Back in April, we covered a story about a talented group of developers known as "Team SCU" who were working hard on a 2D version of the Nintendo GameCube hit, Metroid Prime.
It was called 'Prime 2D' and at the time, the first demo of the game had just gone live. It was quite impressive, we might add. SCU even noted in this demo how the title was a project "made by fans for the sole purpose of having fun".
Despite this, it seems the project has now been shut down. This information was shared over on the project's Discord by 'Troid92' and then reposted on the Metroid subreddit. While no names are mentioned, a "certain games-related company" has informed the team to stop their work immediately.
The demo has also been taken down, along with the MP3 soundtrack - and there's now a dialogue between the two parties taking place. In the same message to fans, it's noted how the decision to release the demo was the "right choice" for the team and SCU has no regrets about it. Here it is in full:
At this stage, it shouldn't be hard to guess which company is behind the shut down. With any luck, the project can resurface in some way or form, in a way that doesn't include the use of the Metroid IP.
For more information about this fan-made project, check out our previous story:
Did you try out this game's demo in the end? Were you looking forward to a 2D return to Talon IV? Tell us down in the comments.
[source reddit.com]
Comments 161
@ManInTheChair I have a different take. Making this demo was a labor of love for Metroid. They were not trying to profit from it.
I think their work is awesome
Great skills but wasted potential. At least they got their short moment of fame, hopefully they use those skills to make a unique game someday. I know it's a free fan made game and they didn't profit from it but even if they don't someone else will and now that it's out there it's likely going to be another free games for the Chinese hackers to profit from.
@ManInTheChair It was more of a Project that was made from there love of metroid, Don't think they were trying to steal?
Fan hacks are released all the time with zero repercussions. Fan games on the other hand are a different story. Moral of the story is to work within the confines of Super Metroid to avoid the inevitable C&D.
Such a cool project. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Nintendo could champion how dedicated and passionate their fans are by controlling the narrative around games like these in their own "safe haven" site where it is clear that the game is not official, but it is celebrated and can help keep the hype going for the games they will sell. It would take some effort, but cost probably less than lawyers and be good PR rather than a continual string of bad PR.
Who didn't see this coming? Do these morons not think copyright laws exist or what? No sympathy from me.
@aaronsullivan Pretty sure Nintendo had Game Builder Garage just for that so you could legally make a game on Switch. Problem was Game Builder Garage was too limited, restricted, and control by Nintendo. These guys don't want to get control by Nintendo but still want to use the property to create their vision. You simply can't do that if you're not willing to work with the big corp.
Honestly, by the time a fan project starts growing too much, it would be for the best if the developers started distancing themselves from the source. Always.
For companies like Nintendo, theres a really thin line dividing “fun fan project” and “copyright threat”.
For them, creating an impressive work out of passion for their IP is not cool or inspiring… It’s plain and simple a threat, a “stolen possibility” that needs to be buried.
As someone who dreams of making my own game; I don't really understand why would you put so much time and effort into someone else's IP without their consent.
If you have all the time and talent to do something like this, why not make your own original game instead?
Thank goodness Nintendo squashed those naughty fans that were making something for fun and sharing it for free. I’d have lost sleep if some wannabe fan game destroyed the legacy of Metroid and caused Dread and Prime 4 to get shelved. Nobody would have bought those games anyway with that little fan project online to play instead. People would have traded their Switches in for that new Steam Deck, and only played fan games on it. Nintendo would go out of business.
Not. Get real Nintendo. I’m sure glad Sonic got to enjoy seeing a ZZ Top cover band. I would hate to see guys that grew their beards that impressively get sent a C&D.
@Zeldafan79 Yea just a shame nintendo is so intolerable and gets its hate while sega encourages fan games, hence how mania happened.
Really makes 0 logical sense, nintendo gains more hate and loses more money on lawyers for stuff like this while the people who do these projects gain... nothing. These aren't rom sites stealing assets or anything its literally all custom code, art, and from what I can tell sound.
the devs knew what would happen, its why they had to apologize giving the demo instead of the full game because if they gave the full game people would have the leaked version still to go around while the devs sat back and watched nintendo be dumb. Now we still at least have the leaked demo but its just the demo, a neat little momento of the work these fans did and reminder of what nintendo took from them... again. It actually means nothing cause the game files are all still out there, its just nintendo once again made donkies of themselves to prevent the devs from updating it.
It was an inevitability. I loved what I played though. The devs here have talent I hope they'll go on to make their own original games with the talent they have.
Man people in this comments section are drinking the Nintendo Kool-Aid thinking Mario-senpai will give them a cookie for their opinions
You ever just realize that "fan-games" are made by...fans of a series they wanted to pay respects to?
Anyways the demo looked sick. Shame it won't be continued because I dug what I saw. Fan games for certain series are great especially since if they hit it off it leads to better things like the AM2R guy being poached by Moon Studios and getting to work on stuff like Ori, one of the best Metroidvanias I've ever played
If you know a copyrighted property is, in fact, protected by copyright laws, why keep pushing forward? Attention?
I'm all for talented people showing off their skills but for christs sake come up with your own ideas! Smart enough to make a video game but dumb enough to think it's okay to ripp off ideas and violate a copyrite law. You knew this would happen so don't start crying about how violated your feelings were when they shut You down.
@Zeldafan79 But if it's SEGA or Capcom not only is it a great idea, but they'll poach you, endorse your game, give you a couple million bucks to create your own game and release it for a wider audience published by them
So it's really just Nintendo in this camp for no other reason than "because we're Nintendo"
They made the news! Following achieved! Now they can sub in their crappy characters! Lol
Removed - unconstructive
Everyone was outraged about AM2R being shut down, only for Nintendo to announce Samus Returns a year or two later. So on the bright side, hopefully this means Metroid Prime Trilogy is really coming to Switch.
@ManInTheChair Except they didn't, smart guy. Calling it copy and pasting is being utterly disingenuous. Pretty sure the assets shown were all made by the development team.
Give your brain some air.
