Nintendo Puzzled Over Other M's Poor Performance

[McNinja]

That's what happens when you characterize your characters like sh*t, your camera and controls are far too disjointed and complicated, and your writing is also sh*t.

Learn and move on.

Even Ninja Gaiden had better writing than Other M.

Indeed.

 

[Senaro]

I think one of the reasons most people didn't buy it is because they go to look for online reviews beforehand. I don't think I saw a single positive review for Other M on any mainstream web sites. I'm not saying it means the game isn't enjoyable, and I haven't played it myself due to priorities with my money, but I'm just putting that out there.

 

[MBurner 93]

This game disappointed me so much, I lost it. I needed something to redeem the series in my eyes. So i got my old NES, went out and bought a copy of the original Metroid (never owned it), and let Other M, stupid title by the way, fade into a bad obscure memory. And I fell in love with the series again.

 

[SD-Fiend]

because the hot chick opened her mouth

 

[BelmontClan]

I don't know, maybe because it butchers Samus' character and the game developers seem to have gone out of there way to go "look she's a girl!" by focusing on her skintight bodysuit and stripping away her armor when she dies?

I can't quite articulate how much that annoys me because my brain just goes ARGH.

 

[Zeetchmen]

They are puzzled that a crappy, sexist game didn't sell well?

 

[Hubbe]

Why did it fail?

Let me think...

1: The dialogue is CRAP.
2: The story itself is poorly written.
3: They changed too much about Samus's core character.
4: They made Samus a pussy. (No pun intended.)

 

[MBurner 93]

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.

If Sakamoto actually told her to be "lifeless and dull" as you say, that's all the proof I need to say he needs to get better at his job...I mean c'mon! "Lifeless and dull" do not a good game make.

 

[Frotality]

my god... the gaming industry might actually be realizing that sometimes a bad game wont sell because its BAD regardless of how your marketing it...

this might be a glorious day for the consumer, the day when the higher ups realize that content might actually have something to do with how well received a product is. fucking finally.

 

[Judgement101]

This sentence I am going to write is a joke and do not take offense to it please: So they are surprised it sucked?

Real statement:I heard it had a lot of game breaking glitches.

 

[Nazulu]

Oh God. I knew it. They've officially lost the plot. They don't know what makes a good character, a good story and a good game in general.

 

[Aethren]

I honestly didn't even know this game was already out. When did this happen?

 

[sunburst]

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.

This is such a good point. We should all remember that Other M has good voice acting because Arc Rise Fantasia's voice acting is worse. Also, Twilight is well written (if you disagree, go read Twilight fanfics) and Battlefield Earth is well acted (watch The Room for proof).

Seriously though, I have to ask; u mad?

As for MOM's disappointing sales, I have to agree that the game's awe-inspiring terribleness is likely one of the prime contributors.

 

[Samus Aaron]

Then we get... this. M:OM was in alot of ways, a let down. For the very first time ever in my gaming life, I ran out on release day and grabbed a copy of a -well established, much lauded IP, that had churned out one high quality offering after another-... and felt myself underwhelemed. Hell. Underwhelmed doesnt begin to cover it.

This bombshell has actually caused me to rethink my strategies on purchasing games. I can no longer count on an excellent IP to produce an excellent game. :'(

Don't worry about it, the game was largely made by Team Ninja, not just Nintendo. They're not exactly known for high-quality games (Dead or Alive, for example). Nintendo got lucky last time with Retro Studios; not this time though.

 

[FinalHeart95]

It seems like all of the games I like are controversial ones... *sigh*

To be honest, the story didn't bother me at all. The varia suit thing was bullshit, true, but the story overall wasn't nearly as bad as people made it out to be. The "final" boss (if you can call it that) was disappointing, but every other boss fight in the game was awesome. The gameplay was fucking awesome, and I found no trouble at all with switching first and third person. The searching sections sucked, sure, but they didn't make up enough of the game to really ruin it for me.

Then again, I really shouldn't have to make an argument. I like it. That's all I should have to say.

 

[toothofymir]

Here's a quick rundown:

Samus before "Metroid: Other M" = Ellen Ripley. Badass
Samus according to "Metroid: Other M": Whiny, approx 13 year-old girl with massive emotional problems and insecurities. NOT COOL.

Oh yeah, and the control were terrible, the story was bad, and it's buggy like nothing else.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

the game was crap, the switches from third to first person didn't work, why not just have a straight 2d game with 3d effects? occasionally switch to behind the back shots for some rail shooter corridor running action (contra anyone?)

the story was awful

the whole point of metroid (since super?) is you start with powers, then you lose them, then you find them again

not you start with powers, and you can't use them until you get permission....

also metroid is about being ALONE, not having someone yammering in your ear the whole time

team ninja completely FAILED to capture the spirit of the series

 

[Sixties Spidey]

I admire Nintendo for experimenting with one of their franchises, they usually stick to a formula and are very hesitant to change things up.
It's a shame Other M sold poorly, perhaps Nintendo shouldn't diverge from formula too much?
Perhaps customers just don't like change? Food for thought...

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

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.

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'.

This isn't about sticking to formula. Nintendo has let their franchises go off the beaten path before (see the Mario RPG for a start), and Metroid is certainly no different. Metroid: Other M was pretty much one bad decision after the other. There were great ideas, but those ideas were executed to mixed effects.

Looking for clues broke up the game (in a bad way), making the player traverse a 3D landscape with a fucking D-Pad was torturous, changing the perspectives from third to first person felt awkward, and having no mobility over Samus while in first person meant that evasive skills were futile. God help you if you were fighting bosses and you had to go into first person.

I liked the idea of Samus being characterized, and I like the themes and overtones in this game, which makes it all the more mysterious that the story got on my nerves. Here's the bulk of Samus' dialogue:

Adam. Adam. Adam. The Baby. Adam. Adam. Adam. The Baby. The Baby. The Baby. The Baby. Adam.

And to make matters worse, instead of painting Samus as the strong-willed protagonist, she's just made to look like a teenage girl with daddy issues. It didn't exactly mesh very well with the "independent female" that the other games painted her as, and at the time, she didn't really have much of a voice except for grunts and yelps of pain. And as for getting upgrades... Don't start me on that. It's something I'm even amazed got past the drawing board.

Now let me make one thing clear, I thought Other M was pretty good. I had a lot of fun with it, and amidst the bad decisions, I had a good time. It's something I tolerated, and I found myself playing all the way to the end. And I did enjoy it. I understand the ire of the fans, and giving the IP over to Team Ninja was an interesting idea. They've made pretty good games, but when playing Other M, I felt like I was playing a Team Ninja game, and not a Metroid game. That was the biggest shortcoming of Metroid: Other M, and while I don't think it was all that bad, more could've been done to improve it.

Here's hoping they get another chance.