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Topic: Metroid: Is Nintendo trying to kill it?

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Azooooz

Before you read this thread, please note that I do not intend to start a flame war between Nintendo and its fans. So everything you will read here is based on my personal opinion.

Alright, as most of you know, people of the Internet, Metroid is something that Nintendo is trying to forget about (or worse, kill it). There are evidences that Nintendo is trying to kill the series: One is that the last main Metroid game released on a console is Metroid: Other M, which had good reviews in most gaming websites, released in 2010, about 6 years. Then Nintendo completely forgot about the series until this year with the spin-off 3DS games: Metroid Prime: Federation Force, and Blast Ball, which caused a massive wave of criticism from gamers and critics alike.

Another evidence is Nintendo is fighting against fan-made Metroid projects. The most recent one is AM2R, which is basically a Metroid 2 Remake game created by a non-Nintendo developer. Though it received a positive marks and it was nominated for the Game Award this year, Nintendo demanded to removed it because of the unauthorized use of the franchise. And let's not forget about a fan-made Metroid movie, which was revealed in a Kickstarter website, that pay a tribute to the series. And as usual, Nintendo defends its franchise and (threatened?) the creator that there would be a lawsuit case if this is not removed.

You may say that Nintendo is evil for these acts, but if you think about it for a second, maybe Nintendo is holding a surprise elated to the series. Or maybe Nintendo is overprotective when it comes to its franchises. And maybe worse, Nintendo is slowly killing the franchise. I almost forgot about the series, to be honest, haven't the two new Metroid appeared on the 3DS, I would be asking: What's Metroid?

Now the question is: Do you think that Nintendo is trying to kill the Metroid series, or is it planning to revive it in a fashionable way? Let me know what you think.

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Haruki_NLI

"All assets including code, scenario, characters and art are trademeark copyright of "insert company"". Thats all ill say regarding fan games.

As for the rest, Other M didnt sell well, simple.

They wont try to kill Metroid. If something takes time it takes time. People say Mario Maker shouldve been earlier yet dont understand ideas only come when ready not effective immediately. Metroid will happen when the people who want to work on it have the time and ideas to do so.

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Octane

Don't think Other M is the issue. Metroid has never been a big franchise. Instead of developing a new Metroid game, making a new Mario game would result in more sales and profit. And Nintendo is pretty fixated on those short term profits.

They're not trying to kill the franchise, it's currently just not a priority for them.

Regarding the fan-made films and games, any other company would've done the same.

Octane

meleebrawler

It makes no sense for a company to deliberately sabotage their own IPs, no matter how unprofitable they may be... fading into obscurity is the only sensible choice. Why blow even more money making a game that already doesn't sell too well to make people not want it even more?

Other M and Federation Force are just experiments that didn't pan out, plain and simple. And they kind of have to experiment when even the mainstream entries don't get that many sales. Whether we're due for a Star Fox Zero style reboot or Fusion sequel, that's up in the air.

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Luna_110

Metroid fans have to accept that even though they may be a loud fanbase, Metroid itself isn't a big IP. Its sales put it in the B or C tier of IPs - not AAA as many people would like to believe. Corruption sold around 1.3 million, on the Wii, with a giant user base.
To put an example, Splatoon, a new IP in a console that was already on its way out, sold 4.57 million copies.

The franchise isn't a priority because they don't know what to do with it. They tried to give Samus a background and fans complained, and the ending of Fusion doesn't give that much freedom either - she's on the run from the Federation, so bye-bye Bounty hunter job. Maybe someday a dev will come along with new ideas for it, but I see the IP going dark for a long time just like F-Zero. It doesn't mean that they'll kill it, they just run out of ideas for it.

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CanisWolfred

I should hope so. Those damn energy suckers are nothing but trouble, I tell ya!

...Oh, you mean the games? No, of course not. They're just waiting until we're desperate again. After all, whoever they get to step up to the plate will have some big shoes to fill.

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Shinion

January. The. 12th. At the very least. It's literally only a month away now, we'll have to put up with these for a while I bet (because don't hold your breath on it being there is my opinion) but what's the point of debating these sorts things before we have the confirmed launch lineup for the next system?

I'll be glad of the day when a brand new mega awesome Metroid is released so you guys are happy at long last but flippin' Federation Force I tell ya. Wouldn't be surprised if certain people will hold a grudge about that game even after Super Metroid 2/Metroid Prime 4 is released.

Edited on by Shinion

Shinion

Peach64

Nintendo are like any other publisher. If a title sells well, they'll do a sequel as soon as they can. If it sells poorly, then they won't be in any rush to produce more. Pretty sure Other M is not even in the top 100 best selling Wii games.

Peach64

meleebrawler

@Luna_110 Eh? Nothing at the end Fusion suggests that Samus becomes a fugitive (at least, not yet). People just assume that because the Federation seems to be the only possible source of conflict left (but then that would raise the unfortunate implication that the only to protect the galaxy is to KILL ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING WHO MIGHT TRY TO...)

ahem More likely Samus went to trial to answer for what she (and Adam) did on B.S.L. At worst she goes to jail (running from this wouldn't exactly speak well for her already-tarnished in many eyes character), and either doing her time or escaping due to some very extenuating circumstance, at best she gets paroled if Adam's belief of some people understanding what she did holds weight. Either way it's unlikely that she'd get any more jobs from the Federation, but the whole reason Samus became a bounty hunter in the first place was so that she wouldn't necessarily be tied down to them. She can easily travel to other galaxies to find work elsewhere, though she may have to work up enough money to buy yet another new ship first.