@ManInTheChair "copy pasting"
Yeah I don't know about you but a 2D, side scrolling game being adapted from a 3D, first person adventure game doesn't sound like copy pasting to me. You really need to research what that actually means before making such a bold claim about plagarism lmfao
Every time I hear about a takedown like this, my way of dealing with it is that I had no idea it even existed.
@ManInTheChair There's this thing called inspiration. They didn't make it to steal, they made it because they're fans of the franchise. Also they didn't even profit off of this, so stop overreacting and being so butthurt on a faithful project. You can't get mad at people for liking something and being inspired by it. The fact that you're trying to bring down these developers are shameful.
It's not even a copy and paste, it's a remake into a different perspective.
Man, I have seen so many other companies not only give support to fan made projects, but on rare occasions hire the people behind them.
Christian Whitehead started out as making fan games and went on to creating one the best Sonic games in recent memory.
Nintendo on the other hand doesn't want fans to even have a thought if it involves their characters.
The lackluster Super Mario All Stars port which was done way better, and seemed to have more care put into them on the pc than the switch.
If Nintendo were smart they could've turned this into their Sonic Mania moment
With the announcement of Metroid: Dread all eyes are on Nintendo and the Metroid license so this was definitely not going to fly under the radar. So with that being said it's hard to feel sorry for them because there timing couldn't be anymore worse. I don't blame Nintendo for issuing the C&D hell I probably would have done it too if it was something I owned.
Insert pretends to be shocked gif here
The fact that a fan project built from scratch can be taken down just because and the project creator can't do anything to fight against it shows how much of a joke copyright law is.
Nobody is surprised by this. If you're going to do something like this, you need to do it in complete secrecy until it's finished. The moment you show your work before it's done, it's basically a death sentence for the project.
This looks really neat! It's a shame it got a C&D, though not too surprising.
1) Finish game
2) Post it
3) Then get shut down
not
1) Share game progress
2) Get shut down
i was going to post woolie's credo in response to this but some of these comments are absurd, i cannot imagine the amount of contempt you have to have for derivative works to chalk so much effort up to "copy/pasting"
@rushiosan I can mention you around 20 cases of fan-created games who landed them incredible gigs with well-known development studios.
So... if you got the skills and are in need of a job.... this is a great method to boost your chances.
I can understand the AM2R takedown because Nintendo was both releasing Federation Force (a game already being panned pre-release) and working on their own vision for a Metroid II remake. I don't know about this one besides just being consistent. I think their reaction has more potential to harm Metroid Dread's potential numbers than the existence of the demo itself. Hopefully the Let's Plays of the demo remain up as I do want to watch a play through at some point.
@sleepinglion I think these guys announce stuff like this while in development, because the feedback they get gives them a boost of motivation and a sense it's actually worth continuing with the project. Being able to interact with others that also enjoy what you enjoy is to me the best thing about fandom.
@ManInTheChair I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment, but look at it this way. Them basing a fan game on Metroid has netted them a LOT of publicity, and if they are smart they will have the game set up so they can repurpose the code for an original title. But now they have many many more eyes on them due to this tango with the Nintendo lawyers.
If life was simpler I would definitely want them to of gone straight to an original game, but the risk of it not reaching anyone or taking flight because there is no form of marketing to get the game in the eyes of the public.. I don't blame them going this route first.
Definitely a big waste if they just stop and move on with their lives though, but also understandable if they wish to do so.
@Fangleman32 I find it weird that people keep on referring to Christian Whitehead without mentioning that he went through the proper channels to show his work to Sega. Don't think he stole Sega's IP and released it to the internet without their permission.
@TheFrenchiestFry I'll have you know Miyamoto-sama sends out a cookie personally to all those who post a specific wanted opinion !!
In seriousness. These topics always lead to Black and White takes on each side. When really it's more of a big gray area of opinions. I am a believer in upholding copyright purely from my troubles in the past of people trying to steal mine and a colleague's hard work. But it's never as simple as saying all copyrighted things should scare anyone from taking inspiration.
Either way these guys are talented and hope (as mentioned in my prior above comment) they have things in place to repurpose their work into something original, or least like the AM2R guy, has job prospects.
One of these days somebody's gotta countersue Ninty. David has beaten Goliath before, we can do it again.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_City_Studios,_Inc._v._Nintendo_Co.,_Ltd.
...AM2R made sense as to why it was taken down...but, this isn't that kind of remake...was this on Kickstarter?...Patreon?...Was the music ripped straight from the original games? Don't know why Nintendo is like this...
People are better off using Capcom's or Sega's IPs or something, why keep messing with Nintendo?
Rebrand it, make it modificable, release the Game.
Oh, somebody released a Mod that changes the Main Protagonist with Samus? What a horrible Night to....
Well, this doesn't surprise me that the project for the 2D Metroid Prime was ceased and desisted. While the company who asked for it C&Ded wasn't named (but its pretty obvious who it was) it also is another sign of confirmation that...Metroid Prime Trilogy HD exists. Like Imran Khan and now Jeff Grubb have admitted it in the past. It exists, it is done, it is waiting...for a release year for Metroid Prime 4. I'm still banking on Prime Trilogy HD and Prime 4 will release in the same calendar year. Question is...which year down the road? Out!
I fully respect their right choice, but I still rest my case of questioning the absolute necessity of making such projects [too] public until completion. Wrap up the game, upload it once, and no amount of C&D's can erase it from the internet (except maybe for some folks who think that anything removed from YouTube is removed from reality). But hey, it's the devs' call and they know the risks.
And whoever doesn't like it should at least spend their keyboard hours petitioning related legislation changes, not barking at publishers in comment sections.
There are thousands of great indies on Nintendo platforms (and others).
What do these indies have in common with games based on stolen IPs? That they are created by small teams. Sometimes even by one person.
Where are they different? They don't steal IPs from others. And this is why they are allowed to exist. And sometimes, if they ask nicely, they are even allowed to use Nintendo IP in official games.
So, yeah. I'm 100% with Nintendo here.
Nintendo Defense Force ASSEMBLE!
Once again, we will defend, The corporation from criticism!!
