Is Metroid Nintendos experiment franchise?

[Firia]

I was born in '81, and I've owned a gaming system since the age of 4 ('85). I've always had a love for Nintendo, even when I 'defected' to playstation at the n64 era. Today, Nintendos characters are iconic, and almost as old as I am. They've grown, from 2D to 3D... and then they stopped growing.

Nintendo has suddenly, it would seem, become afraid of innovation. When it comes to their iconic brands, Mario, Link, just as examples, the formula really doesn't get mixed up to much. When it comes to these games, I often say "played one, you've played them all." It works for them, sure. Not a game goes by from their iconic franchises that I don't eyeball with a certain amount of desire. But at the same time, the same thing remixed into a new package does sort of bother me.

So when I saw Metriod Other M supported *gasp* VOICE acting, I was shocked! It even found a middle ground between 2D and 3D gameplay. When I thought about it, I started to realize that Metroid was kind of like Nintendos Wild-card. It takes the most extreme risks, while mixing up formulas within the iconic tropes of the Metroid universe.

Metroid went from 2D (SNES, gameboy) to first person (gamecube), to a mix of 2D and 3D (wii). Whereas most Metroid games have the most barebones of story and plot, Other M has an almost uncomfortable amount of story (for some players) compared to past installments. It has VOICE acting! Which for Nintendos classic characters, seems almost Taboo. Like, give them a voice, and you force them to have a personality, and that's scary.

I know Other M and Metroid Prime were developed by other studios under the Nintendo license. But the fact that Nintendo let these studios run with these ideas, and this direction makes me think that Nintendo is willing to take more risks with Metroid. Like, it's their experimental franchise.

 

[Timotei]

I'd like to believe Nintendo considers Metroid to be the poor schmuck in WWI tasked with flagging the location of landmines: You send them out into dangerous territory and hope they return unscathed. If on the off chance they do end up stepping on a mine and get themselves turned into confetti then you know very well to avoid that area and never tread there again.

Metroid has always be considered the least popular of the major players. While it may not be as valuable to the company as some of the other franchises, it does have the ability to pull in good sales figures. I guess you could call it 'disposable' if you want to get a bit disconnected.

 

[tlozoot]

Well it certainly isn't Zelda. The most innovation that has seen was a change in graphical style.

Mario? The 'main' Mario games haven't seen much variation, especially lately with SMG2. To be fair though, Mario has dabbled in just about everything apart from a FPS. Karts, RPGs, Sports...you can't say Nintendo haven't tried a lot with the Mario franchise.

 

[lapan]

To bad that Other M's voiceacting sucks though. The gameplay however is good and i like the mix of 2d and 3d.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Metroid is indeed the only franchise that Nintendo takes real risks with.

Zelda will go for a new art style, Mario will add a few new tricks to his platforming, but Metroid really changes itself up.

Fusion had aspects of survival horror in the sequences where you run away from the evil, fully powered parasite Samus. And was rather linear for a Metorid game.

Prime took the series into first person, and pulled it off.

Other M mixed third and first, with mixed results.

Also, let's not forget the Capcom developed Zelda games.

Oracle of Seasons
Oracle of Ages
Minish Cap

Seasons remains my all time favorite Zelda.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

I was born in '81, and I've owned a gaming system since the age of 4 ('85). I've always had a love for Nintendo, even when I 'defected' to playstation at the n64 era. Today, Nintendos characters are iconic, and almost as old as I am. They've grown, from 2D to 3D... and then they stopped growing.

Nintendo has suddenly, it would seem, become afraid of innovation. When it comes to their iconic brands, Mario, Link, just as examples, the formula really doesn't get mixed up to much. When it comes to these games, I often say "played one, you've played them all." It works for them, sure. Not a game goes by from their iconic franchises that I don't eyeball with a certain amount of desire. But at the same time, the same thing remixed into a new package does sort of bother me.

So when I saw Metriod Other M supported *gasp* VOICE acting, I was shocked! It even found a middle ground between 2D and 3D gameplay. When I thought about it, I started to realize that Metroid was kind of like Nintendos Wild-card. It takes the most extreme risks, while mixing up formulas within the iconic tropes of the Metroid universe.

Metroid went from 2D (SNES, gameboy) to first person (gamecube), to a mix of 2D and 3D (wii). Whereas most Metroid games have the most barebones of story and plot, Other M has an almost uncomfortable amount of story (for some players) compared to past installments. It has VOICE acting! Which for Nintendos classic characters, seems almost Taboo. Like, give them a voice, and you force them to have a personality, and that's scary.

I know Other M and Metroid Prime were developed by other studios under the Nintendo license. But the fact that Nintendo let these studios run with these ideas, and this direction makes me think that Nintendo is willing to take more risks with Metroid. Like, it's their experimental franchise.

Well Retro's owned by them, so I guess it was a little different in that case, but yeah.

Do you know why it would seem Nintendo is afraid of Innovation? Because we're afraid of change.

Look at Wind Waker...hang on:

Well it certainly isn't Zelda. The most innovation that has seen was a change in graphical style.

Mario? The 'main' Mario games haven't seen much variation, especially lately with SMG2. To be fair though, Mario has dabbled in just about everything apart from a FPS. Karts, RPGs, Sports...you can't say Nintendo haven't tried a lot with the Mario franchise.

