"After striking out boldly with a fresh, new look at Donkey Kong last year, we felt like we really wanted to get back to our roots," said Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh, at an investors' meeting this week. "And for us that can literally mean only one thing: a game we're calling Metroid Prime."
"This takes place after the first game in the series. We're gonna figure out how to translate this beloved two-dimensional franchise, untouched since the SNES, into a three-dimensional GameCube title. It sounds daunting, but we think Mr. Miyamoto's suggestion of a first-person viewpoint is sound, and maybe he can tell us which members of our staff to fire before throwing out most of our work."
"So many developers these days get caught up in the excesses of innovative intellectual properties and low-budget explorations of quirky and original ideas—then they neglect to produce sequels or franchise titles," Kelbaugh added. "We're ready to put our money where our mouth is. The best way to be Retro is to think retro, and the way to do that is to make Metroid Prime again. Frankly, we have no choice. Our other in-progress titles were cancelled so we could work on this one."
Not enthralled with the idea of a mere port or upgrade, Retro has decided to take a "different, but exactly identical" approach, said Metroid Prime artist Gene Kohler. "We're starting from scratch. We're not upgrading textures or increasing polycounts—we're going back to square one, back to '99. The same storyboards, the same gameplay mechanics, the exact same Metroid Prime. We're really committed to doing this one right the first time, the second time. I am also conceptualizing a boss battle with Kraid, which we will not include in the game for old time's sake."
Kohler added, "People always tell you to 'know thy enemy, know thyself,' you know? At Retro, we think more along the lines of 'know thyself, know thyself.' We know ourselves—we know Metroid Prime. We need to get back to basics by taking a look at our non-Donkey Kong franchise."
Despite fan concerns about the controversial first-person viewpoint, the title is expected to be released for the Nintendo GameCube this November.
"This takes place after the first game in the series. We're gonna figure out how to translate this beloved two-dimensional franchise, untouched since the SNES, into a three-dimensional GameCube title. It sounds daunting, but we think Mr. Miyamoto's suggestion of a first-person viewpoint is sound, and maybe he can tell us which members of our staff to fire before throwing out most of our work."
"So many developers these days get caught up in the excesses of innovative intellectual properties and low-budget explorations of quirky and original ideas—then they neglect to produce sequels or franchise titles," Kelbaugh added. "We're ready to put our money where our mouth is. The best way to be Retro is to think retro, and the way to do that is to make Metroid Prime again. Frankly, we have no choice. Our other in-progress titles were cancelled so we could work on this one."
Not enthralled with the idea of a mere port or upgrade, Retro has decided to take a "different, but exactly identical" approach, said Metroid Prime artist Gene Kohler. "We're starting from scratch. We're not upgrading textures or increasing polycounts—we're going back to square one, back to '99. The same storyboards, the same gameplay mechanics, the exact same Metroid Prime. We're really committed to doing this one right the first time, the second time. I am also conceptualizing a boss battle with Kraid, which we will not include in the game for old time's sake."
Kohler added, "People always tell you to 'know thy enemy, know thyself,' you know? At Retro, we think more along the lines of 'know thyself, know thyself.' We know ourselves—we know Metroid Prime. We need to get back to basics by taking a look at our non-Donkey Kong franchise."
Despite fan concerns about the controversial first-person viewpoint, the title is expected to be released for the Nintendo GameCube this November.