Topic: Metroid Other M

[GoldenPhoenix]

Yes, but that would also mean there's absolutely no reason to ever get out of the suit while on a mission. I'd agree with that, but it doesn't seem like Nintendo does.

Well the fact is that Nintendo messed her human design (something I've mentioned before) way before Other M.

[Caterkiller]

I've been looking around at a bunch of sites, has anyone seen any gameplay footage of this yet?

[GoldenPhoenix]

I've been looking around at a bunch of sites, has anyone seen any gameplay footage of this yet?

My guess is that they were not allowed to take any footage because it was behind closed doors OR it is under embargo.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I think the director/man in charge for Metroid is speaking at GDC so that is probably when the public reveal for the game will happen.

[Halbred]

Samus Aran had largish breasts in Brawl and her bikini pixel art in Metroid, Metroid 2, and (one might argue) Super Metroid. I'm not understanding where we're getting "giant boob Samus" for this game.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Samus Aran had largish breasts in Brawl and her bikini pixel art in Metroid, Metroid 2, and (one might argue) Super Metroid. I'm not understanding where we're getting "giant boob Samus" for this game.

It is because people don't like Team Ninja and see what they want to see. Forgetting that the guy who was really into that stuff is gone from Team Ninja.

[Ian Sane]

The reason game stories suck is because game developers think stories are easy to make and put completely unqualified people on the job. In this case the story is Sakamoto's idea and while he may be a good gameplay designer he clearly has no talent as a writer. That's where the lack of Miyamoto shows, he takes a sledgehammer to story and it's likely warranted if the writers are hacks.

I think Miyamoto takes it a little too far but overall I think he has the right idea.  In a videogame I think the story really just needs to be an overall problem in need of solving.  "Here is the situation, you the player must solve the problem!"  That then goes with a setting and a world for the user to experience as he goes about solving the problem.  Depending on the game this might include NPCs, dungeons, villages, etc. or it might just be levels and enemies.  Then the player creates the story for himself within the setting and to solve the problem (that might change as the game progresses).  My only beef with Miyamoto is that's lazy and re-uses the same problem and setting over and over again.  Bowser kidnaps the Princess.  Fuckin' played, buddy.
 
Stepping outside this barebones set-up is dangerous territory.  Your weakness in story-telling can be exposed.  You risk making characters the player doesn't like and that's the character the player is playing as.  If I enjoy shooting everything that moves, a cutscene where the main character laments killing everyone would seem out of place.  As would the reverse situation.  A good game lets the player feel what he wishes based on the scenario.  You go all story nuts and you're TELLING the player how he's supposed to feel.
 
Regarding Samus' design, I don't like the graphics much but Samus herself looks fine to me, she just has this shiny look everything has that I don't care for.  Samus has always been a hot piece of ass.  The big shock at the end of the first game is actually pretty juvenile.  "Hey it turns out that badass you were playing the whole time is a girl... that you would like to ****!  And she's going to strip down to reward you for doing so well!"  Samus is the videogame equivalent of the bikini babe waiting for you at the finish line when you win the race.
 
And though I don't like Mario's voice I regret voicing my opinion on it in this thread.  Let's keep it on Metroid.

[Luigi Dude]

Samus has always been a hot piece of ass.  The big shock at the end of the first game is actually pretty juvenile.  "Hey it turns out that badass you were playing the whole time is a girl... that you would like to ****!  And she's going to strip down to reward you for doing so well!"  Samus is the videogame equivalent of the bikini babe waiting for you at the finish line when you win the race.
 

Exactly, this is why all the complaints about Samus are beyond stupid since she's always been this way.  I mean seriously people, how is this



Any different from this

[Chozo Ghost]

I can't believe someone actually complained about the voice of Mario. Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi couldn't have more fitting voice work.

Well, to be fair, Ian tends to complain about anything and everything Nintendo does (or doesn't) do. However, on this I have to agree with his complaint because Mario is supposed to be Italian, therefore it would make sense to have him voiced by someone with an Italian accent. Joe Mantegna, anyone?

Where in any of Mario's games does it say he's supposed to be Italian? I think that's just an assumption based on Mario being an Italian name (due to his namesake being Italian) and him looking stereotypically Italian.

Luigi is also an Italian name. No other nationality would refer to their enemies as "Goombas" or "Koopas". I think that's how you know they're Italian, even if it was never outright mentioned. And it may never have been mentioned in the games, but I think in the cartoon show it was.

[Chozo Ghost]

Samus could be 2 ft tall and 500lbs

She would be wider than she is tall, if that were the case. She wouldn't even fit in the power suit, lol.

[Stogi]

The only problem I have with Samus's design is her childish face and short hair. I mean...da ****?

But that is the least of my concerns. I just can't really imagine her monologing. I mean, I guess if you were alone, exploring a vast planet that at some point you would talk to yourself, but still...I always liked how she was cold and emotionless...what a hardened bounty would be.

[GoldenPhoenix]

The only problem I have with Samus's design is her childish face and short hair. I mean...da ****?

But that is the least of my concerns. I just can't really imagine her monologing. I mean, I guess if you were alone, exploring a vast planet that at some point you would talk to yourself, but still...I always liked how she was cold and emotionless...what a hardened bounty would be.

Samus was never emotionless as shown in Metroid 2 and Super Metroid, that is something fans of the games integrated into her character, not Nintendo.

[Stogi]

She cared for one thing kinda, while blasting everything else....how is that not emotionless?

[GoldenPhoenix]

She cared for one thing kinda, while blasting everything else....how is that not emotionless?

