Metroid Database.com

The Returners, a videogame charity fundraising group, will be performing a special 72-hour marathon play session of all the Metroid games (excepting Other M, of course!) titled Samus' Last Stand! The Returners are accepting donations for Child's Play and will play through the games on different settings depending on how much money is donated. Child's Play, in case you are unfamiliar, is an organization that donates toys, videogames, books, and money to sick kids in children's hospitals around the country. We're proud to see these folks out there fighting alien parasites for charity, and we hope you check it out too! The marathon will run from 7:00 PM EST on August 27 to 7:00 PM EST on the 30th.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Thanks, Xemnas89! UPDATE: Now TRANSLATED by NWR!

--Infinity's End

The folks at Digital Chumps have uploaded three new gameplay videos. I'll forewarn you that these clips are showing a LOT of crazy stuff from the first two hours of the game, so if you want to be surprised, put on those spoiler blinders! The editor who posted the videos is fielding questions at GameFAQs.

• Video 1 - General Mayhem around the Station
• Video 2 - Chameleon (Ghalmanian)
• Video 3 - Biosphere Gameplay

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Steve Schardein of Digital Chumps finished posting his impressions of the first two hours of Metroid. Despite any nay-saying you may have heard from people who haven't even played the game (let alone held onto it for more than 20 minutes at a time), Schardein was impressed with what he saw and positive this would be a solid Metroid experience, but one that will take at least an hour to start getting into:

While the game doesn't immediately scream Metroid, after spending some time with it, I think most gamers will find that the core formula is still alive and well, albeit encased in a more story-driven shell this time around. Sort of like Metroid Fusion...

Schardein compares the game to the Prime series (in terms of graphics) and Fusion (in terms of story) and notes that while Other M does not have as much visual detail as in the Prime series (which was made for looking around in first-person), it certainly packs a wallop in the exploration sector, with absolutely HUGE spaces to explore and a genuine sense of being lost. That's the kind of stuff we like to hear!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Destructoid got their pre-release copy of Metroid: Other M in for review today, and Nintendo sent them a copy of the Gamestop Art Folio as well. The folio contains snazzy pictures, some of which we've already seen, and others are new - like the Aquasphere sector whose description they tease us with. You ready to blast some Skulteras?

CORRECTION: There actually is no Aquasphere, though the game does contain several underwater areas with Skulltera. I apologize for jumping the gun.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

NOA has executed a MASSIVE update to Metroid.com. The new site looks very slick and is a BIG change from the Japanese and European pages. There is also a brand new video from the game's intro, the 60-second commercial spot, and footage from the Main Sector of the Bottle Ship. The site promises many more updates in the form of a flurry of 'Coming Soon' signs... Many of the site's details are actually pretty cool, such as the loading meter.

Nintendo World Report has also uploaded three new gameplay videos showcasing action from the Biosphere, Cryosphere, and Pyrosphere... I've got to say the audio is very impressive!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

1Up has posted a new interview with Yoshio Sakamoto and Yousuke Hayashi. The interview is extensive and well worth the read, even though there is little new information - it more clarifies many of the ideas we have heard before. Here are some highlights:

• Samus should be able to discover new weapons as well as gain permission to use old ones (similar to Fusion). Sakamoto: "[W]e're definitely trying to find a balance point between receiving permission and finding weapons yourself."
• Sakamoto: "[W]e'll have some abilities you gain from enemies that have never before been seen in the series."
• Close-range combat was influenced by Team Ninja's background with Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden. They included lots of close combat because using only long-range attacks did not have as much entertainment impact.
• Mr. Sakamoto does not hate the nunchuck! The Wiimote-only scheme happened to work best for this project and spurred creativity: "[I]n some ways using fewer buttons like this spurs developers to think of novel approaches that they might not otherwise have considered."

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Nintendo of Japan has released a new Iwata Asks article interviewing the staff of Team Ninja and Nintendo. There is not too much information that we can glean from Google Translate (the quick-and-dirty way), but there are some concept sketches on Page 5 and a high-quality version of the beautiful piano music (Page 4) from the US Metroid homepage (which seems like it moved some of the team to tears). We're looking forward to the official translation!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

The Metroid: Other M Live Action trailer is now available for viewing on Game Trailers as well as the Nintendo Channel on your Wii. I have to say: this is really awesome! There are actually two versions out there. Game Trailers has a 30-second clip while the Nintendo Channel has a minute-long version.

EDIT: NEW HQ TRAILER UPLOADED! Courtesy of NWR.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Two new MOM ads just popped up on the internets. They are basically the same ad, but one features a man in his 30's that seems to be a little too into it. The other ad does not feature the man. Check 'em out.

--Infinity's End

OK FOLKS...there has been a recent update to Metroid.jp... 2 BRAND NEW TV COMMERCIALS! One features the CG cutscenes we've been teased with these last few months, but the other one... oh, it's just fantastic. Basically, they show you someone's hands with a Famicom controller playing Metroid, then 8-bit Samus explodes into a million pieces and reassembles herself as her new 3D version! And then it shows her kicking loads of ass in Other M. But... the end. OMG THE END. The last 2 seconds it has "METOROIDO... OMOROIDO!" The exact catch phrase they used in the Metroid advertising for the past 24 years! I'm getting kind of choked up just thinking about it...

Also: 38 Brand new Other M Screenshots were just added to our gallery! Check 'em out!

--Infinity's End

If you were one of the lucky few on GameTrailers last night at around 7:00 PM, you may have caught a leaked commercial for Metroid: Other M. At first we thought it was a hoax, but because so many people have reported seeing it, it seems legit. bigdude1 over at the GameTrailers forums managed to snag a screen cap and shared it with everyone. The trailer showed Samus' life from the attack on K-2L (pictured below) to the end of Super Metroid.

The commercial is not - I repeat NOT - on GameTrailers anymore, nor was it stuck on YouTube, so there's absolutely no point in clicking a dozen movies to try and see it. Not unless you want to see that godawful Skittles commercial a million times. I swear, after seeing that just once, I'm never going to eat Skittles again... The commercial will be all over the place in a couple weeks.

If you want to watch something fairly useful, you can head over to the Nintendo Channel on your Wii. They've got the Action trailer and the Metroid and Me trailers. The video quality is pretty bad - MUCH better on your computer - but this is probably the closest you'll get to Metroid on your Wii for two weeks. The next episode of Nintendo Week will supposedly be about Metroid: Other M, but it hasn't aired yet...

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Official Nintendo Magazine, the UK's equivalent of Nintendo Power, has included an interview with Yoshio Sakamoto in their September issue. Mr. Sakamoto calls Metroid: Other M, the "ultimate Metroid experience" because the game allows players "to fully understand, feel empathy and fight together with Samus Aran." The cover boldly features Samus Aran. If you live in the US or the rest of the world, you can import it for 5 GBP (about $8 US, price includes shipping).

UPDATE: One of our readers has a copy of the magazine and tells us that Metroid: Other M is approximately 15 hours long if you blow right through it. Finding 100% of all items could take double that amount. This is a hefty experience indeed, weighing in around the length of a Metroid Prime title, and ultimately a great thing to hear. The reviewers were also blown away by the gameplay and setting, but found the soundtrack a bit lacking (featuring mostly tense silence) and also expressed some dislike for the over-the-shoulder sequences. Despite the lack of a point score, the review seems fairly positive, but the interview doesn't really tell us anything new.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Metroid.com has updated with a brand new trailer called "Metroid and Me." This video is a translation of the Japanese retrospective trailer we posted back in May. The trailer outlines the events in Metroid, Metroid 2, and Super Metroid, bringing new players up to speed with the events relevant to Metroid: Other M. In this fashion, it is not unlike the opening cutscene for Super Metroid, which is also told from Samus' point of view. Hopefully we will be seeing more videos on Metroid.com as well as on the Nintendo Channel as the next two weeks pass by...ever so slowly.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Those of you browsing 1up.com may have already uncovered this new Interactive Trailer. It's more or less an advertisement for the game, but you must have any kind of Ad Block turned OFF to see it. You definitely need to check this out. Be sure to click on the really cool interactive ad on the right side as well!

--Infinity's End

--Infinity's End

Metroid fans, boys and girls, today marks the 23rd Anniversary of the release of Metroid for NES in North America. With this, I am unveiling something very special for you. Metroid Presented by the Metroid Database, or "MDbtroid" for short, is a graphical overhaul for the original NES game. I have been working very hard on this ROM hack for the past 3 months and I am very proud and happy to let you all get your hands on it for the first time. Forum users may have been able to see a bit of the game during its development, but now I am publicly releasing it for everyone to play! I really hope you enjoy my hack, it was an incredible learning experience for me and I feel a great sense of accomplishment from it. I also have a newly found respect for the original Metroid and it has given me a great insight into the way NES games were developed.

With this release, I also would like to point you in the direction of the Metroid Lua Script developed by Neill Corlett, who is well-known among emulation circles for his work on the English fan-translation of Seiken Densetsu 3. The Lua script is an awesome extension to the original Metroid, and gives the game much-needed capabilities that were brought about in the more modern titles such as a minimap, a pause screen map, and item toggling! For those who might have been frustrated or put off with the original's difficulty, this Lua script makes playing Metroid a much easier, accessible experience. (and be sure you have the FCEUX 2.1.2 or later to run it!)

I wholeheartedly recommend using this script while you play MDbtroid.

Together, they essentially create a brand new version of NES Metroid - and I hope you all have a lot of fun experiencing it! Please feel free to email me any compliments, comments, concerns, or complaints. Or, just write in the forum thread.

There's a little more than 2 weeks left until Other M is released! Are you excited yet!?

SCREENSHOTS: (with LUA script enabled)

--Infinity's End

Walmart has jumped on the pre-order bandwagon for Metroid: Other M, offering $20 eGift Cards with pre-order. In addition, at least some stores will be offering midnight sales (likely all, considering they are open 24 hours). Just to recap regarding the best pre-order deals we've found, Amazon is also offering a $20 gift card towards videogames (and you can get free shipping), while Gamestop has that snazzy art folio (at least we hope it will be as snazzy as they make it sound...). Remember that free shipping does not guarantee a street-date delivery! Also, be sure to ask your local retailers about midnight sales - this could influence where you pre-order! (And heck, it never hurts to ask if another store would be willing to match Walmart's $20 gift card offer!)

