Metroid Database.com

That's right folks, due to the rest of my staff being completely MIA (likely due to the holidays), and myself coming down with a bad cold, we have extended the deadline to our contest by another 18 days. The deadline to get these in is 11:59pm on January 18th. Entries will be reviewed over that weekend, and then the winners will be revealed that following Monday. For those who have already submitted an entry, you may submit alterations and changes if you so choose. Please mention in your email that you have already submitted if you are re-submitting. Please send a standard image format (JPG, PNG, or BMP is preferred) when submitting your entries.

There have been only 7 entries to this contest so far, so I am thinking that we have done something wrong on our part - either we made it too difficult or weren't clear enough on the contest rules. Maybe something else? Is there some kind of problem that needs pointing out that is keeping people from entering? Are people's creativity just waning this year? Maybe no one cares? Please let us know on the official Contest Help Thread.

Maybe we'll see more entries after this deadline extension, but remember that the amount of entries we receive directly reflects whether we will have any more contests in the future.

--Infinity's End

DocM64, who has been busy creating a remake of Metroid II has recently released a new demo for your download wish fulfillment. The game is being built using GameMaker 8.1 and uses both edited and new graphics from Super, Fusion, and Zero Mission. The demo features many of the classic Metroid powerups and similar level design to Metroid II, but does make a few changes to give it that fresh feeling. This demo also includes the Arachnus battle! Grab the demo here.

Doc is asking for comments and feedback on this demo over at their forums.

--Infinity's End

It's been a long time since the Samus Aran Figma's were made available for sale. If you haven't bought one yet, you'll likely be left paying a monstrous amount of cash for one. Well, while there is no new Metroid Figma available, we now have the next best thing!

Pit and his angsty doppelganger Dark Pit from Kid Icarus: Uprising are now available for preorder. Kid Icarus has long been considered the sister series to Metroid, so why not spread a little love to the other branches of the family tree?

Pit can be preordered here and here.

Dark Pit can be preordered here and here.

Better get them while you can, no doubt the prices will skyrocket like crazy when they're no longer available.

--James Pierce

Just in time for the Japanese launch of the Wii U and Nintendo Land, Nintendo has posted a new installment of Iwata Ask's all about Nintendo Land. Learn about how Katsuya Eguchi and his team developed the game alongside the Wii U. There's even a small blurb about how a Metroid veteran was involved with approving the design for Samus's suit in the game.

Check it out!

--James Pierce

Today's my birthday (I'm 32), and I just wanted to make a quick post and show off these amazing Metroid cookies that my girlfriend secretly made for me. The nuclei are made out of red hots. They are very good and fun to eat!

Also, here is some awesome footage of Metroid Blast's boss battles (Kraid & Ridley) courtesy of Sylux8675309's YT channel.

--Infinity's End

Hot on the heels of last week's release of Harmony of a Hunter 101% Run, Samo Studios releases a 3D animated music video of Beyond the Glass, which is Track 6 on Disc 1. The video is breathtaking, and deserves your time. Much respect goes out to Sam Dillard for putting this together!

--Infinity's End

In the Destructoid video feature, Sup Holmes, a show where editor Jonathan Holmes interviews casually talks to game developers, he speaks with the director of WayForward's A Boy and His Blob and Double Dragon Neon, Sean Velasco. Around the 11:35 mark, he starts speaking about Super Metroid, claiming it's his favorite game of all time. Then they start talking about the series for the next few minutes. They keep coming back to Metroid throughout the entire interview, so the whole thing is worth watching. It's actually quite refreshing to hear other developers talk in this fashion, unrestricted, without the pressures of being in a "formal" interview. Check it out below:

--Infinity's End

Today I bring you some information related to Fangamer. First off, they have generously donated 3 $25 Gift Cards as prizes to our latest contest! We haven't gotten too many submissions yet, as people usually wait until the end, but you guys still have a little more than a month to work on them. Let's hope this year brings some awesome submissions!

The second Fangamer item is this new T-shirt entitled "Parasaito."

[ORDER PAGE]

Keep in mind that this T-shirt is preorder only, so you won't be able to receive it to early/mid December. However, if you win our contest, you could pick one of these awesome T-shirts up! There's also another relatively new one called Hunt the Huntress:

[ORDER PAGE]

Fangamer is also having their annual Sleep-In Sale which started today. Allowing US residents free shipping on orders until December 13th. Remember, anything purchased through our site (click through the ad banner or the links on the right-hand column) directly helps the MDb, so get a family member or significant other some awesome game-related swag for the holiday season this year!

--Infinity's End

Wii U launch day is almost finished, so now it's time for impressions! I've managed to pick up my Wii U and try out Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U. First off, the Wii U controller is a lot lighter than I thought it would be, and the plastic case is almost toy-like and about as heavy as a small hardback novel. The initial system update took about 45 minutes (no doubt due to Nintendo's servers being slammed), and then another 15 waiting for Nintendo Land (Mario took about 6). As far as the Wii U controller screen goes, once I got in the cockpit of the Gunship, I spent my entire time looking at the Wii U controller screen - the TV was completely unnecessary, especially since nobody was watching (the TV displays a live cam of your gameplay). Thankfully, the Wii U controller has a TV remote button, so you can turn it off easily if that bothers you.

Metroid Blast has three different modes. There is Assault Mission, Surface-Air Combat (Gunship vs. Miis), and Ground Battle. Since I didn't have any friends over, I just played Assault Mission. Here you can play as either the Gunship or a Mii, and since I don't have a Wiimote and Nunchuck (recently moved), I just played as the Gunship.

Samus's Gunship is wonky to control at first. You fly using both analog sticks plus the Wii U controller gyro. The left stick is used for acceleration and deceleration while the right stick changes your altitude with up and down and turns with right and left (your Gunship's thrusters will also turn - nice detail!). Tilt the controller to fine-tune movement and aiming. Pressing down on the analog stick will send your gunship into a boost. Holding L will zoom, while R shoots. Hold R to fire a charge shot. As you can tell by the description, the controls are a bit complex, and the gyro in particular takes some getting used to - I didn't start to feel very confident until about two hours in.

There are 20 levels in Assault Mission to start, and it took me about two and a half hours to clear all of them (and there's more...). It will probably take another two or three hours each to go back and play them all on foot and co-op and another hour or two to get Mastery ribbons for each level. I think you could easily get a good six hours out of the single-player mode of just the Metroid Blast mini-game alone, and no doubt dozens more from multiplayer.

Missions consist of destroying all the enemies (sometimes in waves, in others with a time limit), collecting tokens (with time limits), and boss fights. Ridley was in one level, but defeating him was not the objective (however, defeating Ridley made the rest of the mission very easy). Ridley actually has three weak points: his stomach, tail, and mouth, and you have to destroy the orbs on all three to defeat him. The giant mechanical Kraid is another fun boss fight that recalls his appearance in Super Metroid. You have to aim a missile down his throat, which reminded me a little of the Death Star. The boss fights are a lot of fun, and a big draw for this game.

There are more areas than the two shown previously (the futuristic city and Norfair), and at least three different versions of the city level. I won't reveal what the other two areas are, but you might be able to guess one since it's an area we've seen in previous Metroid games. It's got a fantastic cameo, too. The city level plays a Brinstar remix that's quite good, while the Norfair Ancient Ruins Area remix played in the lava stage felt a bit generic. The music in the other maps are completely original, and some of it is quite good.

Each time you clear a level or defeat enough enemies, you earn coins. The coins can be spent in the main hub level by playing a pachinko minigame. The music for the game is annoying, and it consists of Monita flying back and forth above a series of pegs. You have to time the drop of your coins to get them into little holes. Touch all the holes, and you win a prize box. After clearing Metroid Blast once I had about 200 coins, but was only able to get about 15 trophies before I ran out. Prize boxes seem to only be for games you've played - I just played Metroid Blast, and all I got were Metroid trophies. Run into the trophies or tap them to hear a short description from Monita, and sometimes they can be pretty funny, like the Zebesian trophy:

The Zebeisans are a race of Space Pirates from the Planet Zebes. Though the skill is unnecessary for everyday life, they can fire beams from their scissor-like appendages. What a plus.

Overall, Metroid Blast is lots of fun, although as a minigame, it doesn't really have the depth of a Metroid adventure. Hopefully they can take ideas from this and make an all-new Metroid game for the Wii U.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Yes it's finally here (at least in North America), after along time of waiting, Nintendo's new console has arrived. With it Nintendo's game enter the HD era, and online connectivity is greater than ever. There are also lots of great game being released today, like New Super Mario Bros U, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and Nintendo Land so I think it's safe to say that this is one of the best launch line ups for a Nintendo console in recent memory. While there is no Metroid game for the console announced as of now, we can take some time to enjoy other games from previous Metroid developers.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, is the much improved version of Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden 3 which was released earlier this year on PS3 and XBOX 360. You may remember that the original game was critically panned, and MDb even wrote a small piece about it. However, Yosuke Hayashi and his team have been hard at work improving the game, while it may still not be a classic, it is now worthy of being in the series. Razor's Edge also features a story mode for the ninja Ayane, and free DLC characters like Momiji available this December.

Warriors Orochi 3: Hyper, a game from Team Ninja's parent company Tecmo Koei. Pick your favorite warriors from ancient China and feudal Japan and go on a quest to save the world. The Warriors series is a guilty pleasure of mine, so while I can say that they're not the best games out there, they are really fun. Team Ninja's Ryu Hayabusa, Ayane, Rachel, and Momiji also appear in this game as crossover characters.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2, a fighting game from Namco Bandai Games, this is the enhanced version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 which was released earlier this year. This game features a mode where mushrooms from the Super Mario Bros series changes the size of the characters accordingly. This game also features Nintendo themed costumes, including a Zero Suit Samus costume from Metroid: Other M.

Nintendo Land, a mini-game compilation from Katsuya Eguchi's team at EAD. This game features games based off of F-Zero, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros, Luigi's Mansion, Balloon Fight, Yoshi, Murasame's Mysterious Castle, Octopus, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, and of course Metroid. We'll keep covering Metroid Blast as more details are discovered, so keep on checking in.

Game & Wario, this game from Intelligent Systems and Yoshio Sakamoto's team won't be available at launch, but should be out early next year. Another entry in the crazy WarioWare series, this one uses the Wii U GamePad as it's central theme. Good to see you keeping busy Wario!

Retro's New Game: We have no idea what it is, but we're sure it'll be something special when it launches. We hope to see this game at E3 next year.

Ah, you're still here? Well, don't forget once you have your Nintendo Network ID head on down to forums and make some friends. Hope to see you all on Miiverse!

--James Pierce

As part of our Metroid Prime 10th Anniversary celebration, we've got a previously untranslated interview with the Retro Studios staff about the development of Metroid Prime! The interview was previously only available through the Japanese Metroid Prime homepage as part of Nintendo Online Magazine's March 2003 edition. The article was translated by Sami R from Finland, who helped us out previously with a Metroid Prime 3 interview. It is interesting to note that all the Retro Studios employees interviewed in the article are no longer working with the company. How things change! Be sure to check it out for another nostalgic look at one of the greatest games of the past 10 years!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Many of you are probably aware that today was the official launch day of the WiiU. We will be preparing a deep analysis of Nintendo Land's Metroid Blast in the coming weeks, so look forward to that! What you might not have known is exactly one decade ago today, two amazing Metroid games were released in North America: Metroid Prime for the Nintendo GameCube, and Metroid Fusion for the GameBoy Advance. Both games were certainly received with mixed opinions at first, but were eventually embraced by both the Metroid community and the gaming world at large. Metroid Prime went on to receive numerous awards, and essentially put Retro Studios on the map as being one of the highest quality game development studios in North America. We at the Metroid Database tip our hats to all those hard-working men and women who sacrificed years of their lives for our metallic, helmet-clad warrior, and we have much to celebrate. As detailed in our latest Wave Beam Podcast, today we are also unveiling the Metroid Prime section in the Bestiary! The artists have been working non-stop delivering high-quality art for your consumption. We hope everyone realy appreciates all the work we've been putting into the MDb Bestiary thus far; it's still one of the most unique things you can find among game fansites. Let us know! Go to the official thread and tell us how much you care.

Here are a few tastes of what to expect in the Prime section. We are launching with a whopping 25 brand new entries. Be sure to check all of them out, they're definitely some of our best entries yet! We do plan on filling out the section with the entire Prime Logbook eventually, so keep checking back for that. HUUUUUGE thanks to all the awesome artists who have participated in this project! It really would be absolutely NOWHERE without you guys and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. You should all be very proud of yourselves.

P.S. For some extra fun, push < and > on your keyboard when viewing the Metroid Prime entry!

