Nintendo Puzzled Over Other M's Poor Performance

[AceAngel]

Samus loses here edge.
Samus becomes submissive.
Funky control between FPS and Scroller.
Certain glitch.

I was able to turn away 5 of my friends from buying this game. Told them to hold out till the game becomes a bargain pick. Sorry, Nintendo...

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I would pick it up if it were on a traditional console. The biggest problem I have with my Wii is the motion controls.

 

[Verp]

For me, the problem was that I felt that it's hard to shake the feeling that the traits that make a good Metroid game have been perfected already and that I can't realistically even expect someone to do better within the confines of the general outlines set for the series.

Super Metroid already offered me almost everything I ever wanted from a 2D Metroid game. I'm not sure what else I would want from a new one, certainly not more Metroid Fusion although I guess Super Metroid could've used some of that fluidity in the controls department. Metroid Prime 1 with Wii controls gave me just about everything I want from a Metroid game in 3D, or at least in first person perspective, minus some upgrades and interesting boss fights that 2 and 3 had.

I kept an open mind for Other M, I swear, but the image I got from even the most positive descriptions was that it was kind of like an even more linear Metroid Fusion with an emphasis on cinematics and the storyline. I just wasn't impressed and lost interest. It only got worse when reports of control annoyances started rolling in.

There are better things to use my money on, I decided.

 

[Jaebird]

I would be willing to give the benefit of the by saying the poor sale could have been the attributed to word of mouth. My own grievances with the game aside, it wasn't a bad game by any means. Certain risks were made, and this is the end result. That's what I think, anyway.

 

[chibivash]

I haven't played through Other M myself, though i have played Super Metroid and the Metroid Prime games. I think they should characterise Samus primarily, if not entirely through her actions. I think her choosing not to kill the last baby metroid in one of the earlier games is one of the greatest expressions of her character and that's without the need for all that dialogue and cinematic effect. We don't need her whiny life story and we don't need a voice actress so dull and sedated that it sounds like she's trying to force out every single line. Grrr, i didn't need to play the game to know how annoying that was.

Exactly. They should of used Jennifer Hale again, yet I can only assume they didn't to cut even more costs from the game. The whole thing reeks of lazy design. I've seen Moviebob's statement for it, and honestly refuse to watch it more than once, as he refuses to actually examine it, pushing aside everything valid that people bring up, by blanketing it with the whole "You all just don't want her to have personality and be your misinterpreted idea of stoicism" rant.

Yahtzee, on the other hand, is completely right to me. Samus has thus far given us an idea of her personality, through her actions, and the snippets of voice work in the GBA titles.
What we got in Other M was some 2-bit work handled for a more cheese-cake fashion with little, if any care, to the script, voice work, or even logic behind the game's storyline and dropped plots.
She's striked down Ripley several times before Other M, so why break down now?
She has all her powers active, so besides being a closet masochist, why wait til one insignificant character says its fine to activate something vital to your own survival, and nothing else?
And for the love of god, did they even observe the acress for Samus when she did her lines? Or did they just throw her in the closet and left her alone, without checking how it was read? Even an untrained child could handle the voice work better.

And, because I have to bring it up every time when one refers to the game.
"What's past, is prologue"
Pure. Unadulterated. Genius. Really. Someone should let that man write a bloody novel. Oh yeah... Stephanie Myer did with Twilight, or Dan Brown with some chunks of his writing.

Even Ninja Gaiden had better writing than Other M.

alright, everyone keeps blaming the voice actress of other m, but it was all recorded at the behest of Sakamoto. he was that told her to be lifeless and dull. she was only doing as she was directed.

 

[archvile93]

Nintendo did nothing wrong, huh?

*cough*pieceofshitvoiceacting*cough*

No, you can shut your mouth. You wanna hear piece of shit voice acting? Play Arc Rise Fantasia, THEN tell me that Other M had piece of shit voice acting.

