For our eighth podcast, we are thrilled to be joined by Jessica Martin, who provided the voice of Samus in Metroid: Other M, to celebrate its tenth anniversary! In this feature-length podcast, we asked Jessica many questions, including why she became an actress, her dream roles, and her thoughts on Other M’s reception. The team also share their favourite scenes from Other M. Podcast also features host Amanda, and team members Darren and RoyboyX.
01:27 – Guest: Jessica Martin
1:17:12 – Topic: What are our favourite scenes from Metroid: Other M?
1:26:37 – Bloopers
Today the Metroid franchise celebrates its 34th anniversary. To mark this moment, we are proud to share an interview with Richard Vorodi, formally of NST who was the Single Player and Story Designer for Metroid Prime Hunters. We spent some time asking Richard a variety of questions about his time at NST, what it was like to work on a Metroid game, and questions around the gameplay and lore of the game. He also shares some pictures of his personal memorabilia from back in the day. We believe there are quite a few things within this interiew that have never been seen before by Metroid fans, so we hope you enjoy what we have prepared for you!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Richard for taking the time to speak with us, and wish him the best of luck on his current and future endeavours!
For this spotlight, we are sharing an impressive artist called Oszaj, who has created a variety of different Metroid focused pieces throughout his time. Metroid has built a strong connection to his childhood, which has inspired him to make some really special art pieces. (He even provided his own header for his feature!) We were incredibly proud to feature such a talented individual, and hope you will take the time to read more about Oszaj and his work by clicking below!
Brie Larson recently made comments about wanting to play Samus Aran should a Metroid movie be on the table for production. In the Animal Crossing based talk show Animal Talking, where people join the host Gary Whitta in a talk show set within Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the subject was brought up and she had this to say:
“I would love that so much,
…
She was always my character that I played in Super Smash Bros., and I just loved her. I definitely want to make that movie, definitely want to participate in that. So Nintendo, once again, I’d love to do it.”
This wouldn’t be the first time Brie has expressed interest in the role, as she has tweeted about it when asked back in November 2018. She has also dressed up in the Zero Suit for Halloween 2018, which we covered previously.
Almost eighteen years since the release of Metroiid Fusion on the GameBoy Advance, fans of the Metroid series have yet to see a continuation of Samus’s story. What happened to her after the events of the B.S.L. Research station? Where did she go after she sent the station hurtling through SR388’s atmosphere? Like many fans, I have had ideas for a continuation of Metroid’s timeline for years, and for this months feature I have decided to touch on five things I want to see from Metroid 5, if Nintendo ever decides to release it. I hope you will consider giving it a read!
Our seventh podcast features special guest Orpheon, a Youtuber who creates awesome Metroid focused content, ranging from fun and humorous videos, to serious and informative ones. Orpheon’s branding of chibi-style characters that appear across his videos, and giving voices to the different characters, is what makes him stand out so much, and we are delighted to hear his story in this latest episode of the Shinesparkers podcast!
00:51 – Guest: Orpheon
32:31 – Topic: Should Ridley return in Metroid 5?
47:07 – Bloopers
This month’s Community Spotlight features a major Metroid fansite, Wikitroid. It is the internet’s largest Metroid wiki, and has been documenting and expanding its knowledge of the Metroid series for over a decade. Our team member RoyboyX writes about his experiences contributing to Wikitroid, along with his fellow editor PeabodySam, to share what he has created for the wiki. If you need any information about a room, creature, or lore in the series, Wikitroid is your best bet to find answers.
On a side note, we are always keen to feature talented Metroid focused projects in the community. If you are a cosplayer, speedrunner, artist, musician or someone that has a really cool and unique Metroid focused project that could do with a bit more attention, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on our Facebook and Twitter social media pages, we would love to hear from you!
The composer of the original Metroid, Hirokazu Tanaka, has revealed that his second album “Domingo” will be available on July 15th 2020. His first album “Django” was released in October 2017, a collecton of music heard from his live shows, and simlar to the music you might hear from his Earthbound compositions. Domingo is a brand new album with eleven brand new pieces of music, described by him as a requiem to his past.
From Tanaka-san’s official YouTube channel:
Three years after delighting music lovers around the world with his debut solo album Django, CHIP TANAKA is back and ready to release his highly anticipated second album: Domingo.
Video game fans know him as Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka, the pioneer artist who began spinning chipsounds into video game music in 1980 while working as a sound engineer at Nintendo. In addition to composing music for legendary games like Metroid, Super Mario Land, and Earthbound, his storied career includes writing and arranging numerous theme songs for the Pokémon animated films and TV series. His contributions to music catapulted forward yet again in 2017 with Django, the first album released under his live performance name CHIP TANAKA.
With Domingo, Chip returns with an all-new album of 11 conceptual pieces that combine disparate imagery of the sea, the night, outer space, and the retro-computer age, while exploring themes of nostalgia for bygone people and places. With an unpredictable mélange of genres including reggae, dub, and techno, and a rich palette of chiptune sounds, listeners will be transported into new and unknown auspices.
In his own words: “This album is a requiem to my past- a new life form born from treasured memories.” Don’t miss this epochal release from an artist who still has plenty to say!
A number of costumes have been added to a free-to-play fitness app for Nintendo Switch called Jump Rope Challenge, one of which includes the famed bounty Hunter Samus Aran, who has decided to take a break from fighting alien threats, and picked up a skipping rope. The game was created by a group of Nintendo employees in Japan during lockdown due to Covid-19 to add some “quick and fun movement into their daily lives”. The game requires the use of both Nintendo Switch Joy-Con in order to play. How many jumps can you do?
The app is only available until until September 30th 2020, from the Nintendo Switch eShop, and will be removed after this date. If you download the app before then, it will be available to enjoy beyond this date.
This month’s Community Spotlight focuses on an excellent cosplayer called Pamigu, who has created a brilliant Varia Suit costume. Pamigu has come through a lot to get to where she is today, disregarding anyone who says she can’t achieve her dreams. Her story was very inspirational, and we thank her for taking the time to share it with us! Please check it out by clicking the link below.
On a side note, we are always keen to feature talented Metroid focused projects in the community. If you are a cosplayer, speedrunner, artist, musician or someone that has a really cool and unique Metroid focused project that could do with a bit more attention, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on our Facebook and Twitter social media pages, we would love to hear from you!
