Metroid Prime devs put GameCube dev kit in freezer to fix post-release issue
Posted on 10 months ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 0 comments
Believe it or not, the developers at Retro Studios working on Metroid Prime back in the day actually put their dev kit in a freezer while attempting to fix a particular issue that affected a small portion of GameCube owners.
Jack Mathews, a technical lead engineer that worked on the project, shared this story while reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the game. Nintendo had shipped a “bad batch” of GameCubes that affected the CPU, but it turns out that Metroid Prime was the only game that wasn’t working properly. Because of this, animated objects weren’t acting the way they normally would on any other console.
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Autechre says it was originally asked to work on Metroid Prime’s soundtrack
Posted on 1 year ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News | 0 comments
According to Sean Booth of Autechre fame, the music duo almost got a chance to create the soundtrack for Metroid Prime.
The information was revealed during a Twitch AMA with one fan asking about how Booth as well as Rob Brown – the other half of Autechre – were included in the game’s credits. Booth responded by saying that they almost handled the soundtrack for Metroid Prime, but the role eventually landed with Kenji Yamamoto, who handled music for other entries in the series.
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Rumor: Metroid Prime remaster heading to Switch this holiday, Metroid Prime 2 and 3 to follow
Posted on 1 year ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Rumors, Switch | 0 comments
According to Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb, who has a track record of leaking gaming news, a remastered version of Metroid Prime will be released on Switch this holiday. Additionally, Metroid Prime 2 and 3 will be appearing on the system at a later date as well.
Grubb shared what he’s heard about previous Metroid Prime games for Switch during his “Game Mess Mornings” show today. He started out by sharing the following:
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Nintendo put an end to crunch at Retro Studios after Metroid Prime 1
Posted on 2 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
In a new episode of the Kiwi Talkz podcast, former Retro Studios developer Mike Wikan spoke about early crunch at the company, which Nintendo put an end to.
Wikan said that Retro Studios experienced significant crunch during the development of Metroid Prime 1. He even spoke about a instances in which he “was there 48 hours straight with one hour of sleep, and then a couple of 36-hour days.” But despite what may have been previously reported about Metroid Prime 2, there wasn’t much crunch on the game after Nintendo came in and put Michael Kelbaugh – who is currently the president and CEO of Retro – in the main leadership role.
Below is Wikan’s full words:
Former Retro Studios dev says a Metroid Prime Trilogy Switch port “would take a lot of effort” and is “skeptical” of it happening
Posted on 2 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 0 comments
With Metroid Prime 4 in the works for Switch, many fans have hoped that Nintendo would bring the series’ first three games to the platform. It’s unclear whether or not that will ever happen, but a former developer at Retro Studios has weighed in by sharing his own thoughts.
Michael Wikan spent many years at Retro having played a big role in all three mainline Metroid Prime titles as well as Donkey Kong Country Returns. In fact, he was a senior designer on each one of those projects.
First 4 Figures reveals lifesize Metroid Prime Samus helmet statue, pre-orders now open
Posted on 2 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
First 4 Figures has revealed a brand new life-size replica statue of Samus’ helmet from Metroid Prime. It comes in standard and “exclusive” versions, and if you opt for the latter, it’ll feature LED functionality for the visor and dots around the base. Also, First 4 Figures says that “the mount on the base where the helmet rests can now be manually rotated a full 360 degrees, giving you the option to display your base in an X-shaped pattern, as opposed to the fixed plus-sign shape of the Standard Edition.”
Here’s the official product description:
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Nintendo’s Kensuke Tanabe says Metroid Prime 4 wasn’t at E3 2019 so that people could focus on Luigi’s Mansion 3
Posted on 4 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
Nintendo’s Kensuke Tanabe is working on Luigi’s Mansion 3. That’s not the only important project he’s involved with, however. Tanabe is also one of the key staffers helping to make Metroid Prime 4 happen.
At E3 last week, Eurogamer decided to ask if Tanabe had any sort of update on Metroid Prime 4. He gave a bit of an interesting answer, noting that he wants people to pay attention to Luigi’s Mansion 3 for now.
Former Retro dev on Prime 2’s initial multiplayer focus, original Prime 3 plans, cancelled projects, more
Posted on 5 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 76 Comments
Shinesparkers has published a new interview with former Retro Studios staffer Jack Mathews. Matthews worked at the company as a former technical lead engineer on the initial Metroid Prime Trilogy.
During the discussion, Matthews had quite a bit to say about revised plans and cut ideas for the series. These include the initial idea to have Metroid Prime 2 be multiplayer focused, a more bounty hunter-like setup for Metroid Prime 3, and more. He also touched on some of the projects that were cancelled at Retro before Metroid Prime released.
You can find some notable excerpts from the interview below. Head on over here. for the full talk.
Designer talks about how Retro Studios turned an original FPS into Metroid Prime
Posted on 6 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii | 15 Comments
Metroid Prime has a pretty interesting development history. Before it was a Metroid game, Retro Studios was working on an original first-person shooter that had no ties to anything Nintendo-related. It was only when the big N stepped in and saw a level of the game that the game eventually morphed into Metroid Prime.
Speaking in the latest issue of Switch Player, senior designer Mike Wikan noted:
“When I came on board, the Engine group was significantly behind schedule and there was no way to create gameplay demonstrables in an effective fashion. I was told, quite literally, by leadership that designers would design the game on paper, then hand it off to engineering and art to create it. In my opinion that was insanity.”
“When Nintendo arrived suddenly, wanting to see demonstrables of all the games that the teams were working on, only our FPS had demonstrable real-time scriptable content. Nintendo liked what they saw and proposed we adapt that game and viewpoint, but restart it as a Metroid game.”
“The moral of the story is that if you see a problem, work to solve it; don’t assume someone else will take that responsibility on.”
More: interview, Metroid Prime, Mike Wikan, Retro Studios, top
Metroid Prime director on making the game, Nintendo’s influence, leaving Retro
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News | 32 Comments
Game Informer recently spoke with Mark Pacini from Armature Studio. Although some of the discussion touched on Batman: Arkham Origins – Blackgate and his new game ReCore, he also spoke quite a bit about his days at Retro and directing Metroid Prime.
One interesting anedcote was about when Retro was meeting with Shigeru Miyamoto and other folks from Nintendo’s main headquarters in Japan. After the meeting, Pacini’s boss said that they were upset with him. Why? Pacini didn’t have a pencil and paper at the meeting, so Nintendo felt he wasn’t listening. Pacini called it a “very noobie mistake” on his part, and wanted to make sure that wouldn’t happen again.
Making Metroid Prime was the toughest project for Pacini from a development standpoint and getting it completed. “I think it was just the amount of stuff we were trying to do in the time we were doing it,” he said.
