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Pre-Release Metroid Prime 4: Pre-Release Discussion Thread

Not only will Metroid Prime 4 be a Switch 2-only release, it will be the last Switch 2 game and will release right before the Switch 3.
 
Honestly, in a selfish way, I'm fine with 2025. If it comes out in 2024 for the Switch, I'll buy it and then regret it when the next gen upgrade comes around, assuming there is one and it is considerable.

If it is a 2025 game, I will just get the upgraded version.
 
Switch 1 & 2 cross gen simultaneous launch PLEASE 🙏🙏🙏

Launch game alongside 3D Mario will make Switch 2 have one of the best launch lineups ever
 
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OctoSplattack said:
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The Holiday 2024 dream is dead, isn't it? Has #TeamSwitch2Only been right this entire time?
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The gamehaving the possibility being a cross gen title for the Switch 2 is actually insane to think about.

Like there is two side of me

1. The game being a Ray tracing showcase and having some of the most impressive NG visual in the industry, similar to Prime 1. which sound awesome. Also 4K/60

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2. I reeally want to play the game now, since i have been waiting since 2017 and a holiday release would be sweet.

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I hope Retro isn't having a troubled development. The last original game they released was 10 years ago.
 
Not that I know anything about game development, but it makes sense for audio integration to be one of the final things. I would think you need cutscenes, gameplay, menus, and almost everything else set before you finalize how the music and sound effects fit in.

In the end, though, we probably shouldn't try to take too much info from job listings.
 
Wasn’t Last of Us 2 hiring like 3-4 months before release? Why are some people still taking job postings so serious.

The game will either come out this fall or before the end of 2025
 
DecoReturns said:
With how the industry been the last couple years.

Probably shocking that Retro didn’t get shut down.

But they did released Metroid Prime Remaster and DK switch port. Sold decently too
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I do feel like the Pedigree of Metroid Prime helps protect them to an extent. Then again we thought the same of Tango and High-Fi Rush soooo
 
I strongly believe there's validity in the "if they hadn't announced Metroid Prime 4 prematurely, it might've just been quietly cancelled without the public's knowledge" point folks frequently bring up. In that sense, it's a huge blessing they announced the game as early as they did. A vocal fandom expecting greatness makes it that much harder for them to axe the project altogether.
 
DecoReturns said:
With how the industry been the last couple years.

Probably shocking that Retro didn’t get shut down.

But they did released Metroid Prime Remaster and DK switch port. Sold decently too
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I don't think Nintendo shuts down studios left and right like Microsoft does.

Unless I'm misremembering.
 
Aurc said:
I strongly believe there's validity in the "if they hadn't announced Metroid Prime 4 prematurely, it might've just been quietly cancelled without the public's knowledge" point folks frequently bring up. In that sense, it's a huge blessing they announced the game as early as they did. A vocal fandom expecting greatness makes it that much harder for them to axe the project altogether.
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and then we would get stories about it and people would rage either way
 
DecoReturns said:
With how the industry been the last couple years.

Probably shocking that Retro didn’t get shut down.

But they did released Metroid Prime Remaster and DK switch port. Sold decently too
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They’re owned by Nintendo. It’s not shocking they didn’t get shut down. They would’ve been shut down if they were owned by Sony or Microsoft
 
DecoReturns said:
With how the industry been the last couple years.

Probably shocking that Retro didn’t get shut down.

But they did released Metroid Prime Remaster and DK switch port. Sold decently too
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oh yeah, no question in my mind that Retro and probably NST would have ended up on the chopping block at some point in the last decade if they were under pretty much any other publisher
 
Aurc said:
I strongly believe there's validity in the "if they hadn't announced Metroid Prime 4 prematurely, it might've just been quietly cancelled without the public's knowledge" point folks frequently bring up. In that sense, it's a huge blessing they announced the game as early as they did. A vocal fandom expecting greatness makes it that much harder for them to axe the project altogether.
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I agree. Thank god Nintendo felt pressured to announce this game because they didn’t want backlash with only announcing Samus Returns on 3DS.
 
Joe said:
I don't think Nintendo shuts down studios left and right like Microsoft does.

Unless I'm misremembering.
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It's still kinda amazing that Nintendo has only shut down a single studio in their entire stint as a video game developer. And I'm not even sure if that studio was even planned to make more than the one game (Mother 1), or if it was a Project Sora situation.
 
