Try not to get too excited now, but the Metroid Prime 4 developer Retro Studios has just updated its banner on Twitter.
Yes, it's perhaps the most significant update we've got in some time from the Nintendo studio working on what's arguably one of the most important upcoming first-party releases. Until now, we've not really heard much from the team - apart from the fact it's been on a recruitment drive for all sorts of talent. Its HQ was also remodelled last year to aid the development of MP4.
The new banner on display shows a character - who appears to be Samus Aran - in some sort of dimly lit alien-like corridor. We guess it has some sort of link to the fourth entry. The previous banner was an image of Retro's company logo.
While a banner update on a social media profile normally wouldn't be big news, considering all the setbacks Metroid Prime 4 has suffered and the amount of silence from Retro during development, this has certainly generated some buzz online.
Last month marked three years since Metroid Prime 4's development had been scrapped and restarted. And last June marked four years since the game was first announced. When do you think we'll see Samus Aran's next outing or just the return of Metroid Prime series in general? Leave your thoughts down below.
[source twitter.com, via twitter.com]
Comments (100)
Finally!!!!!!! Looking forward to some news!
Maintaining a positive outlook that this’ll follow in the footsteps of Resident Evil 2 as a development restart ending in a classic and not a development hell disaster.
And that it’ll release less than three months after it is finally announced.
At least they are put something to affirm us, and I'm happy for that.
Realistically, I see this as being a cross gen game like BotW was. Though my heart wants this to go the way of Metroid Dread, where our first look is where the release date is confirmed to be only a few months away.
Not hopeful that Metroid Prime 4 will come out this year tbh. In fact a part of me has doubts about the game's existence. Hopefully I'm worrying over nothing.
Oh we feasting now boys.
It never existed. That’s my guess. It’s like money laundering or something. Like The Producers.
More info on the game would be nice but hey, have a banner update!
Woohoo!
Seriously, Prime Trilogy HD would be nice.
Come on, throw us a bone.
No, Dread is a different style to Prime.
I've played Dread and it is not the Prime game I want.
Still good, but definitely not the same.
Like a potato top pie is different to a standard pie.
Now I'm hungry.😜
Metroid Prime Rib.
Please please be some info soon. I need to see something, anything, I will even take 10 seconds of footage! I will take anything at this point!
We'll probably get info in 4 months at E3, I can't wait.
Look at banner, Michael!
Dimly lit alien-like corridor? I thought that was Samus leaving her ship. (At least that's much more symbolic: adventure's about to begin.)
This is Nintendo trying to blunt the massacre of the Wii U.
First, we got a PNG in a video, now we got a Twitter banner. The game is coming along nicely!
On a serious note, it looks like Dark Samus's visor is visible in the background.
That seems to indicate Dark Samus survived the ending of Prime 3 .
It’s sad that a Twitter banner is the only update we’ve gotten in three years haha
Atleast give us the prime trilogy so I don't have to buy it on wiiu and then rebuy it on switch
There's allot riding on this title for the older Nintendo audience, And for Metroid as a future franchise. This really could be the big hit Metroid needs right now, And a great title for drawing in a new audience, I'm just glad Nintendo did the right thing in the end and passed it back to retro, I don't care how long we wait anymore, This needs to impress.
Metroid Prime 4 is the sole reason I wanted to get a Switch (BOTW on the go didn't do it for me, neither did any of the launch titles) and the wait is making me regret it a little*.
Thank goodness I got Metroid Dread for my Metroid fix, it's not Metroid Prime but it's still Metroid. Now my patience level has been restored to levels of "They can take their time. No hurry!
If they announce Metroid Prime Trilogy for the Switch, I'd still buy it on the Wii U eShop to have it on as many systems as possible.
*Eventually I got some games that made me re-evaluate my stance on the Switch, but I still dislike it in comparison to the duo Wii U/3DS.
Well.. it's more than we saw in 2017.
Don't freak out people. There's no way it's releasing this year. Maybe earlier or even later next year. I just hope it's as good as the original Metroid prime. Prime 2 kinda felt like a step back and prime 3 was pretty awesome in parts but not so much in others but I did like how it controlled and how it felt more expansive and open.
I think I heard someone from Retro Studios sneeze. An announcement must be incoming!
Couldn't care less if this game takes ages (same as BOTW2) as long it's awesome when it arrives.
It took 3 years to make that banner
@nessisonett It exists. Rumour has it the game was originally being worked on by a team in Namco Bandai and Nintendo was very unhappy with the game and brought it internally to be worked on by Retro. They've been hiring industry pros from Bioware, 343, Bungie and even Pixar. This game has been quiet, but remember they've only been on the project since the reboot a few years ago. That means they had to plot out a story, redo level design from square one maybe even work on an engine if they are not using Unreal 4. There is a lot of work that had to be done and I do not envy them for taking on a project already announced and one they probably initially passed on doing.
Time to keep pretending this game started development in 2019...
Sounds great. I’ve been playing through Metroid Prime 1 for the first time this month. Excellent atmosphere and controls.
Blessed be thine day when this masterpiece finally releases, I rather them take their time with it and hereby ensure that it's quality is on par(if not better!) than the original Trilogy.
