Why don't enough people like Metroid?

[SA-X]

I know you can't delete posts, and I wasn't trying to be a dick. I tend to type the way I talk which can come off as being a dick in text form, due to the fact that you can't add inflections or emotions. For future reference when you double post if you have the option to go back and edit like you can here, just edit it to say something like: "this was a double post before, please disregard this post."

OK then, I apologize. I'll try to do that if I accidentally double-post again.

[Obviously]

I never thought of Metroid as an unpopular franchise. I mean the original is still considered a classic, Super and Prime are examples of some of the most successful games on their respective consoles. The GBA titles were also considered must-haves for the portable.

Sure it doesn't quite have the mass appeal of Mario and Zelda and I think a lot of that has to do with gamers who don't like to feel lost or do a lot of backtracking when they play games. The games are always critically acclaimed and always sell well, that also goes for Other M even though it didn't quite match earlier releases in sales.

But I'm a fan of a lot of obscure games and dead franchises so I'm coming at it from the perspective that Metroid is one of the healthiest and most popular series that I enjoy.

I think it's downright crazy to say that Metroid is ignored or unknown. It's not Nintendo's most popular franchise but even so that makes it more popular than most franchises from other developers. I think people have some unrealistic expectations about it being as super popular as Halo or something which it doesn't need to be.

[Death Recon]

Prime 3 has hit 1.6 million sales.
http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/game/696 ... orruption/

[KingBroly]

My thinking is that Metroid really hasn't been popular because it always moves around too much, trying too many different things. While people try to catch up to it, it keeps running away.

With Metroid Prime, you really didn't have that problem and the series, at least for a while stopped, and allowed people to come to it and gather around the awesomeness.

From Metroid to Return of Samus to Super to Fusion to Zero Mission to Other M, you have a series that, by and large, kept jumping around in terms of what it was trying to do and accomplish. There's no two consistently made Metroid games outside of the Prime series. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there's a quality issue (well...there is with the one) but I mean from a perspective of what you expect from the next entry in that line. Really, more of a presentation difference than anything. The Primes maintained a look and feel that was consistent the entire way through. You can't say the same thing about the others.

And from looking at things now, I fully expect a different look and feel to the next Metroid game as well...whoever's making it.

[Lucid Flower]

I have asked a lot of people, and gotten a mostly ?????????? answer

I have persuaded others into playing a metroid game, but then they never really seem to get around to it.

Zero mission: excuse ??????? lazy? I even give them an emulator and all, right down to installing it an making sure it works/plays?

Super metroid: excuse Everytime, they get lost and give up, even if I drop hints?

Prime: No GC or Wii. Same problem with M:oM

Fusion: no one seems to want to start the game late in the story? I think it is a self contained game?

It is really frustrating!

[GPRidley]

Metroid's gameplay has only ever appealed to the kind of person who would intentionally sit down to complex maze with the intent of solving it for purposes of enjoyment. The exploratory-there's-stuff-in-the-walls mechanic that has been a staple in the series appeals strongly to that mindset, and repels gamers without it. Your average FPS fan cannot play the Prime series - they are mortally disgusted the first moment they feel genuinely lost.

Going back even father, to the classic 2d titles, you'll find the same effect in full force. A fan of the Mario franchise is going to greatly enjoy hopping nimbly from platform to platform zapping bugs, but the same spatial malaise is going to sicken most of them when they recognize that they have no idea where they need to go - or that feeling's dark twin, that they know where to go but have no idea how to get there.

It isn't that we play Metroid because we have superior spatial reasoning (although that does intend to improve with usage). We play it because when we reach the point of feeling lost, we are pleased by the feeling of it. This attitude is certainly in the minority.

When you couple this with the lack of tangible character interaction/dialogue that has been a hallmark of the series (until its clumsy insertion into Other M), you're left with an extremely niche product. Zelda, to re-use an example I saw stated earlier in this thread, appeals to the fantasy adventure crowd with its endearing and accessible characters - this is an audience that enjoys mazes and the joy of feeling lost almost as much as the Metroid crowd.