Everything else were hideous monsters, I'd blast them too and I'm not emotionless. Might as well say Mario has no emotion either, he kills everything in his path. Kirby eats them. Fox shoots down alien planes like nothing. The fact that she had a strong bond with a jellyfish proves she is an emotionally deep character.

[Stogi]

Yeah but Mario is doing it for his woman. Kirby is doing it because it's a glutton. And Fox is doing it because he doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps.

Samus on the other hand is doing it to get paid. Doing anything to get paid = emotionless.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Yeah but Mario is doing it for his woman. Kirby is doing it because it's a glutton. And Fox is doing it because he doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps.

Samus on the other hand is doing it to get paid. Doing anything to get paid = emotionless.

I would disagree with that. She was paid to destroy all Metroids but let one live. Also like I said they are flipping monsters, I wouldn't hesitate to blow away some hideous bug. She gets the job done, it doesn't mean she isn't an emotional person, just like any soldier. Not to mention the objectives tended to be for something that would have sweeping consequences for the Galaxy if she failed. Every mission Samus has been on has had purpose and meaning. Also Mario's big fat butt gets paid too in coins, doesn't mean that is his only motivation!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

She might LUV her job.

[Adrock]

Other M shares the same shiny, plastic look as Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden games. Really, nothing new from them on that front. I would have preferred if they went with something closer to Zero Mission's art style minus Samus' ridiculous helmet hair. Honestly, I preferred Fusion's art style, but Zero Mission has a more stylized look that lends itself better to this kind of game.

I can't believe someone actually complained about the voice of Mario. Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi couldn't have more fitting voice work.

I agree Mop_it_up the first time I heard Mario in Mario 64 I thought it was PERFECT.

Respect knuckles for both of you. I was beginning to lose faith in humanity when someone said that agreed with Ian about Charles Martinet's voice work in the Mario series. As much as I like the cheesiness of the old Mario cartoons, I can't imagine Mario and co. sounding any different.

[Kytim89]

Does this game play like Ninja Gaiden?

[Ian Sane]

Samus is emotionless only in the context of good videogame storytelling.  In the original Metroid there was nothing hitting you over the head telling you how Samus felt.  Therefore Samus' feelings were YOUR feelings.  If you were emotionless she was emotionless but if you were scared, excited or bloodthirsty then she was those things as well.  It was just a problem (Mother Brain has the Metroids!) and a setting (Zebes) and you lived the story.

Personally I never have had any emotional attachment to any of the enemies in Metroid as they always trying to kill me.  Odds are most players felt that so they associated Samus as emotionless.  When I play a videogame with human enemies though I do sometimes have pity for my enemy (ie: these poor security guards are just doing their job) but Samus never faces enemies like this.  The first time Nintendo very specifically told us what Samus was feeling it was when she spared the Metroid baby.

And I agree with GP in that Samus has never had a mission where there was any morally ambiguity.  It has always been clear good vs. evil stuff.  I think people just associate a bounty hunter with someone like Boba Fett and then assume Samus is like a mercenary.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Ian does bring up a good point, like most of Nintendo's characters, Samus's was more of an avatar for the player. But as time has been went on she has been more fleshed out, something quite unique for a primary protagonist in a Nintendo game. They still haven't really done it with Link, Mario, or Kirby. The enemies in Metroid have always been quite interesting, in that they are supposed to be sentient and intelligent (at least the Space Pirates) but little of it is shown and you do not have any emotional issue killing them. Personally I find it more emotional to kill an enemy in a Mario game, they actually have some personality at times.

[Guitar Smasher]

I don't mean to exacerbate the Mario voice issue, but could you really imagine Super Mario Bros with "woohoos" and "it's a me" every time Mario jumped?  Back then the character actually looked like an adult male plumber, now he's just a cartoon (which the voice fits).

About Samus:  I always imagined her as being around 30 years old, maybe even a little older.  Now that she looks 18, she looks totally inexperienced and not like someone you'd hire to go on a solo bounty hunter mission. 

[King of Twitch]

I'd hire her to hunt my bounty








paper towels, so that I wouldn't have to go to the store.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I don't mean to exacerbate the Mario voice issue, but could you really imagine Super Mario Bros with "woohoos" and "it's a me" every time Mario jumped?  Back then the character actually looked like an adult male plumber, now he's just a cartoon (which the voice fits).

About Samus:  I always imagined her as being around 30 years old, maybe even a little older.  Now that she looks 18, she looks totally inexperienced and not like someone you'd hire to go on a solo bounty hunter mission. 

Have you seen her in Metroid 1? Or Zero Mission? Yeah but really when you wear a super powered, one of a kind suit you will get the job no matter what you may look like. While I have NOT liked the sexualization of Samus in the series, there is nothing wrong with her being attractive and youthful, in fact it adds a unique twist to everything.

[Adrock]

When I play a videogame with human enemies though I do sometimes have pity for my enemy (ie: these poor security guards are just doing their job) but Samus never faces enemies like this.  The first time Nintendo very specifically told us what Samus was feeling it was when she spared the Metroid baby.

At the same time, Samus didn't really have any emotional attachment to the Metroid. She just bottled it up and and gave it to some scientists. Then, she was told to get it back because Ridley was being a dick again.

If anything, I'd say Fusion's prologue gave Samus a sliver of emotion when she said something about the Metroid saving her life twice. Then, towards the end of the game she yells at Adam. As far as I know, that's the extent of it.

About Samus:  I always imagined her as being around 30 years old, maybe even a little older.  Now that she looks 18, she looks totally inexperienced and not like someone you'd hire to go on a solo bounty hunter mission.

I remember reading somewhere that in Metroid 1, she's supposed to be like 22. Couldn't tell you where I read that and I'm too lazy to google it...