Support NeoGAF

[nkarafo]

I remember how one of the things i loved about Metroid was how "niche" it was compared to any other Nintendo iP. It never felt like a mainstream/average joe experience. Kinda like Dark Souls recently. But after the huge success of Metroid Prime, i feel like Nintendo wants to make it mainstream. With shit like OtherM being as dumbed down as possible and Federation Force looking like a cheap mobile game, i can't think of something else.

I also believe that the big sales or Metroid Prime 1 (especially compared to Gamecube's base) was a misunderstanding. This is only a theory of mine, but i believe many people who bought Prime, bought it only because of the high praise and amazing reviews. Not that they knew anything about it. So it was like their first Metroid experience.

That's great and all, i'm sure many new fans were added to the fanbase because of it. But i'm also sure that a large amount of those people expected something else, like a standard shooter. That somewhat explains why the franchise never reached the same success as Prime 1. I mean, it's so weird that not even MP3 could reach those numbers (and Wii had a huge install base).

So what does all that mean? I think that this kind of unique game design will NEVER become mainstream. And the name is bound to that design now since OtherM couldn't sell as well with it's mainstream design because lets face it, the average joe doesn't care about Metroid and if he wants to play as a robot in space he has the Halo guy.

So i think Nintendo should approach Metroid like From approaches the Souls game. Which is a game for a certain crowd. Doesn't have to be as expensive as a Zelda game. Create a proper budget and target it to the right people. From Software looks like they are happy with this. It's not like Dark Souls was going to sell as well as GTA or something. Plus Nintendo doesn't have a choice IMO. Its either this or the franchise stays dead.

Thoughts?

 

[@MUWANdo]

Bloodborne/Souls is more of a commercial success than Metroid was or ever will be. Grassroots buzz accounts for a lot, hence why Other M flopped despite sucking in a way that's consistent with may commercially successful games/series.

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

Bloodborne/Souls is more of a commercial success than Metroid was or ever will be.

.

 

[Layell]

Nintendo is too afraid of doing something super difficult that would not attract newcomers like the souls series, thus it will not happen.

 

[nkarafo]

I think Dark Souls was a similarly successful title as the first Metroid Prime. And just like Prime, i think many people bought it without exactly knowing anything about it, they only truster reviews or word of mouth. Which may turned out a bit better for Dark Souls compared to Prime though.

Nintendo is too afraid of doing something super difficult that would not attract newcomers like the souls series, thus it will not happen.

Not talking about the difficulty alone. Both Metroid and Souls have some elements that makes them niche, each one has it's own. They are both successful niche franchises. The difference is that Nintando doesn't seem to be happy with it.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

Bloodborne/Souls is more of a commercial success than Metroid was or ever will be. Grassroots buzz accounts for a lot, hence why Other M flopped despite sucking in a way that's consistent with may commercially successful games/series.

They're not incomparable? The three Souls games sold 8,5mil in total, the three Prime games 7,2mil.

EDIT: apologies, that's the four Prime games including Hunters.

 

[Breads]

... it already does cater to a small target group. It sells just as many copies as the souls series and that's the problem. Nintendo likes to milk the 5m+ sellers. Not series like Metroid.

 

[bede-x]

Plus Nintendo doesn't have a choice IMO. Its either this or the franchise stays dead.

A cheaper 2D (maybe with 3D graphics) game would also be a possibility. In fact that's what I think the new 3DS game should have been. Something to keep the fans happy, while keeping the budget down.

 

[Hektor]

They're not incomparable? The three Souls games sold 8,5mil in total, the three Prime games 7,2mil.

The two souls games. Unless you're counting the nextgen port as its own game.

 

[watershed]

Not in terms of sales potential but rather the gameplay/style/content of the game, Nintendo should absolutely make a metroid game that fits the metroid mold instead of trying to rework or expand the metroid mold to find a larger audience. The problem there is one of resources and expectations. Fans won't accept a low budget metroid game; we expect a AAA, polished game with the classic metroid formula. But at the moment, that's not a good business decision for Nintendo with their current platforms. Hence we get a low budget looking multiplayer focused Metroid spin off on the 3ds.

