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Nintendo releases video about Metroid Prime 4 development - Currently below expectations - Will redo from scratch with Retro Studios
- Thread starter ggx2ac
- Start date
Are you sure? Other M was Sakamoto's vision for a 3D Metroid.
Whatever the problems were with the various studios, a good portion of the work that was done (Art, script, assets, music tracks, etc) must have been to the liking of Tanabe and good for the project, and I'm sure the game can easily go into full production. It's not like it will go back to the drawing board.
The impression I got from the announcement was that Retro's pitch was sufficiently different to Tanabe's version of Prime 4 that they had to start the whole project over. A studio like Retro is not going to try and make Metroid Prime 4 using someone else's leftovers.
99% chance he is still working with Mercury Steam, he always said he had a great working relatioship with them while working on Samus Returns (im sure not letting Enric Alvarez and his massive ego touch the project helped a lot), the game had a great reception and sold well. The game was also teasing a sequel after fusion, and they are hiring this week a ton of animators and 3d modelers (which could be for another game but its a good timing for a project after Samus Returns were more people in those positions are needed).
Im really excited of what they probably will release in the future. Non First Person metroid is kicking a living and its clear Sakamoto is not very interested in the Prime series, even if he finally joined it to the canon (becuase as much as some people like to say, im pretty sure he never hated those games).
He's like 99% with Mercury Steam making a new 2D Metroid
Yeah, he's never had any beef with the Prime series; he acted as a consultant on the Prime games anyway (particularly with cutscene direction). Hell, he even included Meta Ridley in his own remake of Metroid 1! And he consulted with Retro during Prime 2; ensuring that both games featured the same Zero Suit Samus design, while also ensuring that Prime 3 used the same Samus ship design as in Metroid 2 & 3.
Metroid Other M also features a first person perspective that is clearly inspired by the Prime games (right down the the HUD design), while Samus Returns also features a shout out to the Prime visor in its penultimate cutscene; where Samus encounters the baby Metroid.
He's very much hands off on Prime though. As long as those games are self-contained within the overall Metroid story, he doesn't mind Retro having free reign within the Metroid universe. I think Sakamoto appreciates that Metroid was never just "his" series; he took the reigns over from Gunpei Yokoi during the development of the first game, when it was going through development hell, and he had little to no involvement with Metroid 2 ROS anyway. So he is happy to have others involved in its production, as long as he is able to steer the overall storyline himself.
So where is the progress to show they have worked on something, nothing to be seen.
You don't see anything doesn't mean Nintendo hasn't seen anything...they're not paying over 100 employees to "chill" for 6 years.
This level of lack of logic is why people used to believe in aether.
This argument sounds like "Earth is flat", not to doubt that a company has kept people who were not working on a payroll for 6 years.
So you are saying that Retro's staff clocked into work and just sat motionless at their desks every day for the last 5 years?
They've been working for 5 years on the Nintendo Labo Gun game but unfortunately it got canceled. Good news is that they'll reuse those unused cardboard for Metroid Prime 4, you'll need the Labo Gun to play it.
I definitely expect this to come out by the time the next Nintendo console releases. Just as they did with Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild.
The big mystery is Retro's activity since 2014. So many rumours floating around.... Let's hope we'll get a surprise game from them this year.
As for Metroid Prime, at least I will have more time to catch up with the series! Let's get the older titles on Switch NOW, please.
As for Metroid Prime, at least I will have more time to catch up with the series! Let's get the older titles on Switch NOW, please.
How trust worthy is this? This sounds like a lot of problems, but I'm unsure how much we can trust this.Again, company morale and staff at Retro worries me.
Yhis was posted december 4th last year from a part time worker.
There's no way they "cancelled" 3 or 4 games during the Wii U life cycle... Not greenlighting 3 or 4 games ? Sure. It happens all the time. But cancelling 3 or 4 games that were in full prod ? In the span of, let's say, 6 years ? (From 2010 to 2016 ?) While still releasing Tropical Freeze, a massive, ambitious 2D platformer ? That's bullshit lol.Again, company morale and staff at Retro worries me.
Yhis was posted december 4th last year from a part time worker.
Also no way this dude would openly divulge this kind of informations if he indeed worked at Retro Studios. Jason Schreier, Tom Phillips, those kind of journalists have heard nothing about those cancelled games, and yet this dude expect to have 0 problem while disclosing those confidential informations ?
