26 Jul 2024
Metroid: Other M, Uncategorized Permalink

Interview: Ai Kobayashi

July 26, 2024

It is the very great pleasure of Shinesparkers to share an interview with Ai Kobayashi, the voice of Samus Aran in the Japanese version of Metroid: Other M! As far as we know, this is her first interview about the game. We asked her to share her memories from the recording process, her personal feelings regarding Samus, and how she became a voice actress in the first place. This is a real treat for fans of Other M. We hope you enjoy it!

An extra special thank you goes to Wata Ridley and Darts for their help translating between English and Japanese. It would never have been possible without them.

Click here to read the interview

15 Jul 2024
Metroid Prime 4 Permalink

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond’s Lead UI Artist shares his work

July 15, 2024

The Lead UI Artist of Retro Studios, Jon Wofford, recently opened up on Twitter and ArtStation about his role in designing the Heads-Up Display (HUD) for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Jon sought to update the HUD for modern gamers while honoring its original appearance. For example, Beyond finally changes the visor shape to match its appearance in Metroid Prime 2 onwards. The Morph Ball HUD is now in the center top of the screen, and appears sleeker. You can read his notes on the HUD design at the link below.

We want to thank Jon and the rest of the Retro team for the amazing work they’re doing to bring us the fourth Metroid Prime game at long last.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is coming to Nintendo Switch sometime in 2025.

Source: Twitter/ArtStation

Permalink

Episode 30 – Reactions to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Shinesparkers Metroid Podcast
Shinesparkers Metroid Podcast
Episode 30 - Reactions to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
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Our second podcast episode of 2024 was recorded within hours of the June 18 Nintendo Direct, which finally brought us a gameplay trailer for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond! Amanda and Roy are joined by team member Glaedrax to share their immediate reactions to the trailer and their theories on what will happen in the game.

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

00:00 – Introductions
00:41 – Topic: Reactions to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
26:47 – Mailbag
27:23 – Bloopers

The uncompressed trailer for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond https://assets.nintendo.com/video/upload/Nintendo%20Direct/2024/06-18-2024/video/spotlight-04.mp4

Glaedrax’s reaction to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eez6baTJz5M

Haloid, the Metroid-Halo crossover Roy mentioned in this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL-mR79GErU

19 Jun 2024
Metroid Dread, Metroid Prime Permalink

Metroid Dread and Metroid Prime Remastered are now on sale worldwide

June 19, 2024

After the trailer for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond debuted in yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, Nintendo has put Metroid Dread and Metroid Prime Remastered on sale around the globe. Dread is now available for 30% off, and Prime Remastered for 15%.

Note: these sales only apply to the digital versions of the games. If you want a physical copy, you’ll still have to pay full price.

Japan: Dread/Prime Remastered

Canada: Dread/Prime Remastered

United States: Dread/Prime Remastered

Mexico: Dread/Prime Remastered

Brazil: Dread/Prime Remastered

United Kingdom: Dread/Prime Remastered

France: Dread/Prime Remastered

Australia/New Zealand: Dread/Prime Remastered

The sale lasts until July 2nd, 2024, so if you haven’t picked up a copy of either game yet, and you want to, now is your chance!

18 Jun 2024
Metroid, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 4 Permalink

Nintendo Reveals First Look at Metroid Prime 4 Beyond

June 18, 2024

After seven years of mystery, Nintendo finally pulled back the curtain on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond during their recent Nintendo Direct presentation.

Metroid Prime 4 was initially announced in a Nintendo Direct back in 2017; it was later confirmed that Retro Studios were not involved with development. Nintendo then announced in January 2019 that Metroid Prime 4 had completely restarted development, this time under the helm of Retro Studios. Other than the odd job advertisement here and there, that was the last update Nintendo revealed about Metroid Prime 4… until today.

The June 2024 Nintendo Direct presentation showcased a brand new trailer for Metroid Prime 4 and revealed its subtitle: Beyond. Take a look below.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will launch in 2025 for Nintendo Switch

18 Jun 2024
Metroid Permalink

Metroid Zero Mission Announced for Nintendo Switch Online

June 18, 2024

Nintendo have just announced, via the recent Nintendo Direct Presentation, that Metroid Zero Mission will be coming to the Nintendo Switch Online app later today.

We will update this article if there are any more updates regarding its release.

UPDATE – Metroid Zero Mission is now available to Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass users. To access the game, subscribers will need to download the latest version of the Game Boy Advance Nintendo Switch Online application (1.8.0).

In addition, the NSO version of Zero Mission comes with the Metroid Fusion Gallery pre-unlocked, which was previously only accessible using the GameBoy Advance’s Link Cable feature.

16 Jun 2024
Metroid Dread, Metroid: Samus Returns Permalink

Metroid Dread director gives interview

June 16, 2024

Earlier in June 2024, José Luis Márquez, the Creative Director of Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread at MercurySteam, gave a talk to students from the Escuela de Videojuegos y Arte Digital (School of Video Games and Digital Art). He was interviewed by the Spanish gaming magazine Gamereactor and discussed his work in the Metroidvania genre. MercurySteam is the only studio in the world to have developed games in both of the franchises that began the genre, Metroid and Castlevania, and this was highlighted. The interview’s topics were the differences between developing Metroid on Nintendo 3DS vs. Nintendo Switch, and Samus’s tendency to lose her abilities at the start of Metroid games.

For some reason, the interview has since been removed from the site, but you can still watch it with English subtitles at the archived link below.

Source: Gamereactor (in Spanish)

25 May 2024
Super Metroid Permalink

Feature: 30 Sec. Wonders – Tokusatsu CF Land

May 25, 2024

Shinesparkers is delighted to share a brand new feature! This one is a translation of two articles in the Japanese magazine Spaceship, with behind the scenes details regarding the Metroid II and Super Metroid commercials aired only in Japan in 1991 and 1994. We discovered them during my search for Samus’s actresses and planned on translating them in the future. In addition to the articles, I am also sharing additional discoveries I made regarding the production of both commercials, including a new picture of the stop-motion Samus figure used in them! These commercials remain popular with Metroid fans in Japan and overseas, and we hope you’ll enjoy learning more about how they were made as much as we did!

Click here to check out the feature