15 Oct 2025
Metroid Prime: Federation Force Permalink

Metroid Prime: Federation Force’s General Alex Miles has a face

October 15, 2025

An unexpected discovery has been made! General Alex Miles, the commander character in Metroid Prime: Federation Force, is an unseen character in that you never see Miles’ face beneath the helmet, and Miles’ sex is never specified in dialogue. Well, it appears that has now changed. u/itsyeboyjp on Reddit took to r/metroid to share a discovery they made when playing Federation Force recently.

During the credits, the characters appear alongside them, including Miles. When u/itsyeboyjp watched the credits, a face was shown underneath Miles’ helmet, which normally doesn’t appear. The face and hair suggest Miles might be a woman. If so, Miles would be following in the legacy of Samus herself as a character some may have thought was a man, but was actually female underneath their armor.

Bearborg, an admin on Wikitroid, was unable to reproduce the glitch, but confirmed that a model and textures for Miles’ face do exist and shared those with us. What a find!

UPDATE (Oct. 16, 2025): Bearborg shared a reconstruction of Miles’ face with the textures properly attached. It’s entirely possible that this was intended to be a reveal during the credits, similar to the famous revelation that Samus was a woman at the end of the original Metroid in 1986.

Source: Reddit/Imgur

10 Oct 2025
Metroid Permalink

Book about the MetroidVania genre’s history to be released in March 2026

October 10, 2025

A book titled ‘The History of Metroidvania: Decade One—1980-1990’ has been announced, and is expected to be released in bookstores March 3rd next year. It is written by Jeremy Parish, co-host of the Retronauts podcast and Media Curator for Limited Run Games. He is currently hard at work with his Video Works project, and this book is the culmination of over 20 years of work!

We look forward to the release of this book! Maybe we will finally have an agreed upon definition for the term Metroidvania?

More information:
The History of Metroidvania: Decade One—1980-1990 (hardcover, 232 pages, 9”x12”) will be available in bookstores on March 3, 2026 and in comic shops on March 4, 2026. It is now available for pre-order from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your local bookstore or comic shop for $54.99.

It is published by Dark Horse Comics.

Source: Dark Horse Comics

04 Oct 2025
Metroid Prime 4 Permalink

Impressions of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond at Gamescom

October 4, 2025

Nintendo DE (Germany) has released a short video filmed at Gamescom, compiling attendee impressions of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. The players who were interviewed describe the Switch 2 controls, graphics and performance in overwhelmingly positive terms. One gentleman said he’d get in line to play it again afterwards, and another admitted he took the day off work to experience Beyond.

Although they’re speaking in German, a user of r/metroid has translated what they said, and you can read that and see the impressions video at the links below.

Source: YouTube/Reddit

02 Oct 2025
Metroid Dread, Metroid: Samus Returns Permalink

MercurySteam denies accusations of poor work conditions by Spanish union

October 2, 2025

MercurySteam, the developer of Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread, has been criticized in a statement from CSVI-CGT, a Spanish game developers’ trade union. The statement accuses MercurySteam of implementing poor working conditions within their workplace.

According to CSVI-CGT, the studio’s first game after Dread, Blades of Fire, did not meet the sales expectations of its publisher and MercurySteam laid off 24 employees, justifying 18 of them by claiming there was not enough work. However, the statement indicates that some teams at MercurySteam are now working up to 50 hours a week. It further accuses the studio of restricting internal communication not related to work, instituting random audits of communications between employees, limiting vacation days for several months of the year, and eliminating teleworking.

Since this statement was published, employees at MercurySteam came forward to refute the allegations in their own statement in Hobby Consolas magazine. However, the link to that article in Hobby Consolas now redirects to an error page, indicating it was removed. It was not archived in the Wayback Machine. Below is a cached Google result showing the article was published yesterday.

The statement was preserved in an article on the Spanish site 3DJuegos. This group of employees denies that teleworking was eliminated, communication is restricted or that MercurySteam is under systematic crunch, additionally claiming that there is a positive work environment with flexible hours, 10 days of vacation during the holiday season, and 23 remote work days per year.

With regard to their controversial practice of not crediting developers who don’t work on a game for 25% of its development, the statement suggests a new policy in line with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has been implemented since Metroid Dread and shared with all staff before Blades of Fire’s release. The statement does not deny layoffs have taken place, and admits there has been occasional crunch, but it is compensated with overtime pay.

You can read the statement from CSVI-CGT (in Spanish) below, along with a report on it from the Spanish site Vandal. The statement refuting the allegations is also linked below, on 3DJuegos.

