Metroid Wii U's Fate is "Up to Developers", Says Nintendo Exec

[Steven Bogos]

Metroid Wii U's Fate is "Up to Developers", Says Nintendo Exec

Nintendo of America exec Scott Moffitt hopes fans try out Federation Force [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/metroid%20prime%20federation%20force?os=metroid+prime+federation+force] and come to their own conclusions.

When Nintendo revealed it's next Metroid title at E3 this year, fans were... less than amused to learn it would be a multiplayer-focused 3DS shooter [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/conferences/e3-2015/14129-Metroid-Prime-Federation-Force-3DS-2016]. "Where's Metroid for Wii U?" seemed to be the rallying cry. "Don't look at me," Nintendo of America exec Scott Moffitt has replied, telling us that it's "up to the developers" to create a new Metroid for the company's latest console.

"Metroid is really up to our game developers to decide how best to create new and different experiences," Moffitt told iDigital Times [http://www.idigitaltimes.com/zelda-wii-u-ready-release-when-it-can-deliver-and-metroid-wii-u-game-developers-says-460873], adding that " [Federation Force] offers a local multiplayer feature that could be a lot of fun for game fans and we hope fans try it out and come to their own conclusions."

He tried to console unhappy fans by telling them to "be happy for what we have," urging them that "We've got something so let's experience it."

Additionally, Moffitt confirmed that Zelda Wii U [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/zelda%20wii%20u] was still on target for its 2016 release, and that the delay was to make sure it's the game it's being built up to be. "We want that to be the best Zelda experience. Fans have been waiting for and deserve a game when it's ready, when it's fully featured and when it can live up to what we would like to deliver."

Source: iDigital Times [http://www.idigitaltimes.com/zelda-wii-u-ready-release-when-it-can-deliver-and-metroid-wii-u-game-developers-says-460873]

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[Nazulu]

But they're not happy with what you've shown because it doesn't look like anything worth experiencing.

Why the fuck do these developers think it's a good idea to disappoint fans by putting the Metroid title on generic looking shooter that looks like shit? Are they trying to find a good reason to kill off the franchise by making it more unpopular?

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I feel ashamed for the people having a hissy fit over the new metroid. Metroid prime trilogy was and still is brilliant. But this spoilt behaviour is embarrassing. I would rather let the developer try whatever new ideas they have stewing inside, than ***** and moan that they didnt make more of the same tried formula. Ugh, is it safe to use "entitled" yet? For this case?

 

[Casual Shinji]

He tried to console unhappy fans by telling them to "be happy for what we have," urging them that "We've got something so let's experience it."

That's not gonna be Nintendo's new slogan, is it?

Additionally, Moffitt confirmed that Zelda Wii U [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/zelda%20wii%20u] was still on target for its 2016 release, and that the delay was to make sure it's the game it's being built up to be. "We want that to be the best Zelda experience. Fans have been waiting for and deserve a game when it's ready, when it's fully featured and when it can live up to what we would like to deliver."

They sure they didn't delay it just to get a Zelda launch game on the NX, similar to Twilight Princess on the Wii? Afterall, I'm sure the NX is going to be a hard sell seeing as they abandoned the Wii-U after 3 years.

 

[Nazulu]

I feel ashamed for the people having a hissy fit over the new metroid. Metroid prime trilogy was and still is brilliant. But this spoilt behaviour is embarrassing. I would rather let the developer try whatever new ideas they have stewing inside, than ***** and moan that they didnt make more of the same tried formula. Ugh, is it safe to use "entitled" in this case?

Spoilt that it's been awhile since I decent Metroid? FF having new ideas? Something wrong with re-using a formula of an unpopular genre?

What!?

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

Why am I getting the impression that Nintendo is using Federation Force's sales hostage to determine if it's worth investing in actually "leaving it up to the developers"? I mean, this guy is desperately trying to do his job, but don't fall for it people. Ubisoft once blatantly held Beyond Good & Evil 2 hostage based on Rayman sales or something, and we haven't heard anything lately. Hopefully that's just because Michel Ancel isn't feeling it right now.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Yeah, I'll try it out and decide whether the game itself is good or not, but I'm still kinda pissed the only sound the franchise has made in 5 years goes against the series' core feeling of isolation.

It also makes it kinda hard to "be happy for what we have" when the fans have asked for either a sidescroller, a Prime-like (as in not Hunters-like) game, or a 3D title that does something different (without breaking from the exploration and atmosphere the series is known for). We could have had a title on the Wii U that took advantage of the touch screen, or a 2D Eshop title that celebrated all that is Metroid, by now.

But they're not happy with what you've shown because it doesn't look like anything worth experiencing.

Why the fuck do these developers think it's a good idea to disappoint fans by putting the Metroid title on generic looking shooter that looks like shit? Are they trying to find a good reason to kill off the franchise by making it more unpopular?

