone on vacation?". Let the rampant speculation ... begin!%Gallery-3353%
Nintendo dates Metroid Prime 3, Mario Strikers Charged, others
Kids in the U.S. who dreamed of whiling away the summer days with Samus Aran may still be able to jam a few days of visor-scanning fun before class is back in session when Metroid Prime 3: Corruption drops on Aug. 20. At least they'll have Mario Strikers Charged, due out on July 30, to help fill the lemonade-soaked summer break. Nintendo also announced a few other August Wii releases, specifically dating High School Musical: Sing It! and Madden for August 14. Others coming sometime that month include Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Brunswick Pro Bowling, Space Station Tycoon, Dave Mirra BMX Challenge and Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection. Due out in September are Battalion Wars 2, Brothers in Arms, Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal (finally!) and George of the Jungle. Boogie is coming in fall. Nintendo announced some other notable DS releases for the summer too, including SimCity in July, Heroes of Mana on Aug. 14, Brain Age 2 on Aug. 20, Worms: Open Warfare 2 in August and Jam Sessions in September. We could add something clever here about our relative anticipation of the above games, but we imagine half of your are spinning and giggling wildly in front of your computers and we lost the other half around Looney Tunes. So, feel free to commence your waiting, or check after the jump for even more DS releases.
No Metroid Prime 3 until after June
A recent interview with Nintendo's name-taker/ass-kicker Reggie Fils-Aime revealed some disappointing (but not surprising) news. Originally scheduled as a Wii launch title, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was pushed back to a vague "er, um, sometime around, uh, 2007" release. That was later refined to "later this year." Now, according to Fils-Aime, Metroid Prime 3 won't see the light of day until after June. And if recent pre-order rumors turn out to be true, it could be way, way after June.Why the delay? According to Reggie, both Nintendo and Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios were disappointed with the sales of Metroid Prime 2. Prime 3 has to be the best game in the series, and that level of perfection takes time.Yes, we want Metroid now, but if it turns out as good as we've been led to believe, it'll be worth the wait.
Metroid Prime 3 delayed until ... 2008?
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Metroid_Prime_3_delayed_until_2008'; If you're the type of person who pre-orders things from retail giant Best Buy, then you might have received an email as recently as today explaining that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption has been pushed back from its current slated release of Summer 2007 to ... New Year's Eve. This, of course, shouldn't be taken as entirely true, but the fact that Reggie has been dodging the question as of late increases the chances that we won't be seeing Samus until she hits the console later this year in another game first.[Via Codename Revolution]
Best Buy informs pre-orders no Metroid 3 till 2008?
Best Buy sent out letters (example above with identifiers removed) to those who pre-ordered Metroid Prime 3: Corruption informing them the status of their pre-order has changed. The pre-order release date is now 12/31/2007. Does Best Buy know something that the rest of us don't, or are they just hedging their bets and protecting themselves by giving an outrageous date? All we know at this point is Metroid is not a Q2 release and it's already been said that the game will be "perfect" at release. Nintendo does not comment on rumors and speculation. Best Buy currently has 3/15/2007 as the release date on their website, other major retailers in the U.S. and gaming sites are still using 6/1/2007 or later as their placeholder date. We raise one eyebrow and now seek signs of a 2007 Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros. Brawl release.[Thanks Zac]
Metroid Prime 3 delayed until later this year?
MTV News spoke with Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime last week at DICE to discuss Wii shortages, production increases, and specific game releases. Having all but said, "Read my lips, no more Nintendo droughts," in the past stating an "early 2007" release of Metroid Prime 3 on Wii, the gaming exec was less committal this time around.Regarding first-party heavyweights, Fils-Aime said, "They're coming. But we're being very strategic when we're going to launch them. And we're making sure our licensees enjoy success on their titles and that the spacing makes sense." Okay. Let's keep hope alive. He continued, "[Gamers] need to recognize that when we release [Metroid Prime 3], it will be perfect. And if that's a little later than folks would have liked, I'm hoping they're going to be happy." Uh oh. That's sounds like code for "this bad boy ain't coming out for a while."