Sad this game died, but hopefully the team will take inspiration from their work and make a game worthy of living up to the metroid franchise that inspired them.
This game honestly looks like trash, and I say that as someone who was empathetic to their project from the tag line. However the article's praise seems overly effusive as this looks like any junior project tapping into the Metroid aesthetic. Which taps into eons of rote imitation in this unending cycle of exploration platformers that are so in vogue.
Edit- looking on further into the video it seems like there is some depth of scope to the project. Initially the color palette and environmental stylings are simply too drab for a proper intro sequence. Nice to see that afterwards is some meatier chunk of gameplay. Still hard to tell properly where the project was at but it seems like it was something with the power to capture the Metroid feel.
@Apostasy You make a very good point. In the end, my frustration is with Nintendo, not the enthusiastic fans who put so much time and effort into these things
@Noid Sadly nintendo can afford stronger lawyers.. court of justice is mostly court of money and reputation lol.. and lets be real judges don't really care about context of media they just say "well it is written.. thats a nono!" instead of "can you guys just chill out? case dismissed" when it comes to video games. Dare I say its still ran by boomers.
Only way nintendo would get nintendo'd would be if copyright laws finally got readjusted to be less strict and allow fair use (currently it just doesn't exist despite what some might say.. pretty much every category that would fall into "fair use" has been broken in court.). Which nobody is really making the effort on pitching because every politician knows copyright strike is profitable for companies and lawyers, and non-politicians are just non-politicians.
I would LOVE to see nintendo vs. disney. That would be duel of the fates...
Some of these projects looks really good but at the end of the day it belongs to someone else and they are stealing their copyrighted ideas.
Though, these people are easy targets for companies like Nintendo but they need to look at websites that sell consoles with Nintendo ROMS installed on them.
@Vexx234
It's very simple:
1. Be unhappy with what Nintendo is (not) doing.
2. Create a game that does what you want. (that includes Nintendo's IPs and / or copyrights)
3. Release said game on the internet
4. Get a C&D from Nintendo.
5. Cry about it on the internet.
6. Go to 1.
If Nintendo wouldn't stop these criminals we would have hunderds of "fan" games drowning actual good games from Ninetndo.
@ManInTheChair Maybe they chose a popular work that they knew was going to be shut down in an attempt to get noticed to help get a job in the games industry.
@sanderev Yeah! Put them in jail!
Corporation, I love you. Give me your attention, please
God the nintendo defense in here is quite sickening like really nauseating.
@sleepinglion exactly. That's why AM2R is still floating around and playable. Disappointed they couldn't keep their cool.
@Steel76 well... I'm with you in a way.
However, Nintendo could lose sales from fan-made games.
Just to point out the case of Samus Returns vs AM2R.
Many people consider AM2R superior and therefore didn't buy the 3DS official game. And they were both released almost at the same time.
But hey... in MY book ... any type of Metroid content is GREAT.
If Nintendo hadn't had this drought of the franchise's content then there wouldn't be copycats or fan-made games.... just like with F-Zero or Advance Wars.
These fan-made games exist because there are no more games being made... Just like the Mother 4 fan game.
@ManInTheChair
Okay, you turn a fully 3D game and have it smoothly translate into 2D. Go ahead, it's a simple copy paste isn't it?
@Elanczewski You are clearly stuck at either number 1 or 5. Thank you for proving my point.
The amount of people here thinking that the devs are unoriginal and/or trying to steal ideas is shocking. Have you never been a fan of something and wanted to create an experience that lets you live in that world a little more? Even a painting of a character falls into that category. Are artists stealing when they draw Samus, Mario or Link? They're trying to create a nice version of the original source material. Same here with this game. Hope the popularity of this remake will lead to good things for them (jobs in the industry and such).
Just saw that @Steel76 already pretty much wrote down what i'm thinking, well said.
EDIT: How about replacing Samus with Sonic? Boom, First Sonic Metroidvania. Sega likes good fan-made games 😄
Not really that much of shock this has happened. Nintendo have all the rights to do this.
At least the team are being mature about the situation.
Always ALWAYS keep your big yap shut about these projects until they are 100% finished! Drop a mega download link and walk away, let it spread, let everyone make backups. Secretly keep some sort of proof you worked on it so you can show it off the potential employers.
That said, I was not even aware of this project, it's a real shame. AM2R somehow made it further along before getting shut down, and that was widely known of for a while.
The gameplay actually looks super nice, that turning animation on Samus is so clean, the environments and UI are beautiful. I hope they can manage to salvage as much work from this as possible and simply retool into another great Metroid-like game. Some aspects honestly give my next most anticipated one Ghost Song a run for its money.
Why do this? By now, we all know how harsh Nintendo is on protecting their IPs. Don't tell me you don't know. I knew this was gonna happen. Just, don't do it.
Imagine having game making skills and using it to copy something else instead of making your own game.
These people are talented, make your own metroidvania style game, charge 20 bucks for it, and I'll buy it and support you.
Ill put it like this, all these people who get pissy with nintendo for doing this.
Imagine if nintendo stole your IP, you as a small creator, and released it without your permission and started profiting from it. You'd probably be pretty upset.
Also if you make this stuff, host it on your own site and make ad revenue from it or take donations, you're literally profiting from their IP.
For god sake, hire those people Nintendo! They love the brand and game. Highly motivated and clearly applying for a job.
For those who keep mentioning other companies like Sega and others, there are a few things they tend to neglect. Sonic Mania was created by Christian Whitehead who had a working relationship with Sega building mobile ports of previous Sonic games so that is what gave him the job-creating Sonic Mania NOT his fan games. How he got that job was through building an engine and a working prototype and shared it with Sega who was so impressed that his mobile port was better than their own they gave him a job to redo their work. AKA he went through the official channels.
Also, mods like Skyblivion, Skywind and Beyond Skyrim are made within Bethesda's very strict rules and regulations on what they can and cannot include in the mod. Also, despite being made from scratch you have to own a legal copy of Skyrim and Oblivion/Morrowind. Also because these require you to own a legal copy of the game it is in Bethesda's financial interest to allow the mods to continue as it will boost sales of all games involved and they still have the authority to shut down the project at any time.