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Octane

@Peach64 Well, Corruption only sold marginally better. All things considered, Other M's sales are pretty average for the Metroid franchise. The issue is that the entire franchise has never been a big success. Federation Force's sales are absolutely abysmal, even for a spin-off game and taking the bad reception into account.

Octane

gcunit

Why would any content creating company ever want to 'kill' one of its IPs?

It costs them nothing to mothball it.

If Metroid games produced an appropriate return on investment, Nintendo would make more Metroid games.

The only criticism I have of Nintendo's handling of Metroid right now is that Wii sold 100 million units and was a good opportunity for Nintendo to get the excellent Prime series into mainstream consciousness. That didn't happen. You have to do your research to find out about how good the Metroid Prime Trilogy is, because Nintendo don't shout about it.

It's borderline criminal for a games company to have as highly rated a series as Metroid Prime (and predecessors) and not be shoving it down our throats.

Edited on by gcunit

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ianl579

In the ending of Metroid Prime Federation Force, they hinted at a potential Metroid Prime 4, which Tanabe has expressed interest in making. So... Metroid MAY come to the Switch in the future. However, I think the 2D series won't be returning anytime soon, which is a shame because there is so much they could do on the Switch. The last 2D entry (not counting Other M) was on the GAME BOY ADVANCE, for goodness' sake!

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Vinny

As others said above, Metroid was never a huge IP and this isn't even the longest break between mainline titles the series had.

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shaneoh

If they were intent on killing the series, then releasing a game this year would be rather counter-productive.

Look to Chrono Trigger for an example of a dead series.

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skywake

Octane wrote:

Don't think Other M is the issue. Metroid has never been a big franchise. Instead of developing a new Metroid game, making a new Mario game would result in more sales and profit. And Nintendo is pretty fixated on those short term profits.

If anything I think Nintendo's actions have shown that they're more about the long game. Nintendo could easily dump a series of quick turnaround free to play mobile games. They could ignore fan remakes entirely and not bother protecting their IP. With their hardware they could deliver exactly what everyone else is making and not bother experimenting with new approaches.

Instead they use mobile as a platform to advertise their IP. They make a point of not dropping the price of their content despite the continuous demands because they don't want their content to lose value. They protect their IP even when the internet gives them crap about it so that they don't shoot themselves in the foot further down the line. And sometimes they sit on less popular franchises for a frustratingly long period of time because they haven't quite worked out what would be new about it.

Nintendo are very often not about short term profits. It's one of the things about them that frustrates their shareholders so much. Nintendo moves very slowly.

Edited on by skywake

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Tasuki

There's no conspiracy theory as to why fan made stuff was pulled. It was Nintendo protecting their I.P. that's all. Blizzard did the same thing a few months ago with a fan made Vanilla server for WoW. You honestly can't believe that Nintendo or any company will just let anyone use their I.P. without permission.

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kkslider5552000

Outside of Capcom last gen and Konami nowadays, I don't think game companies would deliberately kill their own franchises. Like, Federation Force was in development in some for for forever, which is probably one of the main reasons nothing else Metroid was happening (well that and Other M's sales). Because the Metroid guy was stuck in this one project for years and years and the other Metroid guy should literally never be involved with the series again.

Now if Metroid isn't coming to Switch, this might be a more valid fear, but right now? Nah.

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CanisWolfred

Tasuki wrote:

There's no conspiracy theory as to why fan made stuff was pulled. It was Nintendo protecting their I.P. that's all. Blizzard did the same thing a few months ago with a fan made Vanilla server for WoW. You honestly can't believe that Nintendo or any company will just let anyone use their I.P. without permission.

Nevermind multiple takedown requests to Overwatch fan artists on websites like Tumblr and the source filmmaker community (which only slowed them down rather than stop 'em). It's smarter on their end to protect their assets when they can. However, I will admit that I wouldn't mind if they allowed for more freedom for fan communities in general, provided no one was profiting from it. Heck, in Japan, people can profit in small amounts so long as they make it clear that it's just a fan project. That comes with problems of its own, though, if KanColle is any indication...

Edited on by CanisWolfred

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Octane

@skywake I mean, yes you're right about that, I'm not saying they don't care about the long term profits and protecting their IPs for example is an entirely issue altogether. What I'm talking about are thinks like the Wii U's price. Drop it to $200, or whatever, sell it at a loss, but get your systems in people's homes. Bigger fanbase = more people likely to build your next system, provided the system was enjoyable. Develop a new Metroid game, sure, it wouldn't sell gangbusters, but it keeps the franchise alive and you will be remembered as that company that doesn't give up on a franchise just because of bad sales. I mean, Sony must've known that The Last Guardian wouldn't crush the competition in terms of sales, that game was in development for 10 years and it still happened. I'm sure they lost a lot of money on that game, but in the long term, stuff like that will pay-off.

Like the mobile games you mentioned, they wouldn't happen if the mobile games themselves made no money at all. Yes, they act as advertisement for their IP, great long term strategy, but they also earn back their own development costs and more and I'm sure that plays a big role too.

Octane

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