--Infinity's End

The highly-anticipated Harmony of a Hunter 101% Run album is finally out! Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Metroid Prime, the album contains three discs completely packed with high-quality arranges from every single Metroid game - that's over three hours of music, all absolutely free! The polish of the material is incredibly higher compared with last year's Harmony of a Hunter, with professional-grade arranges by the likes of Chris Apple, Theophany, and Sam Dillard. In fact, the album is so good that I would just as soon call it the 202% Run. To sit down and try to take it on all at once is overwhelming - you will want to have this in your playlist for days to fully appreciate it in its entirety (I've listened to it four times already and am still finding new things!). So what are you waiting for? Get it already! You can check out my review while you are waiting for the download to finish.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

As we start getting closer to the Wii U launch, as well as the 10th anniversary of Metroid Prime, I just wanted to take a quick peak back to the game's advertising campaign, which was pretty spectacular. This commercial first aired on November 8, 2002 in both TV broadcast and as a trailer shown in movie theaters. The film was directed by Alex Proyas (The Crow, I, Robot) and produced by Australian studio Animal Logic. The studio released a detailed summary of the production of the commercial where the visual effects supervisor Hugh Seville related the creation of the commercial to shooting a film:

By the end of the third shoot day it was obvious that we weren't making a 60-second TVC [TV commercial] for cinema release; we were actually making a small film which happened to be a commercial.

Although the commercial and interview have long since been removed from Animal Logic's website, an archive of the interview can be found here. If you weren't lucky enough to view it in theaters, there are still a few film cannisters floating around. Meanwhile, in Japan, another studio was filming a live action Metroid Fusion commercial...

Until next time...
Captain Commando

This weekend not only marks the launch of a new Nintendo console, but the 10th anniversary of Metroid Prime. Our Bestiary artists have been hard at work creating some fantastic new art for the debut of the Bestiary Prime section, so check back on the 18th for our latest entries and continuing Wii U coverage. Until then, we leave you with three new entries from Fusion:

Thanks to yedi and Insanity-Engine!

--Aurora Unit

GameXplain has posted a new video of Nintendo Land, this time featuring some of the prizes you can win from the Pachinko machine. Check out Ridley, Kraid, and a bunch of other Metroid goodies!

Nintendo Land and the Wii U arrive next Sunday in North America, so come back for more coverage.

--James Pierce

Darren over at Shinesparkers has released the final preview for the highly anticipated Harmony of a Hunter 101% Run, the epic sequel to last year's astounding soundtrack that celebrated Metroid's 25th Anniversary. This year's release features even more tracks than last time, with 39 songs across three albums - that's more than three hours of music! The album will feature many stellar remixers, including the old master Vomitron, who does a "Vs. Dark Samus" metal arrange; Martin Leung, better known as The (Blindfolded) Video Game Pianist, recording "Norfair Ancient Ruins" in piano; Sam Dillard with a haunting "Maridia" suite; and a Tourian opera by Chris Apple of Video Games Live! There will also be new album art by Nate Horsfall.

The video is professionally done, and all the audio has been remastered in a professional studio. I was very proud to see such an amazing work done by Metroid fans, as it not only shows the type of dedication shown by fans of the series, but also to the inspiration from Darren Kerwin to put together such a massive project. Of course, Darren has been holding his cards tight to his chest - I haven't even received a preview copy of the album yet, but he promises it is coming "soon".

If you can't stand the wait, make sure to check out the original Harmony of a Hunter again. We've updated the page with some brand new files: all of the tracks from the original album are now available as singles! The original album had all the tracks fading in and out into one another, but this new set, available in convenient zip files or as individual downloads, allows you to listen to the tracks as their composers originally wrote them!

Remember too that next Sunday the WiiU launches with the Metroid Blast minigame in NintendoLand, and the 10th anniversary of the Prime series is also coming up fast. We will have more Metroid Prime-related updates coming soon!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Check out this long preview for NintendoLand, featuring all 12 games! Keep watching to the end for our first look at the awesome Robo Kraid.

--James Pierce

As we get closer to the Wii U launch, Satoru Iwata has released more details about the Wii U OS. First off, to make full use of the Wii U, players will have to update the firmware on day 1. Obviously since manufacturing began way before the firmware was finished, the unit you get in the box will need to be updated. Now let's talk OS.

Nintendo Network ID: Upon first powering on the Wii U, players will have to make their own account for the system. It is suggested that everyone using the system should make their own account, as the Wii U can store up to 12 different accounts. Each account will require a Mii, password, gender, region, birthday, and an email address. Unlike past Nintendo systems, your ID is made from a username, and not friend codes.

When going online, the Wii U features a much more robust setu compared to it's predecessor. Each profile keeps track of certain data. Players can click on other peoples profiles and learn about them. Of course, you can always choose to keep some information private. When checking out a players profile, you can either send a friend request or follow the person similar to using a Twitter account. Like the 3DS, you have a maximum of 100 friends and you can follow up to 1000 people, it is currently unknown how many followers you can have.

Wara Wara Plaza: This is the central hub of the Wii U. You will see a massive hub made of thousands of Miis, conversing around the games that you, your friends, and the network at large is interested in. Click on any game, to join the discussion for that title. Spoiler filters are in place, so feel free to look around without fear of being spoiled. You can also take in game screenshots, and share them with other people in the plaza.

The Wii U Gamepad has an interface similar to the 3DS. Like the 3DS, there are apps at the bottom that are fixed firmly in place. These include the eShop, the internet browser, and a button to switch between TV and Gamepad play. A Mii is also in the upper left corner, to show which account is active.

As shown at E3, video chat is also a function of the Wii U. If you receive a call while playing a game, he Home button on the Gamepad will flash blue, informing yo of the call. Simply press the button to accept the call, then return to your game after.

Nintendo-JoySound Wii Karaoke U: A Karaoke game created by Nintendo with XING, this is built into the Wii U. I'm not sure, but I think this is going to be a Japan only type of thing. Nonetheless, for 1000 yen a month, players have access to 90,000 songs. There will also be a demo CD made available with 50 songs available.

For those of us with Wii's, details on how to transfer our data over has appeared. First off, an app must be downloaded from the Wii U eShop onto an SD card. This SD must be moved to the Wii, and a second app will be downloaded off of the Wii shop. After this is done, all your Miis, VC games, WiiWare games, save data, Wii Shop channel activity, and Wii points. Return the SD card to your Wii U, and you're good to go.

Finally, one last note. For those people buying the Deluxe Wii U, NintendoLand will come in a regular case, and not a sleeve like Wii Sports did for Wii!

--James Pierce

Cursed Lemon has made a couple fantastic rock mixes, one from Metroid II and the other from Super Metroid. You may have already heard the Metroid II remix, thanks to this incredibly awesome YouTube video by mdpofficial. Sadly, the downloads on Soundcloud were long since maxed out on his Soundcloud page, so I asked him if he would be willing to let us host them on the site. Now these two excellent mixes are available for download in both high quality MP3 and FLAC format. Check out the video and then download them along with lots of other great mixes from our Fan Music page!

Have you created an awesome Metroid remix that's not on our site and would like to share? Drop us a line!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

What's that you say? Samus was an only child? Technically, you are 100% correct, Rodney and Virginia did have only one child (that we know of), however Samus's other father had many children. No, I'm not talking about Yoshio Sakamoto (though he is also very involved with her brother), but Metroid character designer, Hiroji Kiyotake. On October 21, 1992, Kiyotake's team released a game which gave birth to his most famous creation all time. The game was Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, and the character was none other than the one and only, Wario!

Since his humble beginnings as an antagonist harassing Mario, Wario has grown into becoming a staple for both the Mario universe, and Nintendo as a whole. Wario has since appeared karting with Mario, playing Golf, Tennis, Baseball, Soccer, and a host of other sports. On one occasion, he even assisted the Mario Bros on their quest to save Princess Peach from the dastardly Bowser.

Yet Wario is still more than a mere player in the Mario series, people all over the world have seen his obvious greatness, and Wario has gone on to lead not just one, but two spin offs! Wario has since lent his talents as the hero of both the Wario Land and the Wario Ware franchises. Not bad for someone who started his career as the final boss of an old GameBoy game.

So, let's all take a little time from our day and pay tribute to this gaming giant. Play a round of Wario Ware with your friends, defeat Captain Syrup and the Brown Sugar Pirates on Kitchen Island. Or perhaps take Wario for a spin on Mario Kart 7 and show the plumber who's boss. On the other hand, maybe you can play a friendly round of Super Smash Bros Brawl, and see which character is Kiyotake's greatest. Have fun, and like the big man would say, "Have a rotten day!"

--James Pierce

16 years of Metroid on the web is a long time. While most sites don't last this long unless they have a steady stream of revenue or the designers are paid to keep it active, the Metroid Database is one of those special examples where we have a devoted staff keeping things running, as well as a great fan base to keep stopping by.

That said, I've recently moved about 2000 miles from my old home and gotten a full-time job and various contract side-projects, so all of this keeps me preoccupied from working on the site. However, I'm still working on a few translation projects, and Samus & Joey is still running, even if we haven't updated in awhile (mostly delays in typesetting).

Thankfully, Ryan (aka Infinity's End) has been keeping the site up-to-date with the podcasts, bestiary, Facebook, and myriad other maintenance, for which we're all super-grateful! James Pierce has also been on top of things with Wii U coverage, putting his Deleter snooper skills to good use. And then there's Jesse D getting the forum looking all snazzy! Independent websites really do succeed when they have such a great staff like this to keep things running!

Thanks again to everyone for their hard work and especially you for your continued support of the site!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Happy 16th Anniversary to the Metroid Database! Whew, it's been a long last few months, I must say. Metroid news has slowed down to little more than a slowly dripping trickle, and all we get are two awesome action figures, a Metroid-themed minigame in a WiiU launch title, and a cameo in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (see below). I guess something is better than nothing, eh? More than enough reason to party like it's 1996!

We bring you two new things today: the first being Episode 6 of our podcast, Wave Beam! In this episode, we cover Metroid Prime 2 Echoes. It goes on for over 2 hours! I was joined by Capcom, Aurora Unit, rondus18, and our newest staff member James Pierce, who could unfortunately only chat with us due to technical difficulties. We hope you enjoy it!

The second being our latest annual contest! This year we are asking entrants to design a Metroid scene in a unique art style. Any style your imagination can come up with! For questions or concerns, please visit the official contest thread. The contest will last from today until the end of the year, 12/31/2012. So you have plenty of time to create something beautiful and unique for us. I really look forward to seeing the entries!

I'd like to thank Devin, Jesse, Brydon, Tim, and Michael for all the work they've contributed to the site. Thanks also goes out to our passionate fans on our Message Board, and of course all our Facebook Likers - THANK YOU!!! Of course we wouldn't be anywhere without the honorable TJ Rappel. Cheers, everyone!

--Infinity's End

A new trailer was released for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 WiiU Edition. Check out all the zany Nintendo character costumes, which includes Captain Falcon, Link, Shiek, Zelda, Ganondorf, Toad, Peach, Fox, Zero Suit Samus, Bowser, Mario, and Luigi. Also shown is the welcome return of Tekken Ball!

--Infinity's End

My good friend Mark "FryGuy 64" Kelly has started his new Nintober project once again. This project requires him to draw one Nintendo Villain, for every single day this month in honor of Halloween. In 2008, he featured Mother Brain as the first of his 11 pictures, and in 2011, he featured even more Metroid enemies in his entire 31 day blitz. This year, Mark is raising money for MS research, so if you have a couple of bucks to spare, please make a donation at his MS fundraiser. Even if you don't want to make a donation, check out his gallery, as his work is great, and any Metroid or Nintendo fan should be in bliss.

--James Pierce

Game Informer continues with Wii U exclusive blitz, and today brings out a new trailer of the Metroid Blast game from NintendoLand. This trailer showcases the co-op mode, where you and your friends can team up and fight against waves of Metroid themed enemies.

As always, we will bring you the latest in Metroid Blast news, as we get closer to its November 18th release!

--James Pierce

Emily Rogers, one of the writers at notenoughshaders.com has put up an excellent article detailing all the known info about Retro Studios new project. While it doesn't particularly bring anything new to the table, it is a good compilation of all the known information about this secretive studio. I highly encourage anyone who has even a fleeting interest in Retro Studios to check out her article.

In my personal opinion, I do NOT think that this is a new Metroid game. I don't know anymore than any of you guys, but it seems to be part of Retro's vision for Metroid. I'm thinking that Retro is either doing Yoshi's Island, a new Star Fox, or something new. No matter what is, it's sure to be something special. As always, we'll keep you posted whenever new information is available.

