Metroid Prime Studio "Thinks Like Nintendo"

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
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Metroid Prime Studio "Thinks Like Nintendo"

After ten years together, Retro knows the kind of questions that Nintendo is going to ask.

Retro Studios, the developer of the Metroid Prime series and Donkey Kong Country game, says that it's been working with - and indeed, for - Nintendo for such a long time, that it's started to think like its Japanese parent company, which in turn makes it much more efficient.

Speaking to Edge Magazine, Nintendo's Kensuke Tanabe said that over the ten-year working relationship between Nintendo and Retro Studios - most of which Retro has spent as a first party developer - the Austin, Texas based team had learned the kind of things that Nintendo did and didn't want. Tanabe said that there was still a lot of contact between him and Retro, but that there was less need for explanation and supervision. Retro president Michael Kelbaugh said that the studio's ongoing relationship with Nintendo meant that it had a much better idea of what Nintendo's vision for its games where. This meant that Retro didn't waste its time on things that wouldn't make it into the game it was working on.

Tanabe contrasted the ease of working with Retro to the difficultly that Shigeru Miyamoto had working with Rare in the 90s, back when Rare worked exclusively on Nintendo games. "Mr. Miyamoto had contact with the developer, that was his project," Tanabe said. "I don't think that Mr. Miyamoto went over to Rare and did face-to-face visits really, and without email, communication happened by fax, and I think it made it really difficult for him to relay his vision and experiences the same way."

It does rather make sense that after ten years, Retro would have an idea of what Nintendo wants out of a project. That said, considering that Retro has worked on two of Nintendo's biggest brands in those ten years, the fact that it doesn't need much in the way of supervision is still pretty impressive.

Source: Edge [http://www.next-gen.biz/news/retro-studios-%E2%80%9Cthinks-like-nintendo%E2%80%9D]






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rosac

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Sep 13, 2008
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So... are they removing other M from the metroid canon and getting rare to help make new, better games? no?
 

therandombear

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Sep 28, 2009
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Get Rare to re-make or actually make a new and good Banjo-Kazooie, Nuts n Bolts were bad, and get Retro to make more Metroid games, not necessarily Metroid Prime, but maybe more games in that universe/in canon with the Prime trilogy.
 

Mister Benoit

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therandombear said:
Get Rare to re-make or actually make a new and good Banjo-Kazooie, Nuts n Bolts were bad, and get Retro to make more Metroid games, not necessarily Metroid Prime, but maybe more games in that universe/in canon with the Prime trilogy.
Meh let Retro spread their wings and try out other genres. They did a fantastic job with both the Primes and DKCR which are very different games. I'd love to see what else they have to offer.

Rare would have to do a lot of hiring in order to make a Banjo game on par with the N64 titles.
 

Onyx Oblivion

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Sep 9, 2008
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therandombear said:
Get Rare to re-make or actually make a new and good Banjo-Kazooie, Nuts n Bolts were bad, and get Retro to make more Metroid games, not necessarily Metroid Prime, but maybe more games in that universe/in canon with the Prime trilogy.
How exactly was Nuts and Bolts...bad?

Just because it wasn't a platformer?

It did what it did. And mostly succeeded. Aside from the handful of missions that required you to use a preset vehicles.
 

therandombear

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Sep 28, 2009
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Onyx Oblivion said:
therandombear said:
Get Rare to re-make or actually make a new and good Banjo-Kazooie, Nuts n Bolts were bad, and get Retro to make more Metroid games, not necessarily Metroid Prime, but maybe more games in that universe/in canon with the Prime trilogy.
How exactly was Nuts and Bolts...bad?

Just because it wasn't a platformer?

It did what it did. And mostly succeeded. Aside from the handful of missions that required you to use a preset vehicles.
I just didn't like it, more personal "bad" then terribly made game. I blame my nostalgia googles. Didn't live up to what I thought about Banjo-Kazooie. I didn't really like Banjoe-Tooie either. :p
 

MB202

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I don't know whether to think this is a good thing or a bad thing.
 

Shellsh0cker

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Oct 22, 2008
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I really want to know what Retro is working on next. Metroid Prime was phenomenal, and DKCR is apparently awesome, thought I haven't played it. While I love their involvement in and treatment of the Nintendo IP's they've been working with thus far, I'd really like them to spread their wings and start an original IP of their own.
 