The good, the bad, and the OHGODWHEN
There's an interesting feature over at CVG detailing ten games to watch for on the Wii this year (similar to what we did for the DS). Now, as this is a list from the UK, they've included some games with which we American gamers have already been blessed, but the rest of the lineup is interesting indeed. Of course, they highlight Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (we so can't wait for that), but the lion's share of the list goes to the most obvious -- and long in coming -- games for the Wii, like Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy (and the less talked about, but also cool Disaster: Day of Crisis). Of course these are going to be great games, but on what shall we pin all our hopes and dreams between now and the oblivion of year's end? It hurts to see so many great games on this list when we know they have no firm release date. Reggie promised us that there'd be no drought, but things are looking a little dry from the vantage point of this list. Potentially awesome, yes, but a little dry all the same.
Wii Mario & Metroid, DS Zelda in late '07
Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will arrive in late 2007 according to the latest round of whisper down the lane. CVG reports that "sources close to Nintendo" have cited the delays and have also verified that Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass will be released at the tail-end of next year.Officially, Nintendo would only acknowledge that Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, and Phantom Hourglass would debut in 2007. But the holiday stretch (October-December) is the obvious release window. Be patient.
Footage of every Wii game at E3
Gameworld Network (which is either a network of gameworlds or a gameworld of networks) has posted an epic collection of streaming E3 videos which clearly depicts each and every playable Wii game and how exactly one has to swing, wave, shake, point, wiggle and/or jostle the Wiimote in order to play. Feel free to grab a nearby TV remote and mimic the action. Sure, you'll get absolutely no response, but in the case of Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, that's a pretty good approximation.[Via Infendo]
Overheard at E3: Japanese don't accept first-person shooters
While waiting impatiently to try out Metroid Prime 3: Corruption at the Nintendo booth, I eavesdropped on overheard a Japanese developer explaining to a friend how first-person shooters aren't too hot in Japan."This Metroid game is a first-person shooter. They're very popular in America, but not in Japan. We don't accept these kinds of games because you cannot see your character on the screen."The spectacular failure of the Xbox brand in Japan would seem to lend this line of thought some credence, but there are several other factors worthy of consideration, pontification and other things that you do with your brain. It's odd that Metroid Prime would be the game to spur on the man's comments, as the series has always emphasized exploration and platforming over frantic shooting. Is it really just the perspective that causes Japanese gamers to shake their heads in disgust, or do first-person shooters merely have a bad reputation? Why is it important to constantly view your character on the screen? And, if this is such a prominent issue amongst Japanese gamers, why would Nintendo present one of their cherished franchises in a way that would be the least popular?
Wii impressions: Metroid Prime 3
The Metroid Prime 3: Corruption demo featured some nifty uses for the Wiimote-nunchaku tandem. We opened a sealed door by pulling the handle out (using the Wiimote), twisting counter-clockwise and pushing back in. Later, we grabbed hold of an enemy's shield with our grappling hook by using a casting motion with the nunchaku controller -- by holding down on the nunchaku's analog stick, we ripped the shield from the creature's grip. Both instances felt natural.Unfortunately, general navigation wasn't nearly as satisfying, as it was marred by spotty connections between the Wiimote and the sensor. The key proved to be subtle movements, which took discipline, especially when in a hurry to turn around. Take note, FPS Wii titles will have a steep learning curve.Prime 3 did have some of the best Wii visuals on display, but that isn't saying much. The controls need to be tweaked and made more reliable for this franchise -- and the FPS genre in general -- to succeed on the Wii platform. For now, we'd gladly trade the pointer for a second analog stick.
A few Metroid Prime 3 details slip
Finally, Nintendo information that we don't have to preface with "rumor." Speaking to the official Metroid web site, Retro Studios has shed some light on the upcoming Revolution title, Metroid Prime 3, which is planned as the last game in the trilogy. Expect updated visuals and more Phazon, the odd material seen in previous installments. Two things stick out more than others: first is that Retro does not plan "on using a third-person camera for the times when Samus is in the suit" - but when would she not be in the suit? I can't recall her ever taking the suit off, except for super-secret "see Samus in a bikini" endings. The second note, although vague, is that Metroid Prime 3 will take advantage of the new features of the Revolution controller. What could that mean? Could a gyroscope control where Samus looks? Let the speculation...well...continue. [via IGN]