Also, Nintendo is not like Sega in the sense that a lot of their IPs are more well known than Mickey Mouse and are the core foundation of their console market. It is a little bit more complicated for them to allow fan projects that are NOT on their consoles and based on their IPs that sell their consoles. So... yeah while these comparisons sound good they are a bit more complicated than what people let on. Also, companies like Ubisoft have had to shut down fan projects in the past because they violated IP law such as the GoldenEye Remake in Farcry 5... so this is not limited to just Nintendo being mean.
@Bulborb They can always apply for jobs at Nintendo or even at MercurySteam. It is not Nintendo's job to hire any rando who makes a fan game and these people could apply for work at both companies. They have to go through the official channels and maybe some of them will get a job at MercurySteam through headhunters... Also, Nintendo should not just give away their IPs for anyone to use... they could pitch these ideas to Nintendo with a working prototype and if Nintendo enjoys it they could greenlite it. That is how Christian Whitehead got his job with Sega.
It's hard to keep things underground these days.
@Zeldafan79 how can you be so hypocrite? Both your username and profile pic are stolen from copyrighted Nintendo IP, yet you judge others who do the same.
"The announcement you have been dreading"
No, “anticipating” is the correct word. They knew what were getting themselves into. And when you got games like Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge, they didn’t have to use Metroid, they’ve only got themselves to blame.
Why don't they just create their own IP? No idea why they put so much effort into stuff like this they know is going to be shut down. I have zero empathy for them.
@ManInTheChair what about this is CPU and paste? They were remaking a 3d game as a 2d game. That means custom art. They couldn't use anything Nintendo had made except possibly the dialog. If anything this is the equivelant of fan art and Nintendo taking it down is an aggregeous misuse of power.
The people who do this are so damn frustrating; they know that this type of stuff gets taken down as soon as Nintendo hears about it, so why not keep quiet until you are finished, have a quiet release and not let the whole world know until many people have already played it? But they're so thirsty for the attention/validation that they don't even think about stuff like that, do they? Such a waste.
AM2R all over again with Dread coming out soon. Really hope the team can continue making something good as Prime2D was excellent.
@ManInTheChair Hi Nintendo
@XenoShaun How the hell can you agree with that statement
@mrbob1213 The sentiment behind people doing something original rather than just using companies IP is what I agree with. Not specifically in regards to this game's.
@dBackLash
That is not the same thing. By your logic almost every user on any social media site should be getting cease and desist orders for even using pictures on their profile. Everyone uses copyrighted character names and images.
Removed - flaming/arguing
@JoeSooper This is a smart response. Who knows Nintendo have been licensing out increasingly. Always a chance this might happen one day.
Dread looks awesome though. The one difference imo is that Nintendo still means quality unlike Sonic Team's dismal efforts. So fans can't exactly be saviours as the company in question is still doing great stuff.
@Jimmy_G_Buckets I have a different take ..quit wasting time making something you know will get shut down.people should've their own games.
Yay Nintendo wins again! Let's hope for more similar stories in the future.
You only get one release with any project like this. I'm sure they knew this and stopped working on it soon as they had released the demo. Otherwise they should have waited for the final result to since/release what they made.
What if I made a graphic sim-dating game with Samus? Should that get shut down too even if made with love?
Last time that happenden Nintenso released Metroid 2 Samus Returns (they took down AM2R).
Well, Metroid Prime Remake confirmed!!
@CactusMan Another moronic response. See Sonic Mania (or Sonic 1 and 2 mobile ports) for what can be produced when a company properly recognises and harnesses the love its fanbase has for one of it's franchises.
No-one debates the legality of what Nintendo does but you have to question the close-minded logic behind it. Just being in your rights to do something doesn't mean you must exercise those rights.
Changes to keep the game up: make it a robot, change the outfit color, change the grappling beam to silver grappling hook, change color scheme in general, work for Nintendo. Simple XD this super sucks for that team
@Zeldafan79 ofcourse it's not the same thing when you're involved.... Then all of a sudden it's fair use right?
I hope you understand the hypocrisy.
I can remember at least 1 article about someone who was posting nsfw content that had to change her username because her username was related to pokémon somehow.
@Wexter You're wrong. Christian Whitehead is part of the Sonic Retro community and created fan games that built his expertise before he created the retro engine. Sega doesn't shut that stuff down allowing it to grow and develop. The result is an amazing knowledgeable developer fanbase.
On Bethesda you're right for the most part. But Skyblivion skirts close to the lines and they mostly appease Bethesda by stating their requirement that people will need to own Oblivion to play Skyblivion. If Bethesda planned to release an Oblivion remake I doubt they'd allow it to continue.
@ManInTheChair it might just be they wanted this to happen, get some attention on them and hopefully after the positive reaction they got , one of the big 3 might want to work with them for a while new IP and fund them
This reminds me of AM2R, except he was able to complete his project AND get hired to Moon Studios to help create Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Speaking of which, does Nintendo of America even MAKE games anymore? Because, to me, they look like nothing but an oversized translation company.
@ManInTheChair
You're a bit of a doughnut aren't ya? First off it's fans showing love for a game that means alot to them. Secondly they weren't doing it for profit and C what exactly was copy/pasted from a FPS to make a 2D game?
this game was so intereting,Nintendo as usual not letting her fans show how the care about they franchises.
Apparently I touched a nerve with a few. Yikes, my opinion isn't that combative
It's so, so critical that games stop being viewed as these sacred proprietary magic boxes, and instead as something that any person or group of friends can make if they're excited about it. Just as anyone can paint a replica of Starry Night, or film a shot-for-shot remake of a Kubric scene, or cover their favourite song, and upload it on the internet for free with no repercussions. The same should be true for videogames. I have no idea where all this bootlicking about IP theft suddenly comes from on these stories, culturally. Expanding on other people's stories has been a pillar of every single medium, Shakespeare is a good example.
