Retro Studios Stepping Back From Metroid For A Bit

Retro Studios, the makers of the games in the Metroid Prime series, has announced they'll be stepping back from the games for a bit now that Corruption is in stores. Comments from project director Mark Pacini discuss that decision and their interaction with the Wiimote: "I'm sure that there will be other titles created but as far as Retro Studios is concerned, we're taking a break for a little bit. We started with the core ideas of the game ... but we did not receive the information about the Wii controller until well into development. So we got a big surprise, of, hey, this is what we're going to do for the next console. Many things had to be refactored, but actually many things fell right into place. The Wii remote enables us to do things that we hadn't previously done in other Metroid games."

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[NonSequor]

(my trusty mouse is still more accurate)

Actually the human brain is capable of exceptional accuracy with a pointing device like the wiimote. Your brain is pretty much hardwired for this sort of thing and it only takes a little practice to get really good at it. I've seen a shooting instructor teach people how to hit an aspirin in midair with a BB gun in less than 10 minutes. This is something that pretty much everyone who isn't braindamaged is capable of doing.

With the wiimote you can easily do some things that are much more difficult with a mouse: track a fast moving target and quickly move between targets. Of course, the PC still has the advantage that you can map keys to all sorts of useful macros, but I think the mouse's reign as best input device is at an end.

Re:Finally, a Metroid story on Slashdot

[Ang31us]

Skip RedSteel...the play control sucks ass. Once you moved your WiiMote anywhere near the sides of (or off) the screen, the whole screen goes into a spin (your character is "turning" even though you're "aiming"). I got such bad vertigo from it that I gave away my Wii launch copy to my younger brother so he could play it on his own Wii.

Definitely check out Resident Evil 4 and especially Metroid Prime 3 Corruption using the WiiMote. In RE4, you can't run and shoot at the same time (my only criticism of the game). MP3C has everything you could possibly want in an FPS. Both games feel like you're playing an arcade shooter with a lightgun in your living room...and a big-screen TV with progressive scan makes it EVEN BETTER!

Re:Finally, a Metroid story on Slashdot

[AKAImBatman]

I don't think you really understand the difficulties posed by the Wii Remote. The problems you mention all are something that can be ocmpensated for at the gun. With the Wii Remote, you have no such luck. Your aim will be different depending on the position of the sensor bar, your distance from the television, your position along the parallel of the sensor bar, how deep of an angle you're firing at vs. moving the remote side to side, the height the remote is currently being held at, etc. Just about every factor you can think of will slightly change the aiming of the remote. So there's very little comparison with wind (a measurably quantity) and weapon warping (something that can be compensated for). It's more like a weapon that kicks a different direction every time you fire it.

Let me put a strong rumble pack on your gun and let's see how well you compensate for it. ;-)

Re:Finally, a Metroid story on Slashdot

[buffer-overflowed]

It also helps that most analog stick games "assist" you a bit. If you ever tried Halo or Halo 2 for the PC, they're retardedly easy because of that. Console FPSes though are tuned to console controls, so everyone has a fair shake, and you can get quite good at it. Just don't expect to beat a PC or Wii gamer on an absolutely even, control-wise playing field(as in no auto-assist, simple movement of cursor, they're so much faster and more precise then you... you will lose, horribly). You won't.

K/M is still the best for finate precision control. Wiimote+Nunchuck is #2(resolution is poor compared to modern mice, it's about at Quake 1/2 levels, if they upped it to modern mice level, it would be perfect). Honestly, after MP3, I'll have serious issues picking up any dual-analog FPS.