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Nintendo Enthusiast's Mike D. (aka EvilTw1n) has revealed that their top choice for the "Most Misunderstood Wii Games" is none other than Metroid Other M. In the first half of his article, he explains quite explicitly that in order to fully understand the game's greatness, you must overcome and forget all the preconceived notions you had before about 3D gaming mechanics. In the second half, he breaks down what most people have pinned negatively to MOM: its story. Isn't balancing gameplay and story something that many other AAA developers still struggle with to this day?

For the most part, I've tried to distance myself from the petty arguments on MOM, as they not only bore me, but they don't ever seem to get anywhere. And it mostly ends up someone linking to a certain blog article (that shall not be linked) and pointing out that it's "proof" of the game's sophomoric attempt on story and reduces the character of Samus to a pitiful, one-dimensional brat with "Daddy issues." Because that's what makes the game totally suck, right? Riiiiight...

Opinions are subjective. When it comes to the true greatness of a game, nothing's really right or wrong -- if you found it fun, then great. If you were repulsed by it, then also great - keep that with you. Unless you're a developer, it's going to do absolutely nothing for you in return. Other M didn't kill the Metroid franchise, it just made a lot of distinctive choices that turned off some players, and consequently split up a lot of the fanbase. But it's much more likely these people were turned off due to preconceived notions and expectation than what was actually given to them. That shouldn't be enough of a reason to demonize the entire game, should it?

You can see the list recap here.

--Infinity's End

Hugo Bille, game designer for The Working Parts, has written up a fantastic analysis of the level design to Super Metroid! Bille does a clear job of illustrating how the game leads players along through the first portion without making them feel like they are being led, and how it teaches players lessons about the game with each new item collected. It is also great to see the differences between Super Metroid and later titles in the series, particularly how the game lets players explore a large portion of the world soon after collecting the Power Bombs. And in case you were wondering why the Lower Norfair theme in Super is so much more potent than in Metroid Prime, Bille tells us that, too:

What really makes Ridley's home genuinely haunting is instead a series of nasty surprises. To even get here, you had to swim through a sea of lava - did you think your Gravity Suit protected against anything? Not against this lava. You can fly, and the world is an open book to you - and yet here you find creatures that you cannot even inflict a scratch upon. You are deeper down than you've ever been, but your path leads ever downwards. Add to this enemies that are at once more aggressive and more resilient than anything else on the planet, and the artstyle once again veers towards that creepy retro style. It is around that kind of background that the music can wrap its magic.

Let's not also forget that you are heading towards your nemesis from the opening.

You can check out "The Invisible Hand of Super Metroid" here on Gamasutra. It is well worth the read.

Until next time...
Captain Commando

The Zero Suit figure has been previously displayed with a Metroid accessory, but we didn't know that Samus would be able to 'wear' it! New images reveal that the figma Samus will also come with a variety of accessories, including a Morph Ball, different hand poses, and several arm cannon attachments.

According to the figma blog, reservations will apparently begin today (the 24th Japan time) for both figures, so keep an eye out at your import retailers of choice. We will keep you posted once we find websites conducting pre-orders.

UPDATE:

The distributor has announced native pricing information, and any fans worrying that it was going to cost an exorbitant amount can now breathe a hearty sigh of relief. The figma is set at a suggested price of $50 (3800 yen) and the Zero Suit $100 (7800 yen). While this doesn't include the additional costs of importing, we're quite pleased here at the MDb, and June can't arrive soon enough for both figures. Hit the links below for the official description and new product imagery.

UPDATE 2:

Pre-orders are now being offered at a number of popular online retailers, such as: AmiAmi, Hobby Link Japan, Hobby Search, & Otacute.

--Aurora Unit

Today we have a special guest translation by the talented Neon_Icarus from NeoGAF! This article is "Iwata Asks: Metroid Prime 3", which had been available in Japanese since 2008, but never translated. The article covers the bumpy road to the development of Prime 3 through a discussion with producers Kensuke Tanabe and Risa Tabata. We learn some surprising facts about the development of the Wii, such as how Keisuke Terasaki of Production Group No. 3 suggested splitting the Wii Remote into Remote and Nunchuck in order to make Prime 3.

Most surprising, however, was the low opinion many at Retro Studios initially held for the Wii because of its low specs. It wasn't until they were shown the Wii Remote and Nunchuck in action using a modified version of Metroid Prime 2 that their opinions changed. The demo was made for TGS 2005 and was created in secret, and was a secret even to most Retro employees, because the Nunchuck had yet to be announced. Tanabe-san elaborates:

[R]ight before the announcement, I had the rest of the staff at Retro introduced to the Nunchuk. I will never forget the spectacle of that moment. I gathered all the staff together who had not been involved in the creation of the demo, and the moment they first picked up the Nunchuk, it was as if their eyes lit up. The surprise on their faces was truly something to behold.

The interview also discusses other problems encountered while developing Corruption, such as polishing Hyper Mode and adding "Unique AI" to make the game feel more memorable. An example of this "Unique AI" was Space Pirates "playing tag" with Samus after stealing the energy core in the GFS Olympus introductory stage. Tanabe-san explains, "When we were children, I'm sure everyone at one time took a treasured item from a friend, and ran away