Metroid Database.com

Okay, well, all of us at the MDb have gotten our copies of Metroid Prime 2, so now it's Metroid Day for sure! And in a move that will surely shock and awe those of you who are used to the MDb going on indefinite hiatus when a new Metroid game comes out, I've already thrown the packaging scans up in the MP2 section. (Yes, the shiny/prismy packaging dazzled me silly.) But wait, there's more!

I'm going to try something new this time. Instead of waiting until we've all torn the game to bits before updating the site, I'm going to do something I'm calling the Metroid Prime 2 Review Diary. Located in the MP2 section where the MDb Reviews would normally be, I'll be posting my impressions on the new game every day or two or three, as I play -- and once I've completed it, I'll wipe out the diary and post my final review. That means the MP2RD is a Limited Edition Collector's Item, so read it while you can! And yes, it's gonna be spoileriffic, so stay away from it if you don't wanna know what I've seen. The first-day entry is going up tonight!

--TJ

Happy Metroid Day! ...Actually, depending on when your favorite game shop receives your copy of MP2, Metroid Day could be today, tomorrow or Wednesday. Anyway, today there's some new nav icons going up top. Please excuse the mess for a little while.

If you're wondering about the order of the icons, I decided to put the Metroid 1-4 games together in order of release date, which is why MZM is after MF. Then I put the Prime games together, since there are three of them now, and the Prime series is kind of taking on a life of its own. Finally, I stacked two smaller Smash Bros. icons, since they're not specifically Metroid games and their sections on the MDb are smaller anyway. Hope it all makes sense. Anyway, it's pretty packed up there now; if Nintendo decides to announce Metroid 5 or Prime 3 or Smash 3 or Metroid RPG or Samus Dating Sim or Mother Brain Beach Volleyball or something, I'm gonna have to redo the whole shootin' match AGAIN.

Front pages for MP2 and MPH are also now online; we're all ready for Prime 2. Unfortunately, I won't be getting my copy until the morning of the 16th, so no new header graphic up there until at least late Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

--TJ

Channel 51 is being updated just about weekly now, and the images are getting clearer. The veil is beyond thin, but I still can't get anyone to talk to me on AIM...They've also added a new site, Athena Astronautics, which is a program dedicated to sending women into space...Meanwhile, I'm not even gonna bother updating that list below of ilove... sites. There's a ridiculous number of them and I can't help but think of how much it must have cost just to register those domains, all for the sake of this one joke...

--TJ

Although Nintendo has been advertising the release date for Metroid Prime 2 as November 15, and this is still the date listed on their website, the TV commercial is telling us November 17 instead. What does this mean? Well, you know the drill by now: the ship date is not always the date you'll see it in stores. I'm assuming the 11/17 date is definitely when you'll be able to buy MP2, but some of us may get lucky and see those shipments as early as Monday night on the 15th. Check with your local retailer to find out for sure.

--TJ

Just wanted to give a quick public thank you to Grant for the Metroid Metal CDs! Cheers!

--TJ

Way to take a stab at the Halo 2 gimmick, but this borders on silly. I believe these are "official," as much as Channel 51 and Orbis Labs are. They're all identical, so click on the first one and you've seen 'em all:

The first one found was www.ilovebeams.com, and then it snowballed from there:

01: http://www.ilovebeaks.com/
02: http://www.ilovebeams.com/
03: http://www.ilovebeasts.com/
04: http://www.ilovebeeps.com/
05: http://www.ilovebeets.com/
06: http://www.ilovebreeze.com
07: http://www.ilovecees.com/
08: http://www.ilovecreamcheese.com
09: http://www.ilovedisease.com
10: http://www.iloveease.com/
11: http://www.iloveescapees.com
12: http://www.ilovefees.com/
13: http://www.iloveflees.com
14: http://www.ilovegees.com/
15: http://www.ilovehees.com/
16: http://www.ilovejeez.com
17: http://www.ilovekeys.com/
18: http://www.iloveknees.com/
19: http://www.ilovelees.com
20: http://www.ilovenees.com/
21: http://www.ilovepeas.com
22: http://www.iloveplease.com
23: http://www.iloveseas.com
24: http://www.iloveskis.com/
25: http://www.ilovesprees.com
26: http://www.ilovesneeze.com/
27: http://www.ilovesqueeze.com
28: http://www.ilovetease.com/
29: http://www.ilovetrapeze.com
30: http://www.ilovevees.com/
31: http://www.ilovewheeze.com

Yes, apparently someone does love fees, cuz that's a LOT of goofy domain names to register. Thanks to yodanut, Infinity's End, and the other MDb message board visitors for digging these up!

--TJ

Fellow Metroid fansite Samus.co.uk tipped off its visitors to Nintendo's sneaky new marketing for Metroid Prime 2: a couple of websites that, so far, have loose ties to the new game. The Channel 51 site, in particular, has some "photos" of alien life which are clearly screenshots from the new game, and some alien autopsy-type photos with some creatures that look kinda familiar.