--James Pierce

Coming from the people at Kotaku, they recently had an interview with Nintendo of America COO, Reggie Fils-Amie. In this interview, Reggie let out one bombshell about the possibility of GameCube games appearing on the Wii U's Virtual Console service.

Now, of course this doesn't confirm or deny anything, but it does leave the possibility open for GameCube games. In my personal opinion, I think GameCube games will come at some point, as the Wii U is not backwards compatible with GameCube games.

For those people who haven't been able to pick up the Metroid Prime Trilogy, this will obviously allow you to play the first two parts of the Prime trilogy on your shiny new Wii U's. As always, we will keep close tabs on this, and update whenever any new information is revealed.

--James Pierce

From Nintendo's own press gallery, comes a Hi-Res boxart for this Wii U launch title. As always, we will bring you more news on Nintendo Land and Metroid Blast when it becomes available.

--James Pierce

Direct Feed, Satoru Iwata commentary from Thursday's presentation (featuring Metroids!):

Off-screen, Nintendo World Report Hands-on (hear the Lower Norfair music!):

Off-screen, Gamespot Walkthrough:

--Infinity's End

From Destructoid's YouTube page, comes a new video of Nintendo Land's Metroid Blast mini-game. In this video you can see two players fighting against enemies including Zebesian Space Pirates, and Zoomers.

--James Pierce

Courtesy of the good people at IGN, a new video about Metroid Blast has surfaced. Looking pretty good there space warriors.

--James Pierce

Today yielded a small bounty of Metroid goodness for fans with regards to the Wii U. As was expected, no new Metroid game was announced, but we did get some good looks at Metroid Blast from Nintendo Land as well as a rather amusing cameo from Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

Nintendo Land: If you look closely at the gunship, you can see the serial number from Other M.

Also, while not a Metroid reference, here are some pics from Balloon Trip Breeze. This is based on Balloon Fight, a game Yoshio Sakamoto created prior to working on Metroid.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2: In this game the Tekken cast of characters have new Nintendo themed costumes available to them. Based on Super Smash Brothers, the known costumes based on Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, Fox McCloud, and Zero Suit Samus. There will probably be more down the line, and we will continue to update as we know more. I took some screenshots from the trailer, but we will upload higher quality assets once they're available.

Now for some screenshots that don't relate to Metroid, but are of games that are being made by Metroid series developers.

Game & Wario: A new game from Yoshio Sakamoto's team and Intelligent Systems, this game features Wario and his friends trying to hit it rich by making games revolving around the Wii U Game Pad.

Ninja Gaiden III: Razor's Edge: A revamped version of Ninja Gaiden III by Team Ninja, this game attempts to fix all the errors of the original version. Allegedly Nintendo has been overseeing this revamp, so you can be sure that it'll be something special at least.

--James Pierce

Let's get started right away!

First off, the Wii U will be launching in North America on November 18th. If I recall correctly, this is one day before the Wii was launched in 2006. Like Japan, the Wii U will have two different models, a white standard model and a black premium model.

The standard model includes a Wii U, gamepad, 8GB of internal storage, a sensor bar, an HDMI cable, an AC adapter, and an AC adapter for the Gamepad. Priced at $299.

The premium model includes all of the above, plus a gamepad charging cradle, a gamepad stand, and a Wii U vertical stand. Unlike the Japanese version, this one also comes with Nintendo Land packed in as a bonus! Who's ready to fight Robo-Ridley? Priced at $349.

In other news, you can plug an external hard drive, and have as much space as you want.

The Wii U has a new feature called Nintendo TVii. This turns the Wii U into a device that controls your TV, cablebox, DVR, and gives you access to digital TV services. You can rearrange your favourite channels, and create an experience that is fully suited to you.

Now for some software.

New Super Mario Bros U will be on launch day. Features an interconnected map like Super Mario World.

Nintendo Land has twelve games in total. 6 mini-games, 3 battle attractions, and 3 team attractions. New games revealed are Pikmin Adventure, Octopus Dance, Mario Chase (Based on Chase Mii from E3 2011), Captain Falcon's Twister Race, and Yoshi's Fruit Cart.

From Metroid: Other M's director Yosuke Hayashi, Ninja Gaiden III: Razor's Edge comes on launch day as well. It was originally panned by critics, but Team Ninja has been working hard turning the game into a product that fans can be proud of. This version includes dismemberment and gore, exclusive weapons, better combat, and more enemies. It will also include an exclusive side story starring ninja Ayane from Dead or Alive. I know previous Ninja Gaiden games have had bonus costumes, perhaps a Samus outfit for Ayane?

Speaking of Samus costumes. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 from Namco Bandai Games features costumes based on Nintendo characters. I've seen costumes based on Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Zelda, Link, and Fox McCloud. Of course Samus was included alongside the other Nintendo heroes, her Zero Suit is a costume for Anna Williams. I will update this page later when I find a screenshot of it.

Lego City Undercover a new game from Travelers Tales and published by Nintendo, play as police officer Chase McCain in a GTA styled Lego city. Pre orders receive an exclusive actual Lego Chase McCain mini-figure.

While nothing was shown off, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed that Xenoblade Chronicles, developer Monolith Soft is working on a new project for Wii U. It is not a sequel to an existing game, and is a completely new IP.

Platinum Games E32012 title P-100 is now under the title of The Wonderful 101. It will be released next year.

In a major coup for Nintendo, Nintendo is publishing Platinum Games other Wii U title Bayonetta 2, exclusive to Wii U! Is this the first step to Platinum developed Metroid?

Metroid guru Yoshio Sakamoto is also hard at work on his Wii U debut game. Like his debut on Wii with WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Sakamoto and his team are creating Game & Wario in conjunction with Intelligent Systems.

Activision brings 007 Legends and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 to Wii U.

In another major bomb shell, Capcom announces Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate to Wii U and 3DS. The Wii U version will have online play. In case you're wondering, yes, it will be localized for America and Europe.

Tecmo Koei will be releasing Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper for Wii U. Warriors Orochi is a spinoff of Dynasty Warriors, and the last Nintendo Dynasty Warriors had Nintendo themed costumes, perhaps this one will as well? Later on, Tecmo Koei will also be releasing Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Fist of the North Star for Wii U.

Finally, Pikmin 3 and Wii Fit U will not be released at launch, but will be available next year.

Not a bad haul for the Wii U if I may say so. Stay tuned for tonight as we continue to update with all Metroid references shown off today.

--James Pierce

A few hours ago, Nintendo announced on their twitter feed that they will be having a second Nintendo Direct broadcast later today which occurs at the same time as the America, European, and Australian broadcasts. It seems that this first event will be strictly about the hardware so lets enjoy that for now. Don't worry though, I will make a new post later today when software details are shown. Now without further delay, let's have some Wii U!

First off, in Japan the Wii U available on December 8th. There are two different models available, a standard white model and premium black model.

The standard model includes a Wii U, gamepad, 8GB of internal storage, a sensor bar, an HDMI cable, an AC adapter, and an AC adapter for the Gamepad. Price at 25,000 yen.

The premium model includes all of the above, plus a gamepad charging cradle, a gamepad stand, and a Wii U vertical stand. Price at 30,000 yen.

On day one you can import all of your Virtual Console and WiiWare games to the Wii U!

The Pro Controller will be available separate for 5,000 yen.

From Nintendo, both New Super Mario Bros U and Nintendo Land will be available on launch day. This is the first time since Super Mario 64 that Mario comes day one.

Nintendo Network Premium. A new service which runs until December 2014. For digital purchases, users get 10% back for other goods.

--James Pierce

Just going to leave this right here...

We plan on doing a complete breakdown of this trailer to glean every ounce of information we can. Stay tuned for further updates for the latest news on Wii U.

--Infinity's End

Tomorrow brings exciting news for Nintendo fans as all world wide branches of Nintendo announce their Wii U plans for the end of the year. While it's extremely unlikely that a new Metroid game will be shown off, there is no doubt that Metroid Blast for Nintendo Land will be there.

So to begin, Nintendo Co. Ltd, will be having one of their Nintendo Direct broadcasts at 3 a.m. eastern time on the 13th. This will detail the plans for Nintendo's Wii U strategy in Japan, and should include a price and a release date for the console. I also expect some new games from Japanese 3rd party studios to be shown, but even then that may not happen.

Seven hours later, Nintendo of America COO Reggie Fils-Amie will be hosting his own Wii U press event for North America. This event starts at 10 a.m. eastern time. Expect similar details about price and release date, but tailored for North America. Nintendo will be providing full coverage on their facebook page. You can also stream the event from Nintendo's own Wii U page.

Finally, both Nintendo of Europe and Nintendo of Australia will be hosting their own versions of Nintendo Direct at the exact same time as Nintendo of America's presentation. This is midnight AEST for Australia, and 3 p.m. UK time for Europe. For those in Europe, the broadcast is here, and the Australian broadcast is here.

I will be personally covering both the Japanese and North American events, so stay tuned for further details!

--James Pierce

EathBound Central has recently reported an anime adaptation of Aoi Sekai no Chuushin de (Into the Heart of the Blue World), a Japanese series that parodies the console wars of the 1990s. The medieval fantasy series chronicles the war between the Segua Kingdom and Ninterudo Empire and features characters named after videogame heroes. There is a "masked woman" known as Saroid - an obvious combination of Samus and Metroid. She is "good at infiltration" and is a silent character who's identity remains a mystery.

Other Nintendo themed characters include: Marces based on Mario, Greege based on Luigi, Zerig based on Link, Carvai based on Kirby, Fare based on Princess Minerva from the Fire Emblem series, Masa based on Lucas from Mother 3, Pirika based on Pikachu, and Fosta based on Fox McCloud. Sega's characters include Gia (Gear) based on Sonic, Opul based on Opa-Opa from Fantasy Zone, Neru based on Nei from Phantasy Star, Tejilof from Tetris (a mercenary hired by Segua!), and Ramses (Columns). (The rest of the names came from Nintendo Gamer.)

Aoi Sekai no Chuushin de began its life in 2007 as a manga written by Anastasia Shestakova and illustrated by Crimson. The anime series will begin in October 2012. It will probably not enjoy a US release, but you can expect to see fansubbed versions floating around the Internet soon after they air.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Hello Metroid Database, I am James Pierce, the newest member of the Metroid Database team. Some of you may recognize from the forums, I admit that I'm not the most sociable of posters, but I do love finding and posting news for everyone to see. And that very passion brings me to this message today. Starting today, I will be posting news and other information to the site as a member of the editorial staff. Infinity's End has done a tremendous job keeping the site as up-to-date as possible, but there is only so much one man can do. So here I am, to take the pressure off the rest of the staff and add more value to the site.

Before I go, I want to talk about one last thing. I have a soft spot for cameos in videogames. A good friend introduced me to the concept about ten years ago, and ever since then I've been hunting them down with great fervor. Metroid Database already has a great cameo section, and I hope to continue to expand that section even further. So please, if you see know of any Metroid cameos not on the site, post about it in the forums.

Once again, I would like to thank the Metroid Database staff for giving me this opportunity. I'm sure this will lead to great things for everyone!

--James Pierce

We've just got word that the newest issue of Game Informer magazine (October) has released information and screenshots of the Metroid-themed minigame in the next-gen WiiU title, Nintendo Land. The game that was original titled "Battle Mii" when it was shown at E3 is now officially called "Metroid Blast," and could be seen as a 3rd-person shooter deathmatch of sorts, where players get to either control their Mii on land (decked out in a Samus-esque Power Suit) or by air via Samus's ship, which you control using the WiiU's unique gamepad. Judging from the screens, there seems to be multiple game modes, and offers 2-4 split screen local multiplayer.

Scans of the images can be seen below, which were taken directly from this German gaming messageboard. Or just go to your local newsstand or GameStop and pick up the latest Game Informer! We will be covering more on this minigame as we near launch.

--Infinity's End

6 new Bestiary have been added:

I must say these are some extremely awesome entries! Thanks to JoelChan, Methuselah3000, and Nathan92 for their hard work!

--Infinity's End

A couple of weeks ago, on August 2nd, body paint experts Skin City (website | Facebook), located in Las Vegas, NV, were celebrating their one year anniversary of residency in the Las Vegas Art District. Part of their celebration included a live body paint demo. One of our tattoo submitters, Mae, who is also a professional model, knew one of the artists who works at Skin City (Steve Horlock), and had previously mentioned the desire to be painted up as Samus. Steve was inspired by the idea and totally went all out for the event. The studio painted her up fantastically, as well as making her an arm cannon and helmet. They even painted a Metroid prop and a Mother Brain background for the photoshoot. Really brilliant, beautifully amazing stuff here.

