Topic: Are We Sure Metroid Prime 3 Will Have Online? Reggie's At It Again....

[Artimus]

I don't know how many people would buy HALO if it was only online, but I do know you'd barely see a sales drop (if any) if you just had online and offline multiplayer.

[MaryJane]

The "time and energy" their wasting translates to sales.

People who don't know(or like me don't care) about the "solitude" aspect of Metroid want to play online, why? Simply because it's fun, which is why 99% of online matches are deathmatches, they're just quick fun. Also looking at the DS, the most online game there is Mario Kart (I least I think so). Just log on, random opponent, play, have some fun, and forget it. Online has the potential to add sales, sales are a good thing, for developer and consumer alike.

[segagamer12]

am I the only person who liked the single player aspect of SSBM more than the multi player?  Maybe it has something to do with I didnt ever have anyone to play agianst.  

[Adrock]

Quote
Smash_Brother wrote:
SSBM is ABOUT multiplayer: focusing on anything else is just bullsh*t.

I disagree. The single player has potential. Sure, it was pretty shallow in the first 2, but there's a lot they could do to make it more fun and give it more depth. A story mode that linked all the characters together with a real plot and tough bosses would be a good start.

The problem with Melee is that it was obviously rushed and Sakurai was pressured by Miyamoto to focus on multiplayer. Brawl hasn't been given a timeline for release. Even though everyone wants it sooner than later, I'd wait if it meant I got an all-around better game, single and multiplayer.

Anyway, I see multiplayer in Metroid Prime 3 as an extra, just like it was on Echoes. I really don't think including a possible online mode affected the progress of the main adventure. Also, the easiest way for Nintendo and Retro to have included multiplayer in Corruption would have been to hand it over to another team. NST, despite currently working on Project H.A.M.M.E.R., probably could have done a pretty good job.

[Bloodworth]

Quote
Originally posted by: MaryJane
The "time and energy" their wasting translates to sales.

People who don't know(or like me don't care) about the "solitude" aspect of Metroid want to play online, why? Simply because it's fun, which is why 99% of online matches are deathmatches, they're just quick fun. Also looking at the DS, the most online game there is Mario Kart (I least I think so). Just log on, random opponent, play, have some fun, and forget it. Online has the potential to add sales, sales are a good thing, for developer and consumer alike.

People have muddied the issue a bit, but let's put it this way.  Halo in single player is about shooting and non-stop action.  There are some secret goodies hidden about for hardcore players, but for the most part, you are fighting through one wave of enemies after another.  That same experience comes across in multiplayer.

Metroid is about exploring and finding new means to explore.  When you knock on the walls, you expect to find something and you expect to backtrack because you constantly encounter areas you're not equipped to access.  That experience does not have a clear way to transition into multiplayer.  

So, in order to create a multiplayer mode, you basically have to come with an entirely different kind of game.  The team's focus is split, so chances are that either the single player (MP2) or multiplayer (MPH) will take the lead and the other aspect of the game will suffer because they're trying to make the two as similar as possible.

The other problem is that you have to communicate to your audience.  The people interested in fragging their friends online might be disappointed with Metroid's single player game, because they were expecting something else.  Likewise, people that might like an exploration based title that's more similar to Zelda than Halo may not know that's what Metroid has in store if the marketing team promotes multiplayer more.

I think Metroid Prime Hunters shows that multiplayer games in the Metroid universe can turn out to be pretty decent, but I'm still not convinced that it's a good idea to shoe-horn that in with MP3.

[MaryJane]

I see your point.

I'm kind of looking at through my eyes, and the eyes of the other people I know who either want or have a Wii (the haves are 2 lucky bastards).

The point I agree with you on, is people who may be disappointed in the single player aspect of the game because it isn't like the multiplayer.

If you like the single player game however, I don't see what hinders you from enjoying the multiplayer part? Yes it's different, but that's exactly my point it is different, they aren't changing the single player mode to fit the multiplayer part.

They are two aspects of the same game, for me it's like having two conversations with the same person. Like earlier today; At one point we were discussing past girlfriends and how that's going to affect our current(for me) future(for him) girlfriends. I said something to him about how one girl I dated a few years back didn't know how to use a computer, and then he told me he got a new laptop, I asked him if it the was one I suggested to him, he said yes, and we started discussing it's features, and other laptops, and other things, after exhausting that, we went back to girlfriends.

That's how I see the single player vs. multiplayer aspects of a game. The multiplayer branches from the single player, but it has no effect on the single player game, really the only effect it has to offer a break from the game. A break to stop being by yourself for a second and play with others.

When I had GC the only person I could play with was my brother, and every now and again one of my friends would come over, or I would bring the GC to one of their houses, but for the most part it PS2 all the time, because that's what all of my friends had. Finally, there is the Wii, two friends have it, the others except one, want it. I can't wait to not only be able to play against them, but not have to leave my house to do it.