Seriously, all of you who wish to call out Other M as bad because of VOICE ACTING, seriously go play Arc Rise Fantasia and then come back and say that again.

Oh wait, except you won't because then you will have truly experienced god awful voice acting.

I'm probably a better voice actor than the infant down the street, that doesn't mean I'm good at it. Saying something is good because it's better than something even shittier is very poor logic.

 

[FoolKiller]

My thoughts....

Well first, it was different. Different doesn't always work. Some people just like to play the same game. If it ain't broke, don't fix.

Second, Prime 3 even started going in the wrong direction. With that awkward taste in my mouth they expected me to buy something even more different.

Third, make the gameplay good. You'd think this was obvious but apparently even they can screw this up.

Last.... and I can't emphasize this point enough. Put the machine on a real console with tight controls.

 

[Zhalath]

I haven't played it yet, but the fact that Nintendo's paying attention is good.

 

[Unesh52]

I didn't think it was such a bad title. I especially liked it after the "main" part of the game, when the enemies stopped pussing around. That last boss fight was especially fun for me, but that might have just been because I had almost all of the power ups by then. It was stylish and well paced, even if it was weaker than a Stephanie Myer novel in the story department. Sure, it could've been way better, other games were better, other Metroid games were better, but it wasn't just a complete waste of time.

That doesn't matter so much though. It's my impression that games sell more on their names and their advertising rather than their actual content. In that regard, I sympathize with Nintendo's confusion. Like the article says: it's a big name, produced by a reliable studio, and it was well advertised. Why do the sales stink?

 

[GRoXERs]

It's pretty simple, really. Everyone in the target demographic with a Wii already bought the game, but no one would buy a Wii just for Other M. In other words: Nintendo is starting to reap the results of its own, casual-obsessed* Wii marketing strategy.

* - note: not saying that casual gaming is bad. There's a market for it and the more people enjoy video games, the better! However, Nintendo outright encouraged cheap, casual titles over quality, high-profile, high-budget titles and was pretty much defeated by Sony and Microsoft in that department. In the words of an UbiSoft employee: "Horse-shit [i.e. "My little horsey"-games] sells better." Again, that, too, does not necessarily translate into S&M (gee) making more money than N off their consoles/games.

This. My God, this. Excellently put, sir or madam.

 

[Space Jawa]

Is this really that hard to figure out? Other M did poorly because it was a shitty game! I don't think I need to embellish on that, we've been all around the mulberry bush on that one.

Not that I disagree with you (because I think you're right on the money), but some people seem to think otherwise, which is the reason there's still debate on the matter.

That is EXACTLY what happened. Fans claim this series as 'theirs' and anything that is different or unexpected = rage and cancellation of sales.

So are the fans expected to buy something that's different than what they expect or want and doesn't give them an alternative that suits their tastes?

For that matter, what about the people who say they're fans and like the direction the series went?

The story wasn't the greatest thing ever but god damn it I liked it. But most importantly, I had 'fun' playing the game and while it was short, it was a damn good ride for a Metroid game.

At least it was longer than Fusion, albeit Fusion was 'slightly' more fun.

Well, I'm glad you thought your money was well spent, but clearly you are in a minority since there are more people who either thought it wasn't fun or based on pre-purchase decisions thought that it probably wouldn't be fun and they would make better use of their time and money by doing something else.

I'm sorry but I really just wanna say 'Fuck you' to all the insanely hardcore fans who just 'totally' ruined any chance of a very narrative heavy or voice acted samus for the future. Because of people taking games way too god damn seriously, taking things out of context and not being content with any changes whatsoever, I pretty much have no hope of ever getting to have 'another' enjoyable experience like the one I had.

I'll still have fun playing a metroid game, no doubt about that, but it won't get to be like Other M ever again, all cause you guys had to go and bust a nut over your 'precious' franchise being 'ruined'.