Of course if you want to monetize a games project, it'll be fraught to use a world that a huge company is already monetizing. But if you're doing it for fun, to learn? The attainability and enthusiasm of fan games make them totally sensible for that.
@CactusMan wow! amazing how that doesn't describe this, or most other fan projects
100+ comments and not a single person pointed out the brilliance of the wording??
"The announcement you've been DREADing"?
Come on people!
Removed - trolling/baiting
@Gwynbleidd In a way yes they are damaging Nintendo:
People who don't know any better end up getting these on repro cartridges or other software packages thinking this is a Metroid game. Hard to believe, but there are some pretty stupid people out there who think AM2R was an actual Nintendo game. This game in particularly appears to have a specific Aiming mechanic not feature in ANY metroid game and looks like it would ahve been a good fit for the DS series of handhelds. However if you leave this game with the expectation that all metroid games are like Prime 2D that are 2D that could set an expectation for a series that never featured those mechanics.
Basically the reputation and lore of the series becomes a representation of Nintendo's work that they have not approved of and are being forced to address.
While more in the know fans like people you'd find here know better and know what to expect, it can be problematic. Especially if someone starts farming out these images as another project that is official. "New 2D Metroid game in the works", throws video together on youtube, creates a new title image. Next thing you know it Nintendo is being bombarded by people thinking there was a new Metroid game leaked to the public. That too can be a drain on resources.
Let these guys did some interesting work and I wouldn't call them criminals. But they are kind of stupid for releasing a new game design with some excellent talent into some very well conceived fights as a product they themselves couldn't market. It's a missed opportunity for them to release their own game and franchise. Not that there is a shortage of Metroidvania titles out there these days, but there is a shortage of games that capture the feel and lore of Metroid. As much as I enjoy games like Axiom Verge, Iconoclasts, and many others, I would very much like to see something closer to what actual metroid offers without having to wait 6 to 10 years between metroid releases.
Not surprising, especially with the release of Metroid Dread being right around the corner.
They made the project knowing the risks, and they got taken down. That's all there really is to it. Yes, Nintendo could work with them if they wanted to, but maybe Nintendo doesn't want to do that. There can be many reasons that Nintendo wouldn't want to work with them. Maybe they're not a super professional company that's well known. Maybe Nintendo has their own idea for a Metroid game they are going to make similar to this one. Nintendo likes to heavily control their IPs so they know every aspect about them and can stay within their sets of standards. And of course, why would Nintendo give people who didn't ask for permission to make their Nintendo games the right to make their games in the first place and still continue to make it? Nintendo owns the IP, and decides what they want to do with it, even if that means not letting people make fan games of it. That also doesn't mean that the best choice is always letting fan games be made of Nintendo IPs. Many people seems to assume that letting fan games be made of all of their IPs is always the best choice and will always come to the best conclusion for what Nintendo wants to do themselves. Maybe Nintendo doesn't want that to happen for whatever reason. Until people know Nintendo's reasoning for why they do things, no one can assume what's best for them. Just because a game inspires you, doesn't mean making a extremely similar game of it is a good idea or legally safe.
@ManInTheChair keep being a nintendo bootlicker bro, i bet they’ll notice you soon enough.
have you considered that metroid fans wanted to make this game as a love letter to the series, since nintendo hasn’t cared about metroid in god knows how long?
The silly thing about all this is if it's got it's own original sprites, and music, and maps, all they had to do was not call the game Metroid and they probably would have been fine. And maybe change the character names. If this was Mettleroid 2D starring Steven Abernathy none of this would have been an issue.
@Aaron101 and for third he didn't own the rights to make the game.nuff said
Always love reading comments on how people are experts on how projects like these "Damage" or "Actually would help".
As far as I'm concerned, neither side is winning and only burying themselves deeper in their dumb self righteousness
@Pescuaz this... this... this... thiiiiiiiiiiis, lmao. End of discussion.
Say it again, Pescuaz!
@sketchturner pretty sure... We all saw the super obvious on the nose word... Captain obvious (kidding.)
@sleepinglion there's a whole lot of difference in terms of effort in making and releasing a demo vs building, testing, marketing and publishing a whole game. Maybe the time was right to release it because maybe the amount of engagement in this fan project was fading and releasing a full game would never happen.
Yes, we know full is better than half, but half is still better than zero.
@aaronsullivan best case scenario is nintendo opens a section for fan hacks
where they are free but you need to have the main game from the series on switch. So for DKC tropical freeze you can download any fan hacks of DKC as long as you have the base game. Nintendo would never do this but it would help.
Also SEGA does what nintendont
Sega does what Nintendont Literally
The game looked so high quality. I'm surprised they even bothered making it a "Metroid" game. The outcome was inevitable. They should have made it into their own IP and sold the game on steam. I would have bought it and I'm certain the game would have sold well
@Zeldafan79 i feel like your name is in violation of copyright laws 🤔 lol 😆
@fafonio That's exactly my point. They get enough attention to get hired by someone, the "fan games" are (usually) nothing but a ladder.
@rushiosan ok, then I guess we are on the same page. It’s a win for the creators, and a win for the fans who are in need of games in a franchise that is forgotten by the original creator.
Not surprised. Got too much media attention.
If it really was Nintendo who shut down this project and you disagree with the decision, that’s fine.
But I am sick and tired of low-life extremeists on Twitter and Reddit who insult Nintendo and all of its fans, telling me that I’m not allowed to love Nintendo and admire them as a company. I’m tired of people trying to make me feel bad for what I love. I’m tired of people who try so hard to discourage me from being a fan of them and pursuing my dream to work for Nintendo. I cannot fathom why these people feel the need to do all of this. Why can’t our stances just be that we love Nintendo, but at the same time we acknowledge that they have flaws to fix? Instead, awful people on these sites call Nintendo and Nintendo fans names because their mindsets are so void of substance that they place their hatred in a gaming company of all things.
All I want to do is love Nintendo in peace, and I constantly encounter these neckbeard bullies that want to discourage me from just being a fan even though I’ve never done that to fans of any other company. I’m sorry for cursing, but if you’re one of these people, go f*** yourself.