Tons more photos can be seen in these Facebook albums: "Making of" Set | "Completed" Set
Photography is by Jonathan "Blurr" Craig. (website, facebook)

Congratulations to everyone involved and to Mae for her bravery and incredible fandom to the Metroid series! How about doing a Zero Suit next? :D

--Infinity's End

Now available for your reading and viewing pleasure, I bring you my review of the Zero Suit Samus PVC figure by MaxFactory! This figure realizes Zero Suit Samus better than all the other figures of her in the past, and it shows! This, along with the Figma, are the Samus figures that Metroid fans truly deserve. Click the image below to head on into the review.

--Infinity's End

If you're a reader of mainstream gaming tabloid Kotaku, you may have seen this article celebrating Samus cosplayers. The article is more or less a glorified selection of photos of cosplayers from DeviantArt, however it features a few MDb forum members, MewTwo and the sprite-costume created by Chozoboy (who has most recently created a life size Super Metroid Ridley). Of course, the two brilliant suit designs of Jenni "Pixelninja" Kallberg and Thais "Yukilefay" Jussim were also featured.

However, we here at the MDb always strive to show supreme dedication to the Metroid series. You can always go to our DeviantArt Page and witness the 8-page gallery of all our favorite Samus cosplayers. Many more than Kotaku's selection, who somehow left out Zadra from their picks.

Instead of childishly pitting these beautiful women against each other an asking fans to choose "Who's the best?" we instead would like to embrace all cosplayers of Samus, celebrating their dedication to our favorite bounty hunter, and spreading the love for the series.

Here's to all the Samus/Metroid cosplayers from the past, present and future!

--Infinity's End

Darren of Shinesparkers revealed today his third preview of the new Harmony of a Hunter: 101% Run album today. The preview contains 6 tracks including:

• Temple Grounds/Light Temple (MP2) by Laura Intravia & Jared Cowing (with choir)
• Nightmare (MF) by Theophany
• Security Robot B.O.X. (MF) by Erik McClure
• Gandrayda (MP3) by Sebastian Martensson
• Title Theme (MPT) by Cursed Lemon (ft. Stephan Wells)
• Crisis Mission (MF) by Nick Perrin

The project is scheduled to be released this November, just in time for Metroid Prime's 10th anniversary. There's only one 4-letter word that starts with "e" that can describe this album...

Official Harmony of a Hunter Facebook Page | Harmony of a Hunter: 101% Run - Second Preview | Harmony of a Hunter: 101% Run - First Preview | Harmony of a Hunter: Final Preview | Harmony of a Hunter website

--Infinity's End

About a month ago, passionate Metroid fan and Zero Suit cosplayer Michelle "Zadra" Perl (Facebook) received a new tattoo to complement her already-inscribed S-Logo. This wouldn't quite be newsworthy except it's of the awesome Ridley art that was created by el roacho for our Bestiary. The tattoo is now all healed and it looks fantastic! Check out the images below:

I'm very proud to be able to say that the Metroid Database had a hand in the creation of this tattoo. Congrats, Zadra! Also be sure to check out the new submission by Mindtank on our Fan For Life page!

--Infinity's End

Thanks to Fileplanet finally removing all our stuff, the Prime 3 and Hunters music sections have been down for awhile. However, the Prime 3 music section is back online and even better than before! All the tracks have been re-encoded, this time straight from the digital source, so there isn't any of the background static that you might have picked up on super-fancy speakers while listening to the old one. The track listing has also been redone, so we're pretty sure this is close to what the composers originally intended! And while you're listening to the music, you may want to check out Original Sound Version's excellent interview with composer Kenji Yamamoto and sound designer Jayson Petersen regarding Corruption and the Prime trilogy. As usual, the slick album art was done by Infinity's End.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Here it is folks, the moment you've been waiting for: our review of the Samus Aran Figma action figure. Has it lived up to the hype and excitement? Fortunately, yes it has. The Samus Aran Figma is the best Samus figure ever crafted, sporting 16 points of articulation, five interchangeable hands, a Morphing Ball and more! Don't miss our breakdown of this amazing figure. Get yours today before you lose your chance FOREVER!!

Even Samus agrees, this figure is the most accurate representation of the character to date. So go read the feature and see why!

--Infinity's End

This morning I played through the newest Metroid-inspired action game, Ex Vitro. As a Metroid fan who's become perhaps a bit too picky in recent years, I have to say I haven't been as blown away by a Metrovania since Shadow Complex and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. And that means you should go check out the demo right now.

Ex Vitro is a solid indie game that takes its blueprints straight from Super Metroid. You play as a seemingly-nameless soldier stuck on an alien world where humans have constructed a massive bioresearch lab where they are plotting xenophobic galactic armageddon. In tried-and-true Metroid fashion, you begin with a weak pulse rifle and quickly acquire power-ups in the form of an EMP pulse cannon, plasma charge, and a beam that can shoot around corners(!). Using this arsenal, you quickly blast your way through an abandoned mechanoid factory, a research jungle, and seriously awesome wrecked lab. Looking at the in-game clock, it took me four hours to clear those three levels - and this is just the demo. What's more, for the most part, I had a blast doing it.

The game uses a WASD + Mouse aiming scheme ala Abuse, which you very rarely see, although I'd love to see gamepad support, or at least a MAJOR improvement to the clunky wall-jump controls - there's a reason they made this optional ability from Super Metroid easier to do in Fusion and Zero Mission. The graphics are a mixed bag, with some nice Game Maker graphical effects (including the death animation), tiles, and background designs (especially in the jungle), to sparse and often uninspiring enemy designs. The main character also could use a significant graphical update, and maybe a couple extra auto-abilities such as ledge-grabbing. Most of the background music is good, adding some great atmosphere with the jungle and abandoned lab (the SOS signal is a nice touch). However, I'd like to see a different track for the factory, and most of the SFX need a major update.

Despite its flaws, the best parts about Ex Vitro are the flairs and inspirations that I feel are a step above and beyond the source material. The include the awesome door animations, blasting through glass panels to get to power-ups, and environmental touches, such as glass tubes cracking as you walk through them and static interference in the research lab that disables your mini-map. And the best part of all is the entire game is original, rather than a Metroid remake, which means the developer owns 100% of what he puts into it. And hey, if you can put something in your game that I'd love to see in a licensed Metroid title, you've got something good.

Ex Vitro is still in beta stage, and I am seriously hoping the developer, Torerane, can continue to add some serious polish to it. With a bit more work, I feel Ex Vitro can be the Super Metroid on the PC I've been dreaming about for over ten years.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

This Friday will be a lucky one, because the good ol' boys at MHQ are starting their annual Metroid Marathon, the MHQthon. The team will play through every single released Metroid title, in hopes to raise money for the Child's Play charity.

You can watch the stream directly from their website. It will start at 8PM Central Time, and will last all the way until the following Tuesday, July 17th. MHQ will also be celebrating their 8th anniversary on the 16th, so congrats to them! We at the MDb wish them the best of luck. Head on over to their site this Friday and give them some support!

--Infinity's End

The love by fans of this series never ceases to amaze me. Independent filmmakers mikeNgary have released a new short parody film loosely based on the intro to Super Metroid. The film's budget was $200 and made by 6 people. Check it out below!

They have also created a thread on our forum about it, so you can go there if you want to discuss the film with other fans. Congrats to the filmmakers on this release!

mikeNgary Facebook page

--Infinity's End

In the same vein as the "long piece of fanart covering all the main characters in the series," DeviantArtist LaRoseNoire1989 has taken up the reins and created a beautiful strip of Metroid goodness. Fantastic job, LaRoseNoire!

Let's hope this image gets all the credit it deserves! Share it far and wide!

UPDATE: LaRoseNoire has updated the piece to feature Phantoon, Crocomire and the Queen.

--Infinity's End

Nintendo has finally unveiled its Elite Club Nintendo gift for this year. Those who were able to reach Gold or Platinum status will be able to choose from 3 gifts: Nintendo Playing Cards (made of plastic, not paper!), a three poster set (Kid Icarus Uprising, Luigi's Mansion 2, and Zelda Skyward Sword), or a 2013 Calendar. Along with those choices, members can also choose to get 1 of 4 game titles for a Virtual Console service: Metroid II: Return of Samus, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, or Super Mario Kart.

In other news, Shigeru Miyamoto was quoted in a recent informal interview with IGN's Richard George saying that he'd very much like to see both Star Fox and Metroid on the WiiU in the future and that it would be very interesting to see what they could come up with in terms of utilizing the technology of the new Gamepad. Looks like Nintendo hasn't give up on Metroid just yet! Go here for the scoop.

--Infinity's End

Today I bring you 4 new added entries to the Bestiary: Beetom, Metroid Hatchling, Geruda-X, and Puromi.

More entries are still in the works as the Bestiary is continuously updated. We at the MDb hope everyone has a great 4th of July!

--Infinity's End

Well, it's been about three months to get this chapter update done. Whole lot of stuff going on lately, including moving and a new job (not to mention Matt - aka Sharonlover - who does the scanning is now a father - congratulations!!). Hopefully the rest of these can be finished on a more or less regular basis...

Anyway, this chapter closes up the second Samus & Joey story arc, with the climactic battle with the penguins to decide the fate of the survivors of the Otowa. What sort of dangers still lurk on the Planet Degrade? Will Samus and Joey succeed? And will Joey actually become less annoying? The shocking details revealed! (Or start from the beginning.)

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Wasabi Sunshine's Kickstarter project to create a fantastic hardbound version of his series 31 Days of Zero Suit Samus has been successfully funded! The Metroid Database contributed at the Gravity Suit level using some of the ad revenue this site has generated. This means the MDb is a patron of a Metroid project, and that is pretty awesome. The prize from this level will in turn become a prize for this year's MDb contest which is... Well, we haven't decided what it will be yet, but we can guarantee it will be super cool!

If you missed out on the Kickstarter, fear not! 31 Days of Zero Suit Samus and most of the funder bonuses will be available for purchase regularly once the book goes into print (minus the dust jacket, among other things which were exclusive to the Kickstarter project).

So yeah... Basically, every time someone clicks on an ad on the site, we get a little money. Half of it goes to run the Kontek servers, and the other half goes to the site. That half is used to buy prizes for the MDb contest and for other cool stuff like the Metroid Prime 2 manga you see on the site that ordinary Metroid fans would be unable to acquire...as well as to help fund cool projects like this one! (And no, in case you were wondering, not a cent of it goes to the 'buy a videogame' slush fund.) It's a great way the site can help give back to the community while ensuring the lights stay on.

And no, you don't have to change your browsing habits to click on the ads or even turn off your ad blocker to enjoy the site!! This is just a little PSA to let those of you who are wondering know why those ads are here and what we actually do with the money and let you know the project was funded. ;-)

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Shinesparkers released a preview video today of the second upcoming Metroid remix project entitled, Harmony of a Hunter 101% Run. The preview contains excerpts of 7 tracks from 8 different remixers:

• Buoy
• Pyro Paper Planes (ft. VikingGuitar)
• Gario
• Mazedude
• Stephan Wells
• Martin Leung (The Video Game Pianist)
• Sam Dillard

From what we hear so far, 101% Run sounds even better than last year's seminal Harmony of a Hunter album! We're really looking forward to hearing the final album, which is due to release on a two-disc album later this year.

--Infinity's End

MDb Forum user AlphonseDaya brought to our attention this eloquent series on Metroid Other M. I'm sure there are some out there that are absolutely sick to death of videos like this, picking every minute of the game apart, scene-for-scene. And you completely have the freedom to not watch it. But on the other hand, you don't see reactions with this kind of quality happen very often. The last game series that I can think of that caused such an uproar in the fanbase was for Mass Effect 3, and what did Bioware do? They acknowledged their fans' concerns. I don't quite ever remember Nintendo releasing public statements to their fans about the negative reactions, other than a very blanketed, "We're interested in hearing your opinions," only shortly after the game's release.

So of course, take these videos as you will (I've posted the first of five). They will either convince you completely, or make your blood boil, or you might just dismiss everything he says. For someone like myself, I tend to take a more empathetic opinion with MOM, leaning towards the favor of the developers themselves, who, despite communication problems amongst three different studios, translation issues, Japanese storytelling vs. American storytelling, hardware and time constraints, and Sakamoto admitting to being completely inexperienced with 3D game development, created a fun, yet flawed experience. I will never dismiss MOM as "completely worthless" as these videos do. But it can't be taken back, and the only thing we can do from this game is learn from its supposed abhorrent mistakes.

