Theory: Why Metroid is Going to be Awesome Again

I am a longtime Metroid fan; it stands as one of my favorite game series out there. As my fellow fans will tell you, Metroid has been anything but fruitful recently. Many argue a decent Metroid title hasn't been released in well over 10 years. Personally, I didn't have much quarrel with Federation Force, but its lackluster splash on the 3DS was riding on the heels of the last game, Other M, which has been given so much hatred by the Metroid community it arguably stands as possibly one of the worst titles Nintendo has ever published. It's no secret that there's been somewhat of a Metroid drought over the last decade. If you want to argue the point, the main Metroid storyline hasn't actually been worked on since Metroid Fusion. We're talking nearly 17 years! In the 30 some-odd years Metroid has existed, it hasn't aged well at all, despite how awesome the series is. It's about time Metroid gets some new blood.

Luckily for us, it seems at least one Metroid is possibly in the works. Alexander Brandon has been confirmed to be working on a project with Retro Studios, the company responsible for the Metroid Prime Trilogy. For those who don't know, Alexander Brandon is a cyberpunk composer who's most famously known for his work in the Deus Ex series, and is also a massive Metroid nut (like me!). He's tweeted that he is very excited to be working on this project with Retro, and though we know absolutely nothing about it, many of us are hoping and praying that it's a new Metroid. With that said, it seems like Metroid may be on the brink of a new dawn; similar to how Metroid Prime was the first Metroid game since Super Metroid (an almost 7 year gap), whatever this project is may be the mouth-to-mouth that the Metroid IP desperately needs. I have predictions about how this game will manifest, but before we look into what's going to make Metroid awesome again (please ignore the unintentional political pun), I want to look at why our beloved franchise started to suck.

I want to clear the air a bit right off the bat. Other M was a terrible game. We all get that, except for the few who liked it. You're entitled to your opinion and I'm glad you liked it, but the game was just the worst, especially because it's pretty much been the only game since Metroid Prime 3, which was released in 2007. 5 years later, instead of getting a Metroid game that the community wanted, we got a generic shooter for the 3DS using Metroid's name, called Federation Force. These two games, in conjunction with the fact that no Metroid games were planned for the Wii U have created this notion that "Metroid is dead".

I hate that phrase. "Metroid is dead." I've heard plenty of people complain that Nintendo hates the franchise now and want to see it gone forever. What a load of whining crap with absolutely no basis whatsoever! "But Jake," you might interject, "They didn't make any games for the Wii U! Not even an HD Remake! All they care about are Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Fire Emblem!" You're right! They are focusing all their effort on those franchises. I wonder why...

Raise your hand if you thought the Wii U sold even remotely within Nintendo's expectations. If you raised your hand, I'm sorry but you are wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. The Wii U had many problems with it. From people not knowing it wasn't a Wii, to poor marketing strategies, to the Wii U being behind in the great console race and not really bringing anything new to the table that the competition wasn't already, to a very slim lineup of games--the console is a very dark blot in the company's history. So what does this have to do with no Metroid games? Today in a Metroid group on Facebook I saw someone ask, "Why didn't they even do a Zero Mission HD Remaster for the Wii U?" That's an excellent question and I'm happy to answer it. 

Let's use an example: I'm Nintendo. I have 5 dollars. You want a product that costs me 10 dollars to make; the profit I am projected to make from this product is going to be about 4 dollars. Do I make your game with the 10 dollars I am going into debt by spending, or do I choose a game that's going to make me at least 15 dollars in return? Games like Legend of Zelda, the same rehashed Super Mario Bros. title with an added gimmick, and classics like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart sell around 8.2 million copies each worldwide. To put it into perspective, Metroid games sell about 2.4 million copies worldwide. So why even make Metroid games at all? 

Well, Nintendo isn't a company that thinks only with their wallets. Nintendo are the artisans of the gaming industry. They're literally the Apple of gaming (it's no secret that they have always had a steamy man-crush on Apple's products, and even designed their N64 color choices in the same fashion as mac products way back in the day most of you probably weren't even a twinkle in your parents' eyes yet). With that being said, they are more comfortable making games that they will love than they are making games that we will love. And what's great about Nintendo is that their ideas work. For many years, we've been Pixar'd by Nintendo with their unique imaginations and magical touch that brings their ideas to life on the screen. So Nintendo treats their IP's with care. Usually. But at the end of the day, Nintendo is a business and have to treat it as such. This means that in order to make what they consider a masterpiece, they have to sell us games that the most of us will buy first. Granted, some of the hit games they make are considered to be masterpieces, like the monstrous success of Breath of the Wild--in which case everyone wins. But most of the time, in order for Nintendo (video game companies in general, actually) to make the games they want, they need to sell the games the largest demographics want. For every Metroid, we need to have a Super Smash Bros. For every Mega Man, there needs to be a Street Fighter. With every F-Zero (another franchise that really needs to rise again) must first come a Mario Kart. Assassin's Creed needs to come before Splinter Cell.

Unfortunately for Nintendo, the Wii U was taking on way too much water, financially speaking, and not bailing enough out. They were barely staying afloat with the very few successful games that they carefully hand-picked during these difficult times. There was no room to make a Metroid title during the lifespan of the Wii U; it wasn't even on the table because any profits they made on successful games were getting eaten up by their losses. So the reason they had no plans for a Metroid were because they were hurting so badly. It didn't help that their luck had pretty much dried up with the 3DS. Handheld and handheld game sales have gone significantly down over the last year or so. So before the NX was unveiled to be the Switch, saying that Nintendo was out of money would have been a severe understatement. Not making a Metroid title wasn't a personal attack against the franchise; it was merely a business call.

But now we have good news! The Switch has become a M-M-M-M-MONSTER success, thanks largely in part by Breath of the Wild. No pun intended, but this game that was in development over the last 5 years was pretty much Nintendo's wild card (get it?), which pretty much saved their bacon. Thanks to Breath of the Wild as a launch title, the Nintendo Switch had one of the greatest console launches of all-time, and they are bragging about it. Nintendo doesn't brag unless they seriously have something to do the victory dance about. And it doesn't look like they will be slowing down, as they have a strong lineup of games, supposedly a decent (paid) online service, and an affordable console (per capita, the Switch is the cheapest console next only to the Nintendo GameCube). What does this mean? It means Nintendo has money again, which means they have options! With the number of copies games will likely be selling for the Switch, Nintendo has many opportunities to continue their tradition of making instant, however niche, classics. That includes Metroid games.

Before I end this article, I'd like to bring up a theory... Nintendo has quietly created a VR patent. The patent was leaked while the Switch was still called the NX, and we have had no word on its progress. It was inevitable that the VR gaming ball was going to end up in Nintendo's court, and I have a very strong feeling that the next Metroid Prime is going to be the flagship game for the Switch VR. Take a VR universe in tandem with the joycon's HD Rumble features, and you have an even more immersive game than you did before with regular VR. I very strongly believe that this will be their next step. With that being said, the VR technology will take a couple years to perfect (the Switch itself needs time to breathe anyway, right?), so we'll likely get a Metroid game before that happens--probably whatever Retro is working on now. Maybe my timetable is off and they actually are doing something like that for this title. Who knows? Whatever the case, I am excited to be living in this day and age, patiently anticipating the next step in the Metroid franchise, as well as a new chapter Nintendo is beginning with their awesomely successful Switch console.