[Toxsyl]

Legit reasons from my friends:
Not enough tits
Not enough ass
Too hard
I can't read maps
keep getting lost
Samus is a chick? Fuck that!
I'ma xbox fag
I'ma sony fag
No nude mod no buy
Japanese
Needs Online Multiplayer
I can't quickscope
Nintendo?

[Emperor Ing]

I believe what they were doing is called, at least where I come from, "fucking with you."

Though I totally agree with that last reason.

[Toxsyl]

I believe what they were doing is called, at least where I come from, "fucking with you."

Though I totally agree with that last reason.

All the reasons I stated are true except for the first two.

[Death Recon]

yeah people are pretty ignorant about game content. they're just not patient enough to play through it

[ChainsawGuitar]

I'm sure at this point I'm just repeating what someone else said before, but I don't think Metroid isn't unpopular so much as it is that they're so good that the games practically speak for themselves. Either way, I feel pretty good about being a part of the fanbase, have yet to see any idiotic users that make me wish they'd shut up and go do something else with their time.

[kadosho]

For the longest time I can recall, Metroid was a challenging series to get into. (or back into)
Another thing that is hurting the series is:
1) Its not Americanized enough
2) Its not an FPS, but became an FPA
3) No online play
4) No T&A (yes that one)
5) There was not enough dialog in the past (but Other M changed that)
6) Maybe its the controls that turn people away

I find myself tied in knots, because I don't own a Wii. Yet I would take a chance just to play Other M.
However when I did try it at a store kiosk, the controls left me wanting more from the controller.
Plus I listened to some of the soundtrack, and it just felt too empty to me. In-game I'm sure its a different experience.
But the past games seemed to get it right with the music. Why did OM stray so far from that?

[TD_Tommie]

It doesn't have a large "potential" fanbase.

It's safe to say that Nintendo gamers, on average, are younger than PS3 and Xbox gamers. Nintendo really enjoys playing to the younger audience with their systems; games; and marketing. Once these "young" Nintendo gamers grow up, the vast majority of them will split two ways:
1) They will quit playing videogames
2) They will convert to one of the other two systems.

I'm not saying that in a rude way, and I also don't want to step on anyone's feelings, but this is the truth: Most nintendo fans will take one of these routes when they grow older.



This is troubling for the Metroid series because Metroid is best suited for a "young adult" audience.

[LuigiandMetroidfan20]

Quality is not a problem. Opinions aside (I actually liked Other M and Hunters) all Metroid games are of high quality. As far as the West is concernced, it's not part of the "hardcore" market (ex: COD, Halo, Gears of War, God of War, etc.) As for Japan, I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the drastic difference in atmosphere, on a whole, from Metroid and other Nintendo franchises?
Perhaps Nintendo's "kiddie" image turned away some who looked at how "dark" Metroid could be and didn't give enough time to really find out. It saddens me, though, that some gamers won't give the series a try simply because it doesn't hold their hands enough. IMO, it's an absolutely incredible franchise.

[okey]

Maybe the series does a lousy job keeping up it's momentum. Super is awesome and then the series vanishes from the face of the earth. Prime 1 brings it back from the dead and everyone loves it, then Prime 2 comes out and it's esoteric and weird and really hard. Fusion sets up a new status quo and then they follow it up with a remake and then the DS rolls around and they make a multiplayer shooter and a pinball game. Prime 3 is made to attract FPS gamers to the Wii, and then Other M pulls a 180 and it's a bizarre story-based 3d action game aimed at casual gamers made by Team Ninja.

Gonna single out Zero Mission, cause thats the one that confuses me the most. I've heard that this game sold poorly and was like a mega-bomb in Japan.

But it seems like the perfect bridge game? It's got the Nintendo-Look, it's polished, the controls are simple and intuitive, the gameplay is forgiving without being shallow, there's no story baggage, it gets off to a fast start. It's the rare game that keeps everything good about a series and genuinely makes it more accessible for everyone. If any Metroid game had the potential to be huge, it was this one.

I guess it just came out out at the wrong time? I wonder how Zero mission would have done if it were released on the DS, after New Super Mario Bros attracted a ton of new gamers and made 2D a thing again. Or if it switched spots with Fusion? Who knows.