Because we love you, I'm going to share with you the 35-page art gallery that's only unlockable via the Samus Smash Bros. Amiibo in Samus Returns after you beat the game. The new, MSR version Samus Amiibo unlocks concept art from Metroid II: Return of Samus, artwork we've had right here on our site for 20 or so years. There is a new one though, one that I've never seen before. It's concept art of the Baby Metroid:

We'll release the other MII gallery when the new site is launched. Until then, enjoy the gallery, or download the entire thing right here!

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Due to the SNES Classic Mini being released soon, an interview with Nintendo developers have been released. This one is with Yoshio Sakamoto and the series composer, Kenji Yamamoto.

Last year, an interview with Sakamoto and Hiroji Kiyotake had been released discussing Metroid when the NES Classic Mini was released. Check 'em out here:

• SNES Classic (Super Metroid) interview with Yoshio Sakamoto and Kenji Yamamoto
• NES Classic (Metroid) interview with Yoshio Sakamoto and Hiroji Kiyotake

Interesting tidbit in this interview: up until Samus Returns, Sakamoto admits: "Even including Super Metroid, I had never cleared a whole Metroid game." So, does that mean it was the first Metroid game he ever beat, or the first one he ever made it to 100% on?

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Here's the spoiler-free ending requirements for Metroid Samus Returns. They are all time-based, and not item collection rate-based.

• 8+ hours
• 4-8 hours
• <4 hours

Each difficulty mode offers a different ending, making nine total endings in the game.

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>>>> Twitch.TV <<<<

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Happy Metroid release day, everyone!

It's out folks! We hope you are spending the day and possibly the entire weekend with this brand new title. I have already put a good four or so hours into the game and (I know these are big words) I think this might be the best Metroid game to come out since Zero Mission. The game just oozes with polish, from the very start with its layered 3D intro sequence, to remixes of the Metroid 2 OST, to subtle creatures moving around in the deep backgrounds of the game. No matter where you are, SR388 feels alive. And it's a wonderful feeling. Best of all it's CHALLENGING! I've gotten lost, had difficulty finding out where to go next, and died at least 10 times already and I couldn't be happier.

Don't pass up one of the best Metroid experiences we've ever been graced with. Expect our reviews soon.

Secondly, I want to also give you a little teaser of what we've been working on:

It's not in a state where we're willing to show it to you yet, but that should give you enough of a taste. Also, ignore that placeholder banner from last year. ;)

TBH, the current site has taken a bit of a backseat because we've been working furiously on redesigning the new Metroid Database. Our site literally has 20 years of content on it. Due to this, a lot of our content has to be downloaded and re-uploaded in order for it to fit into our new page templates. It's seriously straight-up, work. And not a lot of us have time to put in those hours - especially for free. We are currently planning on launching on our new website on the site's 21st anniversary, October 16, complete with a brand new Samus Returns section. (So please stop asking us if we're going to add new sections to the current site. We're not.)

Lastly, since today is a very special day in the history of the Metroid franchise, I want to share something special with all of you. I now unveil to you, our 1.25" enamel pins:

As you can see, each pin is backstamped with our URL and is shaped like the classic S-logo from Super. These will be available on our webstore on the day we launch our new website, so please check back then! They will be very reasonably priced. And yes, they look beautiful. Each pin will also come affixed to a backer card that we think you'll really enjoy. We assure you, you will want one. Limited quantities will be available. And if they sell out, it will only lead to more pin opportunities!

I hope you will all come back then and share your time with the Metroid Database for another 21 years. Now go and enjoy some Samus Returns!

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Nintendo has released a brand new 3DS theme for Samus Returns via My Nintendo. As you can see in the video, it features the Samus promo render and also a remixed version of the "Theme of Samus" while you're browsing through your 3DS home menu. The download is 20 coins and can be found in the "Nintendo 3DS/Wii U software/digital content" section on My Nintendo.

Secondly, Nintendo has also released some wallpapers through My Nintendo. You could spend 50 of your silver coins to buy them but why bother? Get them right here on the Metroid Database, completely free.

[All wallpapers, .zip]
[Dropbox Link]

Lastly, Nintendo's offering discounts on 3 Metroid titles you can download on through the eShop. One wonders why Super Metroid isn't on there, but hey better than nothing, right?

Metroid II-Return of Samus (Nintendo 3DS): 30% off
Metroid (Wii U/Nintendo 3DS): 50% off
Metroid: Other M (Wii U): 50% off

Note: We cannot speak for any possible limitations between regions.

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A breakdown of Samus's entire collectable arsenal in Samus Returns.

