tl;dr: metroid's problem is it shares its 30th with pokemon's 20th.I rather think Metroid's problem is the weakness of Nintendo's current console generation. Nintendo is afraid to put much effort in a sequel of a beloved series, with only so many Wii U's floating around at the end of its lifespan.
Defenitely don't think Metroid is being handled well right now; other ips are focused on more because of sales.
That being said, I really think the whole reactionary " NX is doomed train" is completely overblown at the moment, considering the Tegra architecture is ARM-based, which will allow for easy phone ports and possible 3DS backwards comptability. It's also an architecture that is much easier to port x86 games on, compared to Wii U ports from x86 to PowerPC. The company isn't stupid enough to make a system design complicated like the Wii U, but it has to differenate itself from its competitors, which are just low-powered PC's with system updates every few years to keep the hardware up to a decent level.
I think a big part of the lack of 30th anniversary recognition for Metroid has a lot to do with the fact that Metroid just isn't as popular in Japan as it is in the rest of the world. If I correctly remember what I read a while back, that's the reason Metroid games have been so few and far between; Nintendo is reluctant to make more of them because they just don't sell as well as their main franchises, especially in Japan.
Anyway, Super Metroid is among my top 10 personal favorite games. Metroid Prime is great, as are the portable offerings.
The NES original, honestly, was a little too broad for my younger mind to comprehend, and I didn't play it much at first because the areas were just so huge and confusing (at least without my handy-dandy Nintendo Power :)). Prime 2 is just OK, and I didn't play Prime 3 due to basically hating the motion controls.
I really don't like speculating, and you're being super pessimistic.. but...I think a big part of the lack of 30th anniversary recognition for Metroid has a lot to do with the fact that Metroid just isn't as popular in Japan as it is in the rest of the world. If I correctly remember what I read a while back, that's the reason Metroid games have been so few and far between; Nintendo is reluctant to make more of them because they just don't sell as well as their main franchises, especially in Japan.
Anyway, Super Metroid is among my top 10 personal favorite games. Metroid Prime is great, as are the portable offerings.
The NES original, honestly, was a little too broad for my younger mind to comprehend, and I didn't play it much at first because the areas were just so huge and confusing (at least without my handy-dandy Nintendo Power :)). Prime 2 is just OK, and I didn't play Prime 3 due to basically hating the motion controls.
If Nintendo truly doesn't give Metroid much attention because it's not as "big" in Japan, then they are bigger idiots than I initially thought. Japan isn't and hasn't been anywhere near the largest games market in a very long time. Over two decades.
Super Metroid III is and will always be among my very favorite games. Didn't care for the Prime games as I think the translation into a FPS didn't do the series justice. But if it was 2D, I loved it.
I really don't like speculating, and you're being super pessimistic.. but...
Retro Studios in Austin IS working on a new game. These are the folks who did the Donkey Kong Country Returns games, so they are pretty good with the 2.5D games. They also did the Metroid Prime games, so they have history with working with the franchise. It's entirely possible they are producing a new Metroid game.
Whatever game they ARE working on, they've been working on it since 2014 (honestly late-2013), so we might be due for some news. Just saying.
The bottom line is, Nintendo is a Japanese company and is more attuned to Japanese sensibility. I don't remember if it was Super Metroid or Metroid Prime, but Nintendo was not planning to continue the series due to a perceived lack of interest and they had to be persuaded to make another game. I think it was Nintendo of America that persuaded them because the series was so much bigger in the US and they realized there was more money to be made, something Nintendo of Japan was not aware of.
I've always been a Nintendo supporter, even back to the Game & Watch. But their recent products have lost me as a customer. My Wii sat unused for 2 years before I sold it and all my games to a co-worker. I have zero interest in the Wii U or the 3DS. Motion controls are just not my thing, and 3D gives me a headache. Yes, I know there's now a 2DS, but there's no games that make me want to jump up and buy one.
