Yoshio Sakamoto Talks Other M to Famitsu; Zero Plus??
2.3.10 Yoshio Sakamoto was recently interviewed by Famitsu about the progress of Other M. He states that development is running smoothly and that while there had been a few problems due to the size of the project, they have all been solved. Additionally, Sakamoto stresses that the gameplay will closely follow the style of the originals: "This Metroid is being developed with the aim of the ideal form of the old Metroid." This is certainly great news to hear! Additionally, he stresses the uniqueness of the Wii console's abilities to fully realize Other M. As for the depiction of Samus:
However different from the rest of the series, this time we're strongly depicting the human side of Samus through such things as movies. 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. It's an action game, but it's capable of having a clear emotional side.
This seems related to Sakamoto's response to Metroid's performance in Japan: these changes seem to have been made with the added benefit of increasing Japanese interest in the series. Sakamoto's interest in integrating character and narrative into an action game is definitely intriguing, and I hope he will be able to do so with as much impact as he was able to in Super Metroid.
Finally, we've located a rather peculiar video on YouTube with a preview for something called "Zero Plus", a cosplay of Zero Suit Samus. We're not sure yet what it is, but it's certainly got us intrigued! Check it out!
We'll be checking out WiiFolder.com come February 15th to find out!
Until next time...
Captain Commando
YOSHIO SAKAMOTO TO GIVE LECTURE AT GDC 2010
2.3.10 This news just came in this morning: Yoshio Sakamoto, the director of the Metroid series as well as WarioWare, will be presenting a lecture at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco! His lecture, "From Metroid to Tomodachi Collection to WarioWare: Different Approaches for Different Audiences", will cover his work in the videogames industry from 1982 to the present and his philosophy on game design, particularly in how he constantly challenges himself and his teams to create games that appeal to players of all kinds. His latest game is Tomodachi Collection for the DS, where characters talk, dance, sing, and dream, was recently released in Japan. However, discount tickets are only available for until the end of Thursday! GDC Main Conference tickets begin at $875 and go up from there. If anyone is attending, please contact us!
I also suspect that Mr. Sakamoto will be receiving a lifetime achievement award for his work with Nintendo (though personally I feel they should present it to him next year after everyone is blown out of the water by Other M). Last year, Hideo Kojima was granted a lifetime achievement award for his work with Metal Gear Solid - they don't fly a big name out to San Francisco and have him give a talk for nothing!
Until next time...
Captain Commando
Metroid Metal at PAX East 2010 - Tickets Selling out FAST
2.1.10
Hi folks! Stemage just announced that Metroid Metal will be at Penny Arcade Expo East 2010 from March 26-28th in Boston this year! Three-day badges are $50, but if you're planning on going, you'd better order quick as there's only 600 left as of this moment (and they sold about 400 in one day out of the original 1000). No word yet on which day of the week Metroid Metal will be playing, but as soon as we find out, we'll post it here! If you can only make it one day, it's $30 - but there's a one-in-three chance you'll get the right one!
Until next time...
Captain Commando
Metroid: Other M - Japanese Website and Possible Release Info
1.29.10
Our Message Board is alight today with two bits of news regarding Metroid: Other M which have begun to surface in Japan!
The first is an update to Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s official Metroid website in Japan. Upon visiting, you'll hear a woman's voice which says, translated from Japanese: "A dream. It's as if I was watching a playback of a tragedy that really happened." There are numerous ways to speculate the meaning of this, though I'll be content to leave this mystery up in the air for a while longer. The site also includes some rather interesting music, though I'll suggest that you visit it and hear for yourself! Thanks to marumari of our forum for providing us this information!
The second bit of news, as reported by GoNintendo (thanks Megatron0016) and Kotaku among others, is of a reported Summer 2010 release date for Other M in Japan.
UPDATE: The Japanese Metroid homepage says the game is expected to see a release in Summer 2010, so it is OFFICIAL - the game WILL come out this year. Note that Metroid Prime 3 (along with several other hot Nintendo titles like Super Mario Sunshine and F-Zero GX) was released in late August, so it's possible Other M will see a similar US release. However, there's still no official indication of when there would be a release for Europe, North America or Australia. Hopefully it will be a Fall 2010 release at the very latest!
Fingers crossed.
-Jesse D
Metroid Prime and Mirror's Edge developers talk realism in games
1.16.10
Michael Kelbaugh, CEO of Retro Studios, along with the lead designers on Killzone 2 and Mirror's Edge, were interviewed recently by Gamasutra on immersive design in games. The article is very interesting and contains a lot of nice design tidbits, with a good focus on how a game's details, including a strong audio design, can help create a very immersive play experience. It's not so much the graphics as it is the fine details that are noticeable but not overpowering. For instance, the water droplets and other visual effects used on Samus' helmet contributed greatly to the feel of Metroid Prime:
"We wanted the player to feel as if they were actually inside Samus' helmet. Our first idea was that beads of water could appear on the faceplate when Samus moved into and out of water or steam. When this test worked so well, we began to look for more opportunities to use this function, like enemy goo, Samus' reflection, and so on."