--Infinity's End

The E3 buzz has come and gone, and while there weren't any major new Metroid developments out of the conference, or late announcements of a 25th 26th anniversary package, it's not going to stop us from looking forward and continuing to celebrate the series! We're pleased this week to showcase the latest batch of Bestiary creatures from the team. We've got the original behemoth himself: Kraid from both Super Metroid and Zero Mission, along with a Skultera and Kihunter from Fusion.

We also have some promising new content currently in the pipeline, so look forward to our next set of Bestiary updates.

--Aurora Unit

Today at 9am PDT, Nintendo gave their annual E3 press conference. The conference focused almost entirely on the WiiU, and Nintendo promises they have even more surprises in store for us. The WiiU's main focus seemed to be not only getting entire families involved in gameplay experience more than ever, but connect everyone across the world using a unique networking system called Miiverse. They are also trying to please hardcore fans, with plenty of 3rd party titles in the lineup such as Batman Arkham City Armored Edition, ZombiU, Darksiders 2, Mass Effect 3, and more. You can watch the official WiiU lineup trailer below:

Another thing to note is that Metroid made a *tiny* cameo appearance during the Nintendo Land video. Nintendo Land will feature 12 different game "attractions," each based on a well-known Nintendo franchise. We were shown footage of a robotic Ridley statue, a Samus helmet icon (which likely allows you to access the attraction in the game), Samus's starship and a Metroid statue. It is unknown what the specifics of the game are yet, but it's likely that it will be the Battle Mii game that Nintendo showed at their 2011 conference last year.

We will update you as soon as we get more information! Stay tuned to e3.nintendo.com for all the latest updates.

Update 1: Nintendo updated their official Facebook page with the icons from Nintendo Land. As you can see, there is a Samus helmet clearly among them. Our guesses for the rest are Zelda, Pikmin, Mario, Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing, Yoshi, Game & Watch Octopus, Donkey Kong, Takamaru's Ninja Castle, F-Zero, and Balloon Fight.

Update 2: The cover image also appears to reveal a metroid statue that players will likely be able to purchase using the game's built-in coin reward system.

Update 3: Close examination of the Nintendo Land main hub reveals the giant mechanical Ridley, which is initially hiding behind the big tower in the center on the opposite side of the park from the entrance. Next to the statue is a tiny (in comparison) Metroid statue, along with Samus's starship. The Ridley statue will fly up and breathe fire when the train goes past. Note the large power button on Ridley's chest. Oddly enough, these statues are not immediately in front of the Metroid ride (which is labeled 'currently under construction').

You might also remember back at last year's E3 that the game's developer, Animal Crossing creator Katsuya Eguchi, mentioned possibilities for Metroid on the WiiU when interviewed by Kotaku:

Now that we have a Wii in HD - the Wii U - there are games like Zelda or Metroid or Star Fox, that definitely will benefit from the ability to display those detailed graphics... I can't give you any details now, but I'm sure there will be a new Metroid release making use of the new controller, not just to control Samus and her ship but also to give the player a new source of information. Maybe the player is looking at the screen but has the information that they need to defeat the enemy in their hands.

Quite the sneaky response now that we know he was working on Nintendo Land at the time! While it's tempting to extrapolate how the Metroid ride will operate based on this statement, it is a healthy reminder that Eguchi-san has been working on this game for quite a long time and no doubt has some excellent plans to make this an enjoyable Metroid experience for Nintendo Land.

--Infinity's End

Nintendo is kicking off their Pre E3 announcements later today at 3 p.m. PDT with a Nintendo Direct presentation from Iwata, who is said to be sharing some new information about the Wii U's concept. Nintendo's main presentation will be on Tuesday the 6th at 9 a.m. PDT, followed by a dedicated "Software Showcase" event on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PDT.

Those who have MTV2 or Spike TV will be able to watch Nintendo's presentation on Tuesday commercial free and with less chance of internet lag interrupting any critical moments. Otherwise, Nintendo will have full streaming coverage on their E3 All-Access hub and Facebook page.

I'm not expecting us to hear much information about the future of the Metroid series, but we'll be following closely, just in case Nintendo decides to release the Metroid-themed Battle Mii as a launch title, sans Slippy Toad.

Update: Here's the Nintendo Direct presentation in case you missed it.

--Aurora Unit

Last year, we reported on Chris Furniss's 31 Days of Zero Suit Samus, where Chris drew an original picture of Zero Suit Samus engaged in all sorts of summer activities. They're some of the cutest and most clever fanart out there, and received a lot of attention. Chris has been selling prints of this work for awhile, and had mentioned way back last September he was planning on compiling the whole thing into a book. Now almost a year later, the project is back, this time appearing on Kickstarter project!

Chris has created a sample of the book, but needs $20k in order to print them. If you're unfamiliar with how Kickstarter works, you pledge any amount of money, and if the project gets funded (the funding goal is met), then you pay that amount. This money goes towards the realization of the project.

Depending on how much money you pledge, you can get all kinds of cool goodies, such as buttons and a sticker for as low as $8 and a hardback copy of the book starting at $35. The most exclusive levels (handpainted Metroid NES cartridge, Game Boy, and NES console) have already been filled up, but there are still a few of the exclusive levels left. Note the hardbacked dust jacket version of the book will only be available through the Kickstarter project, so if you're eager for a copy, you'd best put your pledge in before the deadline! (June 20)

View all the original 31 Days of Zero Suit Samus watercolors here to see more of what you'll be getting (or just to look - they're very cool).

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Adam Maiolo of Penguins Marathons contacted us to let us know that they will be hosting a Metroid Marathon on this Friday, June 1st, starting at 7:00PM EST. The marathon will go on until they complete all 11 Metroid games. The group consists of 8 men, all dedicated to raising money for Big Brothers Big Sisters St. Catharines - Thorold & District, a Canadian-based non-profit charity.

The group promises to stream the entire event live from their site, as well as some fun and entertainment, (including prizes) for the viewers when goals are reached. Their current end goal is $4000.

Watch the epic trailer below:

On behalf of the Metroid Database I'd like to wish Adam and the rest of the guys at Penguins Marathons the best of luck on the event and commend them for their generosity! This event is completely powered by folks like you, the internet community, so if you're feeling generous, head over to Penguins Marathons this Friday and send 'em a few bucks.

--Infinity's End

There is a YouTuber who goes by The Gaming Brit Show who does video game reviews. He's kinda like a layman's version of Yahtzee - less emphasis on blatant cynicism and humor, and more emphasis on worthwhile game critique. Last year, The Gaming Brit put up a nearly half-hour video called "Metroid Other M (why it SUCKS)" which you can watch below. Now, before you watch, you should probably realize that the video is NSFW, as it contains some cursing, but also that a lot of it may come across as overly-biased venting and rage-writing (he even admits it within the first minute). He also rarely acknowledges any counter-points - the ones he does acknowledge he quickly shoots down. There also seems to be an absence of any experiential knowledge of the game development process itself, and mainly focuses on the game's story woes. Still, it's one of the better breakdowns of Other M I've found on the web.

Just last month, The Gaming Brit placed up an "epilogue" piece for Other M. This one is half as long as the one above, and mostly focuses on why the Prime series is leaps and bounds better than Other M in a lot of ways. Again, the same warnings above apply to this one.

If you can watch only one, definitely watch the second. I don't agree with him 100%, but he does bring up a lot of valid points and justifies them with real video comparisons. It's not just a rant-fest. Check 'em out if you have some time - it may help heal the hole in your heart that was left there by Other M.

--Infinity's End

The latest entry to the Bestiary comes in the form of Mellows & Hive. This excellent entry was drawn by Joelchan, thanks man!

I have also added a new recommended game to the list: Shantae and its sequel, Shantae Risky's Revenge. I have been playing SRR on my iPod quite a bit lately, and while it took a little while to fully get used to not pressing physical buttons, I am still enjoying it very much. The game is only $5 so there's no reason you should pass this one up. It's also available via DSiWare, or on the 3DS eShop Channel.

--Infinity's End

Oh man, do I have some awesome information for you. It's not quite news of a new Metroid game, but it's just as good.

If you subscribe to our Facebook page, you may have seen a post about Metroid Prime's unused content. Since then, NeoGAF user Mama Robotnik has put together more, incredibly comprehensive threads on cut and unused content of all the Metroid Prime games. There was even "talks" of a Metroid 2 remake by Retro, but nothing ever came to fruition. This concept art of a reimagined Omega Metroid by Danny Richardson may be the only glimpse we ever get of it.

Any fans of the Prime series will deeply appreciate these threads. There is just way too much content in them for me to ever describe it in detail. Check them out below:

• Metroid Prime
• Metroid Prime 1.5 and Metroid 2 Remake
• Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
• Metroid Prime Hunters

But wait, there's more! Check out this incredibly kick ass Demo Reel of Sonny Santa Maria, who is currently the Lead Animator at Namco Bandai. Sonny worked as a contract animator for Retro during MP3. The demo reel has a few cutscenes that never made it into the game.

--Infinity's End

Have you ever woken up on a cold morning and arbitrarily thought to yourself, "Hm, I wonder if I could make a life-size version of Samus Aran out of paper"? Well, that's sort of what happened to Matthew Green. What started out as a simple curiosity and personal challenge, eventually turned into a large endeavor involving plenty of glue, paper, and a reduced amount of free space in his apartment. With the assistance of the Pepakura software, Green channeled his inner-sense of Chozo craftsmanship, and worked off and on over a timespan of seven months to assemble this incredible 6'10" Samus based off of the Prime 2 Varia model.

The end results are stunning, but besides the complexity, just the scale itself posed some significant assembly challenges for Green. It became much heavier than he had initially anticipated, and required him to improvise an effective support structure. "For a while, the weight of the arm cannon, which is absurdly heavy for a bunch of paper, was twisting her lower back completely out of shape, so I had to build something quickly before she destroyed herself," he explains. Green was also surprised to learn that the proportions of the game model were suited quite well for a real 6ft person to potentially fit into, except for the legs, which were stretched longer than normal.

For anyone interested in adding this awesome life-size papercraft to their collection, especially anyone in the Toronto area, Green currently has it up on eBay Canada, and is looking for potential buyers. You can view additional pictures of the individual suit pieces on his Flickr profile. We don't know if he might do any other Metroid projects in the future, but we would definitely love to see more from him.

--Aurora Unit

As you can see in the trailer, the game unabashedly gets its main inspiration from the Metroid series. The game's creator is Tom Happ, whose day job is an engineer at Petroglyph Games in Las Vegas. Other than Metroid, he mentions the game also takes inspiration from other old school 8-bit titles such as Blaster Master, Contra, Bionic Commando, Rygar, and Cave Story.

You play as a character named Trace (no relation to the Hunter) who wakes up in a strange, ancient but high-tech world without any knowledge of why or how he got there. Sounds like a good enough backstory to me! The game promises "about 8 hours of play time (depending on exploration), over 60 items and powerups, over 20 upgradeable weapons, classic 2D graphics, gripping sci-fi storyline, and a pulsing sci-fi soundtrack." Check out this awesome trailer!

Axiom Verge is due to be released on both the PC and XBLA platforms, with no current release date in sight other than 2013. Being the sole developer and producer, Tom makes it clear that he's doing this in his spare time without any time restrictions.

For screenshots, devblog and more, visit the Axiom Verge official website.

Tom is also known for creating Orn, a freeware, Metroid 1 clone (based on Brinstar) that works with a GameBoy Advance emulator.

--Infinity's End

A few days ago, Darren of Shinesparkers published a brand new preview of the upcoming expansion album to last year's Harmony of a Hunter, subtitled "101% Run." The new album will span across two discs and be completely free to download later this year. Check out the aural goodness below:

Find out more through the Official HOAH Page on Shinesparkers or on their Facebook page.

--Infinity's End

The most recent bit of developer data we've located is the awesome concept gallery on the homepage of Danny Richardson, one of the lead artists for the Metroid Prime series. Richardson seems to have been largely responsible for the overall design of the trilogy, from the menu screens and HUD design (including the incredibly awesome X-Ray Visor) to many of the series' famous bosses, including Quadraxis, the Leviathan, the Aurora Unit, and various environments. Remember the awesome E3 2001 trailer? Richardson designed that, too! Just to prove he can do more than dark SF, those Donkey Kong Country Returns concepts are reminiscent of Disney animation cells! Given his portfolio and the influence his work had on the visual style for the series, Richardson should truly be considered one of the greatest artists in the industry. Thank you for all your great work, Danny!

