Nintendo Puzzled Over Other M's Poor Performance

[Phuctifyno]

However, it seems that many people here are enjoying the "dude, the plot was so bad, they made Samus into a crybaby, waaah!" bandwagon way too much.

Not a bandwagon when it's true.

I'm hearing things about Samus freaking out when coming into contact with Ridley and that makes complete sense to me.

Even though she's defeated him everytime they've met before? Oh this time might be different cuz.... TOKEN, NOOOOO!!!!


It's simple, Nintendo learns that malodrama sells, they try malodrama... on Metroid. Nobody who's ever enjoyed a Metroid game has thought to themselves "I wonder what Samus is feeling right now, I'd really like to know what her relationships are like; probably sad, I bet she's real sad, protagonists aren't interesting unless they're sad - oh, and I wish someone would tell me where to go cuz I'm a fucking moron". Supply where there is no demand. Move on.

 

[BrunDeign]

However, it seems that many people here are enjoying the "dude, the plot was so bad, they made Samus into a crybaby, waaah!" bandwagon way too much.

Not a bandwagon when it's true.

I'm hearing things about Samus freaking out when coming into contact with Ridley and that makes complete sense to me.

Even though she's defeated him everytime they've met before? Oh this time might be different cuz.... TOKEN, NOOOOO!!!!


It's simple, Nintendo learns that malodrama sells, they try malodrama... on Metroid. Nobody who's ever enjoyed a Metroid game has thought to themselves "I wonder what Samus is feeling right now, I'd really like to know what her relationships are like; probably sad, I bet she's real sad, protagonists aren't interesting unless they're sad - oh, and I wish someone would tell me where to go cuz I'm a fucking moron". Supply where there is no demand. Move on.

Did you not read my comments about the robot sharks? That question makes sense in context, trust me.

 

[BrownGaijin]

Nintendo can't figure out why Metroid M is not selling well. In other news, Nintendo does not see why they should invest in another Mother title.

 

[10BIT]

The stereotypical Texan cowboy would probably not be a Metroid Fan. But also this area is a rich cultural melting pot. You probably have a picture of me in your mind and you don't even know what race, ethnic group or age I am. All based on my profile's location. Good job.

I have not built up any image of you in my mind. All I said was that I find your views demening of a particular gender and that they happen to be common views in your area. I'm sorry that many people consider you bigoted before you speak rather than afterwards due to your location that you have to get so defencive about it. I was going to say I'll stay away from that place even if it was somewhere completely different, but because it was Austen, I had to make some comment about the coherance between your views and the attitudes percieved of the area. And I do hear many bigoted views from that area.

The arguement that Samus has been fighting Ridley previously and wasn't affected has no punch. Just read into them closer.

Snip

Hence why I said "endangering not only her life but the lives of those around her". In each of the previous games, she was shocked for a few seconds, but she still kept her cool and fought back when Ridley lunged at her, endangering no one.

In M:OM [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPQ5GDld-5w], she cowers, turns into a little girl, she then stands there doing nothing, switches of her suit, allows Ridley to grab and attack her for a full minute and then attack the guy that was with her before finally going on the counter-attack. Now that's a big change from a few seconds of shock.

 

[Phuctifyno]

Did you not read my comments about the robot sharks? That question makes sense in context, trust me.

The point is: people seem to think that because she used to be a silent character that meant she had no character (which is bogus on it's own) and that any new addition will do. In fact, Samus has been, up to this point, characteristically fearless. It was a clear personality trait that could be shown in gameplay without the aid of dialogue, and just got completely reversed because the writers of MOM aren't very good at storytelling. It's like if Batman just decided he was going to make his costume pink for one movie, and shits himself when the Joker does a little dance. Take a play through Metroid Prime and count the seconds it takes Samus to decide to jump down a seemingly bottomless pit to face the final boss in a quick pre-fight cut scene... I'll save you the time: zero. She's practically running full speed when the cut scene starts. As a player, you're not even sure if you're ready to face the final boss yet, but she is. It's actually a constant theme in the Prime series that Samus starts firing before you have a chance to back out. Balls to the walls.

