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Metroid Designer Talks Metroid Prime II, EyeToy

Posted by simoniker on from the irish-metroid-featuring-shamus dept.

Thanks to C+VG for their interview with Yoshio Sakamoto, a key designer on the Metroid titles, and now manager of Nintendo's notable R&D1 development studio. He talks about Sony's EyeToy USB camera game ("...if it's quite a unique product it's a shame Nintendo didn't come up with that kind of idea"), Retro's in-development Metroid Prime sequel ("my involvement with Metroid Prime II is like my involvement with the first one - I am advising them as to what kind of flavor they have to adhere to, and the kind of storylines possible"), and makes it clear that Nintendo are actively working on follow-up hardware ("Nintendo is always working on the next generation of systems, be it handheld or console game machines.")

6 of 19 comments (clear)

  1. Metroid Creator? by Locky · · Score: 5, Informative

    The creator of Metroid is none other than Gunpei Yokoi, who left Nintendo in 1996.

    He was killed in a car accident in 1997.

    1. Re:Metroid Creator? by simoniker · · Score: 4, Informative

      Hey - you're quite right, Yokoi is generally thought of as the 'father' of Metroid, so I've changed the article to reflect this. I believe that Sakamoto was the character designer on the original Metroid, though, and according to Dylan Cuthbert, who's worked at Nintendo in Japan:

      "[Metroid] has always been developed by R&D1 (the dept. Gunpei Yokoi headed up) and designed by the teams who mostly make gameboy titles. Samus was thought up by a friend of mine called Yoshio Sakamoto who is also developing the latest gameboy version Fusion, and also helped direct Prime."

      Guess it all depends on producer vs. character designer vs. etc, but I think the amended text better reflects this. Thanks for the heads-up!

  2. Eye Toy? by PaleZer0 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Didn't nintendo have something similar to the eye toy at E3? like a game where using a camera would map your face on the characters? I'm so confused...

    --

    PaleHour
    1. Re:Eye Toy? by edwdig · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Perfect Dark originally had support for face mapping, but it was pulled after Columbine. You needed a GameBoy, the GameBoy camera, and the GBN64 transfer pak. The transfer pak and camera never really caught on, so not many people would've been able to use the feature if it was included.

      Nintendo did have some game called Talent Studio or something like that. Not sure of the details, but it's probably what you're thinking of. I remember you could create custom characters in it; I think that included mapping your face in somehow. But it seemed like a product that would only stand a chance of being successful in Japan.

  3. Metroid Has Always Been... by Goyuix · · Score: 2

    Metroid has always been one of my very favorite games on any of the Nintendo systems. The story and character(s).

    Who can forget the glorious day of beating the original Metroid only to find out that Samus was in fact a girl. Ridley has also been an awesome boss - though I have never understood why he was #2 to Mother Brain.... much much cooler and more dangerous. Metroid Prime got it right by having him as basically the leader of the Space Pirates.

    I think it is great that he is "hands-off" as far as development is concerned, but is very involved with story and plot - a very good way to direct the flavor of the game, and let those special seasonings blend into other games as well.

    Compared to Mario Sunshine or Zelda Wind Waker, Metroid Prime has really been the game that most engrossed me and that I enjoyed playing, quite a pleasant cross between adventure and so many other genres that I don't entirely know how to classify it.

    To keep it on topic, Metroid Prime II or whatever they call it will almost certainly be purchased by me, I just hope I have time to play it.

  4. Eyetoy: Nothing new here by Stubtify · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Quite a unique product? My Intel USB video camera has had games based on it for at least 4 years. There's one with a ball that you hit by, well hitting the ball. Another equally stupid game had something to do with a ribbon I think.

    I really don't think the eyetoy can grab the attention of the (US) ps2 crowd very well unless sony comes up with a killer app for it. On the PC side this hasn't been gaming, but instead video conferencing. I'd pay $30-50 to be able to see family halfway across the country, but to hit a ball onscreen by waving my arm, I'd have to pass.