@Donkey-Kong-Fan considering what's going on with activision/blizzard right now, i think a little less hero worship of giant companies is warranted and not exactly an unjustified "of all the things!" moment, and i don't think cursing out/calling people the Judge Dredd insult of "low life extremists" is really helping to make a good case for nintendo
Maan the game looked beautiful!! I would still finish it. Some things are to be just told and sold by word of mouth. I know people like to put their names in things they made but in this case i would just come up with something secret.
Sometimes I wish Nintendo would take a “hands-off” approach on fan-made games. I understand their reasons why, but you don’t see Sega doing it to Sonic fan-made games, but they actually embrace (in the case of Sonic Mania). I don’t know.
@ManInTheChair I think your comment is pretty Ill conceived and kinda of a boring blanket take. The reason why there's so many Metroid fan projects is because Nintendo barely ever touches that ip. And when they do they're not even that good. AM2R was leaps and bounds better than the 3ds remake of Metroid 2. They should just hire the fans who actually want to make quality content similar to what sega did with Sonic mania considering it was the only good sonic games since 2.
@Aronin 1) Sega took down that Streets of Rage fan game. 2) They can’t make a good Sonic game so they let fans do it (despite the fan games actually being terrible and the only good ones are the ones that took the foundation Sega left behind. 3) They can’t acknowledge fan games as it’ll lead to legal trouble. Their stance of fan games is exactly like Capcom’s in which they don’t actively hunt for fan games but they’re not allowed to acknowledge their existence. This was confirmed by one of the spokesperson from Sega. 4) This game in particular got too much attention.
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Yet another developer using Nintendo IP just so they can gain notoriety when Nintendo shuts down their fan game. Nintendo's stance on fan games is well known so why anyone would even try to legitimately make one is beyond me. The developer knew Nintendo would eventually take it down, and when they did their name would be plastered all over the internet so they will get a ton of attention. If you have the skills to make your own game, make your own IP that is inspired by your favourite game and nobody can do anything about it.
@TheFrenchiestFry
In all fairness Sega needed Sonic Mania because they haven't had enough brain cells among the core team to produce a competent Sonic game in over a decade. Nintendo hasn't had this same issue
The dev wasn't too far.
You clowns got your attention now good, now make your own game. Take all the inspiration all you want, just don't use stuff ya don't actually own
@Gwynbleidd at the moment right now people aren't downloading amr2 and didn't grab amr2 with the belief that it was an actual metroid. I think in 10 years someone will try to pass the work off as such in repro carts and other shady devices. Those people will get conned as the game is further rebranded as such.
Don't get me wrong amr2 is good and there is no better game to get conned into buying. It does set some wacky expectations. I've seen it with other repro cart knock offs that aren't part of the company profile. There was a used games store down here in Florida who was selling a Zelda remake as official and called it a rare beta cartridge. They were putting it out for 250. Even when they did sell it they'd just make another one. I was not happy about this as they almost conned someone right in front of me to buy it after some haggling, before I stepped in and got kicked out of the store. Not sad to see them go out of business.
@Mikey_205 I'm talking about how he got the job with Sega. Sega didn't just give him a job because of his fangames. They gave him the job due to their working relationship with him. Hence my point of "build a prototype and share it with the publisher" as that worked for Christian. I'm sure Nintendo if they saw a from-the-ground remake of Metroid Prime in 2D they'd at least consider getting them in touch with MercurySteam in a support capacity or even their own eShop project. They should contact people at Nintendo and check the interest and if there is some if could go official.
Couldn't they just change Samus and keep working?
@fafonio Mother 4 is a bad example as Itoi himself has said that Mother 3 was the end of his "trilogy."
**ITOI:** I’m not going to release a MOTHER 4; MOTHER is over now. But lately I’ve started to really appreciate having released three MOTHER games. That’s why I thought I’d come see you, Mr. Iwata, so I could talk about those feelings with you.
Of course, you’re in a position where you’re responsible for what games are and aren’t released, so don’t feel pressured to answer anything you don’t want to. I just felt that discussing our current feelings about the games might help answer the fans’ straightforward question of, “You really aren’t going to release a MOTHER 4?”
[...]
''The feeling of, “I want a MOTHER 4 to be released!” is inside me, too. Even if it’s not something I need to do, I still feel that way. Still, there isn’t someone for me to watch over from afar anymore. If there were a fourth game, I’d want to be the player.''
So Itoi doesn't mind the idea of there being a Mother 4, it is just not something he wants to create. And considering a large part of what makes Mother... well Itoi's writing it be very difficult to do that without Itoi. It be like making No More Heroes without Suda 51 as he is a large part of what makes that game series special. I respect Nintendo not making more Mother without Itoi and if they do, do it in the future I hope it is because they feel like they have something special with it rather than just caving to fan demand.
@ManInTheChair You have to be a special kind of ignorant if you think this is a copy paste job.
Problem is it looked so good at doing it right that's probably what scared them to shutting it down. That's a big disappointment they could've brought this group into re-invigorate the series again.
@Wexter what i meant with that example is that fans are trying to fill that void by making the fan-made Mother 4. Because the original creator doesn’t want to.
That’s why all these fan games exist.
I feel like Nintendo needs to facilitate a way for fans to make their own Metroid (and DKC, Yoshi, Kirby) games like they did with Super Worlds in Mario Maker 2. They're on to something with the maker games, sure they're limited but great content comes out of them and it gives fans a legal avenue to make a tribute and it sucks that they abandoned Mario Maker. Perhaps a Nintendo Maker is needed.
@Aronin Re: your reference to Sonic Mania, read https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/08/the_fan-made_2d_metroid_prime_game_has_been_forced_to_shut_down#comment6511243
@RavenWolfe81 Game Builder Garage. The Mario Kart fan game there hasn't been shut down.
@SwitchForce To reinvigorate a series Nintendo already invigorated? What do you think the new Metroid is for?
@CajunFires @jsty3105 wait what? Capcom acknowledges fan games. Or are you forgetting Megaman x Street Fighter?