Anyway, Nintendo: Bad game. Forgiven. Try again.

 

[Space Jawa]

You'll freak out when coming face to face with a great white shark (which would be a helluva lot less scary than a real life Ridley) no matter how many times you've seen one that close, even if every time you meet that SAME SHARK WITH THE SCAR ABOVE THE EYE THAT HAS A KNACK FOR TRACKING YOU EVERYWHERE (like how Ridley has a knack to always be where Samus is) you manage to kill it. Imagine that shark coming back the next time your in the ocean, despite you obviously killing it the first time, except this time it is a ROBO SHARK WITH FREAKING LASER BEAMS. That may sound like an exaggeration but in real life you'd all be crapping your pants. That's basically what Samus goes through with Ridley except, you know, WORSE. And even though she freaks out she still gets over it enough to fight him again (I would think but I haven't played Other M so I don't know). Unless I had the things she had (Space suit, laser arm cannon, heat-seeking missiles, GIGANTIC balls) I would probably freeze up out of fear or, at best, try to frantically swim away. And I bet all of you would do the same (Robo shark or not).

Well, unlike you, Samus is armed with those things (Space suit, laser arm cannon, etc).

And no, I don't think I'd freak out "no matter how many times" I went into a situation like that. Sure, the first time I would probably get freaked out, and the second time I could see freaking out if I had reason to believe it's the exact same shark, but I think that if I developed a habit of kicking shark butt, I might be in a position to switch from 'AH! A Shark!' to 'Just die already, alright?' by the third or fourth encounter, especially if I was armed with a super powered scuba suit (space suit), an automatic harpoon gun (laser arm cannon), and a load out of torpedoes (heat-seeking missiles). And that's even before I was given the kind of training and guts that Samus had before MoM came around.

Look at yourself and what you're capable of, then compare yourself to Samus. Or even anyone who might serve as a real-life analogue to Samus. You really think that just because you would have a never-ending freak out habit that the same would apply to everyone else?

Context or not, your comment about "Robot Sharks" is weak at best.

It may have been one of the worst games in the series (unless you're looking for an action-combat game) and one of the worst 1st party games in the last 5 years, but it was still an excellent game that was unfairly judged (by people like you who've never played it and talk trash about it) because it had the Metroid name to live up to.

If the game had been a new IP, nobody would've thought poorly of it....unless they're stupid.

Well, it wasn't a new IP, and thus it's going to be judged in comparison to the rest of the series. How is it unfair to compare it to other games in a series that it shares a name with? The series has a reputation to live up to, and MoM failed to live up to that reputation.

I think that makes the judgements completely fair. Especially as, in your own words, it's arguably "one of the worst games in the series" and "one of the worst 1st party games in the last 5 years".

Personally, those two lines alone gives me the impression you're just being defensive and trying to make excuses.

 

[Spikkle]

Well at least they've acknowledged that they might just possibly have got something a little bit wrong. Which in an official press release like this is likely all we'll ever get, even if everyone at Team Nintendja secretly thinks that they totally screwed it up. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NiceJobBreakingItHero]

It does all seem a bit like a desperate plea of "Come on guise, our game 'aint so bad reaaally! I bet you'll like it if you ignore all those totally irrelevant voices of people saying that they didn't buuy the game because we pulled a 4KIDS on the characterisation. Can I putcha down for 50 copies?"

 

[Mysnomer]

Obviously, Sakamoto hasn't held true to his promise to read message boards and such, otherwise they'd know exactly why it failed "isn't doing as well as expected."

 

[Something Amyss]

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

Apparently, you can't please MOST of the fans. Which is odd, since fans are fans, after all.