Electrogecko

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rosac said:
So... are they removing other M from the metroid canon and getting rare to help make new, better games? no?
Huh? Rare doesn't have anything to do with this, even if Rare could touch Nintendo's properties and wasn't a steaming pile of shit when compared to Retro.....Other M doesn't really have anything to do with this either.

That said, a Banjo-Kazooie+Tooie bundle for 3ds would be a divine gift, and not entirely out of the question in my mind considering MS doesn't have a capable gaming handheld.

Retro is officially one of my most most trusted developers. They aced the Metroid Prime trilogy and DKCR may be my favorite 2d platformer of all time. I can't wait to find out what they have in store for us next.
 

Dorkmaster Flek

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I hope Nintendo lets Retro make an original IP for their next game. The only things they've done are the Metroid Prime trilogy and DKC Returns, both of which are absolutely stellar IMO. The fact that they're completely different kinds of games shows how good they really are. I'd love to see what they can do with an original IP.
 

rosac

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Electrogecko said:
rosac said:
So... are they removing other M from the metroid canon and getting rare to help make new, better games? no?
Huh? Rare doesn't have anything to do with this, even if Rare could touch Nintendo's properties and wasn't a steaming pile of shit when compared to Retro.....Other M doesn't really have anything to do with this either.

That said, a Banjo-Kazooie+Tooie bundle for 3ds would be a divine gift, and not entirely out of the question in my mind considering MS doesn't have a capable gaming handheld.

Retro is officially one of my most most trusted developers. They aced the Metroid Prime trilogy and DKCR may be my favorite 2d platformer of all time. I can't wait to find out what they have in store for us next.
curse my tiredness, sorry, I meant retro
 

Mr. Omega

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Jul 1, 2010
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Nintendo and Retro have something amazing going on right now. Let's just hope history doesn't repeat itself... *looks at Rare, shakes head and sighs*

OT: Retro has proven themselves to be a great studio. I'd like to see a new IP from them published by Nintendo. If that does happen: Come on, big N! Market the shit out of it!
 

fix-the-spade

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Feb 25, 2008
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therandombear said:
Get Rare to re-make or actually make a new and good Banjo-Kazooie,
rosac said:
getting rare to help make new, better games? no?
Sadly, Rare has been functionally dead for a good seven years now. It won't matter who they are making games for, without the people that made Rare successful to begin with it's just an old name with some dead brands.

Anyway, Retro better be working on a new Metroid game. Also, I hope someone at Ninja Theory was thrown onto a sword for Other M!
 

xyrafhoan

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Jan 11, 2010
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Retro is one of Nintendo's best external studios and every game they've made has been excellent. Tight controls, well-balanced gameplay, great attention to detail, it's all there. Metroid Prime is definitely my favourite FPS of all time, with its easy controls, beautifully detailed, expansive worlds, and hugely detailed lore. Donkey Kong Country Returns was a hectic platformer that was a brilliant revisit of Donkey Kong Country while still bringing fresh elements to the table. I'm glad the studio has a great relationship with Nintendo and is stepping up their game to prove the Wii is not just a receptacle for shovelware. I hope Nintendo allows Retro to develop a new IP somewhere down the line, because Retro has clearly shown they are masters at bringing new heights to Nintendo's existing IPs.
 

Mister Linton

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Don't start thinking like Nintendo, Retro. Come up with some new IPs instead of retreading the same old ideas.
 

LostNumber

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therandombear said:
Onyx Oblivion said:
therandombear said:
Get Rare to re-make or actually make a new and good Banjo-Kazooie, Nuts n Bolts were bad, and get Retro to make more Metroid games, not necessarily Metroid Prime, but maybe more games in that universe/in canon with the Prime trilogy.
How exactly was Nuts and Bolts...bad?

Just because it wasn't a platformer?

It did what it did. And mostly succeeded. Aside from the handful of missions that required you to use a preset vehicles.
I just didn't like it, more personal "bad" then terribly made game. I blame my nostalgia googles. Didn't live up to what I thought about Banjo-Kazooie. I didn't really like Banjoe-Tooie either. :p
I thought the same thing when I first started playing N&B. I grew up with the BK games, so I was really disappointed at first when I played N&B and saw how far removed it was from the original two. When I stopped thinking of it as a BK game, though, I realized it was actually really fun. After that initial shock at the beginning, I quite enjoyed the rest of the game.

OT: I'm glad to hear that Retro has such a good connection to Nintendo (although, looking at how well the Prime games incorporated Metroid elements into 3D, I'm not all that surprised they're thinking on the same wavelength).