Until next time...
Captain Commando

It seems Samus Aran has found her place in the blogosphere! Samus' blog is called Lonely on Zebes, and it looks like she is going to tell us something about her personal life, but entries include other things such as the Battle of Phaaze and the rising cost of fuel.

Ok, Lonely on Zebes is actually being written by me as a fun project to relive the Metroid games placed immediately before Other M in anticipation of the game's launch, but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless. It will also serve as a kind of gameplay blog for Other M after the game launches. Feel free to discuss it in the forums. The blog's banner is from this beautiful painting by killj0i on Deviantart.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

G4 Tech TV ran a world exclusive trailer tonight on their Game Trailers show. The clip was only about a minute and a half in length, and contained some scenes we have already seen, but it also showed plenty of new footage, including the Cryosphere, grapple beams, secret passages in the holograms, and some new bosses, including a giant feathered lizard that means serious business! Seeing the grapple beam parts was reassuring as it was fresh and cool to look at - between that and the giant lizard, I think Other M will have plenty of 'wow' moments for us. August 31 couldn't come sooner... Here is the clip again below in case you missed it!

(New embedded version is from our YT Channel!)

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Until next time...
Captain Commando

FINALLY! Someone at NOA is paying attention! Wii.com has finally released an official translated version of the Iwata Asks interview featuring Yoshio Sakamoto, Yosuke Hayashi, and Ryuzi Kitaura, the directors of Project M. Give it a read; there are some direct-feed videos scattered throughout the interview as well.

Here are some highlights from the interview:

• Sakamoto felt the ideas his ideas for Other M were difficult to understand by the internal development teams at Nintendo. Therefore, Team NINJA was asked to help.
• Kitaura and Hayashi were both taken aback when given the opportunity to work on a Nintendo game.
• When Kitaura showed Sakamoto his storyboards for the first time, Sakamoto went completely silent. Kitaura felt that he was a failure, but in fact, Sakamoto was actually moved speechless by Kitaura's storyboards.
• Over 300 storyboards (2000+ panels) were created for the game.
• Kitaura created 10 CG teams at D-Rockets, and made them compete over the quality of their animation by showing teams' work to other teams and telling them they had to match that as a "minimum standard."
• Though Hayashi was the youngest of the group, Sakamoto and Kitaura felt his passion and drive as a game developer was more in-tune with that of an old-school, mature developer.
• Kitaura emphasized a "seamless" experience and really pushed the importance of making the Samus from cinematics and the Samus from the gameplay the "same Samus."
• Hayashi: "For this project, we at Team NINJA created Samus's body, but it was Sakamoto-san that made the blood pump through her veins, and Kitaura-san that provided her soul. And so, while it is an action game, I think it has a genuine story to enjoy, and I think it has the power to stir the emotions."

--Infinity's End

True story: So I was going back and reading through all of Scott Pilgrim to prepare myself for the new movie that I'm seeing on opening night this week. I totally forgot about this awesome little Metroid reference in the first volume! So I immediately added it to our Beyond Zebes feature. To all those SP fans out there: I hope you guys are enjoying the new Scott Pilgrim video game that was released today on XBLA/PSN! I know I sure am.

--Infinity's End

UK news site MCV reports that Nintendo is planning a massive marketing blitz for Metroid: Other M in Europe. The report states we should expect to see a slew of both TV commercials and web ads as well as snazzy store displays and trailers in the movie theaters (if you remember, when Metroid Prime launched, there was an awesome trailer that was shown on both TV and in theaters; Other M should fit the cinema particularly well). We can expect most of the ads to appear on sci fi pages and with action films. And, of course, we'll be sharing images of it all. The advertising will begin on August 20, two weeks prior to the game's Friday, September 3 European launch and will continue through September.

Meanwhile, the US site has not truly been updated since May... Can expect similar marketing for the US starting next week, or will yet another Metroid title fall into market obscurity?

Until next time...
Captain Commando

UK artist Joe Roberts, (known as GeoDex on Deviant Art) has recently unveiled some incredible new renders featuring Samus. You might remember him from his previous work, in which he was commissioned by Official Nintendo Magazine in the UK to be used as cover art.
His latest work was created again for the recent cover of ONM. Check it out below.

--Infinity's End

The recommended game of the week is actually two games: Resident Evil 4 & 5. The series "reboot" with Resident Evil 4 was one of the top-rated games for the Gamecube, PS2, and Wii, and should definitely be played. This was brought to you by Capcom, in both the games and the person who wrote it. Be sure to check it out!

--Infinity's End

Canadian magazine The Examiner has picked up a copy of Nintendo Magic: Winning the Video Game Wars, which clears up some of the history of Gumpei Yokoi, creator of the Game Boy and producer of the first three Metroid games. Many people have speculated over the years that Mr. Yokoi left Nintendo due to the spectacular failure of the Virtual Boy and the company's resulting lack of faith in his abilities. However, this was simply not the case: his colleague and CEO of Koto Labs, Yoshihiro Taki, explains that Mr. Yokoi's departure was actually something he had been planning for a long time:

Yokoi had originally decided to retire at 50 to do as he pleased. His retirement had simply been a bit later than planned.

I think we can now firmly lay to rest this unpleasant rumor knowing that Nintendo still had strong faith in Mr. Yokoi's abilities as well as support in his future endeavors. He simply postponed his retirement for another four years to help out at Nintendo while designing Game Boy systems and serving in the role of producer for Super Metroid, among other titles. After leaving in 1996 to form Koto Labs, he tragically died in a car accident in 1997. Mr. Yokoi had worked for Nintendo since 1965.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

A couple days ago, Nintendo of Canada offered people living around Vancouver a chance to play Metroid: Other M. I didn't hear about it until recently, but this has lead to even more gameplay feedback - along with additional impressions from the press coverage in Redmond earlier this week. Joystiq offers a very favorable (and detailed) impression which gives a no-holds barred overview of the controls, getting down to some of the nitty-gritty, as well as some criticism of the script. Definitely good reporting here. Arstechnica takes a less flattering approach, wondering why this is even a Metroid game (seriously, guys?). Finally, we have impressions from the NeoGAF forums from the Canada event that some of our more intrepid members have discovered (sorry, no backlink). However, we're a bit unimpressed with the lack of updates to the US Metroid site. How come the Dutch homepage has been updated more recently than the US site!? What's up, Nintendo? We've got the same old look we've had since May! :-/

I'll end this with a gorgeous render of Zero Suit Samus looking out into space (thanks again to Satch for the discovery!). And *ahem* what's up with those boots?

UPDATE (08-07-10): Canadian news group The Examiner has posted a very extensive article on the Metroid: Other M demo, along with photos from the event. In it, the reviewer gives a detailed description of what we've already seen before, as well as plenty of cutscene griping. (At least he didn't complain about the voice acting... And for the record, based on the demo, it looks like there will probably be about 12 minutes or so of cutscenes with about 10 more minutes of gameplay. Bear in mind the game has over an hour of cutscenes, so there won't be too many dense sections like this). What was also surprising was the Reo attack in the intro is unavoidable - suggesting there will be a few more scripted sequences like it. (Anyway, he leaves with a very positive feeling of the game, which is all we really care about: "I liked it. Quite a bit, actually."

Until next time...
Captain Commando

The official Japanese Metroid website has once again been updated. There are 14 new screens in the "Control" section: 7 in 3rd person, and 7 more when you click on the icon in the lower right that takes you into 1st person. There are some new areas and some new enemies to see as well.

There are also some short bios on the new Galactic Federation troopers who are part of the "07th Platoon." Maybe there's some kind of significance with the number 7?

It's so great to see how the days go by and Nintendo of America is ignoring Metroid.com more and more when there is content literally brimming out of the Japanese site. It gives me so much faith in their advertising efforts.

--Infinity's End

Nintendo has lifted their media embargo for Metroid: Other M, giving us some brand new screenshots as well as allowing press who got to play the game this weekend to talk about their experiences. Though the version played was not a final build, play experiences are revealing many new things, including:

• Speed upgrades increase the rate of the charge beam.
• The game is mostly gameplay NOT cinematics. As in, an hour or more stretches without a single cutscene.
• That said, there will be small real-time cutscenes (similar to Prime), but these seem to be thinly placed.
• You cannot skip cutscenes.(Not sure about successive play-throughs though)
• You can dodge while in first person.
• Deactivating holographic generators reveals new areas to explore.
• The music seems to be mostly atmospheric, but should include lots of remixes.
• The auto-aim function can hit enemies from very far away, but missiles have a limited range.
• Samus turns slowly in first person.
• There will be sequences that can result in instant-death (such as one involving an elevator).
• There are both save points and continue points. Continue points occur more frequently, and usually right next to difficult sequences (such as the said elevator sequence).
• Some hidden items were discoverable in the demo, but were unacquirable.
• When Samus dies her power suit comes off of her body in an effect that looks like it disintegrates. (At one point they had the suit exploding off of her and Nintendo wasn't so keen on that. It looks like it was toned down from what they explained.)
• You can bounce Samus' shots off of certain walls, namely metal, and hit enemies.
• Enemies can attack one another. There was a plant-type creature munching on the Reos.
• You don't exactly have "invisible railings" along all platforms; you can fall off if you're not careful as your charge blast gives considerable kick-back.

While some of you might be as shocked as I initially was to learn about instant-death sequences, especially after those obnoxious pistons in Metroid Prime: Hunters, which made me hate that game even more. Thankfully, the generous inclusion of continue points should mean we don't have to play long stretches over and over again, so hopefully they won't be too bad. It also seems that surviving these sequences requires a little common sense (i.e. don't stand underneath a falling elevator - what did you think would happen!?).

I have to say though - I'm more excited to play this than ever!

