Don't hold your breath for Metroid Prime 4

Just what is Retro Studios up to right now? That's the question that many a Nintendo fan has asked over the past year or so, and when E3 2015 came and went without any news from the Metroid Prime creator, brows became even more furrowed.

However, Nintendo Life contributor and Unseen64 archivist Liam Robertson has been speaking to sources close to the studio and has a few ideas about what the company could potentially be working on. Speaking on the Gamnesia podcast, Robertson stated that from what he has heard, Retro is working on a project which it pitched to Nintendo itself:

I don't actually know what the project is, exactly, but I know that it is something that Retro themselves pitched. … They came off of Tropical Freeze in very late 2013, I think it was, and they continued throughout 2014 pitching new projects. … And then they eventually pitched a project that went through, and NCL greenlit, and I assume that's what they're doing now—by all accounts, it is.

But what is the project, exactly? Could we be getting a Metroid Prime sequel? Not likely, says Robertson:

I don't think Retro wants to do [Metroid Prime 4]. … I'd be surprised if Retro themselves pitched [that]. I think they've had their fill of Metroid. … And if it is Metroid, then it will be something different—like maybe a 2D one, or something—different from Prime.

Robertson was then asked if he knew if Retro was possibly working on more than one project at the moment, to which he replied:

I think they have the potential to work on multiple projects, but I feel like the money isn't there. People don't realize it, but Retro is one of the priciest studios for [Nintendo] to maintain, and I can't see them letting them do two projects at once. As far as I know, they have one NCL producer with them right now, and I couldn't see this person overseeing both of them; I think this person would be doing one.

Finally, Robertson expressed the opinion that Retro is almost certainly working on something which is totally original, rather than an existing Nintendo property, like Metroid or Donkey Kong Country:

I think, actually, the time is now for Retro to do an original property. They've done two established Nintendo franchises, they've done Metroid and Donkey Kong, and I think now is the time to let them take hold of the reins a bit more for themselves and do that. And I think if it is something that they pitched themselves, then that does make it more likely that they pitched something original.

Robertson has been bang on the money in the past with his information, and we have to agree that the time is ripe for Retro to create something entirely fresh and new - perhaps to launch alongside the NX. What's your take on these comments? Let us know by posting one of your own below.

[source gamnesia.com]