Metroid: Other M

[darksnowman]

it;s impossible to judge it but i'll say this from the trailer

 

3) a well needed refreshing take on the series

 

Yep, agreed. Impossible to judge it but the trailer is really well put together and pretty exhilarating to watch- not the norm for Nintendo games! Metroid is definitely in need of a rethink after having a set of games in first person.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I wonder if the Metroid switch from 1st to 3rd will mean Zelda switches from 3rd to 1st, haha.

[ShadowV7]

Zelda already switches from 1st to 3rd

 

Bow and Arrow!

[Fierce_LiNk]

Zelda already switches from 1st to 3rd

 

Bow and Arrow!

 

You got your comeback wrong. He switches from 3rd to 1st.

 

Pffft, as if that counts.

[Zechs Merquise]

I think it's kind of funny hearing the complaints that this sort of action perspective is all wrong for the series following the Prime games - I can still recall the complaints about turning a classic platformer like Metroid into a "FPS" after Prime was first unveiled.

 

I remember those too. People were up in arms, especially as they said thegrapple beam, jumping and screw attack would be dropped or be broken. In the end Prime ended up being one of the best games ever.

 

I think its great they find yet another way to re-imagine the series. Genius move really and it seems in the right direction.

 

Exactly!

[navarre]

I wonder if the Metroid switch from 1st to 3rd will mean Zelda switches from 3rd to 1st, haha.

 

Now that is an idea.

 

Not a good one, but it'd be interesting to see.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Now that is an idea.

 

Not a good one, but it'd be interesting to see.

 

Haha, it definitely is interesting. Although, I think it all depends on how decent the swordplay can be done on the Wii, particularly with WiiMotionPlus. If the Zelda series were one which was orientated around gunfire and stuff, then I think it could handle the jump into 1st Person quite easily.

 

One thing though, it would make exploring the dungeons very different. I'd actually love to see some footage of classic Zelda dungeons but in first person all the way through. Mmm.

[Daft]

also: not digging the story elements. At all.

 

What I've always wanted.

 

I'm psyched for this game. I really hope it delivers but it's pretty much already a must buy for me.

[dwarf]

I like how the game is mixing 3 perspectives, I don't think many, if any games have done that before. Well Warioware does but that's different. I mean games shouldn't be bound to one camera if it uses all 3 well.

 

I think Samus in 3rd person will be awesome though. This is more an action title than a scan/adventure one which is good and bad at the same time. Can't have it all.

[Guest Captain Falcon]

2) i think it's clearly based before most metroids anyway

 

Yoshio Sakamoto confirmed it takes place between Super and Fusion.

 

There's an interview on 1 up with him and some guy from Team Ninja.

 

It also mentioned that there aren't two Samus' but he was reluctant to say who the other blonde lady was - I'm thinking unknown sister.

 

Found the link - here you go for those that haven't seen it.

Edited June 4, 2009 by Captain Falcon

[James McGeachie]

I wonder if any other sites have had a chance to interview them! I want to see as much information about this as possible. Also as much about Dread as possible even if it's just subtle hints that they might be working on it.

 

The best so far was him saying that it 'might come out some day' or something which wasn't really what I wanted to hear!

[Dante]

IGN Interview!

 

At E3 2009 in Los Angeles we had the chance to chat with famed Metroid series influencer and Metroid: Other M director Yoshio Sakamoto about the forthcoming Project M-developed game. Sakamoto spoke candidly about the ambitious title's focus and also confirmed that Metroid Dread for DS is not yet forgotten.

 

 

IGN: Metroid: Other M was a huge surprise for us at E3 2009 and we're really excited for it. We're wondering how the partnership with Team Ninja came about.

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: I've been working on Metroid games for quite awhile, but in 2006, having seen the Wii, its capabilities and the features available through it, I wanted to challenge myself to see what I could produce for that particular system and it was at that point that I started mulling other concepts. My team and myself have had experience working on Metroid game, but it's all been in the handheld realm and it's all been in 2D, so we lacked both the experience and the manpower to create a 3D Metroid experience. It was at that time that I realized I needed to find a partner help me realize my concept.

 

When I was considering what I was going to look for in this partner, I not only wanted to find somebody who was going to understand my concept as it existed, but could also contribute based on their own experience and expertise and I was very fortunate when I proposed this idea to members of Team Ninja and they seemed to really be able to understand and grasp my idea and they were happy to jump on board as well.