 

[JediLink]

The two souls games. Unless you're counting the nextgen port as its own game.

I'm guessing he means Dark 1 and 2 + Demon's

 

[Overside]

Bloodborne/Souls is more of a commercial success than Metroid was or ever will be. Grassroots buzz accounts for a lot, hence why Other M flopped despite sucking in a way that's consistent with may commercially successful games/series.

What? The prime games and the souls series sales are within 1 million units of each other, they are very comparable.


If Nintendo could figure that out, and actually market the game, challenging players about getting lost and finding the way, similarly to how souls marketing challenges about 'prepare to die', instead of bastardizing the series design to appeal to people who dont give a shit about metroid in the first place, whilst making it unpalletable to people who did give a shit about metroid, the series could very comfortably enjoy the 2-4 million sales per title the primes got.

No massive money sinks into cinematics and vo required.

 

[Hektor]

I'm guessing he means Dark 1 and 2 + Demon's

Demon Souls wasnt included in the 8.5 million figure released a few months ago.

 

[Mik317]

I think Nintendo has no idea how to have the series translate into 3d

The FPS genre has changed and IDK what a MP4 actually does for the series at this point. Other M had some neat ideas ruined by some god awful ones. Samus was fun to control and move around but the random first person switches and such were a huge bummer (the story was also...not great).

And while hardcore fans would probably freak out to see a return to 2D, I don't think that does much either.

Like OP said, it is a niche series and Nintendo is in need of hits right now.

 

[Renekton]

Metroid is not niche.

Its unfortunate release timings (like at tail end of SNES console cycle) makes the series a bad luck brian.

 

[nkarafo]

If Nintendo could figure that out, and actually market the game, challenging players about getting lost and finding the way, similarly to how souls marketing challenges about 'prepare to die', instead of bastardizing the series design to appeal to people who dont give a shit about metroid in the first place, whilst making it unpalletable to people who did give a shit about metroid, the series could very comfortably enjoy the 2-4 million sales per title the primes got.

And not only that. This way they will even create new fans. Because im pretty sure people who like deeper experiences and more interesting designs are born all the time. And many average joes don't stay average all the time, they need something better at some point. Attracting them should be easier than attracting the crowd of an over-saturated marked. Sure, they won't be as many but again. Not all games are made to sell 50 million copies.

With the right budget and management, a game can be still be successful and bring in profits if it sells 2 or 3 million. It doesn't even have to be low budget like some mobile game. How about "medium-budget", i mean Dark Souls doesn't feel like a low budget game.

 

[KingBroly]

I think Nintendo has no idea how to have the series translate into 3d

The FPS genre has changed and IDK what a MP4 actually does for the series at this point. Other M had some neat ideas ruined by some god awful ones. Samus was fun to control and move around but the random first person switches and such were a huge bummer (the story was also...not great).

And while hardcore fans would probably freak out to see a return to 2D, I don't think that does much either.

Like OP said, it is a niche series and Nintendo is in need of hits right now.

I think they've simply run out of ideas for the series, period. Sakamoto had his plan/vision with Other M, and people soundly rejected it because it was terrible. They went on radio silence for nearly 5 years only to give people a Multiplayer Co-Op spin-off that looks like a cheap mobile game, and is supposedly Tanabe's BIG Metroid game he's wanted to do for a while.

So what happens when people reject that as well? They simply don't know what to do with it anymore, and half the time I seriously wonder if the series would be better off in someone else's hands.

 

[@MUWANdo]

They're not incomparable? The three Souls games sold 8,5mil in total, the three Prime games 7,2mil.

The difference is the Souls games are on an upward trajectory whereas I think Prime spiked with the first game and leveled out afterward (including the handheld games, which sold pretty much the same amount), which was sorta the OP's point--lots of people bought the first one and didn't feel compelled to return, whereas the Souls games (in a similar fashion to Monster Hunter in the west) have slowly grown in popularity as people have acclimatised themselves to them.

As for whether Nintendo should be content for Metroid to be a niche series, I'm not so sure that needs to be the case, but I think the Federation Force response--that is, "people hated the last game so let's go for a new audience instead of trying to address our fuck-ups" is totally the wrong way to go.

