The recent announcement that Nintendo will be releasing a sku this summer of the Metroid Prime Trilogy with updated graphics and Wii-mastered controls for Metroid Prime and MP2 all on one disc is a little bittersweet for me. When I picked up my Gamebcube, which seems like a generation ago, Metroid Prime 2 and Resident Evil 4 were my first two purchases and frankly they ate up months of my gaming time because of the incredible gameplay and value contained in both titles. I tried Metroid Prime after the fact, I know I'm a bit of an ass-backwards kind of guy, and while it was impressive I had already burned out a bit on scanning and back-tracking. When I bought a Wii, Metroid Prime 3:Corruption was one of first purchases because the reviews were great and I knew that it was part of a great legacy. I always meant to go back to Metroid Prime but again, I felt like they had nailed the controls perfectly for Corruption and couldn't see going back to the original in the series with old school controls. And now Nintendo are Wii-Mastering the controls for the first two games in the 3D series(I don't include The DS-MP:Hunters in this, but it's a solid title too). And frankly I'm confused as hell about how I feel about this.
On one hand I think this could be great value and a lot of fun because there are very few games on the market that are as challenging and rewarding as any of the MP titles. On the other hand, I am tired of Nintendo printing money off of older titles. Do I seriously plan to spend the excess of 30-40 hours it would take to play through MP and MP2 with new controls? With The Conduit coming out in June? With inFamous and Fuel out soon as well? With all of the other current-generation titles that are slated to come out in the Fall around the time that this sku will drop like Drake's, Modern Warfare 2 and Bioshock 2? No, just no.
Skus with previous iterations of games has been a clever and viable marketing approach going back to the earliest days of PC gaming. I think everyone I knew at one point in the mid-ninteties had that Doom pack with all of the pre-Doom3 titles and chapters and updates. Sierra and EA used to regualrly release box sets of four or five games at a time with the previous content for titles. Damn I used to love Sierra's RPGs!
My point essentially is that while the Metroid Prime Trilogy and Wii-Mastery of the first two titles is great in one way, all it does is show that Nintendo is still more interested in profit than in art and innovation. There are great titles for the Wii and any new Wii owner should feel very comfortable that the AAA titles available for it are some of the best on the market. However, what does it say about game development in general when we are so excited about games that are over a decade old being updated? What does it say about the bulk of the gaming consumer market that Nintendo continue to dominate by recycling so excessively. I think that it is intellectual sloth to just say that Nintendo are shit and the Wii is a child's toy. That's for the morons and fanboys of the world who no one really listens to anyway.
I just hope that Nintendo has a big E3. They have made a truckload of money by faming older titles, but there is a point where they need to invest in new IPs and that point is now in my opinion.
Clearly whether it's worth your money is your call, but in my view it's very silly to resent companies for rereleases. Some people never played the original and dont want to have to buy the old system, or appreciate being able to have those updates. And some people loved the original so much those tweaks are worth the money. You know what it is before you buy it.
Although it is disappointing when not a lot of good new IP comes out and all you see is rereleases, but obviously you're enjoying the new IP.
I'll probably get this seeing as I loved Corruption and only ever rented MP1.
Videogames cost money??? I thought, I bought them with magic :(
Nintendo always used they're old franchises to make money ... look at Mario ; if it's a good way to introduce Metroid Prime to a younger or even older audience that never played it , I'm all up for it.
That 20 dollar cut on Corruption can be used to buy Big Bang Mini.
And they are outfitting it with Wii FPS control, which isn't the easiest thing to get right, as seen with earlier FPS concoctions. So just leave it, the games are great, you're getting a pretty nice deal on it.
Since when was fun only limited to being something new?
This is neat news for anyone who hasn't played them, but if a similar pack were introduced for the 360/PS3, they wouldn't be lazily ported: we'd get extra content or improved graphics.
I'm actually pretty happy about this. The New Play Control series has been priced at $30 per game. So, the first two could have been $60 on their own. Add to that Prime 3 and that's a hell of a deal. I already own 3, so I really look at it as saving $10 and having a game to give away to somebody.
My brother paid for the first two (and thus has them at his place, where I can't play them), and I never played the third game... so for me it'll be a decent purchase, unless the Wii controls suck. Three good games for $50 works for me.
@Mega
The point is, though, that original works, remakes, ports, and everything you can shake a stick at is allowed on the XBLA and the PSN. We can get direct ported classics like TMNT, and remakes like the new Turtles in Time. It's just leaps and bounds, better.
If you really stretch your imagination, this could *almost* be seen as Nintendo giving something back to fans who are pissed off that NPC games cost a nasty £30. They rip you off to high heaven first, then offer a bargain you can't refuse on the next release in their remake series.
