Retro Studios Stepping Back From Metroid For A Bit

Retro Studios, the makers of the games in the Metroid Prime series, has announced they'll be stepping back from the games for a bit now that Corruption is in stores. Comments from project director Mark Pacini discuss that decision and their interaction with the Wiimote: "I'm sure that there will be other titles created but as far as Retro Studios is concerned, we're taking a break for a little bit. We started with the core ideas of the game ... but we did not receive the information about the Wii controller until well into development. So we got a big surprise, of, hey, this is what we're going to do for the next console. Many things had to be refactored, but actually many things fell right into place. The Wii remote enables us to do things that we hadn't previously done in other Metroid games."

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[The MAZZTer]

I think I'LL step back from Metroid Prime 3 for a bit... the end boss clobbered me. Only had 1/3 of it's health down too. I figured out how you're supposed to kill it though, so next time I try I'll probably get it.

I'm also still missing some stuff, and I got some questions. I know this isn't GameFAQs or wherever but no-one seems to have written a good walkthrough or power-up guide yet and I don't have the $30 guide. Any help? (Warning: Minor spoilers below)

1. I'm missing five pickups. Two energy tanks, and I'm guessing a missile expansion (I have 250, does it max out there or at 255?) The rest are ship mission expansions, then?
2. How do ship missile expansions come into play? When do they get refilled? I've never seen a counter for it anywhere, I don't even know how many I have. I know in open areas you can order in airstrikes anywhere.
3. When you get a token, is it globally, for all save slots? That is, if I start a new game will my unlockables reset and my tokens be emptied? More importantly, can I LOSE friend tokens like this?
4. Any quick and easy way to get friend tokens? Cause we all know Slashdotters don't have friends (just kidding). But seriously, I got someone to send me one token. You need something like 20 or 25 to unlock everything. And in case I missed a different color token that I can't get now, I'd have to start the game over, and... well see the above question.
5. About those pickups... I got the power-up maps for Norian, and the B planet and SkyTown. There don't seem to be power-up maps for Valhalla or the Space Pirate homeworld... are there?
6. If not, are there any "tricky" power-ups on Valhalla? I think I got everything there but I'm not sure. In a room behind the green door right before the last room with the pirate code, there's a sectioned off area with Metroids that I can't get back to. It looks boring back there, but it's on the map, so I wanna know if there's anything useful hidden back there...
7. On the pirate homeworld, I got an energy tank in a room where you fight a Metroid Hatcher. Are there any more hidden on that planet? (Cause as I said I'm missing two.)
8. I remember seeing a plate of plasmite (whatever, that stuff the nova beam can shoot through) somewhere on the pirate homeworld (or maybe the valhalla?) that WASN'T near where you get the Nova Beam... I think it was in one of the larger rooms, but I can't find it again for the life of me. Any places where you can use a Nova Beam to get a power-up (not the small corner room with a metroid and a missle upgrade, got that already)?

In return, here are some tips I've figured out that not everyone might know:

1. Metroids and cloaking troopers have weak spots which you can see with the X-Ray Visor. Makes killing them 10x easier.
2. The power-up maps I'm talking about above you can find in the room where you use your ship to pick up the big whatever, repair it, and set it down. In that room there are two morph ball slots in the wall with spider ball tracks which you can use to reach bomb slots. Bomb all of them to get the maps (OK this one isn't mine, found it out from GameFAQs).
3. Plasma beam fire seems more effective if fired rapidly instead of using charge shots.
4. When you get the Grapple Voltage, you can use it on any enemy you can grapple (not sure about pirates with shields) to drain life out of them and into you, although after some time they break free.
5. Sometimes if you press B quickly a lot to skip cutscenes when going from one place to another, the game will run out of cutscene and still be loading. If this happens you might see the title screen load screen for a moment as a stand-in before loading finishes. I can make this happen by landing at the Space Pirate Research Facility, and then using the tram to the right of the start point.
6. After you finish some areas, you may find strange energy enemies which can only be hurt in Hypermode. Note that there are two types so scan until you get both (they're hard to differentiate). If you kill a Red one, you get a boss token. Every time. Although I think you can only kill each individual one once.