 

[StoppedInTracks]

Bloodborne/Souls is more of a commercial success than Metroid was or ever will be.

Incredible how this is true.

Nintendo done fucked up Metroid real good.

 

[Overside]

I think Nintendo has no idea how to have the series translate into 3d

The FPS genre has changed and IDK what a MP4 actually does for the series at this point. Other M had some neat ideas ruined by some god awful ones. Samus was fun to control and move around but the random first person switches and such were a huge bummer (the story was also...not great).

And while hardcore fans would probably freak out to see a return to 2D, I don't think that does much either.

Like OP said, it is a niche series and Nintendo is in need of hits right now.

The first person switches for missiles were fine, other M's problems came from the bastardization of metroid design.

Think about this.

What do you do in metroid? You explore, and you find power ups, the power ups give you new abilities, which you combine with the magical power of your brain and imagination, and figure out how to get to new areas.

Now, take away the exploration. Lock all the doors that don't lead to the next event. Now, take away finding the power ups. Just give them to the player, now, take away using brain power to figure shit out, as the game just tells you what to use the powers you were just given on.

Dont worry, here is where the story fits in.

So, while we are at it, we will personify the entire bastardization of the series iconic design, into an in game character, and then, through cinematics, where the player is forced to put down the controller and watch, lets tell the player they are supposed to like and care about this character, whi is literally the personification of satan as far as the games design is concerned.

 

[KingBroly]

Incredible how this is true.

Nintendo done fucked up Metroid real good.

And the sad thing is that not many people know how badly they did.

 

[nkarafo]

As for whether Nintendo should be content for Metroid to be a niche series, I'm not so sure that needs to be the case, but I think the Federation Force response--that is, "people hated the last game so let's go for a new audience instead of trying to address our fuck-ups" is totally the wrong way to go.

Problem is they were already going for a new audience with OtherM. Defenders may say that they wanted it to be the true sequel to Super Metroid but even Sakamoto himself said to an interview then that he wanted it to be more accessible for a newer crowd.

Why would a newer crowd even care about a sequel to Super Metroid? The thing was released in 1994 for christ sake, their parents were teens back then. So they went for the new crowd. I played the game and i can tell this is the case.

The first person switches for missiles were fine, other M's problems came from the bastardization of metroid design.

Think about this.

What do you do in metroid? You explore, and you find power ups, the power ups give you new abilities, which you combine with the magical power of your brain and imagination, and figure out how to get to new areas.

Now, take away the exploration. Lock all the doors that don't lead to the next event. Now, take away finding the power ups. Just give them to the player, now, take away using brain power to figure shit out, as the game just tells you what to use the powers you were just given on.

Dont worry, here is where the story fits in.

So, while we are at it, we will personify the entire bastardization of the series iconic design, into an in game character, and then, through cinematics, where the player is forced to put down the controller and watch, lets tell the player they are supposed to like and care about this character, whi is literally the personification of satan as far as the games design is concerned.

Ah, i love it when i see someone who understands what was great about the series in the first place and what was exactly wrong with OtherM. Thank you.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

The difference is the Souls games are on an upward trajectory whereas I think Prime spiked with the first game and leveled out afterward (including the handheld games, which sold pretty much the same amount), which was sorta the OP's point--lots of people bought the first one and didn't feel compelled to return, whereas the Souls games (in a similar fashion to Monster Hunter in the west) have slowly grown in popularity as people have acclimatised themselves to them.

As for whether Nintendo should be content for Metroid to be a niche series, I'm not so sure that needs to be the case, but I think the Federation Force response--that is, "people hated the last game so let's go for a new audience instead of trying to address our fuck-ups" is totally the wrong way to go.

I think a lot of that is down to terrible handling/marketing by Nintendo, though. Echoes had essentially no marketing at all and Corruption's was very poor and only for a brief window of time. Corruption had significantly more sales than Echoes, so I don't think the series trajectory is downwards - rather, it seems to correlate quite well with marketing efforts.