I would buy this. I quite fancy playing Metroid Prime 3 now actually. I thing a re-play is due!
I don't understand your complaints. $50 for all three games sounds like a great bargain; especially since they're being "Wiimastered" as you so eloquently put.
We spend $15 downloadable games, anyway. If you divide up the costs of all three games they cost about the same. The difference is that these are longer than most of the crud on Marketplace and the Playstation Store.
You may not care to spend that much, but the younger crowd or people who missed out may be interested. In my opinion, this is one the better moves Nintendo has made.
Oh, and on the topic of profit over innovation - fucking duh!
Of course they want money. Who doesn't? It's not like this is impeding on anything. Releases no matter what they are never bad. They're just poorly executed. This one isn't, however.
Magnalon: You can't compare VC releases to XBLA and PSN titles. That's retarded.
True, those are great remakes, but on a general basis, the VC is not known for it's original titles.
In fact, I think I'm going to do a write-up soon, and explain how shallow the Wii's marketing tactics are. Once again, I really like the Wii (flash back to my blog about how great the Wii will be in 2009), but I'm not going to defend it like it's the only system I own either.
A rerelease is a game that's released a second or third time in its exact same form, in my opinion. This is way more like a remake, since it's going to have a bunch of extras.
Guys don't get me wrong, the Prime trilogy for $50 is a steal; however I think it's only core gamers that will really buy this. This just feels like Reggie and Cammie are trying to placate the Nintendo Core with older games.
Personally I'm going to buy this for all my friends who only use their Wiis for Wii Fit and Guitar Hero.
I will buying the Conduit mind you, and Retro are hinting at a new IP announcement around E3, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I think Prima generally appeals to the core market, but the new controls are amazing and, dare I say, make the series much more accessible than the Game Cube control scheme. Its an imipressive rerelease, though ultimately I'm not picking it up until I'm through playing a bunch of other games on my list.
@VC vs XBLA remakes
The one thing I wish VC ports allowed for was some sort of online multiplayer, even if that just meant friend codes.
What would be sexy for Nintendo to do would be to implement some sort of front end "system link over internet" sort of deal, where you could have player one and player two on their own systems without having to add netcode to the ports themselves. I dunno if that would really work well, but with Broadband and the ridiculous processing power that these VC ports can't actually be using, it be a nice way to re-invigorate these classic ports.
@Magnalon: I don't understand what sparked this discussion as it's unrelated to the post, but duh!
Of course the VC isn't "known for it's original titles". The virtual consoles is there to sell you what are essentially roms. Games that are untouched. And I can appreciate that (sometimes).
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about me
CURRENT PRIMARY TIME SUCKERS: Batman:Arkham Asylum, CoD4, and Katamari Forever
Favourite games of all time?
1. Resident Evil 4, Gamecube
2. Super Mario Brothers, SNES
3. Call of Duty 4, PS3
4. LoZ:Twilight Princess, Cube, Wii
5. Half Life 2, PC
6. Half Life 2; episodes 1 and 2, PC
7. Puzzlequest, DS
8. Metroid Prime 3, Wii
9. Mariokart 64, N64
10. Donkey Kong Country, SNES
Favourite games of this generation?
1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, PS3 and 360
2. Drake's Fortune, PS3
3. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Wii
4. MGS4, PS3
5. Halo 3, 360
6. Burnout Paradise, PS3 and 360
7. Gears of War, 360
8. Mariokart Wii, Wii
9. Fallout 3, PS3
10. Killzone 2, PS3
Current Consoles;
Sony PS3
Nintendo Wii
Nintendo DS
iPhone (hey, I'm sinking a lot of time into puzzlequest and fieldrunners...what can I say?)
Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press living the dream since March 16, 2006
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Clearly whether it's worth your money is your call, but in my view it's very silly to resent companies for rereleases. Some people never played the original and dont want to have to buy the old system, or appreciate being able to have those updates. And some people loved the original so much those tweaks are worth the money. You know what it is before you buy it.
Although it is disappointing when not a lot of good new IP comes out and all you see is rereleases, but obviously you're enjoying the new IP.
I'll probably get this seeing as I loved Corruption and only ever rented MP1.
I'd say this is the one first party re-release not worth reprimanding.
Videogames cost money??? I thought, I bought them with magic :(
Nintendo always used they're old franchises to make money ... look at Mario ; if it's a good way to introduce Metroid Prime to a younger or even older audience that never played it , I'm all up for it.
I've never been into the MP series, but I'm also on the same edge.
While this may seem really good on the outside, all you're getting are Two $10 with a $20 price-cut on Corruption.