Update: Here's some more news from other sites!
Impressions from Nintendo World Report
Impressions from 1up.com
Impressions from IGN.com
Preview at Destructoid
Impressions at ArsTechnia
Joystiq's Preview
Impressions at GamesRadar
More to be added as we can find 'em!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

If you're a Club Nintendo member, they now have Metroid: Other M available in their Intend to Buy section. If you fill out the 'intend to buy' survey before the game's release and register your copy of the game before September 28, you will gain an additional 10 coins for your account. Club Nintendo has even shown some promise that future rewards probably won't suck - this year gives Platinum members an awesome Super Mario Bros. statue. Hopefully they will begin to stock their store with Metroid swag, too, but we're not holding our breath for too long. Just remember to put down the Metroid Database when they ask you where you heard about the game!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Here is a scan from an issue of Famitsu (the latest issue?) that covered Other M. It shows a few cool new renders, and highlights the characters in the Galactic Federation Battalion. No word yet on a translation, but it's at least worth a peek.

--Infinity's End

Nadia Oxford at 1Up has posted a well-written editorial on why we like Metroid - and why so many fans are anxious about how Other M will turn out - centered largely around the uniqueness of Samus as a female character (and we've got a more in-depth article on that if you haven't read it already). Oxford also notes that from Metroid II to Metroid Prime to Metroid Zero Mission the series has always taken risks, so Other M is not an exception.

Another surprise was the discovery of the photograph on Adam Malkovich's desk. I decided to share it with you the photograph raises more questions than it does answers: just who is this guy, and why is he on Adam's desk in a framed photograph? Thanks to DJ Trancetronica for the tip.

The photo was revealed in this footage from San Diego Comic Con (you'll just have to get past the obnoxious ramblings of the cameraman). The footage occurs sometime after the fight with the giant purple monster, in case you don't want to see cutscenes from that far ahead. As usual, you can discuss it on the forums, here.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

GOOD MORNING! The WRG is here! Due to Other M being on the horizon, it was fairly obvious that we should add the Ninja Gaiden Series to our Weekly Recommended Games list. The Ninja Gaidens are chock full of over-the-top violence and plenty of jiggle physics, but that's only the icing on the cake in these extremely difficult games. Other M is essentially a hybrid of Ninja Gaiden with the Metroid series, so if you want to get a feeling of how it will play, definitely give them a try if you own a console they are on.

--Infinity's End

I've added a translation for Metroid: Samus & Joey Chapter 3. We've kind of left Samus and Joey's exciting (>.<) adventures by the wayside for awhile due to busy schedules between myself and the typesetter, CCHHUNTER (aka Sharonlover from the forums). Incidentally, Chapters 4 and 5 have been translated as well, but we're still busy typesetting them! So you should be seeing some regular updates to the manga again, along with a few other surprises... Anyway, this one has a couple exciting explosions that are nicely drawn, along with more ridiculous antics from that kid, Joey. Seems he's actually making himself useful for a change. So go check it out!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Happy Month of Metroid, everybody! The most amount of Metroid games have all been released this month, so it is with great pleasure that everyone should refer to August as the "Month of Metroid" from now on. The games are:

• Metroid (also on GBA in Japan and the VC release)
• Metroid II: Return of Samus
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
• Metroid Prime Trilogy
• Super Metroid (on Virtual Console)
• Metroid Other M!!!

We have also uncovered an excellent new Metroid cameo in the time-shifting FPS game, Singularity by Raven Software. Check out our Cameos section to see it!

Stay tuned all this month for some extremely awesome suprises the ol' MDb has in store for you guys. I assure you, you won't be disappointed.

--Infinity's End

We've managed to get hold of the European box art for Metroid: Other M. It's virtually identical to the US box art, excepting the PEGI rating system information. Warning: HUGE!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Inside-games.jp has given us a glimpse of advertising for Metroid: Other M in Japan. While it's great to see a huge marketing blitz in the form of a big kiosk, having a giant thumbs-down right next to your logo is a REALLY bad idea. Thanks again to Robert for the tip.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

As reported on Kotaku, an eagle-eyed fan has spotted a very Metroid-like creature inside of a tube in the newly-released Starcraft II. Check it out!

Let's hope Nintendo doesn't bring its legal fist down on this awesome cameo.

--Infinity's End

So I check the Japanese Metroid: Other M website at 9 AM this morning after the Minna no Nintendo Channel update and it's all old stuff. Come back this afternoon, and there's LOTS of new things! This includes a much-desired high resolution version of the "Action & Story" trailer as well as some new gameplay footage in the 'Action' section - including footage of a giant monster from the arctic region. The story section has been updated as well with a recap of Metroid, Metroid 2, and Super Metroid as well as the game's intro cutscenes. There is also a MASSIVE Iwata Asks interview with Mr. Sakamoto, Mr. Hayashi, and Mr. Kitaura which contains a good half-dozen new videos spread throughout. The new footage is direct feed from the jungle, station, and forest zones - including an underground area with some unsettling seismic activity - giving a good sense of the audio as well as some of the moves Samus can make. The interview seems to be covering a lot of territory already discussed in the Minna no Nintendo Channel video interview we recently translated (controls and sense move, cutscene flow, Samus' appearance), though a quick-and-dirty glance through the ever-hilarious Google translate reveals some interesting comments on the third page regarding the production of the cutscenes (300 storyboard images!) and the importance of eye movement for character expression. Hopefully Nintendo will provide us with a translation over the next couple of weeks...

Until next time...
Captain Commando

If you live in the UK, you might not be able to have access to the 'art folio' from Gamestop. However, Play.com is offering free Wii remote stickers. We're not impressed and already feel sorry for you chaps for having to wait a couple extra days and having to pay an extra $10 US to boot.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

1up reveals the latest Famitsu interview with Yoshio Sakamoto and Yousuke Hayashi. While some of the information is a restatement of what is already in the video interviews, there are plenty of new insights and surprises:

• Search view was necessary because it allows players to find hidden items, passages, and other secrets: "Metroid is all about having suspicious-looking hiding places and finding items there," what MDb founder TJ Rappel has called "the Metroid feel."
• Same number of items as in any other Metroid game (100 items), though most players will only find about 30% on the first play-through.
• The developers strove to make transitions between cutscenes - and even saving - as seamless as possible, "ensuring the player isn't cut off from the scene and can get into the story."
• Once the game is completed, a 'theater mode' is unlocked that allows you to view every cutscene seamlessly linked together with prerecorded gameplay footage. The developers wanted to ensure players would not miss anything in the story. At nearly two hours (over an hour of which is cutscenes), that's a feature-length film!
• Yousuke Hayashi sees Other M as a new Team Ninja title - not just another game in the Metroid series.

I have to say, this 'theater mode' sure has me intrigued! Again, the smooth transitions between cutscene and gameplay is something Project M has been restating over and over: you shouldn't be buried under a mountain of cutscenes that interrupt you every five minutes. This is Metroid, NOT Xenosaga.

UPDATE 07/29: Gonintendo has a translation of the article (or rather, the responses) as well as a scan of the article itself! Not much new that wasn't in the 1up article, but worth the second look all the same! Thanks to Robert Aitor Mboro for the tip!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

This just in: A new trailer for Other M has been unveiled on the Japanese Nintendo Channel. We see LOTS of awesome new footage and introductions of all the characters! The names of the GFed team on the Bottle Ship are:

• Anthony Higgs
• Maurice Favreau
• K.G. Misawa
• James Pierce
• Lyle Smithsonian
• Adam Malkovich

You'll also see new weapons and features unknown until now. These include:

• Grapple Beam
• Speed Boost w/ Shinespark (!)
• Ice Beam, Wave Beam, and Diffusion Beam are STACKABLE
• New enemies and locales

All the while a new version of the "Vs. Ridley" music is playing in the background.

Just watch it. (thanks to NintenDannNC)

As always, feel free to discuss it in our forum thread.

--Infinity's End

Though a little late, but we finally bring you this week's WRG. Jesse D has an excellent write up of the cult classic hit Gamecube game, Eternal Darkness. If you've always thought about giving this game a try, but never have, now may be the time.

Today I was going through a local Best Buy and I noticed they had Other M Reserve Cards that let you reserve the game. I picked one up even though I didn't reserve the game there. I assume these cards have been around since the beginning of the month since it says "bring to the cashier between 7/1/10 and 8/28/10" on the back. (Yep, it's a slow news week, but that should be picking up soon.)

--Infinity's End

--Infinity's End

There are two books out now in Japan on the late Gunpei Yokoi, the producer of the first three Metroid games and the creator of the Game Boy. The first is Gunpei Yokoi's House of Games Returns, a reprint of the legendary original (and now super-expensive) 1997 book. This book contains Mr. Yokoi's philosophy on game development, specifically the theory of "lateral thinking of withered technology," in which old, cheap technology that is well-understood is repurposed for something new and creative. This is the same philosophy as behind the Game Boy and Nintendo's Wii console. The second appears to be a brand new biography of Gunpei Yokoi, Father of Games: Gunpei Yokoi, the Man Who Created the DNA of Nintendo. The book was written by someone who knew him.

There do not appear to be any current plans to translate these books into English.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Gaming Bits has reported the latest press release by Nintendo, which mentions Nintendo being at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego, the biggest comics/sci-fi convention on the West Coast. Nintendo will be showing off Dragon Quest IX, which released last week, as well as Metroid Other M. For those of you out there that are attending: please be sure to see if Nintendo is handing out any Metroid-related freebies. We are VERY interested! Both games will be available at the Nintendo booth, #2944.

San Diego Comic-Con starts this week, July 22nd, and lasts to the 25th. Tickets are sold out. Hope you lucky folks enjoy playing Other M over a month early!

--Infinity's End

According to Aussie-Nintendo, Other M is scheduled for release on September 30th of this year. There hasn't been an official word from Nintendo of Australia, but Aussie-Nintendo's "resident insider" is probably pretty accurate when it comes to things like this.

Also, there will be no WRG this week, but definitely look forward to seeing it next week.