I wouldn't even bother producing a Metroid game for the Wii U; the user-base is too low especially in the key demographic for Metroid games (usually slightly more discerning 20+ males who like cerebral shooters). But I do think it's worth Nintendo producing one for the NX (assuming it is the Wii U's successor), and really giving it a full marketing blast. Firstly because it should turn a decent 1.5mil as a bottom line and probably a profit with it, but secondly because very early on in the NX history it will buy Nintendo significant credit amongst a demographic that has largely abandoned Nintendo.

 

[Jobbs]

Bloodborne/Souls is more of a commercial success than Metroid was or ever will be. Grassroots buzz accounts for a lot, hence why Other M flopped despite sucking in a way that's consistent with may commercially successful games/series.

Metroid could absolutely be a commercial success in a similar way as Souls have if the developers of it understood its roots, understood its fans, and understood why its fans like Super Metroid. Unfortunately, they don't and never have and never will. Perhaps more sadly, they don't aim to. They don't care to have a niche success like Souls. They wanted to force Metroid into their Nintendo mold and its fans just never wanted that.

 

[HeelPower]

Souls blew up.

Its well within the mid high selling tier and its an incredibly well managed multi-team series.They managed to make 4 games of the highest quality(a fifth is on the way,touch wood) that sold really well+ they're not watered down games.

That's a sort of success rarely ever found within the gaming industry.

 

[Overside]

Metroid could absolutely be a commercial success in a similar way as Souls have if the developers of it understood its roots, understood its fans, and understood why its fans like Super Metroid. Unfortunately, they don't and never have and never will.

They did pretty good, once.

 

[Jigorath]

The Souls series got much bigger with Dark Souls because it was available on 3 different platforms. It broadened the reach of the series heavily. The bigger fanbase in turn helped Bloodborne sell 2m copies in just a few months despite being a platform exclusive. I'm not sure what Nintendo can do with Metroid to make it more popular. They tried expanding the fanbase with various handheld games and it never did much. I think the series is just stuck being very niche.

 

[KingBroly]

I think a lot of that is down to terrible handling/marketing by Nintendo, though. Echoes had essentially no marketing at all and Corruption's was very poor and only for a brief window of time. Corruption had significantly more sales than Echoes, so I don't think the series trajectory is downwards - rather, it seems to correlate quite well with marketing efforts.

I wouldn't even bother producing a Metroid game for the Wii U; the user-base is too low especially in the key demographic for Metroid games (usually slightly more discerning 20+ males who like cerebral shooters). But I do think it's worth Nintendo producing one for the NX (assuming it is the Wii U's successor), and really giving it a full marketing blast. Firstly because it should turn a decent 1.5mil as a bottom line and probably a profit with it, but secondly because very early on in the NX history it will buy Nintendo significant credit amongst a demographic that has largely abandoned Nintendo.

Other M had a better marketing effort behind it than Prime 3 could ever dream of, yet it tanked. Why? Because the game sucked, wasn't true to the series, fans bought on day 1 and told people how much it sucked. Word of mouth for Other M, TO THIS DAY, is one of, if not the most toxic for any video game ever made.

I know people bring up poor sales of Prime 1/2, but it was on the GameCube, a console that sold 22 million units, with the top seller being Melee at around ~6 million units I believe. That's a pretty hard barrier to overcome. Now, Prime 3 on Wii had horrendous marketing despite being a quality game. But what about everything else? They completely rushed it to being over-exposed with titles like Hunters, Pinball and Zero Mission through an odd release pattern during those days. It was getting the Mario/Zelda release schedule treatment of today when the series had been dormant for so long. This is something that simply didn't work for most hardcore franchises back in the day, since it usually led to massive franchise fatigue amongst gamers. It's not something they built up to, but they just did it. It's crazy to think about.

 

[nkarafo]

The Souls series got much bigger with Dark Souls because it was available on 3 different platforms. It broadened the reach of the series heavily. The bigger fanbase in turn helped Bloodborne sell 2m copies in just a few months despite being a platform exclusive. I'm not sure what Nintendo can do with Metroid to make it more popular. They tried expanding the fanbase with various handheld games and it never did much. I think the series is just stuck being very niche.

But they don't need to make it more popular. That's the point.

All they need is to keep it moderately popular while making profits of it, by targeting a specific (but determined) base. This base will never let go of the franchise in the same way an average joe will abandon something in order to follow the next trend.