@fafonio Dude. He didn't make it and release it without permission like pretty much every other Nintendo fan game - The game began as the private development of Seow Zong Hui who presented an early build to Christian Svensson, Capcom's Senior VP of consumer software, at EVO 2012
So, nintendolife can’t even say Nintendo is behind this? This is getting ridiculous…
Never make a fan project public until it's finished.
it's honestly kinda disgusting that bootlicking nintendo fanboys will say stuff like "well that's what you get for using someone else's intellectual property you terrible terrible people" every time this happens, and meanwhile sega openly encourages romhacks on the steam workshop, never tries to shut down sonic fan games, and even hired romhackers to make their last 2d sonic game. i love nintendo games too but as a business they hate us and y'all really need to stop doing volunteer work for capitalism.
nintendo does have the legal right to shut down this project, but the idea that they are obligated to is ridiculous, as plenty of intellectual property holders get by just fine while allowing non-profit fan works (sega, as previously mentioned; pretty much all authors have stopped trying to outlaw fan fiction of their works; there's a website that has every jeopardy question ever on it and the creators of the show know about it and leave it alone; etc etc etc), and there's certainly no moral justification for shutting it down since it isn't actually infringing on anything they're doing — nintendo isn't making a 2d version of metroid prime, so it's no more a replacement for any product or service nintendo offers than the wikipedia plot summary for metroid prime.
@Jimmy_G_Buckets Take Metroid out of the game and no one would care. Impressive none the less.
Nintendo should have some sort of pathway for these fan projects, be a win win
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I comment so late, that it doesn't matter what I write. No one's going to read it anyway.
@Abighoul SEGA reportedly initially sent a C&D to Christian Whitehead for his concept video and Christian then reportedly spent a year or so negotiating with SEGA.
@fafonio The KEY difference. Capcom was pitched the idea. It didn't start as a fan game - it started as a demo and a pitch. It shows respect for the IP. SF X Mega Man wasn't released across the internet BEFORE the developer engaged with Capcom.
"At EVO 2012, SF X Mega Man developer Seow Zong Hui approached Svensson, brandishing a laptop with a couple demo levels operational." https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/12/08/capcom-discusses-the-future-of-mega-man
Those Nintendo fan games that were shut down? I'd wager none of them bothered to ask for permission or bothered to try pitching their demo/idea to Nintendo. How different could things have been if this group making Metroid Prime in 2D had bothered to work their idea into an official pitch instead of a going behind Nintendo's back on the basis that it's a 'fan game'?
Japanese culture revolves around respect. The successful fan game developers who go on to work on Capcom and Sega games show respect in the first place by asking. By going through official channels.
@Khalic "So, nintendolife can’t even say Nintendo is behind this? This is getting ridiculous…"
It was probably worded that way in the article for creative writing purposes
@fafonio I was more discussing how it is most of the time used as a bad example as "If Nintendo wants to make their fans happy they'd make Mother 4" and all that nonsense I read as to why fan games exist because they provide what Nintendo won't. When in reality when fans make those demands they are ignoring the authorial intent of a creator like Itoi and why he did not/will not make a Mother 4. He is satisfied with his work and feels he has nothing more he can meaningfully add. Not saying I dislike the fangame Mother 4 it is an awesome homage, but in the back of my brain, I will know it is not Itoi's vision and because Mother is just as much Itoi it won't feel like an authentic experience to me. Miyamoto has been rather upfront about how Nintendo does not know how to meaningfully add to F-Zero which is why there has not been a new one. Nintendo has even sought out 3rd parties to maybe work on F-Zero and has not found a partner that has worked out in the long term. They still acknowledge the franchise with Mario Kart 8, NintendoLand and Smash Bros. which is a WAY better treatment than they gave StarTropics... a game that has been fully forgotten by Nintendo outside of the odd re-release on VC and I don't think has ever been acknowledged in Smash. In a world where Blastermaster is back of all franchises (Sunsoft not Nintendo. point of comparison still stands), it is odd Nintendo outright ignores StarTropics. So it's not like franchises like Kid Icarus or F-Zero are even close to being "forgotten" by Nintendo the way other games of theirs have.
I just feel the creative energy in fangames can be better directed to more indi-works or even original pitches to Nintendo. Nintendo has been open to working with Indi studios like Cadence of Hyrule. So, I feel these creators could take some of these ideas to Nintendo and get the green light to make original works that can be sold on the eShop. That and this obsession fans have with telling what Nintendo should/shouldn't do with their IPs to be disrespectful to the creators at Nintendo who pour their heart and soul into these IPs and how sometimes our obsession with wanting to protect fangames (even when 90% of them are derivative works or just straight badly made) to be a bit on the disrespectful to those creators at Nintendo. Also, when false equivalents at Sega or Capcom come up they ignore actual facts like Sega does not acknowledge fangames and even takes them down from time-to-time they just don't seek them out the same way Nintendo does. And how Sonic Mania was made due to years of Christian Whitehead's working relationship with Sega due to his mobile ports and they did not seek him out themselves due to fangames. He went to them.
That is my two cents on this in more detail I guess...
Now to make this clear I have no issues with the fan games themselves for a few reasons.
1) they are most of the time used to develop skillsets in development, programming, level design and implementation. This is great for people who don't really want to create an original work themselves and just want to learn how to use the tools needed to break into the industry.
2) They are used to create portfolios for developers to get jobs at even the very same studios that own the franchises they love and are creating fangames for. Beyond Skyrim, Skyblivion and Fallout London have all had members end up working at Bethesda proper due to their work on those projects.
3) They most of the time know their projects might never be released and are simply sharing their work for feedback in areas to improve.
4) They use it as a testing ground to learn how to make a fun game so when they get to create their own indi project they have fewer setbacks due to having to learn something from scratch and rather already have a base set of skills. Undertale is an excellent example as Toby Fox learned a lot making game games and when he worked on Undertale already had practice at storytelling and game design.