Amusingly, the person claiming to be behind Channel 51 identifies herself as "Samantha Manus," which is just an "-antha Man-" away from being "Samus." Even a WHOIS search for channel51.org turns up that name as the registrant of the domain. If that's not cute enough, she's from Sumas, Washington (believe it or not, there is actually a small town called Sumas in NOA's home state -- check it out).

Although the sites contain links to other "legitimate" sites, so far it seems the main promotional sites are channel51.org and orbislabs.com. Not sure if some of the other sites that are linked from these sites are part of the gimmick, and I dunno if this is going to turn into some sort of ARG (Alternate Reality Game) like the ilovebees thing that those Halo guys are doing. More as it develops.

--TJ

Retailers should now have the promotional "Bounty Hunter" t-shirts available by pre-ordering Metroid Prime 2 in stock. If you haven't pre-ordered yet, go to your local game haunt and see if they're offering 'em. (Personally I shop at EB Games -- there are a few other stores that have them, but at least one of them I refuse to mention on my website. So nyeah!)

There's also a teaser commercial for MP2 currently airing here in the US. Very, very little game footage is shown -- it's a pretty minimalist spot with a few ominous words about being afraid of the dark. Catch it now on your usual Nintendo-sponsored networks like G4TechTV and SpikeTV.

--TJ

Eight years?! Eight years I've been running a Metroid site? Wow. Who'da thunk it?

I know I missed #7 last year, but this year I kinda feel like staying concise. With the impending release of Prime 2 and Prime Hunters, we're up to 8 Metroid games. Which, on the average, shakes out to one per year of the MDb's life, although we know darn well that five of those eight came in the last two years. After six years of "where's Samus?", suddenly there was Prime and Fusion, then a little over a year went by and there was Zero Mission, and now here comes MP2 and MPH...it's almost a case of "be careful what you wish for," because now here I am scrambling to get sections going for more new games!

Anyways, as I said, I'm gonna keep it basic for this one...as always, big thanks go out to my partners in crime, CapCom and Asaic, as well as all the regular and occasional contributors who have donated their efforts to the MDb; thanks to Nintendo for bringing Samus back with a vengeance and keeping her around, and Retro Studios for helping to make it happen; thanks to GameSpy and Classicgaming.com for keeping the MDb around; and huge thanks, of course, to all the visitors who have enjoyed and learned from the Metroid Database.

That's all -- cheers!

TJ
MDb Webmonster

--TJ

Yeah, the MZM section is finally started. I mean, it was already started, but now it actually has stuff in it. But it's still not done. So it's started started. But not finished. Whatever. Go there and look at boxes and stuff.

Quick rundown of everything that's happened since the last update so many moons ago:

- The Nintendo DS will be released on November 21, 2004 in the US and will include a demo of Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt.
- The second series of NES Classics for the Game Boy Advance will be released on October 25 and will include Metroid. (I think fans should write to Nintendo and politely request Kid Icarus in the next wave.)
- Everybody knows about the Gamecube Metroid Bundle, which includes special packaging featuring Samus and a copy of Prime and a Metroid Prime 2: Echoes demo. Of course, the demo disc is also available by registering 5 games at nintendo.com, but you knew that already...

I think that's it. Hm, I guess I didn't miss that much in the last few months... well, the new releases are almost upon us so I guess I have some work to do... ^_^;
Meanwhile, big thanks to Cap for keeping the music and fanstuff updated! Asaic has some really nice maps and stuff ready too -- the MDb ain't dead yet. :)

Awww man, I still gotta make new nav bar icons for MP2 and MPH, and get those sections going, don't I...rrrrrrgh! :P

--TJ

As you may know, there's a Famicom-styled edition of the Game Boy Advance SP available in Japan, similar in spirit to the recently-released NES edition GBASP in America. (Actually there were two different Famicom editions, but that's not the point.) Also, much like the US' NES Classic series, NCL has been releasing classic Famicom games on the GBA -- 20 of them so far. However, unlike our GBA game packages with resurrected artwork, the Famicom Mini series are actually bitchin' little GBA-cart-sized reproductions of the original boxes.

Anyway, now that you're up to speed on the concept, the news here is that Metroid will be included in the third wave of 10 Famicom Mini carts, to be released August 10. Series 3 is the Famicom Disk System Selection, complete with little FDS package reproductions. The list of 10 releases also includes, among others, Zelda II, Super Mario Bros. 2, two Famicom Tantei Club games, Akumajo Dracula (better known as Castlevania), and of particular interest to Metroid/Gunpei Yokoi/Hip Tanaka fans, Parthena's Mirror, aka Kid Icarus.

While the inclusion of Metroid is of course way cool and fairly essential when considering an all-star collection of FDS titles, one must sort of wonder why N would bother since the original Metroid is already playable on the GBA after unlocking it in Metroid Zero Mission. No word yet on whether or not any of this series of titles will be available in the US under the NES Classics banner, but seeing as how we didn't even get all 10 of the first wave of Famicom Mini titles (we missed out on Mappy and Star Soldier), it may be a while.