Retro Studios in Austin IS working on a new game. These are the folks who did the Donkey Kong Country Returns games, so they are pretty good with the 2.5D games. They also did the Metroid Prime games, so they have history with working with the franchise. It's entirely possible they are producing a new Metroid game.
Whatever game they ARE working on, they've been working on it since 2014 (honestly late-2013), so we might be due for some news. Just saying.
The bottom line is, Nintendo is a Japanese company and is more attuned to Japanese sensibility. I don't remember if it was Super Metroid or Metroid Prime, but Nintendo was not planning to continue the series due to a perceived lack of interest and they had to be persuaded to make another game. I think it was Nintendo of America that persuaded them because the series was so much bigger in the US and they realized there was more money to be made, something Nintendo of Japan was not aware of.
I've always been a Nintendo supporter, even back to the Game & Watch. But their recent products have lost me as a customer. My Wii sat unused for 2 years before I sold it and all my games to a co-worker. I have zero interest in the Wii U or the 3DS. Motion controls are just not my thing, and 3D gives me a headache. Yes, I know there's now a 2DS, but there's no games that make me want to jump up and buy one.
LOL....all Nintendo would have to do is look online to see there was a demand for Metroid games in the US and EU. But I guess they couldn't figure out how to go online without a mandatory friend code. ::)
I feel the same as you. I've played Nintendo games since the days of Donkey Kong in the arcade, Atari 2600 and ColecoVision. The Wii completely lost me because I despise the mandatory motion controls and the games in general didn't appeal to me. The only reason we originally kept it around was for our two daughters and now it has a bazillion games emulated on it. Even at that, I despise the system itself and rarely use it. I think with Wii U, I had about 10 games at one point. Mario Kart 8, New Super Mario Wii U and Super Mario 3D World were the only games I really enjoyed on it. After spending the past six months in standby mode, I finally sold it and the few remaining games I had for it. I don't do much portable gaming and usually when I do, it's because some game I want isn't available on a console and it's my only option to play it. Nintendo released the "New" 3DS which should have been great, but all they did was make a crappy port of Xenoblade Chronicles for it and said fuck it. They couldn't even be bothered to include an AC adapter in the box! How friggin' cheap is that?
Now we have the NX coming up which Nintendo is being super secretive about so others won't "steal their ideas." ::) You know what this tells me? It tells me the systems and it's controllers are going to be yet another gimmick instead of something more standard. If it truly is a handheld/console hybrid, it won't be as powerful as a dedicated console. If rumors are to be believed, it will be tablet-sized. That automatically guarantees that I'm not going to get one and carry it around to play. I don't do that with my iPad, I'm not going to do that with an (undoubtedly larger) game system. Something in a tablet form-factor will have low power/low temp chips because there will really be no good way to keep it running cool otherwise. That says "lower spec" to me. With the rumors it's going to run on an NVidia Tegra SoC, it sounds like it will be Wii U quality at best. Then you have it being a pretty sure bet that it will use mini cartridges and coupled with Nintendo's historically cheap-ass practices, they most assuredly won't have the storage capacity of a Blu-Ray disc.
Like I said, Nintendo lost me with the Wii. I tried again with the Wii U and it wasn't for me. They left the "New" 3DS to languish. I don't see anything about NX that will convince me to buy one.
If they are working on another Prime-like game, they can keep it. Its not "Metroid". It may as well be Clusterfuck Prime starring Samus.
The same shit happened at their 25th Anniversary so to be quite honest I really don't expect anything from Nintendo and not only for this franchise, it appears that the destiny of the company it will the worst one, kinda sad to see that the one who made my childhood pure fun can't make the same thing one way or another for my daughters.(http://i.imgur.com/SjkzWAu.jpg)
I really don't like speculating, and you're being super pessimistic.. but...
Retro Studios in Austin IS working on a new game. These are the folks who did the Donkey Kong Country Returns games, so they are pretty good with the 2.5D games. They also did the Metroid Prime games, so they have history with working with the franchise. It's entirely possible they are producing a new Metroid game.
