They handled DKC well enough, but Metroid Prime was absolutely fucking amazing. If they could do for Zelda what that game did for Metroid, as in really advance it along while keeping the feel and atmosphere intact, it would definitely be my most anticipated game ever.
This is an incorrect way of looking at this. Monolith was involved in Skyward Sword but you basically see a bunch of Monolith guys who were involved in the animation department especially for the cinemas. This is something most companies outsource anyway. It really isn't Monolith "co-developing" the game. Just Nintendo being a large company and instead of outsourcing some things to the usual nameless companies others do, they found a "famous" company to do it.
Retro was involved in Mario Kart, but their job was to re-design the 16 classic tracks with the MK Engine and send it back to EAD.
Sorry to bring up the Elephant in the room:
Retro was working on a Zelda spin-off project, were they not? What went wrong there? How far into production did it get?
You should expect awesome.
At least in my eyes, they have done no wrong. I love all three Prime games and DKCR became one of my favorite platformers of all time, so I can't wait to see what they're doing next.
I wouldn't be against it or anything but what direction would their remaining lead designers, Bryan Walker and Tom Ivey, take Zelda in? I'm drawing a blank, Zelda would be new territory for Retro again (not counting what was rumored since we don't know anything about it).
If it is not classic Zelda and instead a traditional 3D console entry then I think Nintendo will probably combine the Aonuma+Retro teams. Not the whole staff but some key members of the traditional Zelda team will have to move to Texas.
If it is not classic Zelda and instead a traditional 3D console entry then I think Nintendo will probably combine the Aonuma+Retro teams. Not the whole staff but some key members of the traditional Zelda team will have to move to Texas.
Retro is a veteran at doing late night satellite conferences with Nintendo SPD and EAD. No one has to move anywhere, just like how Miyamoto can supervise EAD Tokyo's work without actually going to Tokyo all the time.
I love Retro but I really don't see them "fitting" with Zelda, Miyamoto saying so just confirms for me they have no idea what to do with the series, which is kind of sad. At this point I wouldn't mind a hiatus to be honest.
I love Retro but I really don't see them "fitting" with Zelda, Miyamoto saying so just confirms for me they have no idea what to do with the series, which is kind of sad. At this point I wouldn't mind a hiatus to be honest.
Retro had a brilliant concept artist Andrew Jones produce a lot of the art behind Metroid Prime. I think he is gone now but I would love to see his take on Zelda.
Metroid is debatable, because the Metroid they made is very different from the traditional one. So I can see people being hesitant about them doing the same thing to the Zelda series. I'm not a fan of Metroid Prime games, but I recognize their quality.
But with DKCR and MK7, they basically made sequels to games/genres they have never touched before, and done it justice.
I'd like to see EAD do some new/older IP's anyway. As long as they can put their foot down and prevent any unnecessary motion or Upad BS, I'm all for it.
I might be on my own on this, but even for games that I enjoy from developers that I respect I pretty much always approving of mixing things up. Having played games for 20+ years you start to get a pretty big sense of "been there, done that" about most games. In particular sequels can really start to grate, I just hate to see developers cranking out more of the same, no matter how good it is. As such, I really like to see announcements about big franchises swapping hands, Team Ninja doing Metroid? 343 studios doing Halo? Platinum doing Metal Gear? I might not always like the results, but at least it will be different and make for some exciting news. Like a really good cover version of a song it's interesting to see a new take on an established formula.
Retro had a brilliant concept artist Andrew Jones produce a lot of the art behind Metroid Prime. I think he is gone now but I would love to see his take on Zelda.
Yeah but who of the original team is still at Retro? It's still a great dev, sure, but it wouldn't be all the same people who reinvented Metroid. A bunch of people left after Prime, then another wave in 2009.
Yeah but who of the original team is still at Retro? We'd get a great team, sure, but it wouldn't be all the same people who reinvented Metroid. A bunch of people left after Prime, then another wave in 2009.
Very few nowadays, Nintendo was a day late and dollar short putting Retro on a high enough pedestal. I guess we'll see what happen with Retro's next project, but most of the Senior Designers have moved on...
I think if Retro were to go in a direction they wanted with the Sheik action game, I might feel it were a step backwards because Zelda has action already pretty-well implemented into the adventure genre, and the combination of which is deeper than either of the genres by themselves.
Metroid Other M had a lot of action but it was pretty much a fancy beat-em-up. I know that besides the "isolation" that Samus experiences in the game, she's like a tank that obliterates walls as she runs through them; which I appreciated that they represented for once. I like beat-em-ups but it just didn't feel right for Metroid (at least in the way that Other M did it).
If it were 1st-person I'd feel they might run the risk of a "Me too"-type situation compared to games like the Elder Scroll series. Metroid Prime was 1st-person but it retained the focus on puzzles and exploration. Metroid Prime was brilliant but I don't think I could stand a 1st-person Zelda. There's too many 1st-person titles already.
I might prefer that they were to go with the Sheikah route (though Sheik herself is a bygone concept, unless we revisit OoT in a major capacity). Impa from Skyward Sword
patrolling The Surface before/after the cataclysmic battle in the past of SS
could be an interesting idea.
I was sort of disappointed that Kojima Productions outsourced MGRising and made it a hack/slash title. Still, maybe it'll be good.
I haven't been hyped about a nintendo anything for years. But I'm already crazy hype for just the notion that Retro might do a Zelda. The series NEEDS a fresh look.
Wat? I had no idea they were behind Mario Kart 7! I haven't played it so I can't comment on that, but Mario Kart for me is the kind of franchise you can give to any competent developer and it will do it justice, is a kart racing game at the end of the day.
As for DKC, I just didn't like it that much, is a great game but didn't capture my attention, I never finished it and kind of regretted buying it at full price.
Wat? I had no idea they were behind Mario Kart 7! I haven't played it so I can't comment on that, but Mario Kart for me is the kind of franchise you can give to any competent developer and it will do it justice, is a kart racing game at the end of the day.
As for DKC, I just didn't like it that much, is a great game but didn't capture my attention, I never finished it and kind of regretted buying it at full price.
So, is this pretty much a good bet then? Because the last time I remember hearing Miyamoto talk about handing a franchise over to another developer vaguely like this was RARE with StarFox (when he said that he thought their Dino Planet game would be a good fit for SF) and that ended up happening.
Having been disappointed with -every- Zelda release in the past decade(that isn't Minish Cap), I would be pleased for damn near anyone else to give it a shot.
Retro would definitely be on the top of Nintendo's short list of potential developer partners.
No way. Considering how awesome the story in Metroid Prime was I want Retro on the task. Also, EAD would fuck it all up with a long-winded tutorial and unnecessary exposition.