Well either we see Prime 4 in June or we see it represented as a Switch 2 title first in the Switch 2 presentation. When we see it has narrowed all the way down now.
 
Aurc said:
I have a friend who never got over the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3, and it's been years. That would be me with Metroid Prime 4.
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That was sad. I was part of the gang that got into the 3DS early because of the Legends 3 demo (which had a particular name that I forgot), the eShop went live and… nothing. Then Keiji Inafune was kicked and it was revealed that the project never had the green light from the higher ups anyways.

I still dream of a Legends 1 + 2 HD Remaster for a future Legends 3.
 
Aurc said:
I strongly believe there's validity in the "if they hadn't announced Metroid Prime 4 prematurely, it might've just been quietly cancelled without the public's knowledge" point folks frequently bring up.
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At this point I probably agree. How big is Retro now? 200-300 employees? They've been working on Prime 4 for 5.5 years at this point, and US tech salaries have been astronomical since covid. I'm struggling to see how this game could possibly be profitable if it sells how Metroid typically sells.
 
Selarmor said:
At this point I probably agree. How big is Retro now? 200-300 employees? They've been working on Prime 4 for 5.5 years at this point, and US tech salaries have been astronomical since covid. I'm struggling to see how this game could possibly be profitable if it sells how Metroid typically sells.
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I don’t think they’re anywhere close to 200 employees
 
Selarmor said:
At this point I probably agree. How big is Retro now? 200-300 employees? They've been working on Prime 4 for 5.5 years at this point, and US tech salaries have been astronomical since covid. I'm struggling to see how this game could possibly be profitable if it sells how Metroid typically sells.
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Yeah, and that's not even counting the money invested with Bandai Namco prior to the development reboot. Ultimately, it's possible (probable even, considering how modestly Metroid has historically sold) the game could result in a net loss for Nintendo. I don't know to what extent critical acclaim could make up for that, even if it ends up a 90+ game. It doesn't leave me optimistic toward the prospect of a Metroid Prime 5, but it's also too early to predict anything in that ballpark.
 
Aurc said:
Yeah, and that's not even counting the money invested with Bandai Namco prior to the development reboot. Ultimately, it's possible (probable even, considering how modestly Metroid has historically sold) the game could result in a net loss for Nintendo. I don't know to what extent critical acclaim could make up for that, even if it ends up a 90+ game. It doesn't leave me optimistic toward the prospect of a Metroid Prime 5, but it's also too early to predict anything in that ballpark.
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With how much they've invested into building a technical and creative foundation for MP4, I feel like Prime 4 would have to bomb pretty hard both critically and commercially for them to not do MP5.
 
TheSpaceBetween said:
With how much they've invested into building a technical and creative foundation for MP4, I feel like Prime 4 would have to bomb pretty hard both critically and commercially for them to not do MP5.
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Iterative sequels are extremely unpopular in this era unless you're just a massive series, I'm pretty doubtful MP5 comes within the next 6 years unless MP4 is just like a 10-20m hit.
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
Iterative sequels are extremely unpopular in this era unless you're just a massive series, I'm pretty doubtful MP5 comes within the next 6 years unless MP4 is just like a 10-20m hit.
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I'd say MP4 has a 5 mil ceiling, unless it's a fundamental transformation of what the series is (BotW moment). I love Metroid, but I try to think pretty realistically about its future prospects, and it's occupied roughly the same comfortable niche for several decades now. I think a tremendous breakout moment for the series is unlikely. Instead, I predict that it'll simply continue to be appreciated by the people who are into it, plus a modest handful of newcomer fans.
 
Aurc said:
I'd say MP4 has a 5 mil ceiling, unless it's a fundamental transformation of what the series is (BotW moment). I love Metroid, but I try to think pretty realistically about its future prospects, and it's occupied roughly the same comfortable niche for several decades now. I think a tremendous breakout moment for the series is unlikely. Instead, I predict that it'll simply continue to be appreciated by the people who are into it, plus a modest handful of newcomer fans.
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I think being an HD Metroid Prime with semi-open world design would be a BotW moment for the series. At least a huge boost

I put the sales ceiling at 7m, 10m if Retro makes something generational.
 