 

During those initial meetings, I did not approach Team Ninja knowing that they were Team Ninja and had that experience behind them. Granted, I appreciated the fact that they did have game development experience, but not specifically with regard to action games. What I was looking for was a partner that could contribute their strengths and possibly balance out our weaknesses, assuming we could do the same for them. We have the experience of creating Metroid games. They have the experience of creating action games. Together, instead of being Nintendo and Team Ninja, we became Project M. And our goal is to create the best Metroid: Other M that we can.

 

IGN: How is Project M separated between the teams? How big is the overall team?

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: In addition to the members of the staff from Nintendo and Team Ninja, as you saw in the trailer, there are a lot of cinematics that help us tell the story within Other M so we're also working with a company called D-Rockets, led by a director named Mr. Kitaura. In total, with the the three companies combined that make Project M, we have over 100 people on our staff.

 

IGN: We're all huge Metroid fans. We loved Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. So we're really psyched that we're finally going to get some real back story on Samus. How much in terms of story and cinematics can we expect?

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: One thing I need to explain is that I was really not that involved directly in the development of the Metroid Prime series. What I was involved in was the development of the initial NES Metroid, the GBA Metroid, Super Metroid and then finally Metroid Fusion. And within that timeline, the Other M story will take place between Super Metroid and the Fusion stories. What I hope to achieve with Other M is answer those questions -- you know, who is Samus? What is her background? Who are the characters that made her what she is? All these questions and more will be answered. I could tell you a little more about the details of what you might expect, but I don't want to ruin it for you so I'll just leave it at that.

 

IGN: Can we expect a lot of storytelling and cinematics in the game?

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: That's actually a really interesting question. A lot of times movies within games are handled as decorations as augment the experience, but my goal is to make the whole experience very seamless. So when you're going from an action sequence where you're controlling it and then the game will naturally progress into the cinematics. So I hope the experience is very seamless and natural.

 

IGN: Has working with Team Ninja brought about a more action-oriented Metroid with less focus on adventure?

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: I think Metroid has always been a little bit of action as well as adventure, but because we are teaming up with Team Ninja, I do think that they will bring things to the table that we haven't been able to do in the past. But again, a huge part of Metroid is the adventure aspect and we do want to stay true to that as well.

 

IGN: Can you give us some idea of how the controls work?

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: I'm terribly sorry, but I can't give you details on the controls at this time.

 

IGN: How do the third-person and first-person action coexist?

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: Unfortunately, I can't give you details on how the perspective is going to be used in the game either, but if you take the time to really dissect the trailer, you should get a pretty good idea of maybe how the game is going to play. Our goal ultimately is to create the ultimate Metroid experience so really pay attention to the trailer and I think it should give you some good impressions. That said, though, development is progressing at a pretty good pace, so I'm think I should be able to supply a demo for you guys to experience pretty soon.

 

IGN: When you beat the original Metroid, there's a warning of 'another Metroid.' Is that what 'Other M' refers to in the title of the Wii game?

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: The NES Metroid? I don't remember.

 

IGN: [Laughing] We guess that answers it then. Okay, we have to ask about Metroid Dread. It popped up on an internal Nintendo release list awhile back and we haven't heard anything about it since.

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: This is quite awhile ago. A few E3s back. I can only say right now that this is Other M, it is not Metroid Dread. But as a concept the Metroid Dread idea does still exist within my mind so maybe sometime in the future I will be able to bring that to you.

 

IGN: Are you burned out on the prospect of doing another 2D Metroid, or does the possibility still excite you, maybe for WiiWare or DSiWare, if nothing else?

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: It's not as though my team or myself have grown tired of creating 2D games, but I think it's all what the concept is, what the game design is, and what best suits that whether it's on the Wii or DS. So moving forward, if an idea comes up that is best suited for DS then we'll pursue that.

 

IGN: Great. Any final comments on Metroid: Other M that you really want Metroid fans to know about?

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: What my team and I are shooting for is the ultimate Metroid experience. Up until now we've created the Samus who, yes, is indeed a strong, charming and very cool heroine. But what we're hoping to create is a Samus now that not just fans of Metroid will appreciate, but everyone who is experiencing the game. So I'm hoping that everyone looks forward to exploring that Metroid world and experiencing Samus as a character.

[James McGeachie]

Haha, that's virtually exactly what I was wanting minutes before you posted that.

 

It seems Dread still doesn't exist in any solid form then, it was just concepts and ideas that he was playing with but I guess never took far into actual development. I guess no one ever did say that they saw the game but I guess perhaps there was some internal confusion about the project's status at one point.

 

Pretty much guarantees there then that this will be much more action oriented to some degree but the adventure elements will definitely still be there. If beforehand though it was 70% exploration, 30% action then I bet now it's more of a 50-50 balance.

