Hold on to your Diddy Kong Nintendo hats, folks. It's Retro Studios speculation time!
Early this morning, we shared with you a tweet from ex-Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aimé. The tweet gave us a look at some of his retirement gifts, which included a Virtual Boy, a lovely notebook, and a giant plastic bottom (yeah, seriously) but it also featured a gorgeous piece of artwork from Retro Studios.
You can see it for yourself in the image above - it features Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong, Samus and several Metroids, and something else conveniently obscured by a Mario statue. Now, most of these characters are from Nintendo games worked on by Retro Studios - you probably know that Retro developed games like Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - but what is this 'something else'?
A robotic-looking hand is clearly visible, although it doesn't look quite like anything we've seen in previous games, and if you look really closely underneath Samus' blaster, you can also see what appears to be some kind of robot mask. Perhaps it's someone wearing a VR visor? In all honesty, we've no idea what it is, but it certainly seems like it could be something that hasn't been announced just yet.
Things get even more interesting, though, when you realise the significance of the tweet below. Enrique Rivera is a concept artist at Retro Studios, and here he is, casually winking at the image being teased to the world. It's got to be something new, hasn't it?
https://twitter.com/3nrique06/status/1118639914965512193
Of course, we know that Retro Studios has now taken over the development of Metroid Prime 4, but we're likely not alone in thinking that the team must have been working on something else over the years, too.
Is this it? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
[source twitter.com, via twitter.com, twitter.com]
Comments 99
Hmm... I'm intrigued.
It's also telling that they moved the Mario statue to block it. If there wasn't anything spoilerific about it, why not let us see the whole thing?
All aboard the hype train, I guess!
Star Fox Guard Racers
Oh... My... Goooooooo..........
It's Roboreggie, a new Switch exclusive
All aboard the Federation Force 2 hype train! CHOO CHOOOOOOO
It's clearly Jett Rocket 3!
Check out pictures of the main character. Metal looking gloves and a helmet.
Shin'en secretly bought out by Nintendo and merged with Retro to make a fully fledged threequel.
It probably was this artist who made the artwork. I wouldn't read too much into the tweet.
OK, just kidding, of course it's a secretive announcement of Metroid Pinball 2 & Knuckles.
My mind explodes with curiosity!
Knack 3 Switch exclusive confirmed.
That's for you @Octane
I've been burned by speculation about Retro's next project for too long now. I won't let myself be hurt again by getting hyped over a glimpse of a mechanical hand in a picture.
R.O.B.B.Q. the sexy Robot Police...dog.
Can't wait.
That looks like a monument for his death...
@NintendoFan4Lyf I couldn't figure that out either. I think the assumption is the triangle w/ the 3 circles in it and the piece right next to that are the side of a Labo VR headset and the reddish orange corner circle under it, that you see as Samus elbow, is somebody's check or chin standing in front of Samus arm.
The interesting thing to me is there is nothing between um Mario's legs except Samus leg, where the body should be. Unless the body is behind Samus, which would be hard for the head to get in front. The hand is ok where it is.
The hand does look real though, not just a shadow or anything, it's like 99.9% a hand. Probably of a robot. At first I thought it looked like Cuphead cartoon artwork colors but the wrist is to blocky for Cuphead.
I don't know enough about Retro to guess if ti's a team mascot or a long forgotten game or something new. Or maybe they just like Astroboy?
Feel free to make a YT vid saying it's rumoured to be the Regginator character DLC for SSBU.
So after five years of waiting, the closest we've come to seeing what Retro is working on is a glimpse at a robot's hand. Incredible.
The anticipation is killing me.
@Shadowtrixie He is about kicking asses you know.
@NintendoFan4Lyf gameXplain's video suggests that the part with the triangle and three dots on it is not part of Samus's blaster. That's just wrong though as Samus's blaster does have exactly that detail on it in many other images.
@Bliquid
Retro didn't work on Federation Force.
Hmmm... interesting! Most of those are some pretty great retirement gifts as well!
The robot hand does look a lot like Federation Force suits. It's wrong in that it has an extra finger, and those suits only have a left hand, but it could be just a mistake by the artist.
I just don’t care for retro. Wish they had freedom but they don’t.
I'm pretty sure the only thing they are teasing here is the long rumoured Project Butts.