--Infinity's End

Ark, one of our forum members in the UK, got a chance to check out the demo of Metroid: Other M at the London Film & Comic Convention this weekend. He confirmed that the game plays extremely well: "Let me assure you they are very fluid, and it definitely works, like the classic Metroid experience." Which is what we wanted to hear. Though he was not impressed with the game's textures, he conceded that the demo was played on a tiny LCD TV. The screenshots we've seen look very good. Here are his other observations:

-The controls are incredibly fluid
-The status screen contains a character menu with profiles of each person you meet. The other members of Adam's squad are Maurice, James Pierce (the guy with the mustache), K.G. Wong (glasses, team engineer). This is in addition to Lyle (demolitions) and Anthony Higgs.
-Samus' thumbs-down against Adam was part of her rebellious teen years.
-Missile expansions add only one missile
-Two mysterious upgrades are Energy Parts=0 and Accel. Units=0. (Current thoughts are these are related to energy tanks and the Shine Spark.)
-There are lots of cutscenes that cannot be skipped (at least on firsts play...).

Thanks a bunch, Ark!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Sup y'all??

As you may or may not have found out on GoNintendo or Destructoid, we have been working 'round the clock on translating and subtitling the Japanese Nintendo Channel Other M Developer interview videos for you, since NOA clearly does not see them as a priority for English-speaking audiences.

These videos are a great insight on the development process of Other M and it's just fantastic to hear these guys come out of the shadows and talk proudly about what they've been working on all this time. They truly seem to want to keep everyone happy. I think after watching this interview, any possible doubts I might have had about Other M have been extinguished.

Second, you might have noticed the Metroid: Other M countdown timer! This was made by Jesse D and me and should definitely keep you excited as we are almost a month and a half away from its release! Enjoy.

--Infinity's End

If you live in (or plan to visit) the UK this summer, you will have the opportunity to play Metroid: Other M! The game is currently being shown at two locations before launch day as part of Nintendo's UK Wii/DS tour:

London Film & Comic Convention, Earls Court 2, London, 17-18 July <--YES, THAT'S THIS WEEKEND!
Edinburgh Interactive Festival, TBC, Edinburgh, 12-13 August

We've got some folks from the forums planning to attend, but anyone who attends is welcome to add their feedback on the game!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Today's Other M video brings us footage of the battle with that strange purple tentacled monster boss.

UPDATE: CVG has taken down these videos for an unknown reason. However, they are viewable in YouTube for the moment. -CapCom

--Infinity's End

Though yesterday I reported on the "exclusive" footage of Other M from CVG, it seems as though another site on the Games Radar network, Official Nintendo Magazine, is also showing the footage. From here on out, we will be citing ONM as the source and not CVG.

Today's video brings some new direct-feed footage of Samus running around the Bottle Ship. You can see her blasting through Skrees, Geemers, and Reos, as well as a neat little wall jump sequence that looks, unsurprisingly, similar to wall jumping in the 3D Ninja Gaiden games.

--Infinity's End

CVG is posting up some "exclusive" footage from MOM every day this week, and from the looks of it, it just seems like cut-up sequences of what we've already seen.

My main concern here is the fact that more than half of the gaming news sites out there don't know a damn thing about Metroid or its story, so they write things based on pure speculation, which in turn perpetuates false information amongst the gaming community. Since it seems like no one understands what's going on here, I'll break it down nice and simple:
This clip is depicting a mental image of Samus as a young child (about three years old) in the Chozo stasis chamber they used to infuse her DNA with their own blood and later, the ability to utilize the Power Suit. It is NOT a video of her birth, but it could be interpreted that way only metaphorically, since the Chozo allowed her to become "reborn" after they adopted her. The stasis chamber could also be seen like a womb-like device.

UPDATE: Agreed with IE here. This clip takes place as part of the opening cutscene. You can hear noises from the final battle - there's a Metroid shriek (the 'baby's cry') right at the end of the clip when it picks up Samus and heals her (the rest of the video is not part of the cutscene). -CapCom

--Infinity's End

Happy Monday. Capcom brings you his WRG today which is Shadow Complex. If you haven't played this game yet, do whatever you can to try it out. And if you still can't, you're just not trying hard enough! Supporting games like this gives game developers incentive for bringing new and interesting additions to the MetroidVania genre!

--Infinity's End

The hounds at the NeoGAF forums have discovered the Japanese boxart to Metroid Other M.

It's likely that this image is a slipcover with a translucent piece of plastic for the visor, in which you can remove and see the unsuited Samus underneath. I applaud Nintendo for doing something this cool. In fact, this could essentially be the best boxart for a Metroid game, ever. Why, Nintendo? Why do you only release the much cooler stuff in Japan?

--Infinity's End

According to a recent press release by NOE, Metroid Other M will be released in Europe on September 3, 2010. The press release also gives us some new info:

"In another series' first, Samus is getting more physical in Metroid: Other M, with a range of melee attacks up the sleeves of her Power Suit. Jump on enemies to perform the powerful Overblast attack, use the 1 Button with precise timing to Counter-attack and finish off wounded enemies with a Lethal Strike. Other new moves include dodging enemy attacks with a well-timed Sensemove and performing a health-restoring Concentration move by holding the Wii Remote vertically and the A Button pressed. Then there's the new weapon, the Diffusion Beam, which will scatter Charge Beams after impact and hit additional enemies."

UPDATE 7/15: BOTTLE SHIP = BSL; An Hour of Cutscenes

It appears we've overlooked a key announcement from this press release, mainly that the Bottle Ship, an enormous Galactic Federation research vessel divided into biospheres, similar to the BSL Station from Metroid Fusion:

The Biosphere, for example, is a gigantic greenhouse containing a jungle complete with waterfall, rainfall and countless tropical - and aggressive - creatures and plants. The Cryosphere, by contrast, is a cold, snowy environment where the temperature is so low that entrances are often blocked by ice. Or picture the Pyrosphere, an area filled with volcanoes and magma. Some areas here have such high temperatures that Samus's health decreases if not equipped with the heat-resistent Varia Suit.

We also have names of Samus' moves that coincide with those on the Japanese Metroid homepage, including Overblast (leap onto an enemy and fry its brains out), Counter-attack, The press release also promises more than one hour of cut-scenes! You can read the original press release here -CapCom

--Infinity's End

The Japanese voice actress for Samus has been confirmed in the Minna no Nintendo Channel videos as Ai Kobayashi (&#23567;&#26519;&#12288;&#24859;). She was the lead voice actress for Deunan Knute in the Appleseed film and has appeared in various other anime such as Kino's Journey, Detective Conan. Metroid: Other M is her videogame premier. Check out more of her work on IMDB.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Minna no Nintendo Channel, the Japanese equivalent of the Nintendo Channel on the Wii, has uploaded an extensive interview with the lead developers of Metroid (Yoshio Sakamoto, Yousuke Hayashi of Team Ninja, and Ryuzi Kitaura of D-Rockets), discussing design decisions behind the game's controls and story. This is also the first time we've heard from Mr. Kitaura about the project. While a lot of it is talking heads, there is plenty of new gameplay footage with Samus battling a wide range of enemies from Space Pirates to Novas (the crawling fire monsters) as well as plenty behind-the-scenes footage. Unfortunately, the video is currently in Japanese, but hopefully Nintendo will be translating this for the Nintendo Channel very soon... Thanks to Robert Mboro for the news tip!

UPDATE: Neon_Icarus from the NeoGAF forums has posted some of the video's highlights:

- Because you have a very limited amount of buttons on the Wii-remote, the controls have to adapt to your enviroments a lot. For example, depending on the enemy a different finishing move is possible.

- Goal was to make the movement from cinematics to gameplay seamless.

- Bombing walls to discover items in the 2D Metroids and investigating the enviroments in the first-person view to find items have the same kind of feeling to them.

- Because Samus is not "very good at living like a normal human being", and doesn't talk much, when it came to choosing the voice actress [Ai Kobayashi] they wanted someone who could speak in an unsophisticated, direct manner, rather than someone with very good technique.

- Because Sakamoto wanted Other M to have the same feeling as the 2D Metroids, the shooting animation (Samus raising her hand to shoot) was made as quick as possible.

- The guy from D-Rockets wanted to have more Zero Suit in there. While the armor protects Samus during battles, it also covers her feelings, and thus is not so good for human drama. However, Sakamoto was adamant that Samus would not take of her armor unless it really suited the story and the situation. They wanted to portray a strong, cool Samus, who has powers other human beings don't.

In addition, D-Rockets spent about two months on a cutscene that was eventually cut. While this must have frustrated the studio, cutting video that no longer fits is a sign of good editing.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Spanish sculptor Alberto has created a splendid reproduction of the Nintendo Power artwork from 1991 in full 3D. He is currently offering his services for a reproduction of this statue, fully-painted on eBay.

The 12" statue is true to the artwork in every way, and no detail has been left unnoticed. The members our forum were also lucky enough to help Alberto during his production of the statue since this past April, as we assisted him with allocating the concept art and the idea for the base, which is based on "Blue Brinstar" from the NES game.

Check out the eBay page for more pictures and feel free make a bid if you can afford it! And great job, Alberto! We at the MDb are happy we were able to assist you in this endeavor!

In other news, feel free to watch this E3 video from G4TV of an interview with Yoshio Sakamoto and Yosuke Hayashi, as well as David Young, NOA's Asst. PR Manager. (Don't be too surprised to find out there isn't much new information shown.)

--Infinity's End

Did you guys have a good July 4th weekend? I sure did. Launched tons of fireworks, lost my hearing temporarily due to Black Cats blowing up in my face, and almost blew my hand off several times. It was great! Today's WRG is very special, as it covers 6 games in one: the portable Castlevania titles. Please be sure to check it out!

And don't forget to check out Jesse D's awesome new Manga Reader that he developed. The Hunters Doujinshi has also been translated by us, so give that a read if you have some time. Expect more new translated chapters of the Samus & Joey manga in the near future, courtesy of the one and only, Metroid Database!

--Infinity's End

Amazon is offering a $20 credit towards a future videogame purchase when you preorder Metroid: Other M. While Amazon is not offering the Art Folio from Gamestop, it's possible more bonuses will be announced towards the beginning of August. Also bear in mind that if you purchase from an online retailer, unless you pay extra in shipping, you may not get it on launch day. Additionally, the Other M strategy guide by Prima has been announced, priced at the standard $19.99 ($13.49 at Amazon).