Whatever game they ARE working on, they've been working on it since 2014 (honestly late-2013), so we might be due for some news. Just saying.
Nah, not pessimistic. Just being a realist. Nintendo has gone brain-dead. I have lost all faith in them. Aside from the Mini NES, I don't see myself buying anything Nintendo. It is a huge investment in a new system, just to play a handful of Nintendo games. Even more so when you take Zelda out of the equation for me since I haven't cared for that series since after Wind Waker on the Gamecube.
Like I said, I'm very, very happy for the Nintendo fans looking forward to the NX and are able to willfully jump through their hoops to play the games. I just can't do it anymore.
Despite YOUR opinion, the Prime games are highly rated. My statement wasn't to say they were going to make another Prime game, but that they have experience with the franchise, and make very good 2D games.Retro Studios in Austin IS working on a new game. These are the folks who did the Donkey Kong Country Returns games, so they are pretty good with the 2.5D games. They also did the Metroid Prime games, so they have history with working with the franchise. It's entirely possible they are producing a new Metroid game.
Whatever game they ARE working on, they've been working on it since 2014 (honestly late-2013), so we might be due for some news. Just saying.
If they are working on another Prime-like game, they can keep it. Its not "Metroid". It may as well be Clusterfuck Prime starring Samus.
Nintendo did everyone a sold for Metroid's anniversary. They said absolutely nothing about it nor acknowledged it, and ordered a cease & desist to take down the fan remake of Metroid II.If you read the dude's post, he said he is verifying the integrity of the DMCA, since anyone can DMCA anybody for anything. Also, the file is still up for download.
Man, Nintendo can go suck the big green weenie. They've really turned into a shit company. I get protecting your intellectual property and all, but this fan work wasn't hurting a damn thing. Where most companies would embrace something like this, Nintendo spits in gamers faces by not mentioning Metroid's anniversary or anything, then getting all legal on some of their most devoted fans who took all the time to make this game happen.
Fuck you Nintendo. Fuck you.
For those getting angry about the C&D, Nintendo commonly upholds IP law against fan projects like other Japanese companies, even though I think their approach is pretty harsh at times and that IP law should be revised.
One other example being Victor Entertainment prohibiting Namco arcade music from the 80s-90s along other songs, from being heard in the U.S. because of Youtube Red's policies breaking IP law.
You can still download the file as a torrent from the website, and still play the game.
No, most people have always been upset when fan projects were taken down by Japanese companies because of their IP law, same thing with videos like SE region-locking DQ footage. I do agree that they have been neglecting fans, and that they really need a strong Metroid game to sell well so that they see that people are still interested in those kind of games.
They've only lost money in two years out of their 110 year existence ( 2012 and 2014), mostly because they're smart when it comes to managing their money. When it comes to their IP's, I agree that they're not good with those, especially with the way that Paper Mario has come too. Their handhelds are built cheaply and the markup is huge, especially with using 3D screens that are low res.
Once again, I don't think anyone has enough info to predict that NX will just automatically fail. The other competitors are going to try to sell first gen gimmicky VR in 2017 along with new consoles, and then ask consumers to buy both because its " powerful" and " new". If NX is supposed to be a "gimmick" with little info on how that is supposed to be the case, then I guess stuff like PSVR should be a gimmick as well.
Nintendo did everyone a solid for Metroid's anniversary. They said absolutely nothing about it nor acknowledged it, and ordered a cease & desist to take down the fan remake of Metroid II.
Man, Nintendo can go suck the big green weenie. They've really turned into a shit company. I get protecting your intellectual property and all, but this fan work wasn't hurting a damn thing. Where most companies would embrace something like this, Nintendo spits in gamers faces by not mentioning Metroid's anniversary or anything, then getting all legal on some of their most devoted fans who took all the time to make this game happen.
Fuck you Nintendo. Fuck you.