Until next time...
Captain Commando
Metroid Prime Trilogy - Get It Before It Runs Out!
1.10.10
According to a news report at 1up.com, production and shipping for the Metroid Prime Trilogy have ceased. With poor sales probably to blame for this, the three-game compilation may soon become somewhat of a rarity to game collectors.
If you intend to own the Trilogy, we recommend you jump on it pretty soon before your window of opportunity closes. I'd advise not waiting to pick up a used copy, because the prices may skyrocket once it's officially gone from retail shelves.
As of this writing, you can snag copies for $45 and up from Amazon.com resellers.
If you own a Wii and enjoyed the Prime series, then you don't want to miss out on this small window of opportunity!
-Jesse D
And the winners are...
1.4.10
The results are in! Our Make-a-Metroid contest was very successful, and after a very long, tough discussion with the fellow staff members, we were able to narrow it down to three lucky winners: Kevin Rayner with 1st place, Jay Field with 2nd, and Alvin Gordian with 3rd. Check out the wining entries as well as all the others on the official contest page. Congratulations to everyone and again, thank you all so very much for participating and making this contest a great success!
--Infinity's End
Happy New Year!
1.1.10
The Make-a-Metroid Contest has officially ended. And with it, we have a bunch of great entries that we will be judging over the weekend to give you the results on the following Monday.
A couple of weeks ago, I also created my own metroid, just for fun. It was made out of a glass bowl that I turned upside-down, red poms, red pipe cleaners, and Super Sculpey. I really enjoyed making it and I hope you all had an equally great time making yours. We got a lot of great entries in and I thank you all so very much for taking the time to make yours. Be sure to come back this Monday for all the official results!
We have a lot of things to look forward to this year, specifically Metroid: Other M, which has the potential of becoming the greatest Metroid game ever made. 2009 was a blast for the MDb, and we have plenty of things for you that we are working on to make sure 2010 is even better!
--Infinity's End
Flippin' AWESOME Metroid Quilt
12.31.09
So, it's Christmas morning and I am unwrapping gifts with my family and my girlfriend. A particularly large gift box had been sitting under the Christmas for three days, and it was of persistent interest to me not only because its size, nor due to the fact that my name was written on it, but also because of how excited my girlfriend was to see me open it. So excited, in fact, that she made sure that it would be the last thing I would unwrap.
The hype is unbearable, I've exhausted my list of guesses, and now that it's Christmas morning I still have to wait? I can attest now having seen it that it was worth the wait. I eagerly opened the box, and underneath the folds of the box was... a phone book. Hm. Guess it was there as a counterbalance to dissuade any preeminent probing or shaking I may have attempted beforehand. Sneaky. And under that?
Observe:
My girlfriend had spent a total of fourteen months (off and on) designing, cutting and sewing this 5.5 x 6.5 ft (basically, queen-sized) quilt. These were fourteen months during which I had no frikkin' clue of what was going on under my nose and behind the scenes. To say I did a backflip upon unwrapping it would be an understatement.
I love my girlfriend.
-Jesse D
Metroid Metal at MAGFest, Yuki at Anime Matsuri!
12.27.09
If you are in the Alexandria, Virginia area this weekend, be sure to check out MAGFest from January 1-4 (and a New Year's Eve party on the 31st). Along with artists and performers such as Jake "Virt" Kaufman, Arm Cannon, and Select Start, Metroid Metal will be performing. Oh yeah, you can also pick up early Contra 4: Rocked 'n' Loaded albums there too! With performers like these, MAGFest is THE place to be if you're into game music and metal. For Metroid fans in particular, this is another chance to see Metroid Metal live (along with song other performers doing Metroid) - as well as hear a brand new mystery song Metroid Metal will be debuting! They should be playing on Friday. If you didn't get a badge yet, don't fret - they will be available at the door for $45, and it's WELL worth it.
The second piece of Metroid-related news is Thaís Jussim, aka Yuki, the Samus cosplayer extraordinaire, will be performing as Samus at Anime Matsuri (April 2-4, 2010) in The Woodlands, Texas (about a half hour north of Houston). If you remember, we interviewed Yuki awhile back. Since then, she has won several cosplay contests - just take a quick glance at her homepage or her DeviantArt page, and you'll see why! She was invited to attend from Brazil, so if you are attending the conference, this is a unique chance to meet the internationally renowned cosplayer! In addition, she has recently done a series of suitless Samus cosplays from Super Metroid, so check those out as well! When you see her, make sure to let her know the Metroid Database sent ya!
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