 

[Johnny Noon]

To be honest besides the switching to first person I don't hate the controls or gameplay. However Samus Aran portrayal in the game really really disappointed me. She was a total wimp I won't use a power cause Adam won't tell me, and this is from one of the few people who knew who Adam Malkovich was in the game series. I can understand following a mission directive or not using a certain power on a level or floor but she came off as the 1 female character that team ninja produces immensely Generic female characters who frankly should be offensive to female gamers (all 10 of you j/k). Samus Aran was one of the rare exceptions when you can be overly badass, and I don't mean that female overly cold mission focused badass female like in Halo: Reach I just mean a general Bad ass, an interesting character with a complex past, which is what she has her entire family was murdered by a space pterodactyl and she was raised by birds.......how can you not make the story of that at least interesting?! I really wish these classic characters would start talking and having real deeper more realized stories. Can you image a zelda trilogy where idk we followed a link to the end of his life? all these games start the same charged to get the Master sword, defeat Ganon, and save the princess, but honestly my favorite Zelda games are the ones that hint he's already done that, that he is now on his own journey, to truly become a selfless hero, Like Majora's Mask or Link's awakening, or even oracle of time/seasons (remember those games? blast from the past). Idk until nintendo brings back the epic and hardcore in their games I'm going to keep playing ps3 and xbox 360 with the occasional wii disapointment. Also we all need to give up our preconceived notions on classic characters, because in the end we'll have a much cleaner and clearer view of who the character actually is and the world they live in.

 

[CheckD3]

The problem was Samus...that was my beef with it. I couldn't take her voice actress, the way she talked, and the story in general. Trying to tell me how I'm supposed to feel felt forced, where the sense of adventure game in the Prime trilogy just by the music, the cutscenes, just the visuals.

Having someone say something about a giant monster making them scared doesn't necessary make you scared, giving us a smooth background then dropping the monster in front of us, closing up on his snarling, monstrous face, then having the only dialog in the scene the creature's roar of disgust, that's a recipe for scary

Giving Samus a voice wasn't a bad thing though, just make her sound like a battle hardened vet., not a 20 year old sorority college girl =/

 

[Quaidis]

It's clear that Nintendo took a chance by giving a good title under their wing temporarily to a disconnected game developer to see what newness would come out of it. Something fresh and exciting. It was worth the attempt even if it didn't pan out to be a brilliant game like, say, Metroid Prime 3.

Now, unless they signed a 3 game contract with Team Ninja (which is very possible), I have a feeling that Nintendo is going to revert and make their next Metroid game either back in home turf, or try a completely different developer this time. There will also be controversy over giving Samus a voice in following titles - much like they did when Link was given a voice a long time ago.

 

[Electrogecko]

It may have been one of the worst games in the series (unless you're looking for an action-combat game) and one of the worst 1st party games in the last 5 years, but it was still an excellent game that was unfairly judged (by people like you who've never played it and talk trash about it) because it had the Metroid name to live up to.

If the game had been a new IP, nobody would've thought poorly of it....unless they're stupid.

Well, it wasn't a new IP, and thus it's going to be judged in comparison to the rest of the series. How is it unfair to compare it to other games in a series that it shares a name with? The series has a reputation to live up to, and MoM failed to live up to that reputation.

I think that makes the judgements completely fair. Especially as, in your own words, it's arguably "one of the worst games in the series" and "one of the worst 1st party games in the last 5 years".

Personally, those two lines alone gives me the impression you're just being defensive and trying to make excuses.

What the hell are you talking about? So, according to your logic, Sonic Colors is an insanely awesome game because it was a huge step up from every installment in recent memory?

It's okay to compare a game to other installments in the same franchise, (for god's sake I said it may be the worst Metroid game ever) but when it comes to determining a games overall quality, one must remain objective and compare it to all games released accross all platforms. Other M is a high quality solitary experience that is also an incredibly successful gameplay experiment the likes of which none of us have ever seen before....and then I go to the Escapist and hear a bunch of tools (most of which have never touched the game) posting that it's crappy garbage and Nintendo never does anything new.