Wasn't Retro supposed to be resurrecting a previous franchise? So is this R.O.B. for Labo? Seems more for Metroid.
My first thought was that it was a...nod...to Federation Force, but Retro didn't have anything to do with that game to my knowledge.
Hmm...Who or what could that be? We do know that they've been working on something that's been hush-hush.... 🤔
@rjejr That so-called side part of a VR visor/robot helmet is a little bit too much at a different angle to simply be part of Samus' arm cannon, in my opinion.
To me, it actually looks like the side bit of a samurai helmet, and that, combined with the robotic hand, makes me think of the arch nemesis of Star Fox, Andross, or one of his robotic simian minions.
Might even add some weight to that Star Fox racer rumor, which still isn't fully discredited, far as I know...
But I'm actually more curious about that white (golf?)ball in the glass globe contraption. What the heck is that supposed to be?
@Shadowtrixie Or... just read the article, which explains what it is, twice, no less, both in the article itself and in the Tweet. No offense, though. Just wondering how someone could still wonder about that, when it's already mentioned in the article.
I'll share my off-the-cuff thought from last night when I first saw it. Wasn't Retro rumored to help with Labo, but go uncredited because people would probably flip out if that's what they'd been working on all this time? The partially "hidden" robot could be a cheeky reference to the Labo Robot kit.
After more research and snooping around today I'm less convinced, but thought I'd bring it up here anyway.
Can you speculate on even less? And why should this article wink in this tweet mean anything?
@sikthvash Either that, or a really not all that cryptic and highly graphic answer (some might even say a cheeky one) to the continuous demands from fans about a new F-Zero game...
TRANSFORMERS AND METROID CROSSOVER!
@MrBlacky the head of Nintendo and the maker of Rare titles both show an image of a Nintendo character we've never seen before
and you're wondering why people are talking about it.
well okay then.
@MrBlacky Well, someone winking usually does mean something, and often to indicate something secret, so there actually IS more than enough room for speculation, if a Retro employee is winking at a Tweet made by Reggie Fils-Aime.
To me it looks kinda like the masked man from Mother 3
The maks thing is obviously part of Samus arm cannon (you can even grasp a little of her orange elbow), but the little hand below there is indeed intriguing.
@Bliquid But Retro wasn't involved with Federation Force, or at least not as far as I'm aware of.
There’s another clue in there too.....on the far far left, in the vase reflection there’s an animal face.......
Its obviously Mario & Clank VR.
Federation Force HD being a part of Prime Trilogy?
It's probably just Photoshopped. This Reggie guy has a terrible track record with leaks, he's always posting stuff to Reddit and 4chan that never ends up being confirmed. His claims about Mother 3 coming to the West proved false. I bet he has some bologna story about how he used to work for Nintendo and has insider information, but you can't fall for that malarkey.
@russellohh
What character??? There is just a hand, nothing else. Of course you can tell me, what kind of character this is and what it does in this new game.
Okay that is not part of Samus' arm cannon. Not only does it clearly appear to not be part of Samus' visible arm cannon in this picture, but I've seen no images of Samus ever where any part of her arm cannon looks like that
@ThanosReXXX
And the wink couldn't be related to the plastic ass?
@MrBlacky ah you don't know what character it is either.
In a world where people can tell mario's mustache from a mile away and recognize the shadow of any one of 400 pokemon
you have no idea what mysterious character this is shown alongside 3 of Nintendo's biggest franchises.
How interesting! Someone should write an article wondering what this mysterious character is, this mysterious character that you just asked me about.
@russellohh
I'm not the one speculating about nothing.
Project Giant Robot Deluxe confirmed 😂😂😂
Yeah, i saw people pointing it out in the comments with the previous post. No one knows is the answer.
@rjejr Hey, I'm the Knack super-fan in the room!
Ok, forget the robo bits....WTF is with Reggie getting a plastic posterior as a retirement gift. And WTF is he tweeting that?
Nintendoes what Sony don't in the extreme...............
@NEStalgia Do you remember the first thing Reggie said when he introduced himself to Nintendo fans back in the day?
An awesome call-back. sniffle
@ddowler85 Ahh, I get it now...but...this particular implementation makes me think less "Regginator" and more "Senran Kagura"
"From Your Friends at Retro Studios" and that really looks like the Yooka-Laylee/Rare/Banjo-Kazooie font.