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http://metroidsamusreturns.nintendo.com/

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Gamescom is an E3-like event currently happening this week in Cologne, Germany. There was an interview with the producer of Samus Returns, Yoshio Sakamoto, as well as the creative director from Mercury Steam, Jose Marquez, that happened today at 3PM BST. We missed it live, but here's the recording:

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Nintendo just released a brand new trailer for Samus Returns! It features all of her new moves and even some unannounced ones! You can even see a brief glimpse of the Gravity Suit in this vid. The trailer also explains the full extent of the Amiibo compatibility. Don't miss it!

In other news, yesterday, Rocket League for Nintendo Switch will have an unlockable Samus Gunship style car. Check out the image and trailer below.

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Due to a number of issues, registration for our messageboard is temporarily closed. We will open it up again in October, 2017 at the earliest.
We're glad you're interested in being a member here but if you desperately need to discuss Metroid with your internet bretheren, there's a lot of alternatives out there!

• Metroid Database Facebook
• Metroid Database Twitter
• Metroid Database Instagram
• Metroid SubReddit

Thank you for your patience and understanding!

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Well, no one seems to know what Retro is up to these days but Nintendo and Retro themselves. Let's hope they finally unveil what they've been working on sometime in the near future. Perhaps when the Metroid hype dies down, guys? C'mon, throw us a bone already!

In any case, feel free to participate in our newest poll! #hype

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1920x1080, and enhanced for a dark experience.

(right-click, save as...)

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Nintendo announced their Nintendo World Championships are returning in 2017. At the qualifier events, which take place at select Best Buys across the country, you'll also be able to play demos of Super Mario Odyssey and Metroid Samus Returns.

Check out their official site here. Or just read from the dates, times, and locations listed below:

August 19 and 20

August 26 and 27

September 2 and 3

September 9 and 10

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If you don't want to be spoiled until you play the game yourself, don't watch this video. It contains the entire intro sequence.

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Courtesy of GameXplain.

Also, impressions:

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The news doesn't end today! Here's the latest Nintendo Minute featuring Samus Returns.

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Own a New Nintendo 3DS XL? Well that's too damn bad because as a Metroid fan, you now have to buy another one. Today, Nintendo dropped this bomb on their social media feeds:

All we know is it's coming out on September 15, the same day as Samus returns. No details as far as price go, but it's likely to be $199.99. Also they say "select retailers" so you can assume the usual: Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Gamestop.

Oh, looks like it'll be out in Japan, too.

And Europe.

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Nintendo Everything has posted a collection of official concept art from Metroid: Samus Returns. These are some stunning high-res images of Samus and the Metroids. I particularly like the new details on Samus's suit, such as the "bolt holes" or exhaust on her shoulders, feet, and gun. The side aim pose looks pretty much identical to the Varia Suit First 4 Figures model (which was based on Prime). Mercury Steam sure made some great flairs to her design! The Metroid also look gloriously gooey. Arachnus and the mutations are all shown as concept art rather than renders, although it does give you a nice close-and-personal look at the Gamma (from the safety of your computer screen, of course!).

Until next time...
Captain Commando

Since Thursday, MHQThon 2017 has been well under way, and they have already crashed through the $1000 mark! Even more, I will be playing through Metroid Prime Federation Force with the staff today at 12:00pm CST/10:00am PST. Come on out, donate to charity, talk about Metroid, and have a great time!

Also, we don't usually celebrate game birthdays too often but today marks the 31st anniversary of Metroid released in Japan. Here's some great artwork by one of our fans, Studio OZKai!

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It's that time again! 4 new Metroid-themed tshirt designs are now available at Once Upon a Tee. These designs are going to be available until August 7 @ 11am PST.

If you are interested in supporting this website, we ask that you please CLICK THROUGH THE AFFILIATE LINKS (images below). This helps us receive a commission when you make a purchase. We appreciate your patronage!

Available now through August 7, 2017 @ 11am PST

only $12 for sizes S-XL!

Or get 4 designs for $43.99!

Once again, for all your purchases, please click through one of the images above so we are properly credited for the affiliation. Your purchases directly help affording the costs of our site. Thanks go out to Jason from Once Upon a Tee as well as any future purchasers!

--Infinity's End

New footage of the game just dropped. Don't miss it! The Lower Norfair song is back!

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TL;DR - Reggie calls AM2R a "commercial product" and says that definition is what caused Nintendo to aggressively shut down the project, even though it allowed Milton to create it to completion and release it, albeit temporarily.

