Metroid Database.com

There really has been nothing solid as far as news or announcements on the Metroid front. Tons of rumors and speculation have spread throughout the gaming world which often just center on tiny quotes by someone at Nintendo. This particular MDb News segment -- the first in 9 months -- examines the current state of the Metroid series.

Metroid has been mentioned by Nintendo employees. Shigeru Miyamoto is asked about the game so often that at one point, when receiving another "will there be another Metroid game" from an interviewer, he just laughed and said that his interpreter could answer that question by now because he is asked about it so often. He has been quoted as saying that they have made next-gen sequels to many of their biggest franchises like Mario and Zelda, and Metroid is one that they must consider so as not to disappoint the fans. Another quote of Miyamoto's said something along the lines of Nintendo wanting to do something different with the launch of the Dolphin, and rather than another new, more beautiful Mario or Zelda game, perhaps they might look to another series to kick off the system with. I have personally been informed (by a good source who shall remain anonymous) that a Nintendo rep told him that there will be no Metroid on the N64, but rather Nintendo is holding off on the series until the Dolphin's release. Weeks ago, Ken Lobb of Nintendo of America, when showing Perfect Dark to the press, said, "You will be playing another Metroid game." More recently, there was the interview by the Japanese magazine 64 Dream with Nintendo Co., Ltd.'s head of PR, Yoshio Hongo, in which Hongo gave no real answer to the question of another Metroid game on the Dolphin, but brought up the point that Sakamoto's team (who is responsible for the Metroid series) is currently at work on Game Boy Advance (Nintendo's newly-developed handheld) stuff, making a GBA Metroid game more likely, not to mention that the 2D style of previous Metroid games would fit in better with the GBA's architecture. Finally, Nintendo Power magazine recently published some fan art of Samus saying, "When's it gonna be my turn?" (Certainly not informational, but neat nonetheless ^_^)

What does all this mean? Well...not a whole heck of a lot. Nintendo is more than aware that the fans want to see Samus again, and we're not talking about Smash Brothers 2. If anything, the quotes and shreds of info and rumors just raise more questions. Do they have anything in development? For which system? Are they hiding something from us, or is there really nothing to report? Who would be developing a new Metroid game, Sakamoto's team at NCL or perhaps the new American development team, Nintendo Software Technologies?

At this point, only time will tell. All we can do is wait for some real, solid information to show up -- an official announcement, some screenshots, something along those lines. While some of the quotes sound very promising, none of them are too conclusive. We pretty much know that there WILL be another Metroid game, but all the other questions (namely the where and when) are still way up in the air. Perhaps Nintendo will pull out some surprises at E3 in May. The MDb will have spies there with orders to report back with any Metroid information! ;) I also have made a few other connections which hopefully will help me to turn up info as soon as it becomes available. At this point I must also thank all the MDb visitors who write and let me know what they hear -- it is helpful! Keep watching the skies, and remember, if any solid Metroid news shows up, you WILL find it here at the Metroid Database!

--TJ