[segagamer12]

Its a hard one for me, to be honest. I go back and forth on Yes to online in MP and no to online in MP. I guess a lot of it has to do with MP2 and MPH both having multiplayer modes, you kinda get used tot he fact that its now an option.

But I do agree that MP1 was one of the *BEST* games of the GC and I know too many people who thought it was just a Halo rip off who wouldn't even try it because it looked lame. If adding Online multiplayer modes will attract the Halo fans who think MP is just a rip off and if it gives me a game to play online with them, then of course I am all for it. BUT at the same time, I can see the concern of if they have to focus on making the Multiplayer stand out and if that does take away from the Single player experience then I can understand the concern and I also have similar worries.

I didn't but MP2 because I never beat 1 and because everyoen said it wasnt as good. BUT I have seen screens and videos of MP3 and I really want to play it. I just hope that it turns out to be a pretty good game either way.

I know most people want Nintendo to make a *real* FPS for the online multiplayer stuff, and to be honest I think they can do it. I still don't think it will hurt MP3 too much unless they forget to make the single player game worth it. *OR* they could make a seperate MP Online game, like an online edition seperate that is more liek Hunters in that its a seperate game formt he main series and its focus is on multiplayers. Of coarse I havent played hunters yet either so I could be mistaken on its relevence to the story.  

[Artimus]

I just don't see why you can't make a new FPS game if Nintendo really needs to make one. That way you sell two games. Multiplayer just isn't going to sell Metroid like it did HALO.

[segagamer12]

that is kinda what I am leaning towards, and after gettign really into Halo I do want Wii to have agame that can emulate that experience, but with wiiremote controlls.  

[Kenology]

Metroid was never about multiplayer in the first place.  But now that it's in first person, it's a big deal all of a sudden.  I say scrape multiplayer altogether and focus entirely on the sigle-player game.

I think it would be much better to have Retro develope an all new FPS and include an online mode.  Metroid is just the wrong franchise to include an online fragfest - that's just not what Metroid is about.

[Plugabugz]

Someone said before, Metroid is all about the solitude. Pointing weaponry at other people conflicts with that staple.

[MaryJane]

Quote
Originally posted by: Artimus
I just don't see why you can't make a new FPS game if Nintendo really needs to make one. That way you sell two games. Multiplayer just isn't going to sell Metroid like it did HALO.

So you can predict the future now?

I say that mockingly but, I know what you mean. Metroid online won't sell to people who feel emotion towards the Metroid series i.e the people on these boards and the people like them who probably make up about 10% of the video gaming population at large, to be a little fairer, I'll say 20%. So what about the other 80% of the people who don't feel the emotional ties of solitude toward the game, or loved MP1 AND MPH and want to see a best of both worlds game be realized on the Wii, or the non-gamer who can be interested in what is generally considered a "hardcore" genre, or lastly, all the people who own PS2's can't afford a PS3 and are deciding between Wii or X360(possibly just which one to get first, I plan on owning both, Wii first obviously) and need a game to sway them?

I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo puts MP3 up against Halo release dates, I also hope MP3 gets released first to get a foot in the door. You have to remember Nintendo is trying to get there foot into a door that was slammed in their face after the release of the PSOne and the stigma of Nintendo as a "child oriented" company.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I'm sorry but Nintendo should just let Retro make a new IP to compete with Halo, making Metroid into that IP is not the answer, especially since Metroid already has a stigma on it as being for the "hardcore" only. Retro could probably make a Halo killer but it is not going to be wth the Metroid license since the series is so different from what Halo offers.  

[Magik]

I don't see why everybody has this fascination with making a 'Halo-killer'.  If history has shown us anything, any time a game is set out to be a 'killer' of another game, it has failed miserably.

Regarding Metroid, aslong as the single player game is on par with the quality that was in Prime 1 (NOT 2), I'll be happy.

If Nintendo seriously wants to have their own FPS, I think they need to focus on a new IP instead of trying to convert one of their existing IPs.

[segagamer12]

We are not talking about making a "halo-killer' I LOVE Halo, the thing I want is a game on the Wii that can prodive a similar experience as Halo but with the superior gameplay mechanics.


Also Goldenphoenix you probabaly meant to say Retro, as I am sure by now you know Rare isn't makign games for Wii.

I think Metroid *could* very well be a good multi player game, and could still be a great single player experience on top of that. The problem is what is more beneficial to fans is not always what is more beneficial (pofitable) for Nintendo. I think they would prefer to keep MP3 single player, but atfer having already made 2 multi player Metroids I think that *most* people, die hard fans aside, have come to *expect* multiplayer in Metroid. Also if adding online to the game can attract Halo fans who think the single player is boring, that trasnlates into more sales, and *more* people to play online agianst. So win-win for the most part.