@HDShadow
"All" you're getting is two $10 games and a $30 Corruption? Oh me, oh my! What highway robbery!
That 20 dollar cut on Corruption can be used to buy Big Bang Mini.
And they are outfitting it with Wii FPS control, which isn't the easiest thing to get right, as seen with earlier FPS concoctions. So just leave it, the games are great, you're getting a pretty nice deal on it.
Since when was fun only limited to being something new?
This is neat news for anyone who hasn't played them, but if a similar pack were introduced for the 360/PS3, they wouldn't be lazily ported: we'd get extra content or improved graphics.
@Magnalon
Hypothetical situation is hypothetical.
One example:
XBLA+PSN versus ported Virtual Console
I love the Wii, but damn are they lazy.
*damn are Nintendo of America lazy.
I'm actually pretty happy about this. The New Play Control series has been priced at $30 per game. So, the first two could have been $60 on their own. Add to that Prime 3 and that's a hell of a deal. I already own 3, so I really look at it as saving $10 and having a game to give away to somebody.
@Magnalon
VC versus WiiWare, one is SPECIFICALLY for ported classics with little to no changes, the other is for original works.
My brother paid for the first two (and thus has them at his place, where I can't play them), and I never played the third game... so for me it'll be a decent purchase, unless the Wii controls suck. Three good games for $50 works for me.
@Mega
The point is, though, that original works, remakes, ports, and everything you can shake a stick at is allowed on the XBLA and the PSN. We can get direct ported classics like TMNT, and remakes like the new Turtles in Time. It's just leaps and bounds, better.
If you really stretch your imagination, this could *almost* be seen as Nintendo giving something back to fans who are pissed off that NPC games cost a nasty £30. They rip you off to high heaven first, then offer a bargain you can't refuse on the next release in their remake series.
I would buy this. I quite fancy playing Metroid Prime 3 now actually. I thing a re-play is due!
I don't understand your complaints. $50 for all three games sounds like a great bargain; especially since they're being "Wiimastered" as you so eloquently put.
We spend $15 downloadable games, anyway. If you divide up the costs of all three games they cost about the same. The difference is that these are longer than most of the crud on Marketplace and the Playstation Store.
You may not care to spend that much, but the younger crowd or people who missed out may be interested. In my opinion, this is one the better moves Nintendo has made.
Oh, and on the topic of profit over innovation - fucking duh!
Of course they want money. Who doesn't? It's not like this is impeding on anything. Releases no matter what they are never bad. They're just poorly executed. This one isn't, however.
Magnalon: You can't compare VC releases to XBLA and PSN titles. That's retarded.
Oh, and I will be buying this even though I dislike MP3.
@Magnalon
I guess I just imagined stuff like Gradius Rebirth, Contra Rebirth, Cave Story, etc. Clearly they can't be done on WiiWare.
True, those are great remakes, but on a general basis, the VC is not known for it's original titles.
In fact, I think I'm going to do a write-up soon, and explain how shallow the Wii's marketing tactics are. Once again, I really like the Wii (flash back to my blog about how great the Wii will be in 2009), but I'm not going to defend it like it's the only system I own either.
A rerelease is a game that's released a second or third time in its exact same form, in my opinion. This is way more like a remake, since it's going to have a bunch of extras.
Im gettin it
Guys don't get me wrong, the Prime trilogy for $50 is a steal; however I think it's only core gamers that will really buy this. This just feels like Reggie and Cammie are trying to placate the Nintendo Core with older games.
Personally I'm going to buy this for all my friends who only use their Wiis for Wii Fit and Guitar Hero.
I will buying the Conduit mind you, and Retro are hinting at a new IP announcement around E3, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I think Prima generally appeals to the core market, but the new controls are amazing and, dare I say, make the series much more accessible than the Game Cube control scheme. Its an imipressive rerelease, though ultimately I'm not picking it up until I'm through playing a bunch of other games on my list.
@VC vs XBLA remakes
The one thing I wish VC ports allowed for was some sort of online multiplayer, even if that just meant friend codes.
What would be sexy for Nintendo to do would be to implement some sort of front end "system link over internet" sort of deal, where you could have player one and player two on their own systems without having to add netcode to the ports themselves. I dunno if that would really work well, but with Broadband and the ridiculous processing power that these VC ports can't actually be using, it be a nice way to re-invigorate these classic ports.
@Magnalon: I don't understand what sparked this discussion as it's unrelated to the post, but duh!
Of course the VC isn't "known for it's original titles". The virtual consoles is there to sell you what are essentially roms. Games that are untouched. And I can appreciate that (sometimes).