@SwitchVogel Do you think it's coming in 2024?
Hopefully it lives up to it's predecessors.
@ModdedInkling Yes and no. We don't know how much of the original build Retro kept from the unnamed original developer. They might have kept the plot outline probably written by Sakamoto. They probably scrapped everything else and are starting from square one. We don't know how much they kept from the original version Nintendo was displeased enough to have stripped the developer of without even showing a trailer.
@Wexter nessisonett was kidding .. Google ‘The Producers’, classic film & very funny
This and Mario Kart 10 will appear on the next console along with the Zelda sequel.
There should be Metroid Prime related news for June now. I just don't know if it's exclusively Metroid Prime 4. I still believe they'll bring Metroid Prime Trilogy first this year then Prime 4 next, unless they go right into Prime 4 in June's Direct and release Prime 4 later this year (following Dread's reveal to release cycle last year).
@Riff-the-Don My bad Never seen it. Just been a tiring week for me so my sarcasm detector is offline.
While this is really cool, I am not holding my breath to hear anything about Prime 4 until mid-late this year... if at all.
The unbridled set backs to this project have made me, justifiably, skeptical and guarded. Don't mistake what I'm saying as negativity, just that I want so badly to see something more than a logo about this title, or even an HD release of the original 3 + Hunters on Switch. We can dream, can't we?
It is a nice banner.
This definitely lends credence to the fact that the game is far from dead! Hard telling when it'll actually show though.
Hooray, something Metroid is… we’ll, being acknowledged. I think we’re getting some 3D Metroid this year. Either Prime 4, Prime 1 remaster, or the Prime Trilogy. Any of them I’d be pretty happy with. I just want Metroid to get it’s time in the spotlight. Dread was a great first step in marketing for Metroid but we need a big 3D title to really get heads turning.
@Wexter no worries 😄
It’s an old (‘67) Mel Brooks satire/comedy so it may be harder to find these days.
ooh this is making me think that we might see some stuff at E3.
Preparing for disappointment already
@SwitchVogel Ya that's what I have been thinking as well.
I think we'll get a first glimpse this E3 (assuming E3 happens, or perhaps at some other kind of event this summer), but with no gameplay. A Q4 2023 release would be nice, but perhaps it won't appear until 2024. I'm rather sure it'll be on Switch, the console has sold well enough for Nintendo not to release a successor until 2025 or so...
Back in 2015, Kensuke Tanabe said that one idea for the game was to have a time-travel mechanic: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-06-17-next-proper-metroid-prime-would-likely-now-be-on-nx
...Still wondering how this series can even continue when Dark Samus was actually killed and her entire planet was destroyed. Like...was a new Prime was born or something?
Now that the system is nearly five years old (how is that possible), I’m starting to think that Nintendo should take every franchise that is currently in development, that already has an entry or two on Switch, and move it to the next console. Remember how awesome that first year was, getting a new exclusive/rerelease every month or so? I’d love to see that become a regular thing with Nintendo. Imagine if the next console launches and, within the first year, we get:
-BotW 2
-Splatoon 3
-Metroid Prime 4
-Something Pokémon related
-Xenoblade 3
-Mario Kart 9
That isn’t to say that Nintendo should kill the Switch. That would be stupid. I just think Nintendo should ride out the last few years bringing back franchises and reminding people of their greatness. Resurrect Punch Out, Remake F-Zero GX, Revive Starfox without the gimmicks, bring back Wave Race, Excitebike, 1080! I would love to see a cel shaded Startropics!
A teaser trailer at E3 and I don’t think the game will come out before November 2024.
That picture is super eerie! I really hope we will at least see the game this year!
People really getting excited over a banner an intern likely put up because its a slow news week.
Not that I care, in a way I want Prime 4 to fail so Nintendo will put that money into franchises that need it, but at the end of the day its whatever.
Maybe in another three years there will be a profile pic change
According to my Amazon history, I pre-ordered this title in late August of 2018
This definitely makes the wait since E3 2017 worth it.
First the number 4.
Now a Twitter banner.
The avalanche of news is more than my brain can handle.
They’re taking the heat off the bad press from the eshop. Classic PR move
Seems like they haven’t released a game in forever, since DKC tropical freeze I believe?
That’s why they needed to hire designers and engineers some weeks ago.
@Hero-of-WiiU Correct, which was about 8 years ago.
@BanjoPickles
Breath of the Wild 2, Splatoon 3, Xenoblade 3, and every other game that Nintendo has announced for a 2022 launch will release in 2022 for the Switch and only the Switch.
At worst, Breath of the Wild 2 will get pushed back to Q1 2023, but a new Nintendo platform isn't going to release by then.
First a number, years later, a banner... Stop this cornucopia!
@Joeynator3000 The Prime Series has already continued beyond Corruption and 3 of the 6 Prime games don't have Dark Samus. 2 of the 6 don't feature any form of Metroid Prime. "Metroid Prime" has been used by Nintendo since 2006 as indication of a first person Metroid game experience, regardless of whether Metroid Prime/Dark Samus the character is present.