What in the blazes
It's a robo-Metroid from Metroid Prime 5, clearly.
@rjejr Don't know why you got so many dislikes. People just don't understand Knack
You're all so focused on the wrong thing here.
Look at those flowers in the corner. Flowers are a gift. You give gifts and flowers on some holidays. You give gifts and flowers on the Mother's Day holiday. Flowers bloom brightly in May, which has a calendar value of 5. Add the amount of distinct characters and flowers visible to 5 and get 12. The book displays 2003. Add the amount of Metroids to 2003 and get 2006, the year Mother 3 was released in Japan.
Mother 3 localized release, May 12th, confirmed.
@tossedllama I cracked the next code!
It's Samus' sidekick in Metroid Prime 4. You know, the one we need to tell us where to go, what to do next, have sassy commentary on everything in the game and point out anything that the player might not but probably would have noticed if just left to explore alone.
I think it's name is Sassbot, and it has an annoying high pitched voice and attitude!
@ThanosReXXX "But I'm actually more curious about that white (golf?)ball in the glass globe contraption. What the heck is that supposed to be?"
I think it's supposed to be a golf ball in a crystal. As in - "Enjoy your retirement playing golf." That's, like, a big retirement joke in the US.
@Octane I got dislikes? Heathens. If you ever figure out how to make floors you can build Knack 3 in Dreams. Then Knack VR once we get the VR support. You ever get the Move controllers? My son tried one day but said they suck for creating so he's using the DS4 now. I still haven't tried creating.
@NEStalgia It's octane's thing on PS.
@AlohaPizzaJack
Looks pretty solid. I think by now we can be 100% certain Mother 3 is coming. I'm going go ahead and let myself get super excited for the coming announcement.
Someone please move that statue!
Maybe a Super Guide for Samus. A little A.I. helper bot.
The fact that it has 4 fingers suggest to me that it's an original IP/character made by Retro Studios, since humanoid Japanese characters usually have 5 fingers, even robots, because 4 fingers in Japan is considered off putting (something to do with Yakuza cutting off fingers as punishment).
Didn't Nintendo recently announce that they've scrapped the original MP4 build and are now working with Retro to make it a better game? Why can't this just be something from that. It doesn't have to mean a completely new project.
Giant robot lives!
I might not be a hand; a hand has five fingers. I have no idea though.
The top part is the elbow piece of Samus arm cannon, how can you not know that?
@NintyNate You are correct, I just found an image of samus holding up her arm cannon and there is a missile attached to the bottom of the cannon that has the three dots you see in the image.
Gonna throw a wildcard out there - it looks to me like it could be a Chibi-Robo character...........but imagining that Retro have been working on a Chibi-Robo game for over five years is pretty hard to believe haha
Wanna know what'd be awesome that nobody'd expect?
Custom Robo.
He's also be following some Nintendo Youtubers on the Twitter.
Fan of fans. Kinda cool.
@dcamp335 I'm a Metroid fan and I know ALOT about the franchise lol I saw it right away ... I'm not sure what the hand is though
That Star Fox racing game rumor is seeming less and less reasonable.
Retro? Those guys still around?
Hopefully it points to a a sequel to the excellent Garfield kart
@rjejr The Move controllers make it seem so simple in their streams. Navigating a 3D space with the DS4 whilst also moving stuff around can be quite difficult.
@Octane "The Move controllers make it seem so simple in their streams."
Well it probably is for them as they've been using them day in and day out for maybe 8 years now judging by those marionette puppets they showed 6 years ago.
My guess would be those Move controllers are hard to master but once you figure them out they give you a lot more nuance than the DS4. People who do calligraphy are better off w/ a brush than a ballpoint pen but just give me a pen. Or better yet just give me a book to read somebody else has already written.
Another thing people mentioned on ResetEra is that the book of memories is quite conveniently in front of the other corner, perhaps in front of mirroring character.
@MrBlacky Erm, no. The guy is a Retro concept artist. He placed the wink above a photo of a drawing made by Retro Studios, which by the way does NOT just display a hand, but a hand and what appears to either be a visor or a helmet, so not exactly "speculation about nothing", like you said to our fellow NLife member @russellohh...
Here's more info, just in case you're interest is now piqued...
https://twitter.com/3nrique06/status/1118639914965512193
@rjejr Retirement joke? Really? Guess I must have taken a giant portion of comedic sense with me, when I left the country, because somehow, teasing old people with a golf ball in a glass bulb doesn't really strike me as being funny.