Well WInd Waker submerged 70% of the land in water and made travelling across the seas an adventure (storms, Pirates, treasure hunting) which if you ask me was quite the departure from Hyrule as we knew it. But fans, afster seeing the Spaceworld demo of Link VS Ganondorf, were pissed off, and Nintendo obviously took that as "They don't like drastic change to this franchise".
However Metroid went from Side-Scroller to FPA, and FPA to, well, both. They realised after the Prime Trilogy's critical acclaim that this subset of fans can handle the most change.

So really I personally feel it's down to us. And looking at the fan and critical response from Other M, we won't be getting this kind of experience again.

P.S. To be fair to Mario, If I've played Mario 64, I haven't played Super Mario Galaxy 2 or Super Mario Sunshine. The core elements are the same (it's Mario after all) but that's pretty much it.

P.P.S. I thought they kept Link silent because it makes him like Gordon Freeman, a character you can assume the identity of? And because we don't want another dark chapter like EXCUUUUUSE MEEEEE PRINCESS!!!(!!)

 

[Souplex]

Nintendo was willing to trust Zelda to capcom back on the GBC years before they let Capcom make Fusion, and Retro make Prime.
I think it has something to do with one of the original guys behind it being dead.

 

[Firia]

To bad that Other M's voiceacting sucks though. The gameplay however is good and i like the mix of 2d and 3d.

Baby steps. Going from something to nothing is still something. I've played Resident Evil 1-- it cannot be as bad as some have bsaid it is. I haven't played Other M, but of what I've seen, Team Ninja was going for something... disconnected.

Nintendo was willing to trust Zelda to capcom back on the GBC years before they let Capcom make Fusion, and Retro make Prime.
I think it has something to do with one of the original guys behind it being dead.

Oh, I had no idea there was a death in the dev team.

Spoiler: spoiler tagged because snipping sucks, and this is a lengthy post.

I was born in '81, and I've owned a gaming system since the age of 4 ('85). I've always had a love for Nintendo, even when I 'defected' to playstation at the n64 era. Today, Nintendos characters are iconic, and almost as old as I am. They've grown, from 2D to 3D... and then they stopped growing.

Nintendo has suddenly, it would seem, become afraid of innovation. When it comes to their iconic brands, Mario, Link, just as examples, the formula really doesn't get mixed up to much. When it comes to these games, I often say "played one, you've played them all." It works for them, sure. Not a game goes by from their iconic franchises that I don't eyeball with a certain amount of desire. But at the same time, the same thing remixed into a new package does sort of bother me.

So when I saw Metriod Other M supported *gasp* VOICE acting, I was shocked! It even found a middle ground between 2D and 3D gameplay. When I thought about it, I started to realize that Metroid was kind of like Nintendos Wild-card. It takes the most extreme risks, while mixing up formulas within the iconic tropes of the Metroid universe.

Metroid went from 2D (SNES, gameboy) to first person (gamecube), to a mix of 2D and 3D (wii). Whereas most Metroid games have the most barebones of story and plot, Other M has an almost uncomfortable amount of story (for some players) compared to past installments. It has VOICE acting! Which for Nintendos classic characters, seems almost Taboo. Like, give them a voice, and you force them to have a personality, and that's scary.

I know Other M and Metroid Prime were developed by other studios under the Nintendo license. But the fact that Nintendo let these studios run with these ideas, and this direction makes me think that Nintendo is willing to take more risks with Metroid. Like, it's their experimental franchise.

Well Retro's owned by them, so I guess it was a little different in that case, but yeah.

Do you know why it would seem Nintendo is afraid of Innovation? Because we're afraid of change.

Look at Wind Waker...hang on:

Well it certainly isn't Zelda. The most innovation that has seen was a change in graphical style.

Mario? The 'main' Mario games haven't seen much variation, especially lately with SMG2. To be fair though, Mario has dabbled in just about everything apart from a FPS. Karts, RPGs, Sports...you can't say Nintendo haven't tried a lot with the Mario franchise.

Well WInd Waker submerged 70% of the land in water and made travelling across the seas an adventure (storms, Pirates, treasure hunting) which if you ask me was quite the departure from Hyrule as we knew it. But fans, afster seeing the Spaceworld demo of Link VS Ganondorf, were pissed off, and Nintendo obviously took that as "They don't like drastic change to this franchise".
However Metroid went from Side-Scroller to FPA, and FPA to, well, both. They realised after the Prime Trilogy's critical acclaim that this subset of fans can handle the most change.

So really I personally feel it's down to us. And looking at the fan and critical response from Other M, we won't be getting this kind of experience again.

P.S. To be fair to Mario, If I've played Mario 64, I haven't played Super Mario Galaxy 2 or Super Mario Sunshine. The core elements are the same (it's Mario after all) but that's pretty much it.

P.P.S. I thought they kept Link silent because it makes him like Gordon Freeman, a character you can assume the identity of? And because we don't want another dark chapter like EXCUUUUUSE MEEEEE PRINCESS!!!(!!)

That was a pretty well thought out post.

I think the advent of 3D that many of the Nintendo franchises experienced was because the technology was so big, and so obviously the future, that it couldn't be ignored. That, of course, being the short version.

The big thing about Wind Waker that I felt people didn't like was the art direction. Hardly innovation, in my book. All the other elements were still there; the temple/dungeon diving, the themed temples, Gannon[dorf], and that whole thing. It's all been rehashes of Ocarana of Time. The world that Link was a part of was certainly different, and a horse was traded for a boat (Link's on a Boat! *hehe* ahem).

I do want to go on. I feel like I have more to say. Esspecially on the topic of metroid itself. But I need to take a nap. I'm volenteering (Enforcer) at PAX later, and I want to be tip-top!