Yeah this is gonna be the last Metroid game we get. JK. Not really. Can this game make profit? 5 years already since the restart, plus budget for Bandai Namco, plus presumably cancelled projects Retro was working on before taking over. Metroid Prime remastered "only" sold about 1 million as well. Metroid Prime 4 better pull off a BotW with how expensive it's looking to be. A decade without a single "new" release from Retro, I'm afraid they will get Microsofed.
However, if we are to think optimistically.
1. Metroid Prime 4 is already finished and the job listing is a misdirection
2. Retro is working on multiple projects at the same time
3. The game is going to be the biggest game in the history of video games
 
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Aurc said:
Yeah, and that's not even counting the money invested with Bandai Namco prior to the development reboot. Ultimately, it's possible (probable even, considering how modestly Metroid has historically sold) the game could result in a net loss for Nintendo. I don't know to what extent critical acclaim could make up for that, even if it ends up a 90+ game. It doesn't leave me optimistic toward the prospect of a Metroid Prime 5, but it's also too early to predict anything in that ballpark.
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Makes me wonder: has Nintendo ever actually killed a series for underperforming? Metroid Prime originally ended because Retro wanted it to, not Nintendo. There are a lot of cases where you could argue "oh, if F-Zero sold like Mario Kart, they would make sure it had a consistent developer", but if not even Donkey Kong can get that kind of force thrown behind it I'm skeptical.

I think the worst you could say is that as time goes by the less successful series are the ones that get outsourced or left by the wayside when they have the resources to make fewer games, but I'm not even sure if that's true. Star Fox 64 outsold everything they made for the system that wasn't Mario or OoT, yet as far as I know they've never attempted to make another one themselves. Luigi's Mansion was a top 5 seller for GameCube and beat out Animal Crossing, and both Pikmin games combined, but it was the one Nintendo wasn't interested in making a sequel for. Wario Land 4 destroyed WarioWare in sales, but Wario Land died so they could keep making WarioWare.
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
Iterative sequels are extremely unpopular in this era unless you're just a massive series, I'm pretty doubtful MP5 comes within the next 6 years unless MP4 is just like a 10-20m hit.
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With Retro struggling to get a game out for over a decade now, I'm not sure Nintendo is going to allow them a chance at more failures and another decade with nothing to show. MP5 would be a safer bet.
 
TheSpaceBetween said:
With Retro struggling to get a game out for over a decade now, I'm not sure Nintendo is going to allow them a chance at more failures and another decade with nothing to show. MP5 would be a safer bet.
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Based on how badly FF7 Rebirth is selling, iterative asset reuse titles are pretty much just rejected right now by consumers (and we see this a bit with Mortal Kombat as well) so Prime 5 would also be incredibly financially risky as well!

No actual safe options and probably another 5-6 year gap at best if no cancellations and 8-10 years is again possible if there's a cancellation or two.
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
Based on how badly FF7 Rebirth is selling, iterative asset reuse titles are pretty much just rejected right now by consumers
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Is there anything indicating that that's the actual problem? I remember hearing secondhand a lot of controversy about FF7 Remake changing stuff, so that might have turned people off of Rebirth. Plus general games industry pricing nonsense going on right now. Plus, at least in this instance, regardless of consumer response, an iterative followup may just be the best way to get the most out of the MP4 investment, not just asset-wise but personell-wise.

(Non-video-game example, but part of the reason Bionicle's prequel year was expanded into a two-year prequel arc was to get more use out of the expensive story/advertising visual assets they pumped into Metru Nui. The second year was generally kinda coldly recieved by the consumerbase outside of the obsessive fans like myself, but it still did decently enough to leave Lego satisfied with the investment.)
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
Based on how badly FF7 Rebirth is selling, iterative asset reuse titles are pretty much just rejected right now by consumers (and we see this a bit with Mortal Kombat as well) so Prime 5 would also be incredibly financially risky as well!

No actual safe options and probably another 5-6 year gap at best if no cancellations and 8-10 years is again possible if there's a cancellation or two.
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I don't think that's evidence enough. I can easily counter with Spiderman 2 and Tears of the Kingdom selling fucktons. Jedi Survivor and God of War Ragnarok seem to have done great as well.
 
TheSpaceBetween said:
I don't think that's evidence enough. I can easily counter with Spiderman 2 and Tears of the Kingdom selling fucktons. Jedi Survivor and God of War Ragnarok seem to have done great as well.
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Yeah, but those are huge huge games, lol.

If we go down to lower levels, we see semi iterative sequels like Octopath 2 and Mario+Rabbids 2 doing a not great fraction of the originals.
 
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