We also apparently have a difference of opinions on what qualifies as an "insanely hardcore fan", since my impression is that it's people like you, who like the game and are upset about how it's doing, fit into that particular category.

And as someone who qualifies myself as a fan of the 'sanely' variety (of whatever level of core I'm really not sure), I sincerely hope we never get another game like MoM. I'm certainly not afraid of change, but when you consider that MoM has the potential to be one of the worst-selling games of the series, if not the worst, how can you argue for the changes of MoM being good changes?

The game spat in the face of everyone's previous perceptions of Samus, gave us nonsensical gameplay choices, and gave priority to story over gameplay. You ever notice how few of Nintendos games have bothered with heavy storytelling, and then taken a look at how Nintendo has been around for over 25 years and just how frikken well they can usually be counted on to sell?

I'm not surprised MoM is doing relatively poorly. About everything I learned about it from its announcement onward gave me reason to expect as much. And I'm pretty dang sure I'm not the only one.

 

[Bloodeye]

I agree that Reggie probably already knows what went wrong but just can't publicly admit it. Despite what he's saying I don't think Sakamoto will be let near Metroid again after this. Frankly I'm hoping Other M gets retconed out of existence.

I do feel a little sorry for Team Ninja though. They're catching a lot of blame for things that weren't their fault.

 

[Tminusfun]

MovieBob points out that we shouldn't be mad that Samus now has actual feelings and characterisation beyond "Oh look, she has boobs and she can kick ass!"

She was never just a "strong girl" (and It's a mistake to listen to MovieBob at any rate).
She's always been portrayed as stoic, but she's had a consistent characterization throughout the series. Soparing the hatching in Metroid 2 and donating it to science in Super Metroid demonstrated her compassion. And don't forget that she was visibly saddened by the destruction of the Chozo Temple at the end of the first Metroid Prime game, and mourned the deaths of her fellow bounty hunters at the end of Prime 3. She's always been shown as a strong and compassionate character, who certainly wouldn't break down in front of Ridley and need a token black sidekick to save her. That characterization via her actions, not to mention the backstory-via-scans in Prime, were a much better way to tell a story in a Metroid game, and it worked.

For all the talk about how it's "evolving" the series, there's nothing new about Other M's gameplay. It's really just a dumbed down Ninja Gaiden without camera control. Auto-targeting is dodgy, and switching to an immobile first person perspective is just jarring, especially when then game forces you to do a pixel hunt and scan for some obscure clue in the background.

I think it's more than fair to compare If Nintendo really wanted to make a next gen Metroid, then why not take advantage of the nunchuck?

The exploring feels tacked on, and there's no sense of "iceberging" like there is in 1, Super Metroid, or Metroid Prime. Now you just follow painfully linear directions and maybe go to a bonus room. The level design is also pretty bland, and it isn't helped by the boring ambient sounds. Combat is also a chore, especially when you kill all the enemies by jumping on them and shootting their heads, and don't forget that you can't use your missiles without that awkward first person switch. And because of regenerating health, there's no real tension to the fights.

What upsets me is that people are praising these just because they're different from the other Metroid games, and calling it "innovation". Nintendo didn't innovate with Other M, they borrowed well-worn elements from other 3rd Person 3D action titles and diffused some Metroid elements within them, at the expense of a richer, more idiosyncratic experience that is synonymous with the name "Metroid".

I refuse to believe it's because the traditional Metroidvania formula is stale. Shadow Complex, the recent Castlevania titles, and scores of popular indie games like Cave Story and VVVVVV prove that you can still create an exciting Metroidvania without unnecessary change and still deliver riveting experience. This was Nintendo's chance to give Metroid a return to form after the linear nature of Prime 2 and 3, and they blew it.

I can't wait for Nintendo to sweep it under the rug and make a proper side-scrolling Metroid for the 3DS.

 

[pretentiousname01]

Don't play coy with us regi. You know as well as we do why and how you and the game failed us. Coming up with little cover ups is your job, its what you do.