I think that's just some fan fic lol. Is he really verified ? Do we have some concrete ways to prove he indeed worked there and that it's indeed this dude who wrote this review ?
We should ignore those stupid reviews. If conditions at Retro were bad, we would know it. Jason Schreier would hear about it.
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Opinion: Nintendo Delaying Metroid Prime 4 is Fine Because Metroid Games Aren't That Great Anyway
I knew we'd get articles like this. Though he is wondering what it is people like about the series more than anything, not hating.
I knew we'd get articles like this. Though he is wondering what it is people like about the series more than anything, not hating.
Again, company morale and staff at Retro worries me.
Yhis was posted december 4th last year from a part time worker.
That review sounds like it was written by a 13-year old (and it probably was).
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Why even give these guys the attention that they're clearly claiming for?
So what Retro has been doing for the past several years? Lmao.
Guess another 4 years until their next game? This is honestly embarrassing.
Guess another 4 years until their next game? This is honestly embarrassing.
Again, company morale and staff at Retro worries me.
Yhis was posted december 4th last year from a part time worker.
That's so poorly written, I can't believe it's real.
If we're comparing the two titans that essentially created the "Metroidvania" genre with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Super Metroid, then I easily fall on the side of SOTN being vastly superior — and I don't think it's really close at all
Fucking LOL
Sotn is a beautiful game but is a complete shitshow mess design wise.
"Get to help coding a videogame"
Isn't that your fucking job???
That's hilariously bad fan fiction.
Or maybe their new game is about to be gold, and Nintendo will announce it 4 months before release juste like 90% of their games ?
This sounds way more probable than the stupid "they've been working on nothing for the past 5 years !" or "Nintendo cancelled so many games of them" just like if Nintendo would just throw money like that "it's ok bro lol here, we just canceled some of your games, and now we're rebooting MP4 and giving it to you. Also we'll announce it to people asap even if you've only done shit for 5 years".
If this announcement of Retro working on MP4 tells anything to us, it's that they are NOW ready to work on it, while they obviously weren't two or three years ago when MP4 started dev. Also that Nintendo TRUST them to release one of their most anticipated game, game that they just had to make public excuses for the reboot. They trust Retro, there's a reason why.
Good on them for admitting what's happening with the game, even though I'm dissapointed that we'll be waiting many years now for this. Ultimately however, I'm happy to wait longer to get a game that's up to the same standards as the first three.
My only hope is they release the Prime Trilogy at some point in the near future, and don't sit on it for years to use it as a hype game before the new games launch.
My only hope is they release the Prime Trilogy at some point in the near future, and don't sit on it for years to use it as a hype game before the new games launch.
Immediately my thought. Figured since BOTW was so pivotal and important to their launch, they may hold this as a "hardcore" launch title for Switch 2/Pro.
I feel like that's the best recipe for a Nintendo launch. Release a popular casual franchise alongside a hardcore franchise. It lets both install bases know you're here for them.
I hope that's what they'll do, and give us the Trilogy in the meantime!!!
You know people have this notion that MP4's delay means they're gonna sit on a completed trilogy for years and it makes no sense.
Bayonetta 1 & 2 was nearly a fucking year ago and we haven't seen any more of Bayo 3 than we did at it's announcement. Clearly they don't actually give a shit about spacing those releases close to each other.
Bayonetta 1 & 2 was nearly a fucking year ago and we haven't seen any more of Bayo 3 than we did at it's announcement. Clearly they don't actually give a shit about spacing those releases close to each other.
I agree with you, but if E3 comes and goes this year and we still don't see a Retro game announced, it's going to open up all sorts of questions about what the hell that studio has been doing for the last 5 years.
I don't think he would want to make something like that ever again. As much as folks on message boards like to assume otherwise, it's rather clear that Sakamoto learned from his experience on Other M and you saw so many major shifts on Samus Returns to rectify the biggest issues that game had (substantially less invasive narrative, increased difficulty, actual platforming challenges, logical progression) that I cannot find anyone thinking that he's still got another Other M in him to be arguing in good faith. Whatever the new 2D Metroid game winds up being is far more likely to hold up as one of the best entries in the series than it does in the opposite direction.
So here is some old info I have then I never posted.