Now there are exceptions to these reasons, but these are the positive qualities to fangames and why I like them. They are meant to develop skills and abilities to help these people break into the industry or even just passion projects. This is why I love music covers! HOWEVER, I have an issue with the fans of these projects who either hound the developers for a release date (such as every time I see these questions get brought up on Skyblivion and Beyond Skyrim streams) and get mad at companies like Nintendo, Sega, Ubisoft and Capcom when they shut down these projects for legal reasons. The team at Konami was very upset when the PT Silent Hills UE4 remake got so big for legal reasons they could no longer ignore it and had to send a cease and desist. However, that is another example of the creator getting offered a chance to work in the industry as Konami offered him an Internship because they were impressed. Sometimes these companies can no longer plead possible deniability in a legal sense when these projects get too much interest and have to take legal action.
So these fangames getting shut down is not ever the full story as you never know what these companies have planned. As sometimes like AM2R, Nintendo has a very good reason as they are remaking the game themselves like Samus Returns which leads directly to Dread. Or maybe the fangame was getting too much media attention and Nintendo could no longer ignore it to avoid issues later on. I have no issues with the games rather the people making rash judgmental cracks at Nintendo when we never have the full story in front of us as to why they did it.
@jsty3105 the point isn't "sega is perfect" the point is "nintendo is doing a bad." showing an instance where another company did a similar bad doesn't change that.
capitalism wants you to believe that armed robbery is the same thing as software piracy which is the same thing as a derivative work. rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead is fanfiction of shakespeare, but the reason why that's okay and prime 2d isn't is that metroid prime is recent enough to be protected by copyright law.
Shut down to the public, it'll be finished by somebody very likely.
@jsty3105 really where? Metroid has yet to come out or show a release. And if a simple 2D game such as this scares them then it shows they lack innovation to improve upon the game itself. That's the part not told they took so long that it took fans to force their hand to bully them out. That to me is the real Story they lack integrity to get something done when a small fanbase could do this you have to ask why couldn't they do this instead?
@SwitchForce Saying that Nintendo is scared kinda sounds like (not necessarily saying this to you personally) like one of those scenes where one fella is trying to get a reaction out of another fella to do something silly - "What are you? Chicken?".
That aside, Metroid Dread is the upcoming new release and the first mainline entry in forever - no fan or fan group forced their hand or bullied them out (as it seems you're implying).
While the fan developers may wish/hope/want for their fan game to sit alongside Nintendo's new 2D Metroid, I personally don't think it shows respect to Nintendo's upcoming effort (putting aside the topic of whether they deserve respect in the first place! Seems like many fans don't think so but I do know that Japanese culture is VERY big on respect. One of the fastest ways to lose a business deal is to show disrespect).
What they SHOULD have done is what other successful developers have done with other IPs for other companies - made a pitch to Nintendo and show the demo to them, not release the demo to the general public. I daresay that this approach MIGHT have gotten more positive results (considering how many media sites have raved about the quality) than the rather sneaky way they did.
Sonic CD was the result of a successful pitch. SF v Mega Man was the result of a successful pitch.
And this example may feel a bit off topic considering it's from a big publisher but Mario vs Rabbids was also the result of a pitch to Nintendo.
Having said all this in defence of Nintendo, I ALSO feel that Nintendo could be a bit more welcoming of fan projects. I do sympathise with fan game developers too as working on current IP is always always always easier than trying to create your own IP. Plus, it also simplifies the game development process when working on something really familiar. I reckon that's how most game developers started out, by working on a fan game. Maybe Mario Maker and Game Garage Builder are examples of Nintendo allowing more fan projects but I think the fan game community need more robust tools so the more skilled and ambitious ones can create something really cool.
@Abighoul I'm a creator, so I love having copyright law (even if it's admittedly quite terribly flawed at the moment and based on outdated stuff)
@Donkey-Kong-Fan
I think games media is to blame for a lot of this. They have a pressure to publish multiple times per day and increase their community engagement. The best way to do that is to rile up communities as there will always be a vocal subset that lacks critical thinking and isn't open to discourse.
Much to gaming new's detriment though, they alienate a large number of the playerbase. Hence you see the rise of gaming personalities (on youtube, twitch) which are people who just enjoy what they enjoy, and you see increasing irrelevance of gaming news sites like Gamer Network and IGN. It's also why you see Publishers deliver news themselves rather than via a news site - the audience is relatively small in these echochamber communities.
@shinesprites Those who say it's good PR have probably never worked in or with PR
People like to say that Nintendo HATES fan games. Those same people need to take a look at all the fan games that continue to exist in Game Builder Garage (and fan levels that probably exist in Super Mario Maker)
@Andors I read you bro
Diortem - Sumas' Adventure. No, that isn't Metroid and Samus spelled backwards, that's just a coincidence. It's the title for a new game I've been working on.
@fafonio you made my day. Thx bro
It's always funny whenever people bring up Sonic Mania in situations like this. Eventually these people will realize that Samus Returns and Dread were made under a very similar context to Sonic Mania. What will these people do then?
@Noid Are you aware of what either of these court cases are about? The Sega vs Accolade case was about Accolade, not exactly a small company at the time (not as big as Sega but certainly not an "underdog"), trying to totally screw Sega by reverse engineering Sega's own hardware in order to get around a fairly reasonable license requirement. Accolade actually lost the case at first, only won by appeal, and STILL ended up becoming a Sega licensee anyway. The outcome of the case didn't make sense then, and it makes even less sense year after year.
Universal vs Nintendo, meanwhile, was about a very large company (Universal) going after a still decently-sized company (Nintendo) because Donkey Kong was based on King Kong, a famous character. Aside from this being very silly and only happening because Donkey Kong was a very popular game, Universal had already totally boned themselves by defending THEIR OWN usage of King Kong in an earlier court case, claiming that King Kong was a public domain character. Surprise, Nintendo used this against them, and totally won the case.
If you're looking for actual dirt, have a look at stuff like the Ikegami Tsushinki drama. That's not a small company either, by the way. There are no Davids going on here, just variably-sized Goliaths.
Of course, law is a load of garbage. "Precedent" is an incredibly sketchy concept, because there's this strong pressure to never revisit a ruling and see if a judge made a bad call, which is all too easy in law.
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