Metroid Database.com

Nintendo Enthusiast's Mike D. (aka EvilTw1n) has revealed that their top choice for the "Most Misunderstood Wii Games" is none other than Metroid Other M. In the first half of his article, he explains quite explicitly that in order to fully understand the game's greatness, you must overcome and forget all the preconceived notions you had before about 3D gaming mechanics. In the second half, he breaks down what most people have pinned negatively to MOM: its story. Isn't balancing gameplay and story something that many other AAA developers still struggle with to this day?

For the most part, I've tried to distance myself from the petty arguments on MOM, as they not only bore me, but they don't ever seem to get anywhere. And it mostly ends up someone linking to a certain blog article (that shall not be linked) and pointing out that it's "proof" of the game's sophomoric attempt on story and reduces the character of Samus to a pitiful, one-dimensional brat with "Daddy issues." Because that's what makes the game totally suck, right? Riiiiight...

Opinions are subjective. When it comes to the true greatness of a game, nothing's really right or wrong -- if you found it fun, then great. If you were repulsed by it, then also great - keep that with you. Unless you're a developer, it's going to do absolutely nothing for you in return. Other M didn't kill the Metroid franchise, it just made a lot of distinctive choices that turned off some players, and consequently split up a lot of the fanbase. But it's much more likely these people were turned off due to preconceived notions and expectation than what was actually given to them. That shouldn't be enough of a reason to demonize the entire game, should it?

You can see the list recap here.

--Infinity's End

Hugo Bille, game designer for The Working Parts, has written up a fantastic analysis of the level design to Super Metroid! Bille does a clear job of illustrating how the game leads players along through the first portion without making them feel like they are being led, and how it teaches players lessons about the game with each new item collected. It is also great to see the differences between Super Metroid and later titles in the series, particularly how the game lets players explore a large portion of the world soon after collecting the Power Bombs. And in case you were wondering why the Lower Norfair theme in Super is so much more potent than in Metroid Prime, Bille tells us that, too:

What really makes Ridley's home genuinely haunting is instead a series of nasty surprises. To even get here, you had to swim through a sea of lava - did you think your Gravity Suit protected against anything? Not against this lava. You can fly, and the world is an open book to you - and yet here you find creatures that you cannot even inflict a scratch upon. You are deeper down than you've ever been, but your path leads ever downwards. Add to this enemies that are at once more aggressive and more resilient than anything else on the planet, and the artstyle once again veers towards that creepy retro style. It is around that kind of background that the music can wrap its magic.

Let's not also forget that you are heading towards your nemesis from the opening.

You can check out "The Invisible Hand of Super Metroid" here on Gamasutra. It is well worth the read.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

The Zero Suit figure has been previously displayed with a Metroid accessory, but we didn't know that Samus would be able to 'wear' it! New images reveal that the figma Samus will also come with a variety of accessories, including a Morph Ball, different hand poses, and several arm cannon attachments.

According to the figma blog, reservations will apparently begin today (the 24th Japan time) for both figures, so keep an eye out at your import retailers of choice. We will keep you posted once we find websites conducting pre-orders.

UPDATE:

The distributor has announced native pricing information, and any fans worrying that it was going to cost an exorbitant amount can now breathe a hearty sigh of relief. The figma is set at a suggested price of $50 (3800 yen) and the Zero Suit $100 (7800 yen). While this doesn't include the additional costs of importing, we're quite pleased here at the MDb, and June can't arrive soon enough for both figures. Hit the links below for the official description and new product imagery.

UPDATE 2:

Pre-orders are now being offered at a number of popular online retailers, such as: AmiAmi, Hobby Link Japan, Hobby Search, & Otacute.

--Aurora Unit

Today we have a special guest translation by the talented Neon_Icarus from NeoGAF! This article is "Iwata Asks: Metroid Prime 3", which had been available in Japanese since 2008, but never translated. The article covers the bumpy road to the development of Prime 3 through a discussion with producers Kensuke Tanabe and Risa Tabata. We learn some surprising facts about the development of the Wii, such as how Keisuke Terasaki of Production Group No. 3 suggested splitting the Wii Remote into Remote and Nunchuck in order to make Prime 3.

