Metroid Database.com

Thought I could leave the little Happy Anniversary thing up for at least a week, but it appears there's no rest for the wicked. (You can still see the MDb's 6th Anniversary message in the Happy Anniversary: The MDb Year-By-Year feature.) Lots of things have popped up in the last week, so I'll try to cover it without spoiling anything (if you really gotta have spoilers, check the Current Information sections in both the Prime and Fusion areas):

- Metroid Prime playable demos in stores now. Find them at EBs, Best Buys, and other retailers with Gamecube demo units.
- Prime and Fusion POP displays in stores now. Keep an eye out for oversized display boxes, Samus cutouts and standees, and other nifty gimmicks to advertise the new games.
- Metroid Prime live-action commercial airing now. You can also download it from various websites (the MDb should have it soon), and the full 60-second version will be playing in cinemas. No way of really telling where or when you'll catch the commercial on TV, but I do know that WWE wrestling programs such as Raw and Smackdown are heavily sponsored by Nintendo, so they'd be a good bet.
- Nintendo Cube Clubs are featuring Prime and Fusion. The Cube Club DVD contains game footage and also...
- Nintendo has revealed the complete Metroid timeline, finally telling us exactly where Prime and Fusion fit into the saga.
- Lots of information revealed. Various details on Prime -- mostly technical and gameplay-related, not story-related, yet some of which include hidden surprises and could definitely be considered BIG SPOILERS -- are available online if you're the type who likes to peek at your Christmas presents early. Planet Gamecube has a great, in-depth preview here. The MDb also hits on the main points of the article in our Prime area's Current Information secion. View at your own risk, and don't say we didn't warn you.

--TJ