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."

Comments

Finally, a Metroid story on Slashdot

[Ang31us]

It's about time!

First of all, MP3C is a game made for gamers...it uses every button on the Wii-mote and Nunchuck AND uses motion sensitivity AND aiming. You already know that the play control is better than any console experience (my trusty mouse is still more accurate). I will NEVER play a FPS using a Xbox 360 or PS3 controller...those controllers SUCK for FPS. In a single-player first-person shooter/adventure I would rather be aiming at the screen with my arm-cannon than moving a mouse because I feel like I'm in the game AND it's sooo much fun!

Secondly, Super Mario Strikers Charged is also a deep and complex game that uses almost every button, function, and feature on the Wii-mote and Nunchuck. Play it online against some highly-ranked players and see how many ways there are to pass, shoot, score, and play defense.

The talk about Nintendo ignoring their hardcore gamer base is utter nonsense. I love both of these games as much as I love Zelda, Resident Evil 4, and Madden on my Wii. Everyone knows Wii Sports is still da bomb...I still box and play tennis and baseball when friends come over (right after the game of Strikers). Put one of those "casual gamers" up against me in Wii Sports tennis or boxing and I'll dispatch them faster than you can say "Nintendo wins the console war."

Re:Finally, a Metroid story on Slashdot

[NonSequor]

(my trusty mouse is still more accurate)

Actually the human brain is capable of exceptional accuracy with a pointing device like the wiimote. Your brain is pretty much hardwired for this sort of thing and it only takes a little practice to get really good at it. I've seen a shooting instructor teach people how to hit an aspirin in midair with a BB gun in less than 10 minutes. This is something that pretty much everyone who isn't braindamaged is capable of doing.

With the wiimote you can easily do some things that are much more difficult with a mouse: track a fast moving target and quickly move between targets. Of course, the PC still has the advantage that you can map keys to all sorts of useful macros, but I think the mouse's reign as best input device is at an end.

Re:Finally, a Metroid story on Slashdot

[AKAImBatman]

There's just one teeny-weeny little problem: The Wii Remote does not actually "point" at the object on the screen. It interpolates a set of coordinates based on the positions of the IR LEDs according to the sensor on the front of the remote. The problem this creates is that the aim is inaccurate. You're really aiming within the field of the sensor bar and NOT within the field of the television. Even worse, you're dealing with polar coordinates to determine Cartesian coordinates. This can slightly warp the aim of the Wii Remote, making it even harder to aim precisely.

When I used the Zapper as a kid, I stood far back from the television. (The first mistake people always made with the zapper was to stand too close to the television.) From there I was able to lift the weapon and fire with pinpoint accuracy at ducks/clay pigeons/gangsters/plates/glass panes/various junk the magician threw/etc. At least among my family and friends, I was a crack shot. You can't do that with the Wii Remote. Every time you heft it as a weapon, you need to orient the reticle before taking the shot. You can get good at aiming the remote fairly close to your target, but there will always need to be that visual feedback loop between the reticle and your aim.

While I have yet to play Metroid, I understand it gets around these issues with a "lock-on" control system that actually corrects your aim for you. So if you can get the reticle close to your target, it's good enough to take the shot. Not very realistic, but certainly a lot more fun. ;-)

Now don't get me wrong. The Wii Remote is lightyears ahead of the ultra-fine motor control required to play FPSes with a dual-analog controller. A player can respond faster, shoot quicker, aim more precisely, and otherwise manage to make the controller do what they intend. I think it's an absolutely wonderful update to the venerable gamepad, and wouldn't want to play my console any other way. I'm only pointing out that it has no real advantage over a mouse when it comes to hand/eye coordination skills. In some ways it actually does worse, because the spatial movement of the controller lacks the precision that a mouse's digital-optical sensors can provide. So there is still room for improvement. :)

They should use the time to make middleware.

[Dorceon]

Seriously, since MP3:C got the controls right, and it does such a good job on the graphics, it seems like licensing the engine out is an obvious step. When you consider that Nintendo owns Retro, and Nintendo stands to benefit from the quality of games on the Wii going up (in both hardware sales to hardcore gamers and in software licensing revenue), not to mention that they can collect engine licensing fees, it seems like an obvious choice.