Could be it, though, although the indentations seem to be on the outside of the glass bulb, not in the golf ball itself. If it even is a golf ball in the first place. Too bad it is one of the few things that isn't mentioned in Reggie's Tweet, so we'll probably never know...
@AlohaPizzaJack Man, that's one heck of a conspiracy theory, there. You must REALLY want that Mother 3 game to be released, huh?
@ThanosReXXX I wouldn’t be opposed to a release 😂
I suspect it’s probably nothing, but if we’re speculating I’ll throw out Custom Robo. That would be a cool cultish franchise to see revived by Retro Studios.
It's Clank, but where's Ratchet?
Interesting to say the least!
There's a few designs in the Custom Robo series that feature hands very similar to that design. Custom Robo needs a revival.
@Octane There was a twitter thread yesterday w/ people talking about how the Move controllers were hard to master but better than the DS4 once you figured it out.
https://twitter.com/DukeGunston/status/1119136545036914688
@ThanosReXXX If it's not a golf ball it could also be Disney's Epcot Center building. Peopel go to Disney when they retire I think.
It's a well known building over here, looks like this.
@rjejr Good looking scene though.
Yeah, I'd love to get a pair of move controllers, but they're €100 (about $110) over here. I guess you're getting two, but it still feels like a rip-off. Plus they're very hard to find, and usually sell out within minutes.
@Octane Considering how much Sony is pushing VR, Cerny all but said PSVR 2 in Wired, and w/ Dreams releasing pushing VR and Move usage for creation, you'd think Sony would do something crazy like sell the bloody Move controllers, wouldn't ya?
The only reason for them NOT to sell more Move controllers is b/c the new model Move controllers are releasing soon, but since they haven't even hinted at those yet, they really should keep the Move in retail until then.
@rjejr I'm not THAT far removed from homeland knowledge.
I do actually know about Epcot Center...
Didn't know that the US Disney parks had retirement homes, though...
Talking about Move controllers with our friend @Octane, huh?
The only things that make you look even more ridiculous than sporting a Wii remote, when waving it around. Glowing ice cones, pffff. What the hell was Sony thinking...
@ThanosReXXX They knew it opened up a whole other market with that shape
@Octane Well, at least it wasn't as ridiculous as the Rez vibrator, I'll give 'em that...
@ThanosReXXX "Glowing ice cones, pffff. What the hell was Sony thinking..."
That they wanted their own category on Pronhub.
@rjejr What? Are you saying that the Rez vibrator didn't already manage to achieve that?
@ThanosReXXX Rez is too niche, Move had broader appeal.
And now I'm tempted to go Google PS Move pron vs Rez pron. Though it'd probably be a tie, Move wins quantity, Rez wins quality.
@rjejr You're probably right about that. Have I ever linked you to that GameGirl Advance article about the Rez vibrator? I think I have, but I'm not quite sure.
It was kind of an entertaining, if somewhat shocking read, the first time, because I'd never heard of that contraption before that, so I never really connected rumble with anything other than video games, even though
I have seen certain Nokia videos in the past...
P.S.
Just in case:
https://www.gamegirladvance.com/2002/10/sex-in-games-rezvibrator.html
@ThanosReXXX I'm pretty sure you sent me that link before, but I clicked on it anyway for, uh, research purposes.
@rjejr Ha, I'm sure you did. And you're welcome. They're still available on eBay, just so you know...
@ThanosReXXX "on eBay"
um, think I'll pass on the used vibrating devices, even my depravity has it's limits.
@rjejr No, I meant actually brand new, sealed ones. Straight out of its country of origins.
EDIT:
Apparently, they manufactured more of them than they sold, so some surplus stock is still doing the rounds on the interwebs...
@ThanosReXXX Oh sorry, I still think of eBay as the land of hand-me -downs vs Etsy's the land of made-by-hand.
@rjejr No, even MY depravity has it's limits...
@BlackenedHalo Super Reggie Bros, taking the Nintendo castle back from Bald Bowser.
We are waiting soooo long now for the next big Retro studios thing, I won't hold my breath. But if its really something, please don't let it be vr. I don't want to buy a vr labo kit. Besides, my body probably can't take vr anyway (motionsickness).
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