Possibly because they want to branch out the franchise to appeal to more customers. Unfortunately, they chose a very different approach than what we would expect after 5 years of silence. Even the producer said they chose to do some things differently to get more Japanese players interested in the series. My only hope is this is a legitimate attempt at growing the fanbase for when the true Metroid games come out, and not an easy, hollow way to sell more units using brand awareness.

I still have a small sliver of hope that the unnamed Retro Studios Wii U project is a new Metroid. They did tweet something about E3 this year, only to not show up. It's possible the heads at NOJ told them to hold off until next year, to "surprise" us (or they're just running out of ammo and are saving it for next year).

Even if it's true that another Metroid game is almost ready, I still say it was pretty dumb to announce only Federation Force and not anything else. Doubly so, considering the 8 years since the last well-received game.

I feel ashamed for the people having a hissy fit over the new metroid. Metroid prime trilogy was and still is brilliant. But this spoilt behaviour is embarrassing. I would rather let the developer try whatever new ideas they have stewing inside, than ***** and moan that they didnt make more of the same tried formula. Ugh, is it safe to use "entitled" yet? For this case?

No, entitled would fit if the reaction this game is getting happened between 2002 and 2011. The term would also fit if this game was being offered for free, but I highly doubt Nintendo is going to put it on the eShop at $0.

 

[Luminous_Umbra]

I feel ashamed for the people having a hissy fit over the new metroid. Metroid prime trilogy was and still is brilliant. But this spoilt behaviour is embarrassing. I would rather let the developer try whatever new ideas they have stewing inside, than ***** and moan that they didnt make more of the same tried formula. Ugh, is it safe to use "entitled" yet? For this case?

You and me both. I frankly hope Federation Force does well, as I imagine how other developers would feel seeing spinoffs fail. I'm fine with more spinoffs honestly, often results in interesting, different gameplay.

To give an example, I love the Paper and Mario & Luigi series so much, along with the Luigi's Mansion series. Heck, I was a big fan of most of the Mario Party games.

 

[fix-the-spade]

But this spoilt behaviour is embarrassing. I would rather let the developer try whatever new ideas they have stewing inside, than ***** and moan that they didnt make more of the same tried formula. Ugh, is it safe to use "entitled" yet? For this case?

I haven't really seen much Hissy Fit, a massive and collective lack of enthusiasm yes, but not really anger.

And it's not entirely unreasonable, Nintendo's behaviour around Prime has been bizarre. It's like they're embarrassed that a western developer not only took Metroid to 3-D, but did it so well that over a decade later Nintendo haven't managed any better. There wasn't really any reason to pretend the Prime games never happened in the lead up to Other M, it seems equally odd to apply both the words Metroid and Prime to game about the G-Fed Marines too.

It's pretty understandable to me that the major reaction to Federation Force has been This isn't Metroid Prime, we wanted more Metroid Prime! This could have been avoided by dropping the word Prime and all would be slightly better, but I still don't see this game generating much enthusiasm.

 

[seditary]

I almost gagged when I read that 'lets be happy for what we have' line. Not having anything for near enough a decade is one of the problems.

And the developers already said there's going to be no Prime game on Wii U.

And Federation Force gameplay looks boring and shit.

Stop trying to smooth it over, you're just making it worse.

 

[Souplex]

I personally don't give a used fig for the WiiU, give us a proper Metroid game on 3DS.
Nintendo, there hasn't been a Metroid game since 07'.
Just give us a proper Metroid sidescroller on the 3DS. What ever happened to Metroid: Dread?

 

[Blazing Hero]

It is Nintendo's right to do whatever they want with their properties. That said it is my right to do whatever I want with my money. So "Be happy with what we have" does not cut it when I am shelling out my hard earned wage. Nintendo needs to realize that me not buying your product is a right I reserve.

 

[Fox12]

He tried to console unhappy fans by telling them to "be happy for what we have," urging them that "We've got something so let's experience it."

That's not gonna be Nintendo's new slogan, is it?

Additionally, Moffitt confirmed that Zelda Wii U [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/zelda%20wii%20u] was still on target for its 2016 release, and that the delay was to make sure it's the game it's being built up to be. "We want that to be the best Zelda experience. Fans have been waiting for and deserve a game when it's ready, when it's fully featured and when it can live up to what we would like to deliver."

They sure they didn't delay it just to get a Zelda launch game on the NX, similar to Twilight Princess on the Wii? Afterall, I'm sure the NX is going to be a hard sell seeing as they abandoned the Wii-U after 3 years.

Wait, really? How soon did they say they're gonna pop that baby out? Hell, I'm still playing on my PS3 more then my PS4. This really is the Dreamcast all over again. The whole point of a console release schedule is that there's a collective hype for all the consoles. You can't release a new system NOW, in the middle of the cycle.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

...what is it about Metroid? I know Ninty was never exactly happy it wasn't popular in Japan, but it's made some of the best games of all time in 2D and 3D. This is know how you treat a series with such a strong legacy. First they Other M'd it, then they gave Samus the stupid rocket heels for Smash, and now they're turning it into Quake and telling us we should be happy they haven't cancelled it all together. This isn't a new management thing, this has been going on for years. Can someone help me figure out what's going on over there?