(Waypoint in bold)
So, one of the non-Switch titles that was here at E3 was Metroid: Samus Returns, a new remake of Metroid 2 coming to the 3DS. One of the responses I've seen to this is: Wow, this is exciting, but lots of people just played a fan-remake of Metroid 2 last year called AM2R.
So, look, I want to be an adult about this stuff. I've worked in the IP industry before, I understand why Nintendo has to be aggressive in defending its copyrights, I understand why it has to be aggressive in defending its trademarks. But, some people see an opportunity here to work with the fan community and to figure that out.
You're Nintendo, you're one of the biggest games companies in the world, you have been the face of video games for a long time. We live in an age where people are increasingly blurring the line between fandom and actual creation—finding ways to work directly with fans. So my question is theirs, which is, why wasn't there a chance there—or even, has there been a chance—to speak to that, to try to work with a fan creator like AM2R's Milton Guasti or other fan creators?

So, I think there needs to be clarity in what the line is, and, in our view, the line is when an initiative crosses from being an homage to something that is monetizing our IP. We allow homages to exist in a variety of different ways. And, for me personally, as a fan before I was an executive, I understand the attraction that you could have to our IP. But, when it transitions to something that... now, you're trying to monetize, you're trying to sell, you're trying to profit off of, that is what broaches or breaks through that line for us, where we have to claim our IP protection.

How are you talking about monetization here, because with AM2R, that was a game that anyone could download for free, and again I think, for fans, there was this notion of, "go talk to that person," or "go talk to other fan creators" and see if there's a way to not kill that project, to investigate the ideas that happening there that are exciting, who knows.

But again, to differentiate this, we have had conversations with entities that started as fans and became more of a business partner. Those conversations happen all the time, but again, when something transitions to a commercial product, and that's what [AM2R] was—there wasn't a charge, but it was now a commercial product.

I guess I need... what's the definition of "commercial product" for Nintendo?

Well, again, it's all about... How do we protect our intellectual property? How do our creators, like Mr. Sakamoto, who created Metroid, and Nintendo control that intellectual property so that we can drive where it's going, versus someone else driving where it's going.
That's where the line is very clear for us. And again, we could go on to YouTube and a variety of different places and see fans doing interesting things with our IP. But when it turns to driving the direction of the IP, or somehow monetizing or becoming a commercial project, that's where for us, the line has been crossed.

Editor's Note:

You think AM2R's a "commercial product" because people could monetize a playthrough of AM2R by going to YouTube or Twitch, etc. The strange thing is your company could have stopped AM2R dead in its tracks for years prior, but you turned the other cheek (which we're grateful for). For all intents and purposes, the creation was completed and it's been distributed - and continues to do so through dark web.

All Nintendo's shutdown did was piss people off. People aren't going to stop buying official Metroid products just because a fangame exists. Get real, Reggie. Furthermore, why didn't you just admit it's because MSR had been in development? What could you have possibly gained or lost by using this extremely effective reasoning to why you shut down the project? People would have EASILY accepted this answer instead of dubbing AM2R as a "commercial product."

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Hm, I wonder which one fans all over the world would prefer?

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So, it finally happened. This past weekend I was able to gather most of the staff members together and record a new podcast discussing the last week: E3 2017. We are all so excited for the new Metroid games and I think everyone can agree it's been far, far too long. Sorry about making you wait for 5 years between eps, but I guess you gotta take what you can get. Enjoy!

[Click banner to download]

[Or listen on YouTube.]

Also: Due to our site being old and shitty, the entire podcast of Wave Beam is now available on YouTube for your listening pleasure. So you can go there if you want to easily listen to all our previous episdoes. We may look at other, more convenient and accomodating avenues in the future, but this should suffice for now.

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Several weeks ago, Darren of Shinesparkers contacted the MDb in order to get guest contributions to an article he was putting together in a UK-based magazine, Switch Player. This mag is available in both online and physical editions.

You can read the whole article for free right here through Issuu. (or click the image above) The article starts on page 16.

Shoutouts to Darren and all the other contributors of this article and also huge thanks to our Bestiary artists for allowing their art to be contributed!

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• Official Nintendo game preview webpage
• Full preview via IGN.
• Article from Gamespot
• Polygon article 1 | Polygon article 2
• Kotaku bullet list
• The Verge article
• Gamespot interview with Sakamoto, describing their relationship with MercurySteam.
• Yoshio Sakamoto and José Luis Márquez from Mercury Steam interview on GameInformer

More will be added as they're found.

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[HI RES VERSION]

[HI RES VERSION]

[HI RES VERSION]

[HI RES VERSION] [HI RES VERSION]

[HI RES VERSION]

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From the Nintendo press kit.

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Metroid Samus Returns footage played during today's Treehouse presentation!

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You beautiful bastards. I love you all. Samus Returns is a 2.5D remake of Metroid 2: Return of Samus developed by Nintendo and Mercury Steam. I will report more once I gain my composure later.

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That's all we get, folks!

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Tired of those boring, worn out tees you found at the thrift store? Thirsty for some new Metroid apparel in your life? Well you're in luck. Once Upon a Tee is offering a whopping FIVE Metroid-themed designs for your wish fulfillment! Get 'em today before they're gone - you have until June 5th to order!