Its a smaller profit, yes, but it's a guaranteed, steady profit. They still have the big names (Mario, Zelda) for the bigger hits.

 

[Overside]

The Souls series got much bigger with Dark Souls because it was available on 3 different platforms. It broadened the reach of the series heavily. The bigger fanbase in turn helped Bloodborne sell 2m copies in just a few months despite being a platform exclusive. I'm not sure what Nintendo can do with Metroid to make it more popular. They tried expanding the fanbase with various handheld games and it never did much. I think the series is just stuck being very niche.

They can try doing that thing that made the highest selling metroid game of all time just a few years ago.

Just Make a great fucking metroid game, and let people know its a great fucking metroid game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewcljvJQAQA

 

[AmethystEnd]

Souls blew up.

Its well within the mid high selling tier and its an incredibly well managed multi-team series.They managed to make 4 games of the highest quality(a fifth is on the way,touch wood) that sold really well+ they're not watered down games.

That's a sort of success rarely ever found within the gaming industry.

You didn't say anything I didn't already know/think but reading it still made me feel warm and fuzzy.

 

[KingBroly]

But they don't need to make it more popular. That's the point.

All they need is to make it moderately popular while making profits of it, by targeting a specific (but determined) base. This base will never let go of the franchise in the same way an average joe will abandon something in order to follow the next trend.

Its a smaller profit, yes, but it's a guaranteed, steady profit. They still have the big names (Mario, Zelda) for the bigger hits.

They need to make Metroid more popular. I hate to say this, but right now the series is reaching that 'hey, remember ______? It was great once' status due to poor management and inactivity.

 

[Nekofrog]

... it already does cater to a small target group. It sells just as many copies as the souls series and that's the problem. Nintendo likes to milk the 5m+ sellers. Not series like Metroid.

it sells nowhere near the amount the souls series does. the souls series was well managed into good sales, metroid was poorly managed and.. well..

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

It would be nice if the Metroid series actually catered to it's own fucking fanbase at this point.

 

[nkarafo]

They need to make Metroid more popular. I hate to say this, but right now the series is reaching that 'hey, remember ______? It was great once' status due to poor management and inactivity.

Ok but not by targeting the mainstream demographic. They can revive the series and make it good at the same time if they follow the Souls model:

- Keep the budget and expectations reasonable.
- Target it to a specific group.
- Advertise it's uniqueness. Souls had the difficulty, Metroid can have the exploration ("see if you can find your way out" or something like that). Tease the players in a similar way. Metroid has many unique features so it can work.
- Make it actually good so it gets good reviews and word of mouth (pretty sure they can).

That's how Metroid will become the next souls series. The fanbase exists already for that, that's the great thing. Both Metroid and Souls fans will want to dive back in.

 

[KingBroly]

Ok but not by targeting the mainstream demographic. They can revive the series and make good at the same time if they follow the souls model:

- Keep the budget and expectations reasonable.
- Target it to a specific group.
- Advertise it's uniqueness. Souls had the difficulty, Metroid can have the exploration ("see if you can find your way out" or something like that). Tease the players in a similar way. Metroid has many unique features so it can work.
- Make it actually good so it gets good reviews and word of mouth (pretty sure they can).

That's how Metroid will become the next souls series. The fanbase exists already for that, that's the great thing. Both Metroid and Souls fans will want to dive back in.

Nintendo 100% needs to go back to square one with Metroid without Sakamoto and Tanabe, period. The series needs new blood, fresh ideas and the people behind it right now have gotten in way over their heads to the point of damaging the brand, particularly Sakamoto.

But I don't think they're going to get there. I legitimately think, and I'm not alone when I say that I feel like we're going to hear 'oh, if you want another Metroid game, buy Federation Force.' You hear it far too often with random spin-offs deciding the future of the main series nowadays with video games.

 

[zoukka]

Metroid is a platform exclusive game. It's not comparable to the DS series that is on two consoles and PC.

 

[Crayolan]

ITT people acting like there hasn't been a good Metroid game since Super Metroid. Really?

it sells nowhere near the amount the souls series does. the souls series was well managed into good sales, metroid was poorly managed and.. well..