When you say recent, that's the Q2 2016 report. There will probably be an uptick in the next two quarters from Pokemon Go and MiniNES, but their Wii U marketing has to improve.
What worries me about VR is that it will possibly have the same problem as the Wii, because of its limitations at the moment. Even though there are developers who can make VR games ( just like how there were good Wii games that didn't abuse the waggle controls), the potential of that market to get oversaturated with low quality content is something that needs quality control.
Nintendo is going to move some Ip's to mobile gaming anyways, because despite the limitations of the platform, they can make a ton of money off of that area. But I think the area they really need to improve in is their marketing, which is the main reason why the Wii U failed, not the Gamepad.
So I holding my breath to see how the NX news will unveil itself, and then decide when to get NX. I'm planning on doing a NX exclusive+PC combo, ( similar to my current Wii U+ PC combo), since most of the multiplats I want have the best graphics and performance on PC for lower cost.
When you say recent, that's the Q2 2016 report. There will probably be an uptick in the next two quarters from Pokemon Go and MiniNES, but their Wii U marketing has to improve.
What worries me about VR is that it will possibly have the same problem as the Wii, because of its limitations at the moment. Even though there are developers who can make VR games ( just like how there were good Wii games that didn't abuse the waggle controls), the potential of that market to get oversaturated with low quality content is something that needs quality control.
Nintendo is going to move some Ip's to mobile gaming anyways, because despite the limitations of the platform, they can make a ton of money off of that area. But I think the area they really need to improve in is their marketing, which is the main reason why the Wii U failed, not the Gamepad.
So I holding my breath to see how the NX news will unveil itself, and then decide when to get NX. I'm planning on doing a NX exclusive+PC combo, ( similar to my current Wii U+ PC combo), since most of the multiplats I want have the best graphics and performance on PC for lower cost.
I like having discussions with you Maximo. It's always civil and it's enlightening to see your viewpoint. :)
It's too late for Wii U marketing and Nintendo knows it. I think that's why they don't even bother. We are seeing some backlash against Niantic for their handling of Pokémon Go right now. It is a runaway success, but the game has obvious problems and some of the patches they have released have angered their player base. I hope it works out for them in the end as it will show Nintendo that moving onto other platforms can work for them.
There are inherent limitations to VR at the moment and you are spot on with your concerns. We will undoubtedly see a plethora of shovelware. While Sony and Microsoft platforms are no strangers to crap titles, I'm hoping that they don't become an outlet for schlock software. I think the Wii was a shovelware haven through no fault of Nintendo's: It sold like gang-busters so everyone jumped in to make a quick buck. If Nintendo was responsible in any way, it was because they allowed the trash to get certified and released.
If by exclusive NX+PC combo you mean you aren't going to play PS4 or Xbox One games...well that's your choice but you will be missing out on some great exclusives. But again, it's all choice and by me not buying an NX, I'm sure I'll be missing out on some great exclusives from Nintendo.
I think I can totally agree with you that their marketing is absolutely horrible. They managed to have decent marketing during the beginning of the Wii's and DS lifecycle, what happened!? But they are slow to listen to fans on their ends. Having played Pokemon Go for the last month, the recent changes have made it harder to catch, acquire, and beat Pokemon, and it seems like a step back in multiple ways. I'm probably gonna quit by the end of the month if they don't add in trainer battles or necessary features.
I hope so for VR as well, but I remember that I didn't buy too much for the Wii for a few years because it felt like it was being surrounded by shovelware. It wasn't till about 2012 where I did some research from videos and on this website and found that there are a great amount of hidden gems on the system. It's too bad that some of those games got very little marketing, while some of the shovelware titles from Ubisoft got lots of marketing ( and was the start of the Just Dance series).
The NX+PC combo is tenative right now; I was considering getting a PS4 but with all of the news of the Neo, I was thinking about waiting a bit for it to come out and see if its like a new 3DS situation or if lots of developers shift to developing for the console.
And thanks for discussing this; I may come off as a bit hotheaded at times, but this is fun.