One of the coolest elements of this page are several unseen images and concept art, including early HUD designs from Metroid Prime and what appears to be a Phazon-mutated Omega Metroid?! Could this be Project Dread? Kudos to Aaron from Nintendo World Report for the tip.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

For those that missed it, 1up.com's April Fool's day joke was this faux-commercial for a new 3DS game: Nintendo Dubstep Experience. The commercial features Samus, as well as Mario, Yoshi, Pokemon Trainer, and Pikachu all doing mo-capped robot dancing to dubstep. Nice try, 1up.

--Infinity's End

The Bestiary team has been hard at work these past few months polishing up the Bestiary by filling in missing enemies and providing more amazing artwork (Seriously, have you seen the Zeela? Warning: NSFL - Not Safe For Lunchtime). Our latest entry is of one of the most fiendish bosses in the Metroid series ever. He has tormented for two games and several comic books. Click on his image above. Our artist spared no expense, using up every ounce of processing power, and the log writer wracked his brain for at least six hours to get the text as perfect as possible (I know because I timed them). It's what you'd expect for what may be the most terrible boss of the Metroid series. (He makes Mother Brain look like Ronald McDonald.) Click on the image above (or click here) to see the full entry.

In other news, Google has created some brand new technology that allows you to view Google Maps on your 8-bit Nintendo! Be sure to place your name on the wait list ASAP, as these are sure to go out of print quickly! (Thankfully, you can always view it on the web.)

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Ever want to create your own version of NES Metroid? Well now you can and it's easier than ever. Just a few days ago, snarfblam released an update to his user-friendly Metroid editor: Editroid. Editroid 3.0 comes with a lot of great tools to make your hacking experience go smoothly. After opening up a Metroid ROM with it, you can begin editing and hacking the game's rooms in a matter of seconds. Snarfblam has also added a few new features such as a convenient Structure Editor allowing you to browse through the world's individual structures with ease. There's also a "Expand ROM" functionality, letting you do the following:

• Converts to CHR ROM - allows animated background tiles
• 15 KB per level for screens and structures (vs. about 3KB in the original game)
• 256 combos
• Up to 32 rooms per level with item-room-music (vs. 7 in the original game)
• More space for item data than you can use

Editroid 3.0 (Beta) is available for download via our Fanapps page in the Utilities & Mods section.

--Infinity's End

Looking for a cool Metroid shirt? Look no further! This tshirt is now available via SplitReason for a mere $10.00(USD). Unfortunately the only size they have left is XXL, so maybe some of our female fans could use it as a nightgown? I'd love to see some pictures of that...

If this one doesn't suit your fancy, there are also some other Metroid-related shirts on SR's site, just check our menu on the right-hand column.

--Infinity's End

Hello all. Today we bring you the first update to our Recommended Games page in almost a year! Rondus18 has helped give this feature layout a bit of an update so now every staff member has their own page. With this update we also bring you two new recommended games: Batman Arkham Asylum by Rondus18, and one from myself: the Dead Space series. These two series are games that no Metroid fan should be without!

In other news, I hope everyone is enjoying Kid Icarus Uprising. Here is the Komayto Card for use in the AR Game. We will eventually be doing a small update to the Cameos page to add this in.

--Infinity's End

イドン ("Idon") on Pixiv, recently posted some great artwork inspired by the famous gold statue in Super Metroid. Longtime Crocomire fans will be pleased to see that the Norfair creature earned a spot alongside the game's main boss foursome.

Though the box art version doesn't quite make the same impression as seeing Kraid's cropped feet mysteriously floating at the top of the official US and European covers, Mother Brain's head is analogously obscured by the Super Famicom banner placement. Fortunately, イドン also posted separate art for each character if you'd like to view some of the extra details.

--Aurora Unit

New versions of the soundtracks to Metroid II: Return of Samus, Metroid Prime Pinball, and the Super Smash Bros. games are now up. These are all digital recordings, so they sound a lot better than the originals. In addition, the new Metroid II game rip is one of the cleanest ever done. One thing I noticed is that when Metroid II is played on a Game Boy, the game will play clicks and pops during certain tracks. Sometimes these will play when certain notes are changed, and other times, they will play randomly, which suggests this wasn't what the composer intended. Note if you play the Virtual Console version, the audio doesn't sound exactly like the Game Boy, but it also doesn't have these clicks and pops. I used Audio Overload, which plays back the Game Boy cleanly and fixed a couple clicks here and there manually, so now you can listen to the cleanest version of the Metroid II soundtrack out there!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Here is the trailer for the upcoming Dynasty Warriors Vs. for 3DS. As reported a few days ago, Link and Samus can be unlocked as hidden costumes in the game. Also revealed in the trailer is playing dress-up with your Mii, and the ability to play as Ryu Hayabusa and Ayane from the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series. The Zero Suit Samus footage occurs towards the end of the trailer around the 2:00 mark. Watch below if you want to hear an extremely emphatic Japanese announcer tell you about what's new in Dynasty Warriors Vs.

--Infinity's End

Reviews are out for Yosuke Hayashi's latest game, Ninja Gaiden 3 on PS3 and XBox 360, as well as for Kid Icarus: Uprising on the Nintendo 3DS. And the split in scores is a gash about as bad as decapitation.

Early reviews for Ninja Gaiden 3 dub the game an outright disaster (IGN gives it a 3!!!), despite the quality Team Ninja is known for and the presence of Masato Kato, writer for Chrono Trigger. IGN declares the game has "Shallow combat, a misguided narrative focus, and awful pacing", the story (about Ryu's arm becoming infected with the blood of everyone he's ever killed) "gibberish". That's not the sleek ninja we knew and loved in Ninja Gaiden 2. The cutscenes are a complete train wreck, like something you'd expect out of Mystery Science Theater. Gone is the dismemberment and careful tactics of combat and use of environment from the previous games, replaced with random button mashing and square arenas where dozens of enemies just attack constantly. The camera is terrible, too. None of the moody reflection on what it means to kill someone is present - even after Ryu Hayabusa slays upwards of 2,000 guys in a single play-through, many of them unarmed. This is making me reconsider Team Ninja's role in Metroid: Other M and Hayashi-san's skill as a director. One simply has to wonder: what the #*@& happened, Team Ninja?! I am actually glad I didn't have the money for it, otherwise I would be livid rather than just shocked and extremely disappointed.

Kid Icarus, on the other hand, has been receiving very positive reviews, mostly 8's and 9's. Nintendo World Report calls the game "amazing" and "one of the craziest and most original games released by Nintendo in awhile". All the controls sound a little clunky, but the combat system is claimed to be superb, with an excellent weapons upgrade system and excellent balance from the Fiend's Cauldron. The graphics are said to be fantastic as well, with excellent sound and voice acting to boot. The game has approximately 12 hours of play from start to finish (without replays) and is said to have one of the funniest stories ever. For an *ahem* taste of what to expect (sorry, guys!!), check out the new Palutena anime on your 3DS Video. And I am certainly reassured to hear 1Up declare, "There really is a never-ending litany of things to love about Kid Icarus: Uprising. Friday couldn't come any sooner!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

This may be some shameless self-advertising, but there's another article by me on Nintendo World Report, this time on the development of Kid Icarus for the NES. Readers of the site may remember the Nintendo Dream interview I translated a year ago, and most of the information is from there, though organized now into a coherent narrative. I still find it pretty amazing that most of the game was made by only one guy, Toru Osawa, and that he has received surprisingly little credit for it. (I was especially surprised to find his name wasn't even in the US credits! Or if it's there, it's under an obscure pseudonym...) Anyway, head on over to NWR to check out the article - you won't find it here, mainly because this is the Metroid Database, and not the Kid Icarus Database. ;-)

Until next time...
Captain Commando

The latest issue of Iwata Asks is an interview with Masahiro Sakurai, creator of Smash Bros. and CEO of Sora, Ltd., the developers of Kid Icarus: Uprising. In part one of this multipart series, Sakurai discusses the development of Uprising, his experience with the original game, and his ideas behind the gameplay and weapons. We're looking forward to the next volume!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Darren from Shinesparkers gave me the heads-up that Club Nintendo was giving away three free AR cards to Club Nintendo members (or those interested in joining Club Nintendo). The three cards are the Grim Reaper, Drill Arm, and Palutena. The last of these we are told is "rare", but it can't be anymore, now that you can and thousands of other people can get one for free. These AR Cards are limited in quantity, so all those interested should order soon! You should receive them in 6-8 weeks. Kid Icarus: Uprising comes out next Friday.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Yesterday we reported on the costumes of Skyward Sword Link and Zero Suit Samus to be appearing in Dynasty Warriors Vs. for 3DS. Famitsu.com has recently uploaded a few images to show us what they look like. Thanks to Aaron for the tip!

Following the recent eShop release of Metroid to the general public in North America, European 3DS owners will also be able to purchase a copy of the NES classic on the 15th. According to the Official Nintendo Magazine, the game will be available for about 5 euros or 4.50 pounds. For those who already own multiple copies of the game, it might be difficult to justify an additional purchase, but for those who actively use the 3DS and want to build up their portable collection of old-school Metroid, this might be a convenient option. Hopefully Nintendo is planning on releasing the other titles as well.

--Aurora Unit

We've just caught word that the upcoming 3DS game Dynasty Warriors Vs. will feature special character costumes - one of them being Samus in her Zero Suit from Other M as well as Link from Skyward Sword. This juicy tidbit of information originates from the latest issue of Famitsu. Stay tuned to the MDb as we will be sure to update you guys when the first screenshots are revealed.

Dynasty Warriors Vs. is due to release in Japan on April 26th.

--Infinity's End

A few days ago, Nintendo put up a video on their Official YouTube Channel showing how Metroids were placed into the original Kid Icarus as a cameo called a Komayto. Of course, this shouldn't be anything new to anyone browsing this site, but it's still nice to see Nintendo give this cameo an official nod, as well as showing the updated version in the soon to be released released Kid Icarus Uprising.

Uprising will be released on March 23rd.

--Infinity's End

In a recent interview with Anime News Network, Team Ninja's Yosuke Hayashi spills more secrets regarding Ninja Gaiden 3. The latest in the series covers Ryu Hayabusa's past as a ninja and how his actions in the past still haunt him today. The game promises to be far more dramatic than any previous title in the series, particularly with the pen of Masato Kato (who wrote the original Ninja Gaiden script for the NES as well as Chrono Trigger). Hayashi-san wants to also explore what it means to kill someone, and what the moral consequences of doing so are, even when fighting a demon army. He promises the battles will be far more intense and visceral! However, Hayashi-san also talks about the influence Yoshio Sakamoto had on Team Ninja's views of character development in videogames:

In Metroid Other M, we worked with [Yoshio] Sakamoto from Nintendo. One of the biggest things we learned from him was in the way he always used to say "There is emotion in every human being." He is always aware that there are fine and complex emotions in each human character. Up to now, we've made games that are mostly about sex and violence - easily understood emotions that are at two extreme ends of a scale. But the things we learned with Other M, about human emotion and human complexity, we'll try to explore that.

You can read the full interview on Anime News Network's blog, The X-Button (scroll about halfway down the page for it). Thanks to Mir Ahsan from our Facebook friends for the tip!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Samus & Joey has been translated up to Chapter 8! But does it end here??? Obviously not! Remember, we're only halfway through Volume 2, and there's plenty more where that came from! There's an excellent cameo in this chapter to tie it with the Official Manga, as well as some rather surprising character development for Joey. In fact, cheekier fans might wonder whether this more character development for Joey in one chapter than for Samus in all of Metroid: Other M! Jabs aside, Samus's statements about getting scared in battle certainly take on additional meaning post-Other M, particularly when you ask yourself where you want to stick this non-canon story into the timeline. Samus is a little hard on herself to take the blame for the deaths of her parents, but the fact she admits to her fears in battle - and how she overcomes those fears - does give an interesting take on the inner workings of the Galaxy's greatest space warrior, especially considering this was written in 2003.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Nintendo has kicked off marketing for Kid Icarus: Uprising with a series of six anime shorts exclusively for 3DS Video. The first of these, "Thanatos Rising", is out today. The videos are produced by Production I.G. and promise to use both 2D and 3D animation, though the current video is 3D, using what appear to be cutscene-quality models from the game. The clip is short and action-packed, with some rather ridiculous-looking giant Trojan horse automata, and Thanatos sounds far too foppish for the God of Death. If this is a sign of the narrative and support character voice acting for the actual game, I don't have high hopes. However, Pit and Palutena appear to be voiced pretty well, and we do finally see the voice actors in the credits, and they are revealed to be an all-star cast with considerable experience in videogame voice acting. Pit is voiced by Antony Del Rio, who already has some experience with Classical-themed games, voicing Young Kratos from God of War: Ghost of Sparta, while Palutena is voiced by Ali Hillis (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, StarCraft II). Thanatos is voiced by Danny Mann (Up, The Lorax). There are six Kid Icarus: Uprising anime shorts in store. The Kid Icarus Wiki has some nifty posters advertising the series, too, along with more details on the plots. Although the videos are currently only available on 3DS Video, you can bet they'll pop up on Youtube before too long.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Some eagle-eyed fans recently discovered the patent for Metroid Prime 3: Corruption! The patent (7896733) clearly describes the game's Hyper Mode system, complete with a vector drawing of a Space Pirate! (Hey, maybe you could play this game on the SNES using the FX Chip ;-) The patent's abstract describes the invention as follows:

A power or life meter is displayed in a video game. Firing a weapon depletes the indicated power. Meanwhile, the power is recharged at a predetermined rate. If the indicated power exceeds capacity, the game character is adversely impacted. If the indicated power is completely depleted, the game character loses a benefit.