Until next time...
Captain Commando

For the last few months I have been semi-secretly developing an improved system to store and manage our ever-growing collection of Metroid-related comics and manga. With that said, I give you, Version 2.0 of our Comics & Manga Reader! With our previous reader becoming too kludgey and difficult to maintain, and more volumes to begin adding to our collection, the time was certainly right!

Click here to check it out!

Its new features include:

• Faster to flip pages
• Clicking the page will advance to the next page
• Keyboard input for quick and easy navigation
• Ability to view a listing of chapters and jump between them
• Ability to zoom in on large pages and continue to navigate while zoomed
• Automatic jumping to the top of the picture each time the page is flipped

The keyboard navigation is my favorite feature. By simply using the horizontal arrow keys, you may flip forward or backward through pages. Up and down will scroll the page up and down, and pressing the s key will disable or enable the automatic jumping.

As with any new thing, there are bound to be bugs. We have a designated thread in our forum for the purpose of reporting bugs, offering suggestions and posting updates. Many thanks to Infinity's End for graphics and aesthetic input!

Have a good weekend!

-Jesse D

Happy Monday, folks! Jesse D brings us his Weekly Recommended Game writeup, the diamond-in-the-rough title, Beyond Good & Evil. I still play this game every now and then, and really can't wait for its sequel to come out, which we just heard some recent news about. Let's hope the game gets finished soon.

Next up, forum member AuroraUnitComplex has found a great interview with Yoshio Sakamoto and Yosuke Hayashi concerning Other M over at Eurogamer.net. The interview doesn't bring much new info to the table, but it's still worth a read.

--Infinity's End

Here's a new clip for you guys from SWAG. He managed to snag some free time with David Young over at the Nintendo booth and play the intro to Other M. We've seen shots and heard about this training sim, but this is the first time the general public has had a chance to see the sequence in action - as well as view the full intro. Check it!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

If you can take a break for a moment from all the latest E3 news, Capcom has written his Weekly Recommendation. This week's game is Abuse, a gritty, action-oriented, 2D platformer released in '96 which definitely takes a lot of inspiration from Metroid. It's also been given the freeware treatment, so give it a shot if you have the chance.

--Infinity's End

Aaron Kaluszka, owner of Kontek.net and journalist for Nintendo World Report graciously donated footage from the E3 show floor to us. I've edited the footage and added a Metroid Metal soundtrack to replace the E3 show floor ambiance. There is some new footage here, including the title screen from the demo (the intro cutscene was not present in the E3 version) as well as clips of some of Samus' special moves.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Though Kid Icarus kept audiences busy at the 3DS booth, Nintendo also ran a proof-of-concept unplayable demo showcasing an animated slideshow of NES and SNES titles, including Metroid! Images from the games are displayed in 3D, which reports say adds depth as well as a nostalgic kick. Though currently a tech demo, it's likely Nintendo will consider releasing it as a kind of virtual console. But Metroid is now technically on the 3DS! The 18-title proof-of-concept includes images from games like Zelda, Kid Icarus, Castlevania, and Yoshi's Island.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

GameTrailers has added a suite of three gameplay clips covering the first section of the demo (up to the fight with the big purple monster). The boring E3 show floor background audio has been removed with new music overlaid, which works pretty well, especially for the boss clip.

Digital Chumps has also added a short interview with an NOA Treehouse rep, but there isn't a whole lot of new information here, just some (slightly inaccurate) marketing schpiel.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

--Infinity's End

Here is more gameplay footage (recorded off-screen) of Other M, in the "Biosphere" part of the game. Courtesy of GameTrailers:

--Infinity's End

Metroid: Other M impressions are filtering in from all over the webernet. Here are a couple good ones we've located:

Jeremy Parish from 1Up reported on new content in the demo. He noted that the textures seem to have improved since the last build. We have an earlier reported clip of him playing the game.

Nintendo World Report has impressions, including a video that go into depth on the control scheme. Jonathan Metts wasn't pleased with the D-pad, but seemed to enjoy the other controls.

And here's an interesting pre-E3 blurb from Reggie Fils-Aime, who hopes the game will sell more than 1.5m units.

We will keep you posted with anything new we find!

UPDATE 1: Nintendo's Official E3 Page and Metroid.com (4:00 PM EST)

In case you haven't checked it out yet, Nintendo has an official E3 page with a section devoted to Metroid: Other M. The site contains streaming video from all of Nintendo's new games, as well as a special section with Iwata Asks interviews, including ones with Metroid Prime director Kensuke Tanabe on Retro Studios' work with Donkey Kong Country Returns and Masahiro Sakurai, director of Kid Icarus: Uprising. It's good to finally see a new game in Metroid's sister series from the man who brought us Smash Bros. as well as finally hear what the Metroid Prime guys have been up to for the past couple years.

Also: Nintendo's official Metroid page finally has the correct release date!

UPDATE 2: Gameplay Footage (6/17/10 - 10:00 AM EST)

Digital Chumps has two video walkthroughs of the intro and gameplay from the first section. The video is blurry, but it's a close-up of the screen. Thanks to Plas Durock from the forums.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

--Infinity's End

Forum member Aurora Unit Complex has gleaned 4 new, GORGEOUS, watermark-less MOM renders from another game website. View them in all their glory!!!

And this one... will the boxart feature this artwork? Only time will tell...

Keep your eyes peeled to the MDb for continuous coverage on everything Metroid Other M from E3 2010!

--Infinity's End

Some new, beautiful concept renders of Other M are available including the Bottle Ship, Anthony Higgs, Adam Malkovich and more. Check 'em out:

<--(WARNING, hi-res, 6.45MB)

--Infinity's End

Without bombarding you with information that you can probably find elsewhere, Nintendo's E3 Press Conference was this morning on the West Coast. The new Zelda (subtitled Skyward Sword) looks promising, while surprises with a new Goldeneye, Kirby, Donkey Kong Country, Epic Mickey, Kid Icarus, and the 3DS seemed to keep everyone happy. A short new trailer emphasizing awesome game footage was also shown for Other M.

Also, Nintendo has released 12 new screenshots of the game in action:

--Infinity's End

E3 Week is upon us, so what better way to kick off a big name shindig than to add a big name recommended game on our ever-growing Recommended Games list? Bioshock is one of the best games to be released in the last 10 years, so it is without hesitation that it should be added to our Weekly Recommendations. Fans of the Prime series will have no trouble getting into this game. And if you have the setup, playing on a nice TV with surround sound speakers is totally the way to go.

--Infinity's End

Nintendo World Report gives the rumor mill a crank with word that Retro Studios should be at E3 showcasing their new game, which is rumored to be a new Donkey Kong game. Whatever it is, it should be pretty exciting - I just hope if DK IS what they are working on, they go back to the basics. No more DK64 rap or Donkey Konga for me!

Johnny Metts also from Nintendo World Report ran a VERY interesting Radio Free Nintendo podcast with Tommy Tallarico, who composed the sound design (SFX such as weapons sounds and atmospheric ambience) for Metroid Prime. Tallarico also states he worked on some of the trailers (likely the Spaceworld 2000 and E3 2001 videos, but we're trying to clarify that!). Some of this had been reported earlier in GamesTM as well as on Tallarico's website, but this is the first time the story has been narrated in such detail. Tallarico never appeared in the credits because the company had forgotten about his work by the time the game was completed! He later got a letter from the company verifying his work (Tallarico's homepage is down at the moment though...).

Tallarico states he worked on Prime on contract for about two and a half years, ending about three years before Prime was released. This seems a little conflated - E3 1999 would have probably been when Tallarico talked with Miyamoto and then-Retro Studios president Jeff Spangenberg, who had just received the Metroid license (such random encounters are how a good number of business deals are made in the industry). Tallarico's contract ended in 2001 when Raven Blade and Car Combat were cancelled and Retro's internal development team could work full-time on the game. Higher-quality versions of Tallarico's SFX appear in Metroid Prime 2 and 3. (Also, note that back in 2001, Retro Studios had been looking for composers to score the game. They eventually settled on Kenji Yamamoto, but there were some US artists who submitted demos, such as Zhaytee.)

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Metroid Prime's audio development was that the audio informed the visual and design instead of vice versa. Miyamoto told Tallarico to "create all kinds of cool weapon sounds" without any visuals. These SFX affected the visual and gameplay design of the weapons. Tallarico gives the example of the Sentry Drone: The original pulse rifle SFX had a static burst from which the artist was inspired to create the static interference on the visor. So if you are a big fan of the weapons and visor sounds, that's all Tommy's work!

The section on Metroid Prime begins around 26:00 in and lasts about 15 minutes. VERY interesting stuff!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

E3 kicks off with a bang today with plenty of demonstrations from Microsoft of their new system motion-sensing peripheral, Kinect. However, the event most of you are really waiting for is the Nintendo keynote, which will be livestreamed from 1Up and other sites Tuesday at 9 AM PST. Now if only it wasn't set during work hours...

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Displays for Metroid: Other M have recently been set up at Gamestops and other retailers. Right now, it's not much - just a standard poster and cheap display boxes, but there should be cooler posters and displays coming out soon. We've got images of a few of them in our swag section, but are always looking for more images! If you happen to find one, post about it on our forums, or contact us!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Sorry about the late post this week, but I just updated the Weekly Recommended Games. This week Jesse D brings us his recommendation of Okami, a game you should already be familiar with. First available on PS2 and later ported to Wii, both versions share their own quirks, so you may want to do some further research before deciding which version may be worth playing.

--Infinity's End

Following up on the release date of Other M that I reported yesterday, the official Japanese Other M site is no longer a "teaser" site, but now a full-fledged website, focusing on different aspects of the game. It is complete with some excellent background music by composer Kuniaki Haishima (Title Theme & Theme of Samus Aran), and features new screenshots (just 4 for the moment) and some awesome new prerendered CG footage. Get over to Metroid.jp and check it out!

We can only hope the English site will get the same treatment eventually... Only time will tell.

