Nintendo of America has just released either some real grim or real great news about the next installment of the Metroid Prime series. If you wanted the game right now? Sucks to your ass-mar. But if you wanted a Metroid game that meets the standards of the series? Shinya Takahashi, Senior Managing Executive Officer for Nintendo may have some news for you.
In a video posted this morning, Takahashi-san let us know that “although this is very regrettable, we must let you know that the current development progress has not reached the standards we seek in a sequel to the Metroid Prime series.” This essentially means that any progress that had been made on the game up until this point has been scrapped. If you’re scrambling to play this game “immediatement” than this is horrible news for you, but then you are also probably the same kind of person who was excited for Star Wars Battlefront II. For the rest of us this means that Nintendo is putting quality over rushing a product to make a quick buck.
This can still be upsetting news, as we are in a time of developers cutting projects left and right (*cough* any EA Star Wars license *cough*. Wow, I’m starting to sound bitter. Love you, SWTOR), but I think it is refreshing news to see that the game was not scrapped entirely, and just shifted in a new direction. From scratch. Day one. From the original developer. So not all that new. Good luck, have fun. Takahashi-san stated, “Specifically, we have decided to have the Producer, Kensuke Tanabe, work in trust and collaboration with the studio that developed the original Metroid Prime series, Retro Studios in the United States, and restart development from the beginning.”
Metroid Prime 4 was initially announced at E3 in 2017, and Tanabe-san has been the producer from the get-go. For them to have reverted to Retro Studios though, Nintendo must have been a little more than dissatisfied with the product delivered thus far. Retro Studios was founded in 1998, and was the original developer of the entire Metroid Prime series, so they have a bit of experience on the subject. Takahashi-san said, “By collaborating and developing with Retro Studios, we believe we can make this game something that will meet our fans’ expectations.”
I don’t hate this, and would rather have a quality product than a papier-mâché copy of a game that I once loved. We will keep you updated as news SLOWLY develops.
Metroid Prime 4 will eventually release for the Nintendo Switch.
