I preface this by saying I am a Metroid cultist (as opposed to a Sakamoto cultist). The Metroid series has been my favorite series of any game since my map-making days of the original’s release (Prime now being my overall favorite). I even use Samus in Smash Bros., even though she is gimped beyond all recognition. I do admit that I have not played the Gameboy iterations as I hate hand held systems, although I did try Fusion, but lost interest rather quickly. So as a lifelong fan, I still plan on buying Other M. I always judge for myself, and have tried to avoid spoilers and trailers (which is for the best, from what I’ve heard). My expectations are very low, however.
As you have said, M:OM is apparently made by Sakamoto FOR Sakamoto. However, I also believe it is in some ways made for the Japanese. Samus was always a girl in a tank (sans the treads) to Americans. While the first Metroid did well, each subsequent one showed plummeting sales in Japan, whereas American sales stayed pretty consistent. During the Gamecube days Nintendo was not so interested in the lapsed audience, which is why it made the Prime series as a FPS, which even FURTHER alienated the Japanese audience. Prime was the best selling game in the series because it came bundled with the Gamecube, which undoubtedly helped it’s numbers. Nintendo now seems intent on going after the market that has lost interest with the Wii, thus deciding to make this game more for the Japanese market, thinking it has the American market cornered at this point. Sadly the result will be that it probably won’t appeal to either one now.
Metroid Prime’s sales didn’t really come because it was in a promotion bundle with the Gamecube. So was Mario Party 7 and Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix.
In regards of the three major markets of Japan, North America, and Europe, for the NES, Nintendo did very well in Japan and North America (Nintendo was too tied up in court to expand to Europe at the time). For the SNES, it was Japan and battling it out for North America with the Sega Genesis (which did well in Europe). For the N64 and Gamecube, Nintendo totally lost Japan to Sony (and lost Europe as well). The PlayStation and N64 were neck to neck for a good while in North America. The majority of Nintendo sales occur in America which makes NOA very important. I have to laugh when someone says someone like Reggie Fils-Aime doesn’t have a say or know about the upcoming new Nintendo hardware (all the leaders of the Nintendo divisions do).
Due to the downfall of the American economy and the downfall of the dollar (thanks to politicians spending and printing more and more money), Nintendo can no longer treat the American market for granted. You could very well be right that due to the Prime games not selling in Japan that in 2007 or 2008, Nintendo wanted a more Japanese market friendly Metroid made. And the irony is that Metroid will sell poorly in both markets.
The true problem with M:OM, outside of the quibbles that many people have that honestly won’t make or break a game, is this one thing:
That there seems to be a concerted effort to REMOVE control from players. Sakamoto has said they had to rearrange game mechanics for the sole purpose of forcing players to use ONE remote, even though adding a nunchuck would have added more intuitive design and more buttons. Simply adding the option to use “advanced controls” with the nunchuck would have eliminated the need to perform the jarring motion of changing the orientation of the remote from sideways to forward-facing, and would also allow more buttons so players wouldn’t feel like they just run into a room mashing the single action button (A), but that was unacceptable to Sakamoto. There will be no sense of reward in this set-up other than “not dying”, which for some reason is what many developers think gamers want these days. They seem to think that dying “interrupts the flow of the story”. Gah!
Also, removing the ability to move in first person mode was purposefully done, and makes absolutely NO sense. It was not removed for lack of technological means, but as a restriction imparted on gamers out of a “you MUST play this way because I say so” mentality (much like the design of the controls). There is no reason why Samus shouldn’t be able to walk in this mode. Does her suit lock-up or what? Is she paralyzed with fear?
This truly believe this game could have been truly revolutionary in certain respects if had given choices to gamers. It already removed enough choice from players by adding so many cinematics, but to remove CONTROL is unforgivable to me. Imagine if the game had allowed players to play the entire game through in third person mode OR first person mode, dependent on player choice! And allowed us to pick whether we wanted classic, simple controls or the more advance two controller set up! And even allowed us to skip cut-scenes if we so choose! It could have been the best parts of Prime and the originals all rolled into one! I have only ever seen these types of choices implemented in racing games where you can choose what POV you want, and It would have been so fulfilling and forward-thinking to be able to do so in an action/advernture game. Oh, to not feel hampered and bogged down by forced game mechanics! That is what gamers dream of!
All of M:OM’s flaws are a result of what can only be called a developer’s superiority complex that makes him think he knows what’s better for gamers than the actual gamers do! So although I am still buying the game, I’m anticipating a quick return to the used-games shelf.
Reader’s note: I did not bold the above. The emphasis is the emailer.
This is a very shrewd observation on your part. In Sakamoto Land, the thinking is probably the cutscenes are the ‘reward’ (which is probably why you can’t initially skip them because that would ‘spoil’ your ‘reward’). I don’t think Nintendo realizes how much people despise the Sakamoto storyline for Metroid.
You’re right. Feeling of achievement is everything. This is why we like the ‘repetitive gameplay’ of Metroid. It is repetitive to develop, but it is not repetitive to play!