UPDATE: ph00tbag from the forums has run the text on the Japanese site through a translator, confirming the presence of Ice Beam, Wave Beam/Scatter Beam and what appears to be missile fire rate increased from that of Metroid Prime. Names of Samus' dodge and counterattack abilities include Dodge, Lethal Strike (counterattack like a kick), and Overblast (leaping onto an enemy and shooting him). In addition, the site emphasizes NES-style controls. We also discovered that the Bottle Ship is a colony of some kind... -CC

--Infinity's End

Hey there folks. We just got a tip that Nintendo of Japan announced today that Other M will be released there on September 2nd. This, along with with Wii Party to be released on July 8th, is the first of their big announcements leading up to "the big one" at this year's E3.

In other news, I spotted an article over at IGN about ModNation Racers, a family-friendly PS3 racing game that's big on custom content including tracks, cars and the drivers behind the wheel (which look very similar to Munny figurines). One of their picks is of course Samus Aran, seen below. Guess they're good for something every now and then, right?

--Infinity's End

Yo dudes and dudettes! This week's WRG is another Japanese indie title, Holdover. Holdover is clearly inspired by Metroid not just in character and level design, but with the all black background throughout the game. However, this also helps you see where you died last, as a blood stain remains every time you die. The game is short, but definitely challenging. And it's also free, so download it today!

--Infinity's End

Gamestop has announced that people who preorder a copy of Metroid: Other M either online or in the store are eligible to receive a special 'Art Folio' containing '16 individual high quality cards'. Judging by the photograph, it looks like these are postcard-size. No word yet on whether Amazon or any other retailers will have this bonus. You may want to be fairly aggressive with your preorder swag: Gamestop and other retailers are notorious for not having enough bonus materials at time of pickup, so show up early and don't be afraid to keep asking!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Hot on the heels of Narpa Sword, there is another custom Metroid figure maker out there, that goes by the name of Jay Field! If you remember, Jay won 2nd place in our Make-a-Metroid contest at the beginning of this year... and he clearly hasn't stopped making figures since! Jay has an incredible list of custom Metroid figures. Please do yourself a favor and check them out. They are all very high quality and made with great attention to detail. Great job, Jay!

• Samus Aran
• Zero Suit Samus
• Young Samus (from Other M)
• Samus's Gunship
• Commanding Officer Adam Malkovich
• Federation Marine Fleet Mechanic
• Anthony Higgs (aka, "Remember Me Guy")
• Fleet Admiral Castor Dane
• Gandrayda
• Ghor
• Etecoons & Dachora
• Dark Samus
• Ridley
• Alpha Metroid
• Gamma Metroid
• Mother Brain with Zebetites
• Zebesian Space Pirate
• Prime Space Pirate
• Enemies (Ripper, Skree, Holtz, Geemer)

UPDATE: Even more figures that I missed from before!

• Torizo/Chozo Statue
• Old Bird
• Warrior Ing
• Federation Marine Trooper
• Kihunter

If only Nintendo saw these and realized how much potential there was for official Metroid action figures... *sigh*

--Infinity's End

Narpa Sword just sent us a link to some wicked cool custom Metroid action figures he designed. The figures are built by taking parts from disassembled pre-existing action figures with original pieces molded with sculpey clay. He's built to scale fully posable Samus, Zero Suit Samus, and Mother Brain figures that are some of the best customs we've seen. And look - there's even Guile and Cecil! So what are you waiting for? Check 'em out!

UPDATE: The GI Joe scale Samus and Mother Brain pictured above are currently up for auction on e-bay. Buyer of the Samus figure gets a bonus Metroid figure free! Check out the auctions for a nice photo gallery.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

This week's Weekly Recommended Game is the excellent Nintendo 64 title, Jet Force Gemini. JFG is one of Rare's best on the console, but was unfortunately overshadowed and forgotten, possibly due to the the launch of the Sega Dreamcast, and while the Nintendo 64's popularity was in decline. Definitely give it a try if you want to see what a 3rd person, 3D Metroid title could play like!

We still plan on releasing a few new special things in the coming weeks for you guys, so definitely look forward to it!

--Infinity's End

Nintendo Everything has posted a video of some new Metroid: Other M footage. The video quality is grainy and the audio quality is even worse, but there is some brand new footage. The first half of the clip combines the CG footage of the Mother Brain fight with clips from the Super Metroid version. This part (minus the voiceover) is essentially what was shown at GDC during Mr. Sakamoto's talk. Starting about 1:10 into the clip shows extensive footage from inside the starship. Samus has a very interesting control interface for her ship, particularly the giant sphere she uses. If you listen carefully, you can hear some of the new music from Kuniaki Haishima, including a few notes from the title theme at the very end (it sure sent chills up my spine!).

The clip is in Japanese, but the actress sounds quite good and reminds me of the character established in the Metroid: Zero Mission manga. Hopefully, we can get a translation...

I'm not sure where this video originally came from just yet, but thanks to VGM Studios for pointing it out!

UPDATE [5/21]: The video is from a retrospective on the Japanese Minna no Nintendo Channel (the Japanese version of the Nintendo Channel). The clips from Other M are from the introduction and Samus' trip to the Bottle Ship. We'll likely have an English version of this sometime over the next couple of months. For now, you can watch the embedded video:

Until next time...
Captain Commando

This week's Weekly Recommended Game is the long-running, but underrated Turrican series. Be sure to check out Cap's writeup on this excellent, Metroid-Contra hybrid game series that is definitely worth playing.

Also be sure to check back later this week, as we may have something very special in store for you guys!

--Infinity's End

Happy Monday, people.

Today's Weekly Recommended Game is Tron 2.0! This one's geared more towards fans of the Prime series, but all Metroid fans should be able to enjoy this niche and much-overlooked PC title. So be sure to check out Jesse D's writeup in our Feature Section.

Second on our list I have spent countless hours updating our FanApps page. It now features thumbnail images as well as better organization. I have added a few new patches and utilities to this page as well, so definitely check it out! Stay tuned to this page in the future because we have some new and interesting FanApps that you may take some interest in!

--Infinity's End

Yoshio Sakamoto's GDC lecture, "From Metroid to Tomodachi Collection to WarioWare" is now available for purchase from the GDC Vault store for the low, low price of $3.95. Combine this with the nice slides from my lecture notes to get the full experience! Japanese fans can also purchase the Japanese audio separately.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

The June issue of Nintendo Power features a massive ten-page article on Other M that includes an in-depth interview with Mr. Yoshio Sakamoto regarding the game's design and development. There is also a timeline recapping the entire Metroid series. Mr. Sakamoto discusses the decisions behind Other M's design, such as its controls, perspective, level design, and narrative.

Central to this discussion was the reasoning behind Other M's reliance on the Wiimote alone and this control scheme's divergence from traditional 3D action games and the Prime series. Mr. Sakamoto emphasized his desire to stay true to his vision of simplified controls for ease of play over the complexity of buttons found in a modern 3D game. This would reflect the familiarity of the originals: "[W]e've grown up thinking that this is simply how Samus works."

Mr. Sakamoto declined suggestions to add alternate control schemes using the nunchuck with the idea that doing so would dilute this vision. Conceding to alternate control schemes, Mr. Sakamoto says, would have meant "accepting defeat as a game designer": designers should stay faithful to initial ideas if they are good and not lose sight of their ideals, a philosophy that seems more in line with Wii's Twilight Princess than Mario Kart Wii or Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Other M's design and control arose from the collaboration of Mr. Sakamoto's team and Team Ninja - no single group was responsible for the entire thing. Classic Metroid design combined with Team Ninja's expertise to create this unique blend.

Interestingly, Mr. Sakamoto seems to take a stab at the Prime series' level designs and the inherent differences that occurred with the move from a 2D sidescrolling perspective to a 3D first-person perspective:

"We tend to think of Metroid games as being very intricate mazes where you have to stay oriented and still not be so confused as to have the fun taken out of it. And that kind of gameplay is quite challenging to actualize from a first-person perspective."

This emphasis on exploration and navigation of space should be an encouragement to longtime fans who fondly remember being lost on Planet Zebes in the late 80s and early 90s. However, Mr. Sakamoto concedes to the accomplishments of Retro Studios, stating that if Other M continued with a full-on first person perspective, they would have had to push the format even further.

As for the future of the series, Mr. Sakamoto says that they may use ideas from Other M for a future 2-D game and that in order to move forward with the series, it was essential to further develop Samus' character and establish her past. "So please don't get the idea that this is the end of 2-D Metroid games."

Amen to that.

The June issue of Nintendo Power should be arriving to subscribers over the next couple weeks and should be in newsstands by the end of the month.

UPDATE: Scans added.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Today we unveil a new feature on the site: Weekly Recommended Games. We start off with one of the greatest indie games out there, Cave Story.

In the same vein as TJ's Recommended Games feature article, we will be updating this section every Monday, to give you guys some great recommendations on games of the past that any Metroid fan would love. Please look forward to more updates in this section every week!

--Infinity's End

As we wait for the latest news tidbits on Other M and E3 to get here, it's difficult to find new and exciting info on Metroid, so I have just a small update for you today.

I bring you a couple of videos connected to Wario Ware D.I.Y. that was released last month. As you may already know, series director Yoshio Sakamoto created his own Microgame for it featuring Metroid, which was released through the "Big Name Games" section of their DSi downloadable service. Check it out below:

And here is an interview with him discussing the many features of the game. This video was also released on the Wii's Nintendo Channel service.

--Infinity's End

Today, I came across what may be the coolest Flash game I've ever seen: Super Mario Bros. Crossover.

Essentially, you're playing the original Super Mario Bros. The twist, however, is that you are given the option to play the game not only as Mario, but also as the classic 8-bit versions of Link, MegaMan, Simon Belmont, Bill Rizer (from Contra) or even Samus Aran. For each character you have access to their unique abilities such as Link's sword and boomerang or Megaman's ground slide and Charge-Buster. Your movements are governed by their respective in-game physics, from the Castlevania-level of stiffness for Simon to the freedom of motion for Samus. Music and sound effects were integrated seamlessly from each character's respective game.

Samus controls exactly as she would in Metroid, and she can also stomp the Goombas and Koopas. She can fire her power beam and is able to morph into a ball, lay bombs, and even perform bomb jumps. She starts with her traditional power suit and through obtaining a Super Mushroom, gains the Varia and Long Beam. A Fire Flower gives her additional abilities, but you'll have to play if you want to see what they are!