Most surprising, however, was the low opinion many at Retro Studios initially held for the Wii because of its low specs. It wasn't until they were shown the Wii Remote and Nunchuck in action using a modified version of Metroid Prime 2 that their opinions changed. The demo was made for TGS 2005 and was created in secret, and was a secret even to most Retro employees, because the Nunchuck had yet to be announced. Tanabe-san elaborates:

[R]ight before the announcement, I had the rest of the staff at Retro introduced to the Nunchuk. I will never forget the spectacle of that moment. I gathered all the staff together who had not been involved in the creation of the demo, and the moment they first picked up the Nunchuk, it was as if their eyes lit up. The surprise on their faces was truly something to behold.

The interview also discusses other problems encountered while developing Corruption, such as polishing Hyper Mode and adding "Unique AI" to make the game feel more memorable. An example of this "Unique AI" was Space Pirates "playing tag" with Samus after stealing the energy core in the GFS Olympus introductory stage. Tanabe-san explains, "When we were children, I'm sure everyone at one time took a treasured item from a friend, and ran away from them, passing it to friends. We had that kind of element inserted into the game's opening." Of course, Retro Studios was initially unimpressed because on paper, playing tag doesn't feel like it fits within the "cool sci-fi universe" of Metroid. Iwata-san delayed release of Corruption in order for the team to implement elements such as this (the game was originally supposed to be a launch title). Unless significant changes are made to a game's core system, sequels will not remain fresh, and the series will quickly stagnate - as Mega Man clearly illustrates.

There was also some great commentary from Tanabe-san about Yoshio Sakamoto's philosophies and role in the Prime series:

Sakamoto-san is a very broad-minded person, so whenever we ask him about something, he will always tell us, "If it's interesting, go ahead and put it in." However, he insists we don't reveal what happens to Samus when she transforms into Morph Ball form.

Sounds like there are just some mysteries that will must be answered by player imagination!

Click for the full interview.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

After much pondering and discussion, we decided that having a dedicated fan art page on the Metroid Database was a little redundant and dated. Since our DeviantArt page fills that gap so nicely, it will now become the major source where to find Metroid fan art through our site. Our current list of favorites is currently at 1,925 - that's A LOT of Metroid fan art! Furthermore, we are slowly but surely adding some of the old artwork to our DA page. In cases where a single person has submitted more than one piece, we will be compiling it together as one. All of this art was posted at one time in our old fan art section, so if you had any favorites that you've missed looking at, those will surely be back soon!

Please bear with us as we add the old entries to our DeviantArt Page. If you have artwork that you would like to submit to the MDb, that's okay, but you could just upload it yourself by just creating your own DeviantArt page. It's completely 100% free to join. We will probably not be accepting Fan Art submissions from here on out.

--Infinity's End

EDIT: This same translated interview was actually published last year on Siliconera.

Glitterberri has just posted up a newly translated interview with Sakamoto from 2003. During that time, Sakamoto was developing Zero Mission. Her blog claims it was taken from a site called the Game Staff List Association Japan.

Notable quotes:

That's how I came to admire [Gunpei Yokoi]. Thinking back on it now, the NES, for Yokoi, was more of a device used for projecting images on a TV than a game system. I believe he was always thinking about what he could do with it in those terms. We'll never know the truth, though.

One day, however, Shigeru Miyamoto wandered over to our room and asked "Is there anyone here willing to lend us a hand?" That's how I ended up doing sprite art for Donkey Kong Jr., which turned out to be my first real experience with video games.

The original Metroid first came into being as our desire to create a game that took place in a gloopy, alien-like world. In early development, there were only rows of blocks, and the backgrounds didn't give you the sense that they were alive. The Chozo were also something that resulted from this process. The game was headed up by then-newcomers Hirofumi Matsuoka and Hiroji Kiyotake, but when it came to representing the civilization of an undiscovered planet, I'd hand what I'd written to Matsuoka and tell him "Put this in," and he would. *laughing*

Sakamoto's decision to make Fusion more story-driven as well as altering the game's play control was due to him wanting to not frustrate or confuse players that were new to the series.

I think the true fun of Metroid lies in spending time searching for secret passages and getting yourself hopelessly lost. That's why I started out by choosing to emphasize the story in Fusion, and now I'm showcasing Metroid's roots in Zero Mission. If I don't continue releasing games that feature Metroid's origins and games that feature Metroid's story, I won't get any ideas about where to go next.

Sakamoto also notes the following games have made impression with him over the years: The Portopia Serial Murder Case, Gradius, Xevious, Star Fox, Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda. The whole interview is worth a read if you're interested in finding out more on one of Nintendo's most eccentric designers, so check it out.