Well how much do the Souls games sell? Looking at this thread Metroid usually does around the 1.5-2.5m range. People always say souls is niche so it can't be that much farther ahead unless people are using a really loose defintion of niche.

 

[nkarafo]

Metroid is a platform exclusive game. It's not comparable to the DS series that is on two consoles and PC.

but it's comparable in that Metroid (used) to target a specific group of players, the ones who want something a little more mentally challenging than Mario, or even Zelda.

ITT people acting like there hasn't been a good Metroid game since Super Metroid. Really?.

I'm pretty sure it's obvious that we are talking about Metroid's future after the horrid OtherM and what needs to be done from now on.

 

[KingBroly]

ITT people acting like there hasn't been a good Metroid game since Super Metroid. Really?



Well how much do the Souls games sell? Looking at this thread Metroid usually does around the 1.5-2.5m range. People always say souls is niche so it can't be that much farther ahead unless people are using a really loose defintion of niche.

The highest selling Metroid game was Prime 1 at I believe 2.1 million copies sold. I know for Other M, At E3 2009 Reggie said they needed to sell 1.5 million in the US alone to break even and the game never hit 1 million worldwide.

 

[flak57]

Bloodborne/Souls is more of a commercial success than Metroid was or ever will be. Grassroots buzz accounts for a lot, hence why Other M flopped despite sucking in a way that's consistent with may commercially successful games/series.

You have some insider financial info? Or you're just using raw sales numbers.

 

[Crayolan]

The highest selling Metroid game was Prime 1 at I believe 2.1 million copies sold. I know for Other M, At E3 2009 Reggie said they needed to sell 1.5 million in the US alone to break even and the game never hit 1 million worldwide.

Sorry, forgot to edit in the link right away.

According to this: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=963700

Metroid Prime sold 2.78m

Metroid 1 also sold over 2.5m

The rest are within the 1-2m range except for Zero Mission and Other M.

 

[Overside]

After watching that old prime commercial, I had to watch the other m.

Just watch these.

Metroid Prime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewcljvJQAQA

Other M:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZitsjNVESao

Even in the commercials you could see how fucked other M was.

Voice over key words/Phrases:

Prime commercial: Silence, Isolation, Evil, Destroy, Must be Found,
Other M commercial: Past? Memory? Leads Me? Story? Prolougue?

WTF?

Then there is the imagery:

In the prime commercial, everything you see is shit you do in the game. The space ship lands, just like in every game since metroid II. You shoot bugs, use the morph ball into a hidden tunnel, shows off cool power ups, open doors by shooting them, Jumps up to a high ledge, cool powerups, crazy strange alien giant monster. he voice over shut the hell up about halfway through the commercial.

Its all fucking metroid, it bleeds the metroid experience.

Other M:
Hot chick walking through still scenes, saying shit that has nothing to do with metroid. Still scenes full of tons of people. Scenes that have nothing to do with what playing metroid is like. Scenes of story events from previous games. Literally the only moments in past metroid games where the player doesnt really have control. Only gameplay footage shown is cinematic auto kills. The voice over continues blabbering irrelevant garbage throughout the entire spot.

No fucking power ups are shown, no fucking exploration is shown, nothing that has anything to do, with what a metroid game is iconically, historically about, is shown in this commercial. Just like how the game turned out.

 

[nkarafo]

After watching that old prime commercial, I had to watch the other m.

Just watch these.

Metroid Prime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewcljvJQAQA

Other M:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZitsjNVESao

Even in the commercials you could see how fucked other M was.

Voice over key words/Phrases:

Prime commercial: Silence, Isolation, Evil, Destroy, Must be Found,
Other M commercial: Past? Memory? Leads Me? Story? Prolougue?

WTF?

Then there is the imagery:

In the prime commercial, everything you see is shit you do in the game. The space ship lands, just like in every game since metroid II. You shoot bugs, use the morph ball into a hidden tunnel, shows off cool power ups, open doors by shooting them, Jumps up to a high ledge, cool powerups, crazy strange alien giant monster. he voice over shut the hell up about halfway through the commercial.

