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'Metroid Dread' is a dark rebirth for Samus Aran
Metroid Dread is Nintendo's first "proper" Metroid game in almost two decades. Producer Yoshio Sakamoto explains what to expect.
It's important that you watch this Kiki Trick trailer
In just two minutes, you're going to feel very different about the Wii's lineup. No longer will you be able to make jokes about the Wii having no games (technically, Rhythm Heaven Fever means you're wrong for making those jokes anyway). You'll learn that the Wii has at least one game that unquestionably qualifies as "interesting," and you'll likely never get to play it. From what we can tell, the rapid-fire FMV presentation from Kiki Trick (above) is what happens when the WarioWare team is given free rein in the last year of a system's lifespan. In other words, it's glorious.
Metroid: Other M team under the Iwata Asks microscope
In an Iwata Asks interview about Metroid: Other M, Team Ninja head and Other M director Yosuke Hayashi classifies the game as "a NES game with the latest technology," an ideal that went on to inform much of the design. "Yes, we thought that if we could make a game that could be controlled with just one Wii Remote controller," Hayashi told Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, "we'd enable players who were put off by complex controls to enjoy 3D action games as well." The automatic movement of perspective enabled the game to have 3D environments while maintaining simple controls, and clever Wiimote movements like pointing at the screen to explore in 3D allowed the team to avoid "resorting to the Nunchuk," as producer Yoshio Sakamoto called it. At the same time, Sakamoto wanted the story and action to blend seamlessly, so the team worked with video production company D-Rockets. Director Ryuzi Kitaura described creating detailed storyboards to impress Sakamoto: "I think I drew more than 300 storyboards in total. The image count was over 2,000. By this stage, I was also accounting for camera work and action, so they became really elaborate production storyboards. I think I took over six months to finish them."
Metroid: Other M's cutscenes compiled into two-hour movie in 'theater mode'
Do you feel like living through a full-fledged Metroid experience, but can't be bothered to do all that item-hunting? No, you couldn't care less about those stray E-Tanks and absent missile expansions -- you care about the deep, rich lore of Samus' Zebesian struggle. Metroid: Other M will contain a menu option suited to your bizarre desires: Theater mode, which compiles the game's cutscenes into a streamlined, two-hour, non-interactive story. The series' godfather, Yoshio Sakamoto, explained to 1UP that the mode, which unlocks after completing the game, would allow returning players to soak in all the dialogue and events of the story without having to replay the whole thing over again. Why, that sounds a heck of a lot like the full-length Shenmue movie which accompanied the game's sequel. Only -- and this is just a wild assumption, mind you -- we think Metroid: Other M: The Movie will have way, way fewer sailors.
This is the Metroid: Other M trailer we wanted to see
The last Metroid: Other M trailer confused us with its emphasis on storyline and dialogue over running and shooting. This latest trailer addresses that issue. Boy, does it ever. After Samus's armor mysteriously grows out of her glowing heart or something, we're treated to a nonstop barrage of the fastest action the series has ever seen. In addition to that, the trailer demonstrates the quick transition between third-person and first-person perspective, as well as some 3D movement in the third-person segments. Oh, and Samus faces off against Mother Brain in the end. [Via GoNintendo; thanks, Fernando]
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Sakamoto's D.I.Y. and Metroid: Other M
With the release of WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase this week, Nintendo is still in hype mode for its mini-game generation suite. This week's Nintendo Channel highlight video features longtime Nintendo developer Yoshio Sakamoto, a guy with impressive resume bullet points like Rhythm Heaven, several WarioWare titles, and he was also the game designer of Balloon Fight. Impressive! So be sure to soak in the new video above, then head past the break for some new DS demos and the rest of this week's video content.
Renowned devs creating 'Big Name Games' for free WarioWare D.I.Y. DLC
Playing your own microgames in WarioWare D.I.Y. is great and all, but what if you could play 5-second microgames designed by your favorite developers, like 5TH Cell, Gaijin Games, and even Cave Story creator Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya? In the weeks following the release of the microgame creation suite, you'll be able to do just that. Every Monday from March 29 through July 26, Nintendo will make new microgames in its "Big Name Games" series available for free download through WarioWare D.I.Y. The first offerings will include the game Yoshio Sakamoto showed off at his GDC presentation, as well as a game from Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai. Team Meat and WayForward are also contributing games.
Nintendo's Sakamoto: No Wii Kid Icarus now, but possible
[VGMuseum] If there's a Kid Icarus reboot in the works somewhere at Nintendo, Metroid: Other M producer Yoshio Sakamoto, who worked on the original NES game, doesn't know anything about it. "I don't know personally about any project underway regarding Kid Icarus," Sakamoto told Kotaku, "but if so many of those people are interested in it and really want to see it on the Wii, they should really speak up." It's not as simple as making a Zelda game with flight, apparently (that's our guess for what people want in a Wii Kid Icarus game). Sakamoto suggested that Nintendo has yet to hit upon the right design. "If we can find some sort of way to bring it to the Wii; a way to make the game for the Wii that makes sense, we would happily do so," he said. "But just keep in mind it may not be me making the game."
