I know a lot of people felt sore that us Wii owners here in Japan got Super Smash Bros. Brawl a little bit early, but I thought it’d make you all feel better to let you know that Metroid Prime 3 Corruption just hit Japan a few days back. That’s right, a 6 month delay! And what did they spend all that time doing? Adding online play? Nope. How about Japanese voice-overs? Nah- it’s subtitled! Most likely the game’s under-the radar (and very very late release) have to do with its going quite contrary to Nintendo’s extremely family oriented marketing campaign for the Wii in Japan (with heavy promotions for Wii Fit, Daily Knowledge Training, and other games you can play with your grandparents).
With so many games geared towards family and away from nuking aliens, it’s hard to see if there’s enough of a hard-core Wii crowd left in Japan to support this title. I wouldn’t have been too surprised to see the Japanese release cancelled where it not a 1st party staple. Then again, maybe Nintendo just wanted to warm gamers up with a month of Brawl before releasing a more involved action game.

Thanks to The Shuyguy Kingdom for the sprites that I used for the little animation!

I can’t say I “get” cosplayers, but this one was making the rounds today and the effort is certainly there, and it’s Samus Aran, so what they heck. More pics — including helmet shots!!! — can be found here. Full disclosure: I made a homemade original GameBoy costume for Halloween in the early 1990s.

While the tension of Samus Aran’s latest battle with the Mother Brain is still tantalizing the gamer nerve, and while the epic conclusion of the tale of universal phazon corruption is still fresh in the memory, dust off that GameCube controller and give the original Metroid Prime a spin.

Really, go ahead.

Loaded up? Wonderful. Now blast through the introductory space station for a moment; if there is one thing the original Prime holds over the latest, this is it. The eerie desolation and incomparable alienation of exploring this dilapidated Space Pirate vessel still manages to thrill five years after its release, and is a far better - and more suitable, considering the franchise - starting point for Samus Aran and her Metroid-blasting space exploration. (more…)

Whoa! Wouldn’t mind firing up one of these babies! This monster is loaded with pulsing LEDs, new paint, rechargeable stand, and loads of other sweet additions. The stainless steel Samus symbol was hand crafted by the skilled Morpheon mods, and took 12 hours to make. The Metroid Wii is on eBay (here) through October 1st, so make a bid if you have the cash!

Retro gave an awesome interview to MTV about Metroid Prime 3, as well as some teasers for their next project.

[The developers] and the rest of Retro are already focused on their next project, which is not another “Metroid Prime” game. What is it? They’re coy. But some Retro fans have pondered the studio going casual and making the kinds of games Nintendo’s Japan studios are emphasizing … But will Nintendo make Retro go that route too? “I’m really excited about what we’re working on next,” he said. “If people enjoy the kinds of games Retro makes, I don’t think they’re going to be disappointed about what we’re doing.”

Think they can pull off another huge hit?

Infendo reader Kale wins the coveted Comment Of The Week award, with his comparison of BioShock and Metroid Prime 3.

Last night, I played both Bioshock on the 360 and Prime 3 on the Wii. I played Bioshock for about 2 hours… It was okay (definitely not a perfect 10 game, Game Informer….), but suffers some serious art direction issues, janky animations, and none of the voices seem to match the characters very well. It’s just System Shock with a mucous membrane, nothing new or special. Luckily, my copy was a freebie from work, so no real loss. The whole time I’m playing it though, I kept comparing the game to Prime 3. Finally, I reached a checkpoint and turned off the 360. I put in Metroid and was once again reminded of the Metroid Prime series’ flawless color theory, lighting, and the new control scheme. I must say, after playing a conventional FPS and then immediately putting in Metroid, one begins to realize the true power of the Wii.

Click here to read the full comment. Share your impressions of both games in our comments!

Just what does the Associated Press, the world’s largest news service, have to say about Metroid Prime 3?

The tactile sensation of flicking the nunchuk to throw a grapple beam and yank something off a wall is unlike anything I’ve experienced before in a video game. Instead of tapping a button to pull a lever, simply twist and move your hand around to pull it, like you would in the real world.

But you already knew that, no? AP gives the game three-and-a-half-stars out of four.

From the 10/10 review…

Since its introduction, gamers have seen great potential in the Wii remote as a natural controller for first-person action games. But while several titles have pulled off the method adequately, Corruption is the first that doesn’t leave any room for you to consider whether it would be better with a traditional controller…. the system works impeccably… this is the title that gamers have been waiting for.

And there you have it.

Let’s take a look back to when you booted up Metroid Prime for the first time. You might of had doubts that Nintendo would be able to convert the series into the third dimension. But when the opening cinematic began showing a shaky video feed of a modernized metroid while accompanied by an even eerier, but epic soundtrack….you knew that this was going to be good.

The introduction to a game is a very important element that in a way prepares you for your upcoming tasks. All three of the Prime games intros have accomplished that sense of an epic Sci-Fi flick that will slip you a few hints. Contributing to the Month of Metroid, I have combined all three intros of the trilogy for your viewing pleasure.

Tycho over at Penny Arcade sums it up nicely:

I keep hearing that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption isn’t being promoted very well, but the person saying this always seems to know about it, and then when people share this complaint in the thread those people also seem to be “in the know.” It ships on the twenty-seventh of August, if you weren’t aware - but since you almost certainly are, we needn’t dwell on it. What we should be dwelling on are the series of teaser vids that Retro has been trickling out. Metroid’s largely mysterious heroine has always been a huge draw for me, and it’s a strange case where going into deep detail about the character might actually damage the mystique. But the universe she operates in need not be vague, which is why these clips are such a rich meal: the Aurora Unit trailer that modernizes ancient Metroid canon in a classy way, and there’s a treat at the end of the Valhalla trailer that ties it all together. They both cover a setting that has gotten darker and more sophisticated, tones we don’t typically associate with Nintendo.