Many kudos to the developer, Exploding Rabbit.

-Jesse D

Turns out that rumor was true - Metroid: Other M was pushed back to August 31 (it also turns out this has been more or less official since Friday, even though the official website has yet to be updated). There hasn't been an official excuse (EDIT: probably just bug testing), but as Nintendo told Kotaku:

"Video game development is a lengthy and complex process. We have always put the quality of our products first, and have historically taken the time needed to make our games meet the expectations of our fans."

So before you get your Morph Balls into a tangle, just bear in mind the old Miyamoto adage that a rushed game is soon forgotten, but a good game is remembered forever. Would Ocarina of Time have been considered the best Zelda ever made if it had been rushed? If Metroid needs polishing, let them polish until she's brilliant! Plus, it'll give you more time to enjoy Super Mario Galaxy 2 :)

UPDATE: Nintendo is stating Metroid: Other M was delayed due to a crammed schedule: having Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Sin and Punishment AND Metroid coming out over a two-month period would have made Nintendo's products compete with each other (and encouraged players to rush through their games).

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Hey all!

Today I have some good news and some slightly bad news for you.

The good news is that I just finished a piece of art today, commemorating the 10,000+ hits to our DeviantArt Gallery! It took a little less than 3 days, but I finally completed it for you to enjoy. Please take a look:

The bad news is in the form of a rumor. Other M, as well as Sin and Punishment 2 could possibly be delayed. S&P2 is scheduled to be released on 6/27 (Other M's date) while Other M seems to be categorized as "To Be Decided." The rumor comes from the popular NeoGAF forums, so take that with a grain of salt. Nintendo is definitely no stranger to delaying their hi-profile games at inopportune times. I'd like to hope that this rumor isn't true, but if they needed some extra time on the game, then so be it.

--Infinity's End

Why are you reading this? Just watch it:

*UPDATE* New HD version is now embedded!

This trailer's biggest revelation would have to be the (unsurprising) return of many staple abilities, including the Morph Ball, Screw Attack, Ice Beam and Speed Booster. The video gives a great insight into how the game is played, and it looks to be a lot of fun and fast-paced action!

Notice how strongly Metroid Prime has influenced Other M? Most obvious is the Prime 3 style first-person aiming. But also, notice how familiar the Morph Ball is? The ability for Samus to power-grip an edge and immediately morph (straight out of Fusion and Zero Mission) makes a refreshing twist into this equation.

Many thanks to yodanut for quickly bringing this trailer to light in our forum.

UPDATE: The Japanese trailer with new footage is also embedded!

-Jesse D

I first wish to thank everybody for the positive comments regarding our updated layout!

I secondly wish to thank everybody for bearing with the bugs, typos, glitches and incompatibilities that arose; they've been fixed for the most part. And that includes that pesky scrolling glitch... all gone!

There are still many things yet to fix, especially the manga reader, but we're on it!

-Jesse D

Good morning to all, and welcome to the new face of the Metroid Database!

Infinity's End and I have been working for well over a month to overhaul the site, creating new graphics and code respectively. I think you'll find the update to be visually pleasing, easier to navigate and more in line with Web 2.0 than ever before. We've been excited about this for a long time and are extremely proud of the result; though some of the updating is still an ongoing work in progress.

To coincide with our new layout is a fresh new episode of our podcast, Wave Beam. While we have no special guests onboard this time around, we thought we would instead use this opportunity to not only recap CapCom's experiences with the 2010 Game Developer's Conference (see news posts below) but also to discuss everything we know thus far about Metroid: Other M (which is little more than three short months away from its US release). It's a short but sweet episode, so please take this chance to check it out!

While the dust still settles at the feet of our updated layout, please take your time to explore and enjoy the latest podcast! Thanks to Infinity's End and CapCom for all of your help!

-Jesse D

Here are a couple more sets of lecture notes from the Yoshio Sakamoto's GDC talk that somehow slipped under our radar. First, Gamasutra ran an excellent summary, with really good quotes. Edge has another good overview of the lecture. Edge has a good list of other GDC lectures here as well. IGN also has a short interview with Sakamoto. Finally, Retronauts has a short but sweet look at the lecture, along with some commentary.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Well, I've gotten back from GDC and begun settling back in just as the work week begins again for me. I got to shake hands with Mr. Sakamoto and give copies of the Metroid Database's business card to him as well as Reggie and Nate Bihldorff. Sadly, I wasn't able to speak with either of them after the lecture. I hope they visit the site! I've also finally uploaded the lecture recap in a more legible version than the MDb Message Board, complete with images.

Mr. Sakamoto's design philosophy begins with the horror films of Dario Argento: Deep Red (Profondo Roso) and Suspiria. From watching these films at an early age (Deep Red debuted in Japan in 1978, when Mr. Sakamoto was 19), Mr. Sakamoto gained a deep appreciation for the qualities of mood, timing, foreshadowing, and contrast, which he then applied to games, especially in Famicom Tantei Club. These qualities are important to both horror and comedy, which is why Mr. Sakamoto is able to create such diverse series as Metroid and WarioWare. By learning how to engineer the desired emotion in his games, Mr. Sakamoto can inspire fear and joy within his audiences - though it seems that around the studio, he is more interested in inspiring laughter. Being able to "touch the hearts and spirits" of his audiences is his primary responsibility and goal when creating games.

Aside from insights into Mr. Sakamoto's design philosophy, the most interesting elements from the lecture included new information on Metroid: Other M, particularly in the development process. Mr. Sakamoto stuck with the Wiimote-only control scheme, but it was Team Ninja who suggested players move about in 3D instead of 2.5D like, say Kirby 64 or the lava area from the E3 2009 trailer (NOT as in a linear 'rail shooter' which this Kotaku article falsely implies!). We also learned that Metroid would be composed by new talent, Kuniaki Haishima, composer of such anime series as Blue Gender, Gasaraki, and Spriggan. Go Nintendo has also located a rap sheet for voice actress Jessica Martin, which also showcases some of her audio talent. For the cutscenes, Mr. Sakamoto worked closely with Ryuzi Kitaura, with their personalities and background allowing for truly dynamic work. A more detailed version of the lecture is available in our features section. You should be able to purchase an mp3 copy in a month or two from the GDC Vault for $7.95. We'll let you know when it becomes available.

Mr. Sakamoto also demonstrated footage from his stories in Tomodachi Collection (or Tomokore), a game that turned into a runaway hit in Japan. Here, we can see Mr. Sakamoto, Mr. Iwata, and Reggie interacting in hilarious situations, some of which make absolutely no sense (such as giant Sakamoto and Reggie destroying Tokyo with the 'Saka-Mojo Beam' or being chased by a giant boulder). Mr. Sakamoto also tries to woo a Mii version of Samus, comparing her beauty to a beautiful sunset and saying he will "put diamonds all over that red helmet in the sequel," to which Samus replies, "Get a life!" Unfortunately, the game won't come out in the US until a good English speech-generation system is found. Let's hope they build one soon because the game looks very fun!

Western audiences also received their first glimpses of Mr. Sakamoto's WarioWare DIY game, in which the player must freeze Metroids by touching them and then tap a second time to shatter them with a missile. If done correctly, Samus will pose in her armor. If done a second time, Zero Suit Samus will appear. A remix of "Theme of Super Metroid" plays in the background. There was another Metroid-themed WarioWare DIY title playable at the conference, this one a Metroid: Zero Mission game as part of the 9-volt collection. The player must tap Samus to turn into 8-bit Mario (no joke!) and sneak under a Skree, then tap again to collect the missile pack.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Brian Crescente of Kotaku, got a chance to ask Yoshio Sakamoto about Kid Icarus at GDC. Turns out that the game is not in development, but Nintendo has been bouncing ideas around the table trying to find out how to implement it. While Mr. Sakamoto suggests that "if so many...people are interested in it and really want to see it on the Wii they should really speak up," this strategy probably stands about as much chance of succeeding as Starmen's Mother 3 petition did. It's also possible that Mr. Sakamoto will not be in charge of the project (Mr. Sakamoto was a designer of the original Kid Icarus, along with Hiroji Kiyotake, the designer of Samus).

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Joystiq got an exclusive interview with the father of Samus, Yoshio Sakamoto. In it, they ask him several questions regarding the Prime series (which interviewers seem to not be able to resist asking, even though they should already know that Sakamoto had very little involvement with, and answers the questions as such), and working with Team Ninja. They also touch on the rumorware Metroid Dread. Sakamoto responds:

"While there actually was a point where some teams were meeting to discuss if it was possible to create a 2D Metroid for DS using a relatively small team size, it's not something that we ever really announced or thought of as "Metroid Dread." But whenever people bring out that idea, we recognize that the basic concept is something that we can't say never existed. But at the same time, we can't of course make any official comment about a Metroid Dread like project coming out.

Our main goal here is to, as I said earlier, first raise knowledge about the Metroid universe, and the Samus character, before we start to introduce different elements like online, or even going back to another handheld game for the next in the series. So there's nothing coming immediately. We want to think about these new challenges first.

But, of course, we never say never."

--Infinity's End

Dallas/Ft. Worth-based The Speed Gamers are having a Metroid Marathon event which starts today at 6pm CST and will last 72 hours. The gaming-for-charity group has been together for two years this coming Saturday and have raised approximately $125,000 for various causes.

The Metroid marathon will be raising money for Halton Autistic Family Support Group. Donations will be gathered using a chip in widget; debit, credit cards and Paypal.

Game List (Order TBD):

• Metroid (NES VC)
• Metroid Zero Mission (GBA)
• Super Metroid (SNES)
• Metroid 2 (GB)
• Metroid Prime Hunters (DS)
• Metroid Prime 1-3 (GC,GC,Wii)
• Metroid Fusion (GBA)

Metroid themed prizes will be given away such as games, hats, key chains and more! The Speed Gamers hope to reach a goal of $15,000. So if you're feeling charitable, and share a love for Metroid, DONATE!

--Infinity's End

With the annual Game Developer's Conference (GDC) in full swing at San Francisco, our own commander-in-chief CapCom is among the fortunate who are able to attend and share his experiences. Of most interest to fans of Metroid was his attendance to Yoshio Sakamoto's talk, in which he was able to discern a few unique insights into Other M's development.