This describes the Hyper Mode system exactly, where players fire Phazon from Samus's gun to lower the Phazon meter, which will slowly recharge over time. In case you haven't played Corruption (in which case, you need to track down the game and stick into a Wii NOW), Hyper Mode consumes one of Samus's Energy Tanks in exchange for heavily increased firepower and defensive capabilities. The Phazon meter will increase slowly over time and whenever Samus takes damage. If the Phazon meter reaches its limit, Samus will become fully corrupted, and it's game over! However, if the player uses up all the Phazon energy, then Samus exits Hyper Mode with 100 less Energy.

Note that Kensuke Tanabe has stated in an interview on Iwata Asks that he had to fight for Hyper Mode from the very beginning of development because some of the staff felt it made the game unnecessarily complex. It wasn't until the late stages of development that the staff finally accepted the system, once they saw the game's testers had mastered it and the ability to exit Hyper Mode at any time had been added. With this in mind, it is interesting to note the patent was filed in September 2006, during the heart of Corruption's development period (it was finally issued in March 2011). We're certainly glad it was included, as it helped make Corruption as great a game as it is.

Kensuke Tanabe is also credited with the "Magical Starsign Patent" (0076015) for a battle system based on astrological positions and a patent for a trading game for use on networked game systems such as the DS (0317432). Sorry, but I have no idea which game this is for, other than it was also credited to Masao Suganuma, the guy who designed Monster Rancher.

Metroid series patents have previously been discovered for Metroid Zero Mission, although they were initially interpreted as being from Metroid Dread (so if anyone says they are, you can correct 'em and tell 'em they're the "Mother Brain" and "Chozo God of War" patents from Zero Mission!).

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Ninjaink has come out with a new Metroid T-shirt on Riptapparel, this time mixing Optimus Prime with Samus's Varia Suit. All fans of both Transformers and Metroid can get a copy of this in the next 12 hours (the sale ends at midnight Pacific Time).

Riptapparel sells only one shirt every 24 hours, but you can check out the graveyard of older shirt designs, of which there are a lot of neat ones in there. Older shirts become available later through other shops (such as Red Bubble), such as ninjaink's vintage-style Varia T above, although at a higher price ($24 vs. the $10 Daily T). You can check out some of his other designs here.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Nintendo Gamer has an exclusive interview with DoctorM64, the master behind the famous fan-made Metroid II: Return of Samus remake, Project AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake)! DoctorM64 goes into detail behind his inspirations for the project, as well as giving us some tantalyzing hints regarding new graphics and additions to the game. You can expect all the classic Super Metroid powerups, as well as some expanded areas and sexy new graphics, such as this Metroid Queen above. In case that weren't enough, here's a reason why you should care about the series' black-and-white sheep:

Metroid for the NES was revolutionary for being the first non-linear action platformer, and a sequel with a more limited exploration could have been interpreted as a step back. Personally, I think this is one of the first instances of smart design, fitting the handheld style much better. People get lost in Metroid 2, I sure did. If it wasn't as linear as it is right now, it would be quite difficult to pick it up a couple of weeks after the last play session. The limitations of the system defined how the game was built, and they did a great job inside those limits.

As Metroid II is my favorite in the series, I'm particularly excited about this one! If you haven't checked out the demo yet, you should download it now from the official blog.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

MASSIVE music update! The entire Super Metroid music section has received a complete overhaul, with brand new, high-quality versions of every song in the game, and quite a few albums, to boot! At the front of the section is a brand new recording of the music, made directly from the game's audio files. Actually, if you have been listening to an older version of the .spc set, there were a few errors I noticed and requested Nensondubois of SNESmusic.org to fix them. He did much more than that, even discovering an unused jingle that has never been heard before! The excellent album art is once again courtesy of Infinity's End, with permission to use that fantastic rendition of the Ceres Space Colony lab by Modusproductions.

The section also includes the complete Super Metroid: Sound in Action album (in both FLAC and MP3), as well as Reserve Tank and the original OCR remix album, Relics of the Chozo. Note the official Relics of the Chozo site has the soundtrack in only WAV and OGG format. Since Apple refuses to support those, and WAV files are impractical, we've converted the entire thing over to MP3 and FLAC for your listening pleasure. It's well-worth giving the album a second listen after all these years. Lastly, you'll find a couple high-quality recordings of Super Metroid in concert, including a FLAC version of the famous arrangement from Game Music Concert 4 by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Just remember to Play It Loud.

UPDATE: Looks like the 'unused track' from Super is actually the Etecoons jingle, though without the SFX covering it!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Jered McFerron, programmer and game collector, has created what might be the greatest Metroid mod ever. Several years ago, McFerron recreated the original Metroid in C++ for the PC, using original code and no emulation or the original ROM. He added to this a fancy save system and the Space Jump upgrade as a bonus! He never publicly released the game until now - and that was to showcase the ultimate mod. But that's not the coolest thing he did.

The thing is, McFerron's girlfriend fiancee, Jenni, also likes classic videogames. However, in all these years, she had never gotten around to playing Metroid! After a long relationship, it was finally time for him to propose, and McFerron took that game he loved most and made a modification. Sealing a room here and moving an item there, he created this surprise:

Upon realizing what had happened, Jenni turned to her fiancee, who was kneeling down beside her. OF COURSE, she said yes!! (What self-respecting bounty hunter WOULDN'T at finding an item like that?!)

Congrats on your new relationship, Jared, and thank you for sharing your creation with the world!

Note McFerron's PC version of Metroid was made in 2005, so it will run smoothly on most older PCs (though the framerate was a little choppy for my older machine in places). At just under 50MB, it's a pretty nice package for machines new and classic. The marriage proposal mod is NOT available for download.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

3DS Ambassadors no longer get the fun of being the only ones with Metroid on their 3DS. Nintendo has released the original NES Metroid today for the 3DS Virtual Console for a penny short of $5. Some people have noticed a few differences between the VC version and the original, and we have a thread about it for those interested. One of the additions is the Select button has been mapped to Y.

Metroid was one of the first Famicom Disk System games. Check out this cool icon for Japanese 3DS Metroid:

Image source

Hey Nintendo, how about you release Zero Mission on the 3DS, too?

UPDATE: For the 3DS Ambassadors that already have Metroid on their systems, an update is available for you. Just go onto the Nintendo eShop channel, and click the "View List" option which lets you download the update. Similar to the update for Super Mario Bros., you can now stop and save your game at any time, allowing you to continue your progress at a later time. The channel icon has also been updated to an NES and a CRT television.

--Infinity's End

Chapter 7 of Samus & Joey is now up! What are those strange creatures coming over the horizon, and what threat do they hold for the crew of the Otowa? Will Samus be able to rescue the President? And what about Joey's mother? The comic's creator, Idzuki Kouji, has some fantastic surprises in store this chapter...including a fleeting image of Joey's dad! Stay tuned for more chapters of Samus & Joey, available only here at the Metroid Database!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

For our Japanese fans (and those of you with a Japanese 3DS), Metroid will be available on February 29 in the 3DS e-Shop. The game has already been available for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors since September, but it's great to finally see the Ambassador games becoming available to late adopters. Super Mario Bros. is already available on the 3DS e-Shop in the US, so it's only a matter of time before Metroid shows up as well - and, one would think, Metroid Fusion and the rest of the GBA games. Thanks to Nintendo World Report for the info!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Nintendo has uploaded a new video of Masahiro Sakurai, creator of Smash Bros. and director of Kid Icarus: Uprising, presenting an overview of the game. Sakurai-san goes into a lot of detail on the multiplayer and single player modes, highlighting some simple strategies and how basic weapons function. He also highlights another key attribute of the game, the Fiend's Cauldron, which you pay hearts to increase the difficulty level and potential rewards. Kid Icarus: Uprising has come a long way since March 2011 when I played it, and while I haven't tried out the finished version, I hear from Aaron Kaluzka of Nintendo World Report - and see from the video - that the game has significantly improved. It's a pretty cool 15-minute video.

Check out more on the Nintendo's official Kid Icarus: Uprising page.

In addition, if you preorder Kid Icarus: Uprising from select stores such as Gamestop, you will receive a download code for 3D Classics: Kid Icarus. The graphics have been significantly updated, but the color scheme looks like it gets quite icky at times, particularly when Pit appears over certain backgrounds.

We've always considered Kid Icarus to be a sort of sister to Metroid - both titles were developed in the same year, and many of the same people worked on both games. Kid Icarus was designed by Toru Osawa, who built most of the game single-handedly until September 1986, when the Metroid team returned from vacation to find the game far from completion before its December release date. They constantly worked overnight shifts through freezing cold weather to finally complete the game and ship it out to the factory just three days before release date! We have the whole story translated here.

Due to this strong connection between the series, we'll be giving you more updates as the game releases.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

In the first of a series of overhauls, we have updated the Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission music sections so you can relive the soundtrack to the original Metroid all over again! The gamerips in this section are digital recordings from the games' audio files, but painstaking attention was made to the emulation to ensure it sounded as close to the original hardware as possible. I compared my old line-in recordings (as well as conducted a whole series of new tests), so you can rest assured that the music up here is not only cleaner than the old ones, but also sounds practically indistinguishable from the original hardware (you'd have to be a serious audiophile to tell the difference). Note when the audio section overhaul is completed, we'll have dumped the old Fileplanet links, and when they are all gone, we will have effectively (and thankfully) obliterated all links to our old host.

Note the Metroid section also includes tracks from several soundtrack releases, as well as a unique version for the Sharp X68000 gaming computer that was created by some fans in Japan. Also, Ryan made some awesome new album art for M1 and MZM! (I did the X68000 cover.) Check 'em out and play it loud!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

UK's Official Nintendo Magazine recently posted an interview with Darren Kerwin, webmaster of Shinesparkers. It is a rather short article that describes why Darren likes Metroid, but it's great to see an official publication of Nintendo recognizing a fan site for its work! Congratulations, Shinesparkers! Check out the interview here.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

We've started the translation process for Samus & Joey Volume 2, thanks to help from Sharonlover, who scanned and cleaned all the images, and GrendleMK2, who did the typesetting! Volume 1 introduced Joey as a young boy with a go-to spirit who tends to get in the way of Samus's cool action. However, with Volume 2, Joey begins to fully develop as a character and actually does some pretty neat stuff. We also find out who Joey's mom is (and incidentally, Joey's last name!), and are introduced to some...mysterious monsters. What could they be?! This volume is far better than the first, and we'll be spooling it out to you as soon as we get each new chapter done!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Since Wonder Festival Winter '12 is just around the corner, all these new resin kits and figures are coming to light. Metroid definitely doesn't seem to be left out this time around, and it's great to see such a healthy fan base developing in the Land of the Rising Sun. I've just discovered this brand new, super-poseable kit from Dimension Diver - who have previously released both Gravity and Varia Suit versions - Samus now in her trademark Power Suit. The kits will only be sold at Wonder Fest, and the bad news is it seems like they're all sold out. You had until today to pre-order them. So you may have luck finding these through a 2nd-hand shop or wait for a re-cast if you truly need one. They went for a pricey 16,000yen which is around $206.00! Thanks to Tokyo Hunter for this information - go there for more images and poses.

--Infinity's End

From Super Metroid's infinitely versatile soundtrack, Stemage and his band have put together a new, stupendously metal, aural treat for your ears. The track is a cover of the "Space Pirates Appearance" music that plays the moment you collect the Morphing Ball and head back to Crateria. Is that some Primus influence I hear in there...? Also be sure to check out the kickass art by FoxDragon.

\m/ \m/

--Infinity's End

Yamamoto Taku was kind enough to leave a message on our Facebook yesterday to tell us the group he works with, ZOOMOTH, will be selling a "Baby Metroid" figure at this year's Winter Wonder Festival, which will begin on February 12. For those not in the know, Wonder Festival is a bi-annual Japanese convention that focuses on resin figures and models aka "garage kits." We are very impressed by the Baby Metroid, and we thank you for telling us about it!