 

I really love the idea that this is the first 3D Metroid that Sakamoto is heavily involved with. For people who don't know, he actually directed Metroid 1 (based on Gunpei Yokoi's concept I believe), Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission. I'm not sure about Metroid 2 though.

 

Basically though he's the man responsible for the majority of what makes the classic games so great and his influence was mostly missing for Prime.

[Kav]

This absolutely has to be my most anticipated game! Bring on that demo as soon as possible man! I'd love to see that!

[Emasher]

I'm still not sure this is exactly a 3D game. It still looks to be axis limited to me. But I'm sure the adventure will still be there, I think it was mentioned in an interview that they're keeping a balance. It wouldn't make sense to put adventure in a trailer anyway.

[Kav]

I'm still not sure this is exactly a 3D game. It still looks to be axis limited to me. But I'm sure the adventure will still be there, I think it was mentioned in an interview that they're keeping a balance. It wouldn't make sense to put adventure in a trailer anyway.

 

Looking at the trailer, it seems that way to me too... but hell, I don't mind one bit! Haha

[mcj metroid]

I gotta say im sick of hearing about dread... it popped up randomly on a release list and that's it.. It existed some say but won't come out.. and nobody knew what it was..

 

I still want a 2d ds metroid though... metroid has yet to be cool on ds.. pinball and hunters compared to zero-mission and fusion on gba.. CMON!

[James McGeachie]

I'm still not sure this is exactly a 3D game. It still looks to be axis limited to me. But I'm sure the adventure will still be there, I think it was mentioned in an interview that they're keeping a balance. It wouldn't make sense to put adventure in a trailer anyway.

 

I don't think it's axis limited. Some scenes in the trailer are certainly "scripted" gameplay of course though.

 

Anyway the main reason I don't think it's axis limited is there are some parts that specifically seem like areas you can move around within. Like there are large circular looking rooms Samus is fighting at points and areas like that make no sense if you were just following one Axis and the level was moving around with you.

 

I don't expect as much freedom to explore as the 2d titles and perhaps maybe slightly less than Prime even but I don't think it's goint to be drastically restrained, I'm sure you can move within 3 dimensions at least.

 

I gotta say im sick of hearing about dread... it popped up randomly on a release list and that's it.. It existed some say but won't come out.. and nobody knew what it was..

 

The frickin series director (director of Metroid, SM, MF and MZM) just said in that interview (and the 1up one/Kotaku) that it might still come to be.

 

"Dread" isn't so much a game itself it seems but a concept of a DS 2D Metroid, so when they talk about it they're basically talking about about any new 2D Metroid on DS.

 

The DS still seems to have a long lifespan ahead of it even now so it's entirely likely it will still come to be. I'm sure that's why they didn't just outright set Other M after Fusion, because they still plan on having a sidescroller continue the main story as "Metroid V".

Edited June 4, 2009 by James McGeachie

[Guest Captain Falcon]

 

I really love the idea that this is the first 3D Metroid that Sakamoto is heavily involved with. For people who don't know, he actually directed Metroid 1 (based on Gunpei Yokoi's concept I believe), Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission. I'm not sure about Metroid 2 though.

 

I'm fairly sure the original concept was Sakamoto's (though I forget who came up with the idea of Samus) and he had nothing to do with Return of Samus.

[Dante]

No one wants to talk about this part of the interview?

 

IGN: How is Project M separated between the teams? How big is the overall team?

 

Yoshio Sakamoto: In addition to the members of the staff from Nintendo and Team Ninja, as you saw in the trailer, there are a lot of cinematics that help us tell the story within Other M so we're also working with a company called D-Rockets, led by a director named Mr. Kitaura. In total, with the the three companies combined that make Project M, we have over 100 people on our staff.

[david.dakota]

Are you refering to D-Rockets (haven't heard of them) or the team size, or something else?

[Goron_3]

Are you refering to D-Rockets (haven't heard of them) or the team size, or something else?

 

I think he's referring to the fact that that part of the statement implies the game will be very heavy on cinematics; they're going all out on this title. Wouldn't be surprised if it becomes the new bench mark on Wii.

 

Ahh im just happy they didn't annouce an on-rails metroid

[Jamba]

It's not the perspective that worries me- it's the potential shift towards action at the expense of what makes the series appealing.

 

Well as you can see from the IGN interview, Sakamoto isn't going to let that happen.

[Retro_Link]

No one wants to talk about this part of the interview?

You could!

Ahh im just happy they didn't annouce an on-rails metroid

True!

[Jamba]

You could!

 

Genius, pure and totally adulterated.