Meanwhile, one can only hope that Kid Icarus will be a strong seller and could prompt Nintendo to finally consider resurrecting the character in a new game.

For more, visit these links on nintendo.co.jp:
Famicom Mini Series 1
Famicom Mini Series 2
Famicom Mini FDS Selection
Famicom Mini Metroid

--TJ

The latest issue of Game Informer magazine (issue 135, July 2004) features a beautiful Metroid Prime 2 cover and a "world exclusive" in-depth 10-page feature on the upcoming Gamecube sequel. GI was granted a special look inside Retro Studios at their progress on MP2, and plenty of interesting details are revealed.

The rest of the issue features lots of great information and photos of E3 fallout, with articles on the Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, and of course, lots of upcoming games. (Surprisingly, GI is getting pretty good, recently seeming to have shed its former identity as little more than a GameStop propaganda tool and transforming itself into a fairly respectable publication for videogame enthusiasts. Kudos to them!)

--TJ

E3 has come and gone, and Nintendo came out swinging this year with the unveiling of the Nintendo DS system, a new "realistic" Zelda title for the Gamecube, and of course, Metroid...times two!

We all figured that Metroid Prime 2: Echoes would be shown, what with new screenshots and information popping up in the last few weeks, and it was -- hot new video footage of Samus meeting something called "Dark Samus," multiplayer deathmatch footage, and even Screw Attacking and wall-jumping in third-person. Prime 2 has also been given a release date of November 15, 2004, according to Nintendo.

But Nintendo, always with something up their sleeve, also dropped on us Metroid Prime Hunters, a first-person, simultaneous 4-player game for the upcoming NDS! Similar in gameplay to the multiplayer deathmatch feature in MP2, the game utilizes the DS' dual-screen setup to display the first-person action on the lower screen, while the upper screen displays a top-view map. MPH is currently being developed by Nintendo Software Technologies, Nintendo's American development team, with support from NCL.

Look for more news on both games as it develops. Meanwhile, read up on the upcoming titles at the following links:

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Nintendo.com's MP2:E page
IGN interview with MP2:E producer Kensuke Tanabe

Metroid Prime: Hunters
Nintendo.com's Nintendo DS software preview page
IGN's Hands-On w/Metroid Prime: Hunters
IGN interview with DS software team members Takashi Tezuka and Hideki Konno
IGN MPH videos

General E3 News
E3 Insider: The official E3 news site

On a personal side note, I'm rather excited about the Nintendo DS. Besides the innovative gameplay potential -- have you read about PacPix??-- touch-screen technology, and wireless networking capability, the machine is pure Nintendo. The dual-screen setup should really come as no surprise to long-time Nintendo fans (and I'm talking pre-NES here). Nintendo has always had a double-screen fetish: from the Game & Watches to the original Punch-Out!! arcade game to the PlayChoice 10 arcade machines, they've been stacking two screens on top of each other for 20 years. I have no idea what kind of niche the DS will find in the saturated market, but as a gamer with a love of new videogame gadgetry, I can't wait to add it to my collection.

--TJ

In case you hadn't already heard everywhere else (which apparently all of you have), as reported back on April 7 here, here, here, here, and here, veteran action movie director John Woo has been named to helm the Metroid movie. The project was optioned by Woo and producers Terence Chang and Brad Foxhoven after Zide-Perry Entertainment let their rights to the film expire.

Known for years to Hong Kong film buffs for films such as A Better Tomorrow, Bullet in the Head, The Killer, and Hard Boiled, Woo is more familiar to American audiences for directing Hollywood actioners such as Face/Off, Mission: Impossible 2, and Paycheck.

No word yet on any further developments regarding the movie.

--TJ

With considerably less fanfare than the dual-release of Prime and Fusion, today is nevertheless a happy Metroid Day once again as Metroid Zero Mission hits most store shelves this morning. Yes, the official release date was yesterday, the 9th, but most of you know the ship date/sale date drill by now, so don't worry, nobody missed out on a day of MZM action or anything.

And once again, like last time, this marks the beginning of a little hiatus for the Metroid Database as Team MDb would much rather spend time playing the game than writing about it, so we'll see ya after we've torn the game apart -- which is exactly what you should be doing, too.

Have fun and enjoy Zero Mission, everybody!

--TJ

The recent press Q&A with Yoshio Sakamoto has been transcribed and posted at IGN. Fans and MDb junkies know Sakamoto as one of the main men behind the Metroid franchise, and in this Q&A session he answers lots of questions regarding Zero Mission and the Metroid series as a whole. Good read!

--TJ

If you haven't checked out the Zero Mission page at Nintendo.com lately, you're gonna wanna. New screenshots, movies and ads show that MZM is not just a simple remake of the original Metroid, but practically a whole new ball game! (Or is that Morph Ball game? har-de-har-har!) At any rate, it's definitely time to get amped up for the new release in less than a month!

--TJ