Source: CSVI-CGT/Vandal/3DJuegos

01 Oct 2025
Metroid Prime 4 Permalink

September 2025 News Roundup

October 1, 2025

Now that October 2025 is here, Shinesparkers has prepared a roundup of the Metroid news we had in September. See below:

September 9 – Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has been rated 14+ in Brazil

September 10 – Nintendo Direct announced for this Friday, September 12

September 12 – Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is out December 4

September 15 – Metroid Prime 4: Beyond ‘Power Bundle’ discovered (Europe only)

September 16 – Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will be playable at PAX Australia

September 17 – Backside of MP4: Beyond boxart may have been spotted

September 18 – Shinesparkers is launching Operation Metroid Prime 4

September 25 – Chris Stuckmann aspires to direct a Metroid movie

September 26 – Metroid Mocchi Mocchi plushies are coming

September 30 – Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Switch 2 slim case announced

In addition, we published two new features: The Vi-O-La Bike, a translation of an article on Nintendo’s Japanese website, and 4 Questions for Metroid Prime 4, with our favorite answers to four questions we asked on social media. Lastly, we published a Bonus Episode of the podcast with our reactions to the September 12 Nintendo Direct trailer for Prime 4.

We have more content planned throughout October and November, ahead of Metroid Prime 4’s highly anticipated release on December 4th! As always, we will continue to share any Metroid news that comes up in the interim. See you next mission!

30 Sep 2025
Metroid Prime 4 Permalink

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Switch 2 slim case announced

September 30, 2025

A new slim case for Nintendo Switch 2 based on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is coming from PowerA. As the latest officially licensed Metroid accessory from them, the slim case prominently features Samus as she appears in the key art. It includes fabric lining, a screen protector, a built-in play stand, and it can hold up to ten game cards. The slim case releases on October 30 and is available for preorder from Amazon at the link below.

Source: Amazon

26 Sep 2025
Metroid Prime 4 Permalink

Metroid Mocchi Mocchi plushies are coming

September 26, 2025

There’s a line of plushies called Mocchi Mocchi, which are chibi versions of characters and items from popular games. They have officially licensed Mario, Sonic, Kirby, Suya Suya and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys, and now, Metroid is joining the lineup!

Mocchi Mocchi plushies based on Samus’s Helmet and Morph Ball have surfaced on Zing Pop Culture, an Australian merchandise retailer. Each plushie costs $65 Australian and both are now available for preorder. They’ll be released on November 14, 2025. Whether and when they will be available in other countries is currently unknown, but we’ll let you know as soon as they are.

Source: Zing Pop Culture (Samus Helmet/Morph Ball)

25 Sep 2025
Uncategorized 1 Comment Permalink

Chris Stuckmann aspires to direct a Metroid movie

September 25, 2025 1 Comment

In an interview with Collider about his directorial debut, Shelby Oaks, the YouTuber Chris Stuckmann discussed the trend of indie film directors getting the chance to direct blockbuster movies, such as Chloé Zhao. While not ruling out the possibility of helming a high budget film himself, Stuckmann explained that he’d prefer to make more original films. That said, if he had the chance (which he doubts) to direct any franchise movie, he’d choose Metroid.

Here is what he said:

“If I had to pick a franchise, Metroid. Metroid is my dream, and it’s not a thing that exists currently as a movie, but the idea of directing a Metroid film would be absolutely incredible. I’ve got Samus on my arm right here. That whole world means so much to me. The lore is so deep and rich, and I love her as a character. But Nintendo is Nintendo, and they’re going to get somebody who’s done a million CGI movies before. But I would love to do a Metroid movie.”

Interest in a Metroid film has been increasing in the last few years. Brie Larson has volunteered to play Samus, the stars of The Super Mario Bros. Movie have called for a Metroid film, and Jordon Vogt-Roberts and Neill Blomkamp have said they’d love to direct it. Earlier this year, former Nintendo executive Gail Tilden shed light on why the Metroid movie planned in 2005 was cancelled, suggesting movie studios were reluctant to invest in big budget action movies starring a woman.

With Nintendo starting to take movies more seriously, with a second Mario and a live action Zelda film on the way, there’s never been a greater chance of Metroid finally coming to the silver screen.

Source: Collider

Permalink

Bonus Episode – Metroid Prime 4: Beyond’s Release Date

Shinesparkers Podcast
Shinesparkers Podcast
Bonus Episode - Metroid Prime 4: Beyond's Release Date
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Our second podcast episode of 2025 features our reactions to the release date of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and trailer in the September 12 Nintendo Direct, which aired earlier on the day of recording. We share our thoughts on the new Vi-O-La bike Samus uses in Beyond and more theories about what it all means. Additionally, Amanda reads from the mailbag.

Podcast is hosted by Amanda, with team members Roy and Irene.

00:00 – Introductions
00:29 – Topic: Metroid Prime 4 Beyond’s Third Trailer and Release Date
11:05 – Mailbag
17:33 – Bloopers

The Vi-O-La Bike feature mentioned in this episode can be read here.