If you are interested in supporting this website, we ask that you please CLICK THROUGH THE AFFILIATE LINKS (images below). This helps us receive a commission when you make a purchase. We appreciate your patronage!

Available now through June 5, 2017 @ 11am PST

only $12 for sizes S-XL!

Or get 4 designs for $43.99!

Once again, for all your purchases, please click through one of the images above so we are properly credited for the affiliation. Your purchases directly help affording the costs of our site. Thanks go out to Jason from Once Upon a Tee as well as any future purchasers!

--Infinity's End

Don't miss out on our huge giveaway we're having on our Twitter page. Here's all the details:

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Straight from the horse's mouth.

UPDATE: New photos released from the Official Figma Blog!

EXCITED YET?

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You might remember from three years ago, someone modded C. Viper into Varia Suit Samus from Ultra SSF4. Khaled Antar has done it again, this time transforming Cammy White into Zero Suit Samus using Street Fighter V. In Khaled's words, "I put everything I have to make this mod, it wasn't easy at all but I did it, this is my highest level of modding."

The mod is phenomenal and fits so well with Cammy as a character with pre-fight quotes like "For those I wish to protect...I will fight you!" and "Mission Complete" after the battle ends. He's even gone above and beyond by creating two versions: one with her new gear from Super Smash Bros. WiiU/3DS and one without. Not to mention 17 alt costume colors!

If you're interested in playing with the mod on your own PC, head on over to Khaled's Deviant Art Page.

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CAN. NOT. WAIT!!!

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Well now, look at that - a new feature article has been added to the site after an extremely long time. Sorry about that, it's probably going to continue as long as Metroid news remains so slim and a lot of us are rather uninspired about being Metroid fans. Stay strong folks, stay strong.

Fortunately we have things like the new Zero Suit Samus Figma released, the upcoming Varia Suit First for Figures statue, and eventually the Metroid Prime 3 Figma...who the hell knows when that'll come out? In regards to Metroid merch, it only took like 20 years but Nintendo realized there's a demand for it. But in the end, we the fans want a new game. So much so that we'll grasp at straws like connecting Retro's BBQ Twitter pics with a Prime sequel. (Don't say I didn't warn ya!)

Hope you enjoy the review.

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New visual browser based NEStroid password generator tool! truepeacein.space is fantastic and you don't have to download a thing! Simply click on/off what you want. Check it out for all you password needs.

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Greetings for the New Year! I've been away from the site for awhile, but was working on a couple of projects over the fall. After finishing the ultimately incredibly disappointing (and somewhat angering) Metroid Prime: Federation Force, there really hasn't been any official Metroid news for awhile. What's more, there was basically zero enthusiasm for the game and thus not much encouragement on this end to continue reporting on it.

However, as resident music connoisseur, I did undertake the MASSIVE project of extracting and tagging the entire Metroid Prime: Federation Force soundtrack. That's 231 tracks that had no labels, no order, and most sounded pretty much alike, meaning it took weeks and weeks to organize everything by painstakingly digging through playthrough videos. But, if you are curious as to what the game sounds like, go no further than the Metroid Prime: Federation Force Soundtrack exclusively here! There's a "VS. Space Pirates" remix from the Prime series at the beginning and end of the game, as well as a couple audio cues for when Samus appears, but otherwise no mixes. The main theme and menu themes are good listens though. Oh yeah, there's also the Metroid Prime: Blast Ball Soundtrack.

On that note, we also got our hands on the remastered AM2R soundtrack in FLAC and MP3. You can download these to listen to on your own or add to update the music that you may already have in the folder that contains a certain piece of software that no longer exists on this website.

On the subject of Metroid II, there's been an awful lot of love for the game now that AM2R was released, although veterans like Jesse D and I have long loved the sadly neglected original. We recently got word of an indie game "Space Child" that is heavily inspired by the Game Boy original. You can pick it up for $3.99 on Itch.io.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

For those close to the Metroid Hacking Scene, you would likely be familiar with Rogue Dawn, one of the most comprehensive (if not THE most comprehensive) Metroid NES hacks¹ ever created! The game has been in development for several years, and resident hacker Grimlock has finally released the game to the public.

If you're looking for an extremely challenging new Metroid 1 game with completely overhauled level design, graphics, and music (YES, new MUSIC!), Rogue Dawn's got you covered! Congratulations to Grimlock and the rest of the contributors on this awesome hack. Expect every repro pirate in the world to now feed off of this brilliant game like it's going out of style.

Link to Romhacking.net

Trailer:

1. Note: The Metroid Database does not assist with acquiring ROM files or game patching. There are PLENTY of resources out there to find out how! [back]

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This is definitely worth your eartime.

--Infinity's End