The game has been delayed long enough now that it is pretty obvious they are trying to make it the best game possible and I think they know the importance of at least trying to compete with Halo. Wii was made for FPS games and is made for Online so making a big franchise that has at least some brand recognition into an online game still kinda makes sense.  I don't think the single player game is going to suffer at all, I think Nintendo knows what is at stake if it does.  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Make Metroid the best new Metroid it can be.

If you want a new FPS, make up a new secret agent who doesn't have the luxury of life bars and health packs, whose progress really relies on good aim and intelligent use of the world around him/her.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Here is how to make a Halo Killer:

Add some innovation dashed with alot of polish. There you have a Halo killer.

[Maverick]

MUCH easier said than done.

[Bloodworth]

I think Halo was really as big as it was because it was the first time a lot of gamers got a taste of playing with more than four players.  Halo LAN parties naturally introduced a lot of new people to the game, and then everyone got Halo 2 because they wanted the same experience without dismantling their systems and dragging them to a buddy's house.  Even if you made a shooter that was better than Halo in every way, I don't know if you could really match the buzz people got from the franchise.   Plus I think there are a lot of people that play Halo, but don't really play anything else online.

[mantidor]

I really cannot think of another reason too, and it was shocking to see that the PC fps crowd was so niche after all, since the basics of FPS, both single player and multiplayer, started with Doom and haven't changed that much, and then this game got so huge for no apparent reason, it was another FPS after all. When games make a big impact is always because they introduce something radically different, with Halo on the surface that doesn't seem evident.

I am still waiting for first person to be embraced better by developers, so they just stop cloning doom again and again, compared to any other gaming genre the innovation is practically null (with amazing but incredibly few exceptions, like Prime and Thief).

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

So it wasn't the game, it was the social interface.

"Halo" and "Halo-killer" aren't really games inherently, they are the directions of a market.

[TrueNerd]

Random responses I have from skimming this thread:

- Although I detest the comparison because they aren't even close to being similar games, the Metroid Primes ARE better then the Halos. From a factual point of view anyways.

- Metroid Prime Hunters sucked gross hairy man ass. Single player was blasphemous to everything Metroid stands for and the online multiplayer was not fun at all. It wasn't just a poor excuse for a Metroid game, it was a poor excuse for any kind of game, period.

- I'm hoping Retro is spending this extra time with Prime 3 on the single player aspect and making that as amazing as it can be. As others have said, Nintendo needs to make a new IP (in a western setting!) if they want to make a sweet online FPS. Let Metroid be Metroid. But I do agree with the person who said that Nintendo does need to lead the way with an online FPS and show everyone else how to do it. I just don't want it to be Metroid.

- A new 2D Metroid NEEDS to come to the DS. I likes my 3D Metroids a whole hell of a lot, but it pales to my undying love for the 2D variety.

- I heard Gunpei Yokoi came back from the dead to make the greatest Metroid game ever for the WonderSwan. Confirm/Deny?  

[GoldenPhoenix]

The funny thing about Halo is that it is made by a company that has an average track record at best when it comes to game development. I mean their two biggest games were Myth and Oni before Halo.

[Requiem]

Wow....

I remember reading this exact conversation about two years ago...



Weird!

[MaryJane]

Quote
Originally posted by: Requiem
Wow....

I remember reading this exact conversation about two years ago...



Weird!

I don't... lol.

I don't think Nintendo is (or should be) making Metroid a "Halo killer". What they are likely doing is making a Halo alternative. I for one grew tired of FPS's a long time ago. The single player campaign have never really appealed to me, I never beat Goldeneye or Perfect Dark, but I can garuntee you that I logged over a 100 hours into each game, because of the multiplayer. James Bond always works alone, he may have a Bond girl or two but they usually end up being caught, and saved by him, and not really much help at all, yet I didn't hear anyone bitching about the fact that Goldeneye had multiplayer.

Metroid was the exception, I remember having a discussion (as probably a lot of people have had) about why they didn't make FPS's more like adventure games. My brother, myself, one of his friends, and one of mine discussed this at great length until about 4 months after the initial conversation MP1 was announced. I loved it, "FPA" became my favorite 3 letters in video gaming. Most "casual" gamers, want multiplayer in there FPS's (which is why I can't understand how the thought they could release Call Of Duty on the Wii without it), but then Nintendo's strategy here seems to be "Hey not only do we have great online multiplayer so you can kill your friends and other people around the globe, but there's also a single player game, that's nothing like you've ever experienced before!" For a lot of people the multiplayer aspect of FPS's is there general attraction, adding a single player game worth playing can lead to new things for a lot of people. I can't even remember the last time I actually completed an FPS, but as I said before I've spent countless hours in the multiplayer offerings.