For the most part, nothing groundbreaking was revealed about the gameplay, though Cap's notes of the conference are a fascinating read none the less.

While GDC is still not over, and before Cap's official headline of his experiences at the conference, check out the links below for further reading about other previews and gaming-related headlines from GDC.

1up's GDC 2010 Headlines
IGN's GDC 2010 Headlines
Kotaku's GDC 2010 Report

-Jesse D

For those still on the fence about Other M's dialogue and story-driven context, there is another interview with Nate Bihldorff over at the former Editor-in-Chief of EGM, Dan "Shoe" Hsu's website, Bitmob. This time is text-only, but has a lot of great details on the upcoming Other M that the other interviews didn't touch on, such as the actress's name who portrays Samus, which is Jessica Martin. Check it out for the full scoop! (thanks for the head's up, Outlaw!)

--Infinity's End

Nintendo released a brand spankin' new Other M trailer today featuring a "reflection" sequence by a young Samus as she went through the ranks of the Galactic Federation Army. Head on over to Metroid.com right now to watch the thing in high or low resolution. Well, what are you waiting for? GO NOW!

And if you would like to see the same trailer in Japanese, head on over to the official Japanese Metroid site to watch the same trailer with the Japanese dub.

--Infinity's End

Hope you guys are sitting down for this because you are going to stand right back up again. Behold... the GLORIOUS prerendered intro to Other M!

Better watch it now because who knows how long it's going to be up!

Also, another great interview with Nate Bihldorff, courtesy of GameTrailers.com:

--Infinity's End

The Web's collective of fortunate attendees to yesterday's Nintendo Media Summit have all managed to get a shot at the playable demo for Metroid: Other M. While the rest of us won't likely have a chance to play it till June 27, 2010, we still have a number hands-on perspectives and impressions from numerous attendees. Check 'em out!

• 1up
• Destructoid
• GameSpot
• IGN
• Joystiq
• Kotaku
• Nintendo World Report

-Jesse D

From here. (And thanks, Gamespot, for some actual good journalism for a change.)

--Infinity's End

Here's a sophomoric, but mostly informative writeup of that I site's impressions of M:OM. A word to the wise: There are spoilers.

Excerpts of note:

• "I found myself smiling at all of the phenomenal cut-scenes and the fact that Samus herself takes on genuine depth and layers via an inner-monologue, all of it voiced convincingly. But it's also got the exploration factor and that eerie, lingering sense of isolation that permeates the Metroid games. It's all wrapped in a beautiful graphical package that stomps all over the majority of titles filling Wii's library."


• "if you charge your beam completely and then switch to morph ball, Samus will automatically lay four or five bombs circling her perimeter, which is a great way to quickly dispose of enemies." (aka, THE RETURN OF BOMB ASSIST!)


• "The design of the world -- stretching in every direction, separated by doorways (some of which are locked), multi-tiered -- facilitates exploration, which was a previous point of skepticism for me. Nintendo reps on hand said that the demo only represents the very beginning of the game -- by comparison, the first 45 minutes of Metroid Prime, at which time exploration has only just begun. Based on that, I do indeed expect a grand adventure worthy of the series. My feeling now so far is that Other M plays a lot like a Super Metroid reborn with 3D elements -- there's really no way to criticize that."

Controls are surprisingly simple: the Wiimote is held sideways! D-pad is movement and 1 and 2 are shoot and jump, respectively. Special moves like Power Bombs are activated by holding down the 1 button for a period of time. Morph balling is accomplished with the A button, and 1st Person Mode is accessed just by pointing the Wiimote at your television (This technique was accomplished very well in Super Paper Mario). Though it's not mentioned, I'm guessing the minus (-) button allows you to switch to missiles and the plus (+) button allows you access to your map/status screen.

Also, Remember Me Guy's name is FINALLY revealed to be Anthony Higgs...which is coincidentally the same initials as the NP Super Metroid comic's Armstrong Houston!

We'll be keeping you up to date on all the news as soon as it becomes available. June 26 can't come ANY sooner!

--Infinity's End

Nintendo has released a new set of high-quality 1280x720 screens from Other M that highlight the opening stages of the game, and by gosh if they aren't amazing! Screens include dispatching a holographic pirate in a training room, fighting swarms of Geemers and Reos, They also highlight the new map system, which seems built more for a 3D game than a 2.5D. There is plenty of wall-hanging action straight out of Fusion and MZM, as well as more first-person scenes through the visor (highlighting influences from the Prime games), and new shots of that fan favorite dude with attitude, the "Remember Me Guy" (I assume we'll find out who he is pretty soon). He's got on some kind of powered backpack. These troopers are equipped with sidearms and grenades, but their armor looks a little bit too slick and silly for me to take them seriously just yet! But I suppose that's what future policemen would look like - these guys don't look like marines! These images came from Kotaku who was nice enough to upload them in their unwatermarked state - thanks, guys! If you'd like another dosage of mouth-watering Metroid tease, refresh your memory by checking out the images from our trailer analysis. Hopefully there will be a new trailer available for viewing soon...

Kotaku also mentions in the article that the control scheme uses the Wii Remote held sideways for side-scrolling sequences with the pointer used for "first-person exploration and shooting." As for the story, the game takes place aboard the "decommissioned Bottle Ship" chock-full of action, exploration, and voice acting along with a "revealing, personal story" behind Samus. There should be more in-depth overviews of gameplay this evening.

Also, the official US Metroid: Other M homepage has now gone live! The intro voiceover is now done in English and is slightly different than the translation from January:

A dream - I had been reliving the tragic moments of my recent past.

UPDATE: Looks like players will be able to freely switch between first-person and third-person mode, allowing for easy targeting of enemies and smooth exploration. The Twitter #OtherM feed is also alight with comments, so check them out. Chances are, whatever new news occurs will happen there first!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Metroid: Other M was the LAST title shown in Nintendo's Media Summit - and is PLAYABLE! No demo was shown at the summit, so we'll have to wait for play feedback. Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway announced the title, calling it "a game which requires complete immersion," and that, "When you finish playing this, you're going to feel like you know Samus, more so than ever before." The game will be playable in private booths so that players can enjoy it immersively - just like at home! She also said that Other M "combines the vision of Mr. Sakamoto with the brilliance of Team Ninja." Metroid Day will finally be upon us Sunday, June 27!

Other cool stuff that was announced was details in Super Mario Galaxy 2 (coming Sunday, May 23) with Yoshi, the Drill Powerup used in hollow planets full of coins, 2.5D levels, logs, a giant boo and a giant dragon boss. This game sounds pretty epic. Monster Hunter Tri (Tuesday, April 20), Cave Story (March 22) and Sin Punishment 2 (Monday, June 7) also got release dates. Photo Dojo for the DSi also sounds very good - you can photograph your friends (or pets) and record your own sound effects to create your own fighting game. With the DSi XL with a 90% larger screen coming out in March 28 for $189.99 and other interesting titles like Sakamoto's own Wario Ware DIY, this may be a purchase I'll have to make. Many other DSi Ware titles were also announced, including a 'game' that is basically a collection of 100 classic novels including Dracula and Journey to the Center of the Earth - looks like Nintendo may be trying to make a cash-in on the success of the the Kindle. Game and Watch Gallery 2, which had previously been a Japan-only title, will also be released through Club Nintendo, including Grill Off with Ultra Hand, an excellently-titled game based on Gumpei Yokoi's first toy.

Gamepro's liveblog that did not require page reloads was very convenient and had excellent coverage. Currently, Matt Casamassina has a decent writeup of the event with pictures while Nintendo World Report finally got up and running and has their overview. Note that photos of Other M are not allowed, so we'll be stuck with whatever trailers and coverage Nintendo gives us. Nintendo has also put a media embargo on news coming from the Summit until 9 PM Pacific, so synchonize your watches, and hit up your favorite news sites!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Nintendo of Australia has announced through IGN that Metroid: Other M and Super Mario Galaxy 2 will both see release dates this summer - sometime between June and August. This coincides with my earlier estimate that we would see Other M come out at the end of August (likely Wednesday, August 26, which coincides with Nintendo's other major late-August releases like Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Sunshine, and F-Zero GX). Now it seems likely one of the two will see a release that week (and here I'm guessing Metroid) - we just have to wait for the official announcement, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's that far off from this guess.

Speaking of, tomorrow, Wednesday February 24 at 9 AM Pacific Time, the Nintendo Media Summit will unveil in San Francisco. I'm trying to locate someone who is doing live blogging, but you should be able to check the usual suspects such as 1Up, Nintendo World Report, Kotaku, and some game news company beginning with an I. I couldn't even find anything on G4TV's schedule!

Nintendo of America is running a live twitter account of today's event, complete with images. We'll have a news post shortly after.

UPDATE 2: Several websites are live blogging the event. The one I'm currently watching is at Gamepro and the Nintendo of America tweet above as well as Matt Casamassina's liveblog. Exciting, isn't it?

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Like last week, today I will be hosting a stream again on my Livestream Channel at 5pm CST. This time it will be a playthrough of Super Metroid. Hope to see you there!

--Infinity's End

Forum members Ketsueki and Chozoboy have uncovered some new amazing, near-untouchable Metroid-flavored swag for us to drool over. The first comes in the form of a t-shirt, available ONLY at the Nintendo World Store in New York City. This means it's official merch... better grab this one up while you can, folks!

The next is a new Power Suit figure by resin kit maker "Curtain Call." If you're lucky you can find one of these for sale on Yahoo! Japan Auctions.

Lastly, we have another auction. This is of the realistic Zero Suit Samus resin figure that we posted a few months back, except this one has been professionally built and painted. It has a starting bid of $69.50, but has a high shipping rate of $40 due to the seller being located in Thailand. Check out more images on the official auction page!

--Infinity's End

Hey all! To show how much we love you, I will be streaming a live playthrough of Metroid Fusion today on my Livestream Channel. So if you're not doing anything today around 5pm Central Standard Time, feel free to stop on by! Hope to see you there.

--Infinity's End

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.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

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

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

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

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

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

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

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