That being said I liked that they admit its failure. That they also don't try to blame it on marketing or some other non sense reason.

 

[vid87]

I never actually played the game, but I've been reading up on it as much as possible, especially on youtube. I don't find the "softer" characterization that much of a problem (and of course she's going to be sensitive when she starts out, she's a rookie after all). The problem, as far as characterization goes, is twofold: first, it doesn't seem to take the rest of the timeline into account - suffering PTSD because of Ridley would've made sense THE FIRST TIME she saw him, but this game apparently takes place after she's already met him and kicked his ass...many times. Second is her supposedly criminal "feminization." And it really isn't such a bad thing that she grows attached to a baby Metroid; the problem is that the story, as Yahtzee suggested, hammers it home repeatedly - the Bottle Ship, the Baby's Cry, referring to the Metroid ONLY as "the baby."

And I'm not very familiar with the gameplay, but I will say that having to completely switch between d-pad and nunchuck on the fly, as well as not being able to move while shooting, sounds like a pretty big design flaw to me.

I consider myself a bit of an outsider on the topic, but from where I stand there seems to be enough points of contention to really make me hesitate to pick it up. And since it's a new title on a modern console, I think we as gamers need to be a lot more sure about the product we're considering paying at least $50 for.

 

[EarthBoundGiygas]

Personally..I loved it. It's just that you can't please all fans. Fans are fans after all.

I loved it aswell but youre point is valid, fans will be fans. Explains the whole controversy over Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.
Voice acting was not bad at all i enjoyed it. The whole thing that people didnt like about it was because of Samus' Emotions. The whole fact is people thought that Samus was a flat 2 dimensional "Badass gun wielding" Character. But if anybody had played Fusion, Samus had emotion on there aswell she showed her affection for Adam and she had long monologues. Samus was always a 3-dimensional character, team ninja just elaborated on it and made these emotion more visible. Which was a GOOD IDEA.

 

[gring]

rage.

to your comments on the bad voice acting... haven't you ever heard that two wrongs dont make a right?

but seriously, its not that its a different style game therefore "fanboys" boycott, or whatever, its just bad game-play with stupid story elements in a series thats known for its fun gameplay and not stellar but still more then acceptable story elements ends up with word of mouth putting the game in a bad light. which really, the game deserves.

and we really dont need a super detailed over done story for samus, because we never have needed one. usually stories for well established characters like these involve stupid plot lines involving something like "HOW DID S/HE GET THEIR SIGNATURE SWORD/HAT/GLOVE/SHOELACE/ETC" when really it just be "they liked it and they bought it" therefore lets just not even make a story about this. (cough*crisiscore*cough) or when they try to connect stories of a series, after they didn't try when making the first 6 games, and then desperately try to connect them in some way even though its physically impossible to do so (zeldagames*coughcough). bad stories are bad, and people do notice. its not (always) blind fanboyism.

also, it seems weird to me that they decided to just make a game straight after metroid 3 on the snes. like, what happened to every other metroid game? oh right, you want to ride of the success of the best known game in the series because of $$$ purposes. well, it was another cheap move, and it back fired.

its not the fact that they gave samus a voice, its HOW they gave samus a voice, and of course the game-play changes were just bad calls. but seriously, how can you justify samus being a whiny girly wuss whos completely attached to her boyfriend an okay move on their part? I was excited for the game, didn't care about the story elements being introduced, until I found out WHAT they were, and having wonky controls doesn't help its case either.

i just dont want to even deal with this new characterization of samus, at all. truly disappointed, so i did not buy it.

 

[Unhappy Crow]

Yeah, I've been hearing mixed reviews about Other M. I haven't purchased the game yet, but that's not going to stop me. I like the Metroid series.

 

[Arec Balrin]

I'll say giving Metroid to Team Ninja is like giving Transformers to Michael Bay. We know how it went.