And to my comment "one of the worst 1st party games in the last 5 years"- Name one recent Nintendo game that wasn't exceptional. (and don't say Mario Party 8)

 

[ark123]

Here's what puzzles me. They know how to make a successful Metroid game. All they have to do is look at Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Make a side scroller platformer/action game in 2d with a bunch of weapons, armor upgrades, the ability to explore a giant map and a solid story. None of this "3d when you want to shoot missiles" garbage. Make a regular god damn Metroid game and we'll buy it.
We don't need another FPS. Stop with this nonsense and give us what we want.

 

[Spikkle]

Here's what puzzles me. They know how to make a successful Metroid game. All they have to do is look at Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Make a side scroller platformer/action game in 2d with a bunch of weapons, armor upgrades, the ability to explore a giant map and a solid story. None of this "3d when you want to shoot missiles" garbage. Make a regular god damn Metroid game and we'll buy it.
We don't need another FPS. Stop with this nonsense and give us what we want.

Bye bye innovation, we don't need you any more! *chucks out of the window*

FINALLY, we can just get on and make the same game 200 times for the next 10 years. All this trying to be new and exciting was just getting on my nerves too.

In all seriousness, this kind of talk is dangerous. The Other M team made some damn stupid decisions, and there's no way that I'm going to defend them individually. But, and I know I'm probably going to sound like I'm parroting an episode of Extra Credits here, if developers in general don't take these kinds of risks then nothing's going to be pushing the industry forward and we'll forever be complaining that the classic, breakthrough titles of ye olden dayse of video gaming have all but evaporated.

Oh no, wait, we'll all just do that anydangway.

 

[Space Jawa]

And to my comment "one of the worst 1st party games in the last 5 years"- Name one recent Nintendo game that wasn't exceptional. (and don't say Mario Party 8)

Super Paper Mario

I actually liked Super Paper Mario, personally. But to each their own.

What the hell are you talking about? So, according to your logic, Sonic Colors is an insanely awesome game because it was a huge step up from every installment in recent memory?

It's okay to compare a game to other installments in the same franchise, (for god's sake I said it may be the worst Metroid game ever) but when it comes to determining a games overall quality, one must remain objective and compare it to all games released accross all platforms. Other M is a high quality solitary experience that is also an incredibly successful gameplay experiment the likes of which none of us have ever seen before....and then I go to the Escapist and hear a bunch of tools (most of which have never touched the game) posting that it's crappy garbage and Nintendo never does anything new.

Well, if it doesn't want to have to fill certain expectations about what people want out of a Metroid game, it shouldn't be a Metroid game. Are people suppose to ignore the changes being made to the upcoming X-COM title if it manages to be good and avoids being just another generic shooter, despite everyone saying it's X-COM in name only?

Personally, I don't get your Sonic Colors argument.

And the rest of your argument sounds like you're being defensive and making excuses. I have a hard time making an argument when there's nothing solid there for me to bounce off of with a counterpoint. How are you qualifying it as a "high quality solitary experience"? What's so successful about its gameplay? What makes it stand out as something "none of us have ever seen before"? And have you considered that some of us might have a good reason for calling it a bad game and not purchasing it?

 

[ark123]

Here's what puzzles me. They know how to make a successful Metroid game. All they have to do is look at Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Make a side scroller platformer/action game in 2d with a bunch of weapons, armor upgrades, the ability to explore a giant map and a solid story. None of this "3d when you want to shoot missiles" garbage. Make a regular god damn Metroid game and we'll buy it.
We don't need another FPS. Stop with this nonsense and give us what we want.

Bye bye innovation, we don't need you any more! *chucks out of the window*

FINALLY, we can just get on and make the same game 200 times for the next 10 years. All this trying to be new and exciting was just getting on my nerves too.

In all seriousness, this kind of talk is dangerous. The Other M team made some damn stupid decisions, and there's no way that I'm going to defend them individually. But, and I know I'm probably going to sound like I'm parroting an episode of Extra Credits here, if developers in general don't take these kinds of risks then nothing's going to be pushing the industry forward and we'll forever be complaining that the classic, breakthrough titles of ye olden dayse of video gaming have all but evaporated.

Oh no, wait, we'll all just do that anydangway.