Interview: Metroid: Other M producer Yoshio Sakamoto
After delivering a GDC panel on his cinematic inspiration, we met with Metroid: Other M producer Yoshio Sakamoto to ask him about everything from collaborating with Team Ninja, lessons learned from Metroid Prime, the newfound focus on story in the Metroid universe, and whether or not he played Chair's Super Metroid love letter, Shadow Complex. Read on! Can you tell us about the process of working with Team Ninja. Who does what design-wise and technology-wise? Yoshio Sakamoto: The original design concept came from me, but then we went and assembled a team that could pull this off. And in this case it was people from Team Ninja, who we really thought was the best fit. But they've also provided a lot of core ideas that have influenced the direction of the game, particularly the director, Mr. Hayashi. So, as I mentioned in the speech today, it's not so much that we're dividing up tasks but collaborating as equals. After E3 and the initial announcement a lot of people were making comments like, "Oh, it seems like they've dumped Retro for this series and they want to go with another developer," as if it was a big switch-off. But, in actuality, that is far from the case; rather, we just wanted to put together the best team that we could to make this project, which turns out to be Project M. %Gallery-86429%
Metroid Dread concept is something Sakamoto 'can't say never existed'
Immediately following his well-attended GDC panel, Nintendo's Yoshio Sakamoto talked with us about (what else?) Metroid: Other M. In addition to all sorts of questions on the unique Team Ninja collaboration, we asked Sakamoto about the long-rumored Metroid Dread project and, barring a confirmation of that product, when we'd see another 2D handheld Metroid. Joystiq: Speaking of the core Metroid development team that last worked on the GBA, there have been rumors of a game known as 'Metroid Dread' – purportedly a 2D Metroid game for DS. First question: Was 'Dread' a real project? Second question: If not, where is a 2D Metroid on DS? Yoshio Sakamoto: It seems we get a lot of questions about Metroid Dread, especially at interviews following E3 for example. But nothing's ever been announced about this game; it's all just been rumors so far. So we never know exactly how to respond to questions like this. While there actually was a point where some teams were meeting to discuss if it was possible to create a 2D Metroid for DS using a relatively small team size, it's not something that we ever really announced or thought of as "Metroid Dread." But whenever people bring out that idea, we recognize that the basic concept is something that we can't say never existed. But at the same time, we can't of course, make any official comment about a Metroid Dread-like project coming out. Our main goal [with Metroid: Other M] is to, as I said earlier, first raise knowledge about the Metroid universe and the Samus character before we start to introduce different elements like online or even going back to another handheld game for the next in the series. So there's nothing coming immediately, we want to think about these new challenges first. But, of course, we never say never.
Nintendo's Yoshio Sakamoto reveals Metroid: Other M's cinematic inspirations
Yoshio Sakamoto has had a rather diverse career with Nintendo, having worked on games like Metroid, WarioWare and Tomodatchi Collection. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata asked the Metroid: Other M producer to speak at GDC to "explore the secret of creating games for such a dynamic range of titles." One of Sakamoto's greatest inspirations seems to be film, noting directors Dario Argento, Luc Besson, John Woo and Brian de Palma as key figures. In particular, he found Argento's "Deep Red" to have a profound impact. Argento's manipulation of mood through music and timing is something he found moving; the use of foreshadowing helped transcend the film beyond other horror films. Other M will take these various inspirations by becoming a "synthesis of everything I've learned," Sakamoto told the audience. A new trailer screened for GDC attendees highlighted various cinematic moments in the upcoming Wii game, including a CG reimagination of Super Metroid's climatic ending. Sakamoto pointed out the return of Metroid Fusion's Adam, reminding the audience that foreshadowing will play a key role in creating suspense in the interquel. Considering the subsequent applause, it seems clear that Metroid fans approve of this new direction. %Gallery-86429%
Sakamoto: Other M shows 'human side' of Samus
Other than knowing it's a thing, details of Nintendo and Team Ninja's collabrotive effort to bring Samus back into 2D space in Metroid: Other M are slim. In the current issue of Famitsu, a one-page interview with Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto didn't reveal much in the way of new information but the legendary creator did say the upcoming game will focus on Samus Aran's "human side." The complete Metroid: Other M experience is being produced by three teams: Nintendo will continuously peek over the shoulder of Team Ninja (presumably to ensure very few bouncy-bikini shots appear in the final game) while D-Rockets will handle the title's movie sequences. The computer-generated movie sequences in Metroid: Other M are one of the methods Sakamoto says players will learn more about Samus Aran's emotional side. "She's a strong woman, but she also has a fragile side. We want to make a game whose charms can be felt from the story areas and these human touches as well," he said. Before you begin to cringe, Sakamoto clarified that he's well aware of the core of the Metroid franchise. "It's an action game, but it's capable of having a clear emotional side." Emotionality that you can view, after the break. Metroid: Other M is expected to hit the Wii later this year.
Metroid co-creator hosting GDC lecture
The official GDC 2010 website has revealed that Metroid director Yoshio Sakamoto will be leading a lecture at this year's conference. The lecture is titled "From Metroid to Tomodachi Collection to WarioWare: Different Approaches for Different Audiences." The session will focus on Sakamoto's "thought processes and techniques on game designs that have allowed him to find market acceptance for his expansive portfolio of titles." In other words, it will delve into the success of Sakamoto's many wildly different games. Assuming the lecture has a Q&A session, we also imagine it will focus on journalists needling Sakamoto about Metroid: Other M. Curiously, the lecture listing also fails to mention the inevitable follow-up event: Watch fanboy journalists and developers rush Sakamoto to get their DSes autographed. [Via Gamasutra]
Story will 'play a big part' in Metroid Other M
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]