Anyone who happens to be in Japan might want to stop by the ZOOMOTH booth - this may be your only chance to get one of these rare Baby Metroid figures. It's going for 6,000yen (~$77) and they only have 50 available. Check out more images of the Metroid at the ZOOMOTH website, which not only has an 8-bit Metroid theme, but also features some other great resin kits!

UPDATE: from ZOOMOTH's official twitpic page, here's a 1-year old holding the figure to give you a better sense of scale. The "dome" is about 15-16cm in diameter.

--Infinity's End

Nintendo Enthusiast's Mike D. (aka EvilTw1n) has revealed that their top choice for the "Most Misunderstood Wii Games" is none other than Metroid Other M. In the first half of his article, he explains quite explicitly that in order to fully understand the game's greatness, you must overcome and forget all the preconceived notions you had before about 3D gaming mechanics. In the second half, he breaks down what most people have pinned negatively to MOM: its story. Isn't balancing gameplay and story something that many other AAA developers still struggle with to this day?

For the most part, I've tried to distance myself from the petty arguments on MOM, as they not only bore me, but they don't ever seem to get anywhere. And it mostly ends up someone linking to a certain blog article (that shall not be linked) and pointing out that it's "proof" of the game's sophomoric attempt on story and reduces the character of Samus to a pitiful, one-dimensional brat with "Daddy issues." Because that's what makes the game totally suck, right? Riiiiight...

Opinions are subjective. When it comes to the true greatness of a game, nothing's really right or wrong -- if you found it fun, then great. If you were repulsed by it, then also great - keep that with you. Unless you're a developer, it's going to do absolutely nothing for you in return. Other M didn't kill the Metroid franchise, it just made a lot of distinctive choices that turned off some players, and consequently split up a lot of the fanbase. But it's much more likely these people were turned off due to preconceived notions and expectation than what was actually given to them. That shouldn't be enough of a reason to demonize the entire game, should it?

You can see the list recap here.

--Infinity's End

Hugo Bille, game designer for The Working Parts, has written up a fantastic analysis of the level design to Super Metroid! Bille does a clear job of illustrating how the game leads players along through the first portion without making them feel like they are being led, and how it teaches players lessons about the game with each new item collected. It is also great to see the differences between Super Metroid and later titles in the series, particularly how the game lets players explore a large portion of the world soon after collecting the Power Bombs. And in case you were wondering why the Lower Norfair theme in Super is so much more potent than in Metroid Prime, Bille tells us that, too:

What really makes Ridley's home genuinely haunting is instead a series of nasty surprises. To even get here, you had to swim through a sea of lava - did you think your Gravity Suit protected against anything? Not against this lava. You can fly, and the world is an open book to you - and yet here you find creatures that you cannot even inflict a scratch upon. You are deeper down than you've ever been, but your path leads ever downwards. Add to this enemies that are at once more aggressive and more resilient than anything else on the planet, and the artstyle once again veers towards that creepy retro style. It is around that kind of background that the music can wrap its magic.

Let's not also forget that you are heading towards your nemesis from the opening.

You can check out "The Invisible Hand of Super Metroid" here on Gamasutra. It is well worth the read.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

The Zero Suit figure has been previously displayed with a Metroid accessory, but we didn't know that Samus would be able to 'wear' it! New images reveal that the figma Samus will also come with a variety of accessories, including a Morph Ball, different hand poses, and several arm cannon attachments.

According to the figma blog, reservations will apparently begin today (the 24th Japan time) for both figures, so keep an eye out at your import retailers of choice. We will keep you posted once we find websites conducting pre-orders.

UPDATE:

The distributor has announced native pricing information, and any fans worrying that it was going to cost an exorbitant amount can now breathe a hearty sigh of relief. The figma is set at a suggested price of $50 (3800 yen) and the Zero Suit $100 (7800 yen). While this doesn't include the additional costs of importing, we're quite pleased here at the MDb, and June can't arrive soon enough for both figures. Hit the links below for the official description and new product imagery.

UPDATE 2:

Pre-orders are now being offered at a number of popular online retailers, such as: AmiAmi, Hobby Link Japan, Hobby Search, & Otacute.

--Aurora Unit

Today we have a special guest translation by the talented Neon_Icarus from NeoGAF! This article is "Iwata Asks: Metroid Prime 3", which had been available in Japanese since 2008, but never translated. The article covers the bumpy road to the development of Prime 3 through a discussion with producers Kensuke Tanabe and Risa Tabata. We learn some surprising facts about the development of the Wii, such as how Keisuke Terasaki of Production Group No. 3 suggested splitting the Wii Remote into Remote and Nunchuck in order to make Prime 3.

Most surprising, however, was the low opinion many at Retro Studios initially held for the Wii because of its low specs. It wasn't until they were shown the Wii Remote and Nunchuck in action using a modified version of Metroid Prime 2 that their opinions changed. The demo was made for TGS 2005 and was created in secret, and was a secret even to most Retro employees, because the Nunchuck had yet to be announced. Tanabe-san elaborates:

[R]ight before the announcement, I had the rest of the staff at Retro introduced to the Nunchuk. I will never forget the spectacle of that moment. I gathered all the staff together who had not been involved in the creation of the demo, and the moment they first picked up the Nunchuk, it was as if their eyes lit up. The surprise on their faces was truly something to behold.

The interview also discusses other problems encountered while developing Corruption, such as polishing Hyper Mode and adding "Unique AI" to make the game feel more memorable. An example of this "Unique AI" was Space Pirates "playing tag" with Samus after stealing the energy core in the GFS Olympus introductory stage. Tanabe-san explains, "When we were children, I'm sure everyone at one time took a treasured item from a friend, and ran away from them, passing it to friends. We had that kind of element inserted into the game's opening." Of course, Retro Studios was initially unimpressed because on paper, playing tag doesn't feel like it fits within the "cool sci-fi universe" of Metroid. Iwata-san delayed release of Corruption in order for the team to implement elements such as this (the game was originally supposed to be a launch title). Unless significant changes are made to a game's core system, sequels will not remain fresh, and the series will quickly stagnate - as Mega Man clearly illustrates.

There was also some great commentary from Tanabe-san about Yoshio Sakamoto's philosophies and role in the Prime series:

Sakamoto-san is a very broad-minded person, so whenever we ask him about something, he will always tell us, "If it's interesting, go ahead and put it in." However, he insists we don't reveal what happens to Samus when she transforms into Morph Ball form.

Sounds like there are just some mysteries that will must be answered by player imagination!

Click for the full interview.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

After much pondering and discussion, we decided that having a dedicated fan art page on the Metroid Database was a little redundant and dated. Since our DeviantArt page fills that gap so nicely, it will now become the major source where to find Metroid fan art through our site. Our current list of favorites is currently at 1,925 - that's A LOT of Metroid fan art! Furthermore, we are slowly but surely adding some of the old artwork to our DA page. In cases where a single person has submitted more than one piece, we will be compiling it together as one. All of this art was posted at one time in our old fan art section, so if you had any favorites that you've missed looking at, those will surely be back soon!

Please bear with us as we add the old entries to our DeviantArt Page. If you have artwork that you would like to submit to the MDb, that's okay, but you could just upload it yourself by just creating your own DeviantArt page. It's completely 100% free to join. We will probably not be accepting Fan Art submissions from here on out.

--Infinity's End

EDIT: This same translated interview was actually published last year on Siliconera.

Glitterberri has just posted up a newly translated interview with Sakamoto from 2003. During that time, Sakamoto was developing Zero Mission. Her blog claims it was taken from a site called the Game Staff List Association Japan.

Notable quotes:

That's how I came to admire [Gunpei Yokoi]. Thinking back on it now, the NES, for Yokoi, was more of a device used for projecting images on a TV than a game system. I believe he was always thinking about what he could do with it in those terms. We'll never know the truth, though.

One day, however, Shigeru Miyamoto wandered over to our room and asked "Is there anyone here willing to lend us a hand?" That's how I ended up doing sprite art for Donkey Kong Jr., which turned out to be my first real experience with video games.

The original Metroid first came into being as our desire to create a game that took place in a gloopy, alien-like world. In early development, there were only rows of blocks, and the backgrounds didn't give you the sense that they were alive. The Chozo were also something that resulted from this process. The game was headed up by then-newcomers Hirofumi Matsuoka and Hiroji Kiyotake, but when it came to representing the civilization of an undiscovered planet, I'd hand what I'd written to Matsuoka and tell him "Put this in," and he would. *laughing*

Sakamoto's decision to make Fusion more story-driven as well as altering the game's play control was due to him wanting to not frustrate or confuse players that were new to the series.

I think the true fun of Metroid lies in spending time searching for secret passages and getting yourself hopelessly lost. That's why I started out by choosing to emphasize the story in Fusion, and now I'm showcasing Metroid's roots in Zero Mission. If I don't continue releasing games that feature Metroid's origins and games that feature Metroid's story, I won't get any ideas about where to go next.

Sakamoto also notes the following games have made impression with him over the years: The Portopia Serial Murder Case, Gradius, Xevious, Star Fox, Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda. The whole interview is worth a read if you're interested in finding out more on one of Nintendo's most eccentric designers, so check it out.

--Infinity's End

Japanese figure news site Moeyo has posted some absolutely amazing images of Max Factory's Zero Suit Samus. The Zero Suit Samus is a 1/6 scale model with PVC coating. The Varia Suit also has a finish that causes the armor to reflect the room's lighting, which makes it look just like in the game! The description states the Varia is also posable. The photographer got some fantastic images of Zero Suit Samus, which takes gorgeous to a new extreme. There are detailed images of Samus's face, her gun, as well as the Metroid! For all you gaming memorabilia manufacturers out there, THIS is how you do it! As previously mentioned, the Zero Suit is modeled by Shining Wizard, and is set for release in June. The Varia was modeled by Asai Masaki, and will be out in "spring". Both will be released in Japan only, and neither has a set price yet. Click the images below for more on Moeyo. Note some of the other images and links on the site are NSFW.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Aaron from Nintendo World Report shared this link with me today. The Cutting Room Floor is a wiki dedicated to documenting unused and prototype data from videogames. There is an incredible amount of information here from nearly any game imaginable, with documentation in varying stages of completion.

Among the neat things on the site is a leaked prototype of Metroid Prime 3! The build is dated from March 2, 2006, and contains a more or less fully functional Norion stage and Hyper Mode, suggesting the basics of the game had been ironed out more than a year before release. The prototype can actually be played using the Gamecube controller, but retains Wii Remote functionality. There is also an early version of the rewards system and a cool debug camera similar to the free camera in Super Mario 64:

But that's not all! The Cutting Room Floor has TONS of data on all the other Metroid games. Unused enemies, unused text from Metroid: Other M, debug rooms...you name it, it's there! Granted, some of this has been known for awhile, but there's so much, and the site is so thorough, that you're bound to find something you never knew existed. For instance, here's a cool version of Phantoon that wasn't used in Metroid: Other M:

So if you're curious about anything that was taken out of the games or used in the prototypes, check it out! Also tastes great when combined with Unseen 64!

UPDATE: We've also found a rumor that Metroid Prime might have used a heavily modified version of the Unreal II Engine. The folks at ASSEMbler Games got their hands on screen caps of a proprietary Prime level editor and came to this conclusion based on the look of the images and various file extensions. It's unconfirmed at this point, but a fun bit of speculation no less. They did confirm, however, that the art was made with Maya, so if you're interested in applying to Retro Studios as an animator, you better start polishing up your Maya demo reel!

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Yesterday, VGChartz and Shinesparkers reported that Metroid: Other M has broken the 1 million units sold mark this week after being on sale for 17 months. Sales were boosted by discount prices over the holidays, with Best Buy selling the title for as low as $5. 1 million sales makes Other M the 8th best-selling Metroid title in the series, which has sold more than 15.8 million units worldwide. Not exactly bad, but far behind the likes of Mario or Pokemon, which can sell that many with a single title. Even the best-selling Metroid title, Metroid Prime, lags behind Retro Studios' most profitable work, Donkey Kong Country Returns, which sold over 5 million copies (just 1 million units less than the entire Prime series combined). The best-selling title designed by Metroid series creator Yoshio Sakamoto? The Japan-only Tomodachi Collection, with over 3.6 million units sold, more than twice that of Super Metroid. With numbers like that, it's easy to see why Metroid simply hasn't been pushed as a priority title by Nintendo, though the series clearly has a solid following.

Until next time...
Captain Commando