 

[Worgen]

I feel ashamed for the people having a hissy fit over the new metroid. Metroid prime trilogy was and still is brilliant. But this spoilt behaviour is embarrassing. I would rather let the developer try whatever new ideas they have stewing inside, than ***** and moan that they didnt make more of the same tried formula. Ugh, is it safe to use "entitled" yet? For this case?

It's because of expectations. When we get a metroid game we want something that's more of a solitary experience about exploration with some combat. Thats why people really liked the prime series, it took the feel of the games before it, but just made it first person and did it well.

It's why people were so pissed about xcom the bureau, because it was just a third person shooter with xcom paint. Plus when we first heard about it, it was before they announced enemy unknown. Once that was announced people stopped complaining because we had the xcom game we wanted.

 

[CJ Schappert]

I don't get the anger at all, like REALLY people? A: it's a spinoff, a NINTENDO SPINOFF, yes it will be bizarre and wildly different than the main game line, but what's this Pokemon Ranger? Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Mario Party/Golf/RPG? Well that's not like the other games, please people, if ANY COMPANY can make a spinoff game GOOD, it's Nintendo. Also I don;t doubt that it's "up to a dev" because the last Metroid series was a dev team asking the big N, "Hey can we make Metroid a FPS?" and back then people had a hissy fit, but oh look what is this? Metroid Prime Trilogy is well loved and no one complains now. You'd think after all this time people would have learned by now that when it comes to big N games you have to literally play it first to kinda complain if it's going to suck, if you don;t want to look like an idiot down the line when it turns around and is well loved. At least the anger is the game play and not how it looks... guess people learned their lesson there (Legend of Zelda Wind Waker). P.s> to anyone thinking I'm defending Nintendo, I am a bit, but I'd also like to state I too want a WiiU Metroid game to come out, but having a Metroid game CANCELLED or hated on before anyone can even play it, is not a way to get one made, also I'd like to point to Metroid Prime Hunters as a reason why this game might just be not just good but great, anyone recall that diamond in the rough? I'd like to see that idea polished, and oh look, FF looks like that idea WAS.

 

[Baresark]

It just doesn't look like a fun game to me... so don't label it as a Metroid game when it shares nothing but lore in common with the namesake and also make it a boring looking game.

 

[Blazing Hero]

I don't get the anger at all, like REALLY people? A: it's a spinoff, a NINTENDO SPINOFF, yes it will be bizarre and wildly different than the main game line, but what's this Pokemon Ranger? Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Mario Party/Golf/RPG? Well that's not like the other games, please people, if ANY COMPANY can make a spinoff game GOOD, it's Nintendo. Also I don;t doubt that it's "up to a dev" because the last Metroid series was a dev team asking the big N, "Hey can we make Metroid a FPS?" and back then people had a hissy fit, but oh look what is this? Metroid Prime Trilogy is well loved and no one complains now. You'd think after all this time people would have learned by now that when it comes to big N games you have to literally play it first to kinda complain if it's going to suck, if you don;t want to look like an idiot down the line when it turns around and is well loved. At least the anger is the game play and not how it looks... guess people learned their lesson there (Legend of Zelda Wind Waker). P.s> to anyone thinking I'm defending Nintendo, I am a bit, but I'd also like to state I too want a WiiU Metroid game to come out, but having a Metroid game CANCELLED or hated on before anyone can even play it, is not a way to get one made, also I'd like to point to Metroid Prime Hunters as a reason why this game might just be not just good but great, anyone recall that diamond in the rough? I'd like to see that idea polished, and oh look, FF looks like that idea WAS.

I honestly don't really care about the game and believe it has every right to exist but that said the title is inherently deceptive. They only recently decided to hang the Metroid name around this game in a very apparent attempt to improve its sales by fooling those who don't know any better into thinking it is a classic Metroid game. Gamers who follow E3 and gaming news obviously know better but a lot of people who don't will be suckered into buying a product thinking it is another game in the vein of the series. I feel bad about the person in the store who sees it on the shelf and decides to buy it strictly on its name...

 

[Quellist]

He tried to console unhappy fans by telling them to "be happy for what we have," urging them that "We've got something so let's experience it."

Yeah, he might as well say "We have given you hemorrhoids, please enjoy experiencing them while we consider whether or not to develop a soothing cream!"

 

[Something Amyss]

Why am I getting the impression that Nintendo is using Federation Force's sales hostage to determine if it's worth investing in actually "leaving it up to the developers"? I mean, this guy is desperately trying to do his job, but don't fall for it people. Ubisoft once blatantly held Beyond Good & Evil 2 hostage based on Rayman sales or something, and we haven't heard anything lately. Hopefully that's just because Michel Ancel isn't feeling it right now.

Hasn't Ubisoft done that multiple times now? Because it works?

I don't doubt Nintendo's willing to, as well.