Again, I blame the Internet for any troubles on this one. Just like when all those Wiimotes were “breaking televisions” I doubt very much that there’s a marketing drought going on right now for Metroid 3. What I think happened is some popular columnist or Internet forum member somewhere decided that Nintendo was pissing all over hardcore gamers for some odd reason or another and decided to find an Ahab’s Whale that would smear Nintendo and make it do an about face and appeal to hardcore gamers, dammit! It’s basic reverse psychology.

On a side note, there’s something weirdly wrong and insipidly stupid with the hardcore community lashing out at Nintendo for not being tough enough. Weren’t these the same idiots who couldn’t wait to make fun of Nintendo’s GameCube for being a piece of kiddie candy?!

Does Nintendo need to show more TV commercials to sell Metroid 3? Nope. In fact, I think they’d help sell Metroid about as much as those Halo 3 Mountain Dew cans will help sell Halo 3 to people who don’t own an Xbox 360. As in, not at all. Do they need more Internet marketing? As Tycho points out, that’d be throwing money on a fire — things on the Net are already ramped up. The best advertising is already in place for Metroid, and we’re all a part of it just by discussing it, watching videos and even complaining about it.

Does the Metroid preview channel only reach Wii’s with online enabled? Obviously. But the message reaches out to the friends of those Wii owners, and their families, and their friends, etc. Basically, the marketing is being done pro bono, and that’s ok. Any more marketing would be a complete waste of money. Some people argue that this might be true, but if Nintendo did marketing in addition to it, then Metroid 3 would sell even better. Not really. This is because word of mouth and a solid product trumps that any day of the week. No one’s watching normal TV these days anyway. An added bonus for Nintendo is that this discussion gets non-online Wii’s online even faster.

Metroid 3: Darker, more mysterious, and the marketing is just fine, thank you very much.

Wired’s Chris Kohler likes Super Metroid. A lot. Strangely, him and I are sort of in the same boat. I’ve never played Super Metroid but absolutely love Metroid: Zero Mission. Behold the persuasion:

Virtual Console’s winning streak hits six weeks with the release of Super Metroid, aka One Of The Best Games Ever. I actually was late to the party on this one. I’d played Metroid and didn’t like it. Then I tried Metroid II and, uh, didn’t really like it. So I assumed that Super Metroid, when it came out, was just more of the same. It was only after playing Metroid Fusion in 2002… that I realized: “Wait a second, you mean there’s a game on the SNES just like this, but way awesomer?”

I’m buying this game today, but I’m screwed for time. This, BioShock, Metroid Prime 3 next week. And I want to get my mitts on Brain Age 2. Gamers are so screwed this fall…

The upcoming issue of Nintendo Power allegedly gives Metroid Prime 3 a perfect 10/10 score based on the following:

• First Wii game that you couldn’t confuse graphically with last-gen
• Great artwork
• Incredible feeling of immersion
• Flawless level design; tons of freedom to explore but you always have the feeling that you’re at the right place at the right time. Sounds like the game does a remarkable job of nudging you as to what to do without giving it away.
• Best platforming design in a first person shooter
• Gestures for pulling levers, etc markedly improved from earlier demos

Before you dismiss the publication’s critique for being owned by Nintendo proper, remember the magazine has given unfavorable reviews to Nintendo published games in the past. Incidentally, not even Zelda: Ocarina of Time or Zelda: Twilight Princess received a 10 from Nintendo Power.

Like you needed to know that anyway before buying the game…

Well, that’s not quite true. Perrin Kaplan is merely Nintendo’s marketing guru (for now) and has a few tidbits to offer about Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Kaplan via Cubed:

“…we still have a lot of our more traditional marketing efforts planned. People will see it all shortly, from ads to many of the usual tactics we use to support our key products. Plus: a few more surprises like the Metroid Prime 3 Preview. And no, I’m still not going to spoil the fun and tell you about it ahead of time!”

Cubed seems to think that means a demo, but I’m inclined to look back at my notes and recall that Kaplan is a frickin’ crazy person. Still, she just might be crazy like a fox in this case and a demo is forthcoming. It would make a hell of a lot of sense, but I’m cautiously optimistic given the fact that Nintendo is super secretive and rarely does anything it doesn’t deem necessary to its continued success.

Edit: Kaplan name change thanks to the jingle in the comment section

The Nintendo courier (by way of email) just dropped off the below statement at Infendo headquarters to build some additional buzz surrounding Metroid Prime 3 on Wii.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption features amazing first-person controls, and takes advantage of the intuitive, motion-sensitive Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers. This incomparable installment concludes the trilogy’s storyline while introducing new puzzles, bigger adventures and more intense battles. Media rave about Metroid Prime 3: Corruption’s game play and revolutionary controls. Chris Kohler of Wired.com even calls it “a brilliantly designed game, with perfected Wii motion controls,” while GameSpot.com’s Brian Ekberg hails it as “…an intense and challenging game, one that isn’t skimping when it comes to making the most of the Wii’s various control possibilities.”

How’s that for hype? Metroid Prime 3 is available on August 27.