News for some but for me this is nothing. Gameplay or nothing for me.
A banner and then what? A teaser of 5 sec' and then, a trailer on 2024 and finally the game will be on next next Nintendo console..
@QueenKittenWrite That's kinda selfish, don't you think?
@AnnoyingFrenzy haha yeah feel like I’ve feasted on a single French fry! 😂
@Hero-of-WiiU yeah I feel retro must have gone through some internal struggles or something. Their output is shockingly slow…
Looks like a trailer could be on the way
Can we please just get the trilogy on switch first
I would realistically say 4 to 5 years development is a reasonable amount of time and anything before that would be wishful thinking. So the game has been what? 3 years so far? We still have a ways to go. A Twitter banner update is probably the appropriate level of news lol. I'll start being disappointed back end of next year if we still haven't had a sniff (but even then, it's fine they take their time!)
Slightly related, yeah didn't think about all the folk waiting for Prime Trilogy and now have a fear of missing out because the Wii U eshop is closing. I mean, I dare say the Wii U won't be the last console we see it on so if you want to play it sooner than later, buy it. Otherwise, play other stuff while you wait.
@Tourtus dark samus has been milked to literal death. There's no way it's in prime 4.
Besides, there is no visor there. Just some vague corridor patterns resembling Samus' visor.
I wish they worked on a new Donkey Kong game.
That gets me a bit too excited based for just a single screen. I did buy and try to get into dread but it merely confirmed what I already knew that I didn't like the 2d metroid games.
@StarPoint @Hero-of-WiiU yes 8 years since DKTF but they have only had MP4 for 3 years so what did they make in the 5 year gap?
Failed projects?
Back burner titles?
Sequels that have shelved?
I also wonder how long bandi had the project before it was announced?
I really want to play the trilogy but I don’t want to do it on a Wii
Nintendo! Re-release them already!
Never played a Metroid game, hoping this will be in first person
@SwitchVogel My thoughts exactly. I've long suspected this would wind up being a cross gen release. To be honest, although I'd be happy if it came out sooner I think it'd be great promotion for the game itself if it were cross gen. After Dread I will be reasonably sated for some time.
I look forward to Matt McMuscles Wha Happun? video on this game.
2 pictures in almost 4 years….at this point it could be a point and click adventure game or Tell Tale’s Metroid Prime!
could this image mean we gonna have the first proper trailer for Metroid Prime 4 at E3 2022/TGA 2022?
Can't wait for this, show us some footage please!!!
Ni way no way no way!
@asmi8803 It will. The Prime series is the first-person version of Metroid.
It's happening. It's happening soon.
@Tourtus Dark Samus was inside Samus this whole time.
@IronMan30 Metroid for Smash confirmed.
Maybe we'll get a teaser... on E3 hahaha. Let's see how it turns out. The best Prime game is still the first one.
@WiltonRoots And Mario Kart, for good measure.
hey look at that, I totally didn't steal that for my profile banner on this website
@Joeynator3000 dark samus never really stays dead just like ridley doesnt either every time she returns she more evolved with better abilities and one thing to point out how did planet phaaze came to be which we havent got a solid answer on that one as well.
@Freek : this is Nintendo, any hd remake of the original trilogy would be half assed. Doubtful they’d even upres textures.
Well, at least its something. Hopefully they finally show some footage at E3.
Metroid Prime should be great. I just don't want to play it over 40 years old. I won't be as gamer as I am today! Joking aside, I just don't want Metroid Prime 4 to be a new Raven Blade.
@Cia I kinda agree Dark Samus has overstayed her (its?) welcome, but at the same time Ridley has had more appearances than Dark Samus and Ridley has been through much worse.
As for the visor, that's just my interpretation, to me the banner looks as if Dark Samus is looking down on Samus.
Would be very cool if Retro reintroduced Metroid as a true First Person Adventure Horror…it’s a mouthful but could really carve its own niche.
@NintendoKnight Or just blatantly tease us for the fun of it...
@Tourtus
If the game really had Dark Samus, it would be boring. We already beat her in two Prime games before, and it was clear she was utterly defeated in the end of Prime 3.
As for Ridley, he's the archenemy of Samus in the complete series, so it would not br surprising if they brought him back again. Even though, I'm kind of bored with him as well at this point.
I loved the fact we had Kraid in Dread but not Ridley, for once.
@SwitchVogel cross Gen, cross gen with what?
@Clammy Right, like Xenoblade Chronicles, such a terrible remaster. They only changed literally everything.
@Cia not if dark samus becomes an ally this time around in prime 4 especially since if a much bigger threat like mother brain makes a return harnessing the power of phazon into herself.
Hopefully the story isn't convoluted. Just make a passable story, with solid gameplay and modern controls. That's my hope.
@Caolan114 the first proper trailer for Metroid Prime 4 at E3 2022/TGA 2022?
@Deady I don't think there's anything to worry about when it comes to "development hell" for this project. If it was the same company working on the game for 6 years and we had heard absolutely nothing about it, I would understand some concern, but Retro have been working on this only for 3 years now, that is not a long time for a high budget game.
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