--Infinity's End

Japanese figure news site Moeyo has posted some absolutely amazing images of Max Factory's Zero Suit Samus. The Zero Suit Samus is a 1/6 scale model with PVC coating. The Varia Suit also has a finish that causes the armor to reflect the room's lighting, which makes it look just like in the game! The description states the Varia is also posable. The photographer got some fantastic images of Zero Suit Samus, which takes gorgeous to a new extreme. There are detailed images of Samus's face, her gun, as well as the Metroid! For all you gaming memorabilia manufacturers out there, THIS is how you do it! As previously mentioned, the Zero Suit is modeled by Shining Wizard, and is set for release in June. The Varia was modeled by Asai Masaki, and will be out in "spring". Both will be released in Japan only, and neither has a set price yet. Click the images below for more on Moeyo. Note some of the other images and links on the site are NSFW.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Aaron from Nintendo World Report shared this link with me today. The Cutting Room Floor is a wiki dedicated to documenting unused and prototype data from videogames. There is an incredible amount of information here from nearly any game imaginable, with documentation in varying stages of completion.

Among the neat things on the site is a leaked prototype of Metroid Prime 3! The build is dated from March 2, 2006, and contains a more or less fully functional Norion stage and Hyper Mode, suggesting the basics of the game had been ironed out more than a year before release. The prototype can actually be played using the Gamecube controller, but retains Wii Remote functionality. There is also an early version of the rewards system and a cool debug camera similar to the free camera in Super Mario 64:

But that's not all! The Cutting Room Floor has TONS of data on all the other Metroid games. Unused enemies, unused text from Metroid: Other M, debug rooms...you name it, it's there! Granted, some of this has been known for awhile, but there's so much, and the site is so thorough, that you're bound to find something you never knew existed. For instance, here's a cool version of Phantoon that wasn't used in Metroid: Other M:

So if you're curious about anything that was taken out of the games or used in the prototypes, check it out! Also tastes great when combined with Unseen 64!

UPDATE: We've also found a rumor that Metroid Prime might have used a heavily modified version of the Unreal II Engine. The folks at ASSEMbler Games got their hands on screen caps of a proprietary Prime level editor and came to this conclusion based on the look of the images and various file extensions. It's unconfirmed at this point, but a fun bit of speculation no less. They did confirm, however, that the art was made with Maya, so if you're interested in applying to Retro Studios as an animator, you better start polishing up your Maya demo reel!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Yesterday, VGChartz and Shinesparkers reported that Metroid: Other M has broken the 1 million units sold mark this week after being on sale for 17 months. Sales were boosted by discount prices over the holidays, with Best Buy selling the title for as low as $5. 1 million sales makes Other M the 8th best-selling Metroid title in the series, which has sold more than 15.8 million units worldwide. Not exactly bad, but far behind the likes of Mario or Pokemon, which can sell that many with a single title. Even the best-selling Metroid title, Metroid Prime, lags behind Retro Studios' most profitable work, Donkey Kong Country Returns, which sold over 5 million copies (just 1 million units less than the entire Prime series combined). The best-selling title designed by Metroid series creator Yoshio Sakamoto? The Japan-only Tomodachi Collection, with over 3.6 million units sold, more than twice that of Super Metroid. With numbers like that, it's easy to see why Metroid simply hasn't been pushed as a priority title by Nintendo, though the series clearly has a solid following.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Over the past 25 years, the Metroid series has introduced gamers to a variety of alien life forms and strange creatures, building up one of the most diverse collections of Sci-fi video game enemies and bosses. With such a large number of creatures spread over different generations of consoles (and gamers), learning more about all of the organisms and their names can be a bit daunting for those who aren't hardcore followers of the series or played every title. We hope to change that with our ongoing Bestiary compendium, which contains some short descriptions, tips and strategy, and some individual creativity.

We recently posted our 150th entry in the Bestiary, and it's never been easier for Metroid fans to cycle through years of enemy design, and have fun doing so. The following is just a tiny sample of the creatures that we've posted since launch:

If you haven't browsed the Bestiary recently or perhaps even viewed it since the week we launched, we hope you'll take another look and see some of our latest entries. We'll be moving onto the Prime series once we finish the Classic games, so look forward to seeing plenty of new additions in the upcoming year.

As we wrap things up here in 2011, we'd like to thank all of our artists again for their time and continued contributions, and for everyone, we hope you've all had a great and safe holiday season, and wish you a very happy New Year!

--Aurora Unit