Its all fucking metroid, it bleeds the metroid experience.

Other M:
Hot chick walking through still scenes, saying shit that has nothing to do with metroid. Still scenes full of tons of people. Scenes that have nothing to do with what playing metroid is like. Scenes of story events from previous games. Literally the only moments in past metroid games where the player doesnt really have control. Only gameplay footage shown is cinematic auto kills. The voice over continues blabbering irrelevant garbage throughout the entire spot.

No fucking power ups are shown, no fucking exploration is shown, nothing that has anything to do, with what a metroid game is iconically, historically about, is shown in this commercial. Just like how the game turned out.

I couldn't finish the OtherM commercial, especially after having played the game already and knowing the damage it caused.

They really, really fucked it up. Painful to watch. Because being cinematic has to be the most important stupid thing. Its the new trend.

 

[KingBroly]

Sorry, forgot to edit in the link right away.

According to this: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=963700

Metroid Prime sold 2.78m

Metroid 1 also sold over 2.5m

The rest are within or slightly below the range provided except for Zero Mission and Other M.

Somehow I forgot that I favorited this months ago, but luckily my browser reminded me of that. But you know how numbers get thrown around. Hard to keep track of. Regardless, only a bit better than I thought, but it still shows some grave mismanagement with the brand.

I don't know what Other M's sales are, but going by the initial shipment of 500k in the US (a lot of which are still on shelves) I'd estimate WW shipments at around 800k, with sales being around 500-600k.

Also, what's funny about the US Other M commercial is that it basically tells you everything they say about Samus' past in the game, including shoving that context right up front for the Ridley scene. They had to have known how bad it would come across and tried to mitigate it.

 

[avrophantasm]

ITT people acting like there hasn't been a good Metroid game since Super Metroid. Really?



Well how much do the Souls games sell? Looking at this thread Metroid usually does around the 1.5-2.5m range. People always say souls is niche so it can't be that much farther ahead unless people are using a really loose defintion of niche.

From this thread, worldwide sales are:

Dark Souls 1 - 2,828,000 units
DS: Prepare to Die Edition - 2,765,000 units
Dark Souls 2 - 2,311,000 units
DS2: Scholar of the First Sin Edition - 600,000 units

Bloodborne also hit 2 million sales about a month ago. Demon Souls is apparently at about 1.7 million.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

From this thread, worldwide sales are:

Dark Souls 1 - 2,828,000 units
DS: Prepare to Die Edition - 2,765,000 units
Dark Souls 2 - 2,311,000 units
DS2: Scholar of the First Sin Edition - 600,000 units

Bloodborne also hit 2 million sales about a month ago. Demon Souls is apparently at about 1.7 million.

Damn, Bloodborne is such a huge success.

 

[deleted]

I would love to see a Metroid game done by From Software. Think about it. Nintendo could hype the shit out of that name, they could advertise the game returning to its roots in terms of storytelling and exploration. They'd make a move to get the series back to the original crowd and made a statement to not dumb it down any further.

And From knows its stuff around that. The only question is what they gain out of it other than a better relationship with Nintendo and work experience and a potentially new crowd on a new console.

 

[Crayolan]

From this thread, worldwide sales are:

Dark Souls 1 - 2,828,000 units
DS: Prepare to Die Edition - 2,765,000 units
Dark Souls 2 - 2,311,000 units
DS2: Scholar of the First Sin Edition - 600,000 units

Bloodborne also hit 2 million sales about a month ago. Demon Souls is apparently at about 1.7 million.

Definitely better than Metroid but I think people are exaggerating a bit saying Metroid is and never was anywhere near that. Series worst is about on par with Metroid's average and its best is on par with Metroid's best.

 

[Jobbs]

The core problem with Metroid post-Super is that they didn't identify what was popular about it and why people like it and follow through on those elements.

One of the defining aspects of Super Metroid is that it respected its audience -- It was the original Dark Souls. It respected its audience and delivered story in a minimal style and focused on a sense of isolation and wonder. Rather than identifying these things and expanding on them to please the core audience and even expand the audience, Nintendo has regressed from these things, more and more, with its increasingly vapid and pointless Metroid installations.