Essentially MP4 as a project started at the end of 2016/beginning of 2017. Bandai Namco Singapore worked on the pre-production phase which I believe ended before the trailer at E3 was shown. So that's how early Nintendo decided to announce that the game was in development. Game was based on Unreal 4 and was always going to be a 2019 or 2020 release. Bandai Namco Japan was brought on to work on the game and Nintendo studios were also assisting in various areas. From what I heard, Nintendo wanted to push MP4 to be a flagship title, so increased the budget and scope of the game to try and get it to that AAA level.
Seems things weren't working for this reboot to happen.
Essentially MP4 as a project started at the end of 2016/beginning of 2017. Bandai Namco Singapore worked on the pre-production phase which I believe ended before the trailer at E3 was shown. So that's how early Nintendo decided to announce that the game was in development. Game was based on Unreal 4 and was always going to be a 2019 or 2020 release. Bandai Namco Japan was brought on to work on the game and Nintendo studios were also assisting in various areas. From what I heard, Nintendo wanted to push MP4 to be a flagship title, so increased the budget and scope of the game to try and get it to that AAA level.
Seems things weren't working for this reboot to happen.
Nice info. Stuff I kept trying to tell people that Nintendo was going to push this as a big deal title. You bring Metroid Prime back you bring it back with a bang.
Thanks, Zhuge. Quite interesting that Nintendo is pushing Metroid as AAA. I think the series definetly has the potential to be a big seller, and appearantly so does Nintendo.
Yeah, the ad-hoc development process they tried would have made a late 2019-early 2020 release date feasible. I'm actually curious about how they determined Bamco as the umbrella of developers to do the work, if there was any reason beyond how well Smash had turned out and the other collaborations they've done in the past.
They produced only critically acclaimed games, how embarassing right?
Metacritic
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch) 86 (83 for the Wii U version)
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D 83
Donkey Kong Country Returns 87
Mario Kart 7 85
Metroid Prime Trilogy 91
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption 90
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes 92
Metroid Prime 97
Think I'll just tackle the points you quoted, rather than giving that page the click it's aiming for.
Part of the fun lies in being able to combine your acquired skills in order to reach seemingly-impossible areas. You learn pretty early on in several games that things can be hidden in or behind certain blocks, thus you learn to actively search out areas and question whether a block here or block there might in fact hide something. Even if it is a "bland and meaningless" energy tank or missile expansion, the point is that you've actively engaged in exploring the game world and even finding a way to, as I've said, combine your move set in creative ways. Zero Mission and Fusion especially had you using the Speed Booster in interesting ways. I don't know why the writer raises an issue of these items being meaningless; the game never explicitly states you have to acquire 100% of the items hidden throughout the game and even in the case of boss battles, you seldom have to worry about running low on missiles because the game makes sure to dish them out to you, even if you've barely picked up expansions to your missiles of life energy, beforehand.
I suppose the feeling of being underwhelmed by the main upgrades (suits, beams, key items etc) is all down to subjectivite taste, but they at least have a purpose and, again, encourage you to return to previous areas not just so you can advance, but also have a better chance of acquiring a seemingly-impossible expansion item. Different people will of course engage on different levels as to how much they invest in the optional hunting down of items, but I wouldn't say that's a fault of the game, it's all down to how much you're willing to take up the challenge the game is clearly offering when it comes to mastering the mechanics of the overall gameplay. But the game never forcibly instructs you to gather optional items - they're there if you find yourself invested enough in the world, but tucked away out of sight if you're not and/or simply want to focus on the main/story objective.
I don't know whether the writer goes onto elaborate on this point and/or give examples, but that's an incredibly bold statement to make without providing any sort of supporting material. The thing I love about the Prime games is the suggestive nature of its environmental story-telling and how they evolve/transition the more you delve into them - Phendrana Drifts from the original Prime is a brilliant example: you start off in snowy, enclosed tundras, which then guide you deeper into the Pirate research facilities, only to arrive back out into the natural environments of Phendrana whereupon you navigate through valleys and interior caves alike. And then of course there's the [optional] lore which helps to contextualise things even further and give you a better understanding of the world you're exploring whilst also offering additional backstory/exposition on the many alien races involved. You're not just exploring because the environments are pretty and/or competently designed, they're suggestive in that they give tiny indications as to why a specific species chose a particular path or why things turned out the way they did.