Innovation? Yes, it was really daring to set Metroid as a FPS nowadays. I mean, the audacity!
There are ways to make a 2d side scrolling action platformer innovative. Mario does it every other year.

 

[Arawn.Chernobog]

Because Samus felt like she'd just want to go home and bake muffins for Adam and her "baby"...

Why can't I get any "warrior girls" in video games any-more? We had one here that WASN'T dressed in a metal bikini and Team Ninja goes ahead and decides to make her submissive...

THERE ARE POINTS IN BETWEEN:

Fully dressed and Submissive House-wife Stereotype & Warrior Girl with physics defying 8008s protected by metal cups

 

[SilverUchiha]

Hey, Nintendo! Just so you know, I refuse to buy this game because I refuse to update my Wii. Maybe if you stop making updates that kill Homebrew Channel, I'd be more obliged to buy your newer games. As it stands, I won't until I either get a new Wii or you stop ruining my ability to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Minus.

Sincerely,
Crazy Guy on the Webbernet

 

[BrunDeign]

You'll freak out when coming face to face with a great white shark (which would be a helluva lot less scary than a real life Ridley) no matter how many times you've seen one that close, even if every time you meet that SAME SHARK WITH THE SCAR ABOVE THE EYE THAT HAS A KNACK FOR TRACKING YOU EVERYWHERE (like how Ridley has a knack to always be where Samus is) you manage to kill it. Imagine that shark coming back the next time your in the ocean, despite you obviously killing it the first time, except this time it is a ROBO SHARK WITH FREAKING LASER BEAMS. That may sound like an exaggeration but in real life you'd all be crapping your pants. That's basically what Samus goes through with Ridley except, you know, WORSE. And even though she freaks out she still gets over it enough to fight him again (I would think but I haven't played Other M so I don't know). Unless I had the things she had (Space suit, laser arm cannon, heat-seeking missiles, GIGANTIC balls) I would probably freeze up out of fear or, at best, try to frantically swim away. And I bet all of you would do the same (Robo shark or not).

Well, unlike you, Samus is armed with those things (Space suit, laser arm cannon, etc).

And no, I don't think I'd freak out "no matter how many times" I went into a situation like that. Sure, the first time I would probably get freaked out, and the second time I could see freaking out if I had reason to believe it's the exact same shark, but I think that if I developed a habit of kicking shark butt, I might be in a position to switch from 'AH! A Shark!' to 'Just die already, alright?' by the third or fourth encounter, especially if I was armed with a super powered scuba suit (space suit), an automatic harpoon gun (laser arm cannon), and a load out of torpedoes (heat-seeking missiles). And that's even before I was given the kind of training and guts that Samus had before MoM came around.

Look at yourself and what you're capable of, then compare yourself to Samus. Or even anyone who might serve as a real-life analogue to Samus. You really think that just because you would have a never-ending freak out habit that the same would apply to everyone else?

Context or not, your comment about "Robot Sharks" is weak at best.

Yeah robot shark isn't the best example. So we'll just stick with Ridley himself. Giant Flying Lizard Dinosaur Humanoid. Killed your parents. And your friends. Burned down the only home you had ever known. When you were TEN. That is prime phobia-inducing age. Well technically any age can be prime phobia-inducing age but I digress. Regardless of your power suit you will always have a fear of him. And if Ridley were to get the drop on you, you would have a freaking heart attack. You wouldn't be like "Oh look it's Ridley good day sir." You would freak out to a good degree, compose yourself, then kick his ass. I'm trying to prove that you'll always be afraid to some degree, not that every time the fear will induce a coma.

Maybe Samus shouldn't have freaked out as bad as she did, that much I can somewhat agree with. Simply changing the time during which this game takes place would have made the story SO much more believable.

However, fear is natural. Think about some basic fears. Drowning for instance. If you almost drowned as a child, a super powered suit (or just proper scuba gear) isn't going to put that fear to rest. It just helps you conquer the fear and get in the water. The fear will still be there, you just choose to go against that fear.