15 Jul 2021
Metroid Dread Permalink

Metroid Dread Report Vol. 3 released

July 15, 2021

Nintendo have released a brand new Metroid Dread Report, a series of articles in the run-up to the upcoming Metroid title. In this third volume, the report focuses on seven points that define the 2D saga, such as the character of Samus Aran and her abilities, characters such as the Metroids, Chozo and X-Parasites, and recapping the series thirty-five-year history. It’s a great article that should help newcomers to the series get up to speed with the adventure so far!

Check out the Metroid Dread Report Volume 3 by clicking this link!

Previous reports can be found here:

Metroid Dread Report Volume 2
Metroid Dread Report Volume 1

14 Jul 2021
Uncategorized Permalink

Ridley amiibo available for preorder at Gamestop

July 14, 2021

Earlier this month we reported that Best Buy would be restocking the Dark Samus amiibo on October 8th 2021, the same day Metroid Dread releases in North America. Now, video game retailer Gamestop have shared that the Ridley amiibo will also be restocked on the same day. This seems unlikely to be a coincidence, and its great to see that these amiibo will be available once again. It may also imply that the upcoming Metroid title may include some functionality with the new title. At the time of writing, there has been no update from Nintendo on their CPSIA Certificates of Compliance page, which lists all of the manufacturing dates for amiibo released so far.

North American fans can preorder the Ridley amiibo here

We will continue to watch closely to see if any of this is officially confirmed by Nintendo.

Source: Gamestop

10 Jul 2021
Super Metroid Permalink

Scrapped voice sample from Super Metroid discovered

July 10, 2021

Longtime Metroid fans might be aware that Super Metroid originally had a different Game Over sequence. This fact was unearthed in a Japanese developer interview translated by the Metroid Database many years ago. The interview revealed that Samus was intended to be naked under her Power Suit, and to scream when she died. The scream was recorded by one of the game’s composers Minako Hamano, but due to the voice sounding inappropriate and American objections to nudity, the voice was removed and clothes were added to Samus. Yoshio Sakamoto claimed in the same interview to have a special version of the ROM with the original death sequence.

Recently, a member of The Cutting Room Floor, a wiki devoted to archiving unused video game content, may have unearthed this cut content. In late June, a user called ValjeanLafitte uploaded a voice sample they found in the Super Metroid ROM (all regions) that sounds like a female moan. Valjean speculated that this represents Hamano-san’s unused cry, and further noted that the sound appears to be of a lower quality than intended, perhaps due to hardware limitations. They edited the sound to improve its pitch and speed. You can listen to the original and edited sounds on TCRF at the link below, as well as Wikitroid.

Source: TCRF/Wikitroid

05 Jul 2021
Metroid Prime Permalink

Metroid Prime senior engineer Zoid is retiring

July 5, 2021

On Thursday, software engineer David Kirsch, aka “Zoid”, announced on Twitter that he was retiring from the video game industry. Zoid previously worked for Retro Studios as an engineer on the original Metroid Prime, later working for Valve, and then on World of Warcraft at Blizzard at the time of his retirement.

In a thread on Twitter, Zoid reflected on his three decade long career and shared anecdotes from his time at various developers, including Retro Studios. While on a conference call with Nintendo, Zoid shared his miniboss designs with several of their designers, including Shigeru Miyamoto, who called him “Zoid-o-san”.

Zoid’s last tweet in this thread says he is retiring “For now,” which may suggest he could return to game development in the future. On behalf of us at Shinesparkers, we wish to thank Zoid for his huge contribution to Metroid Prime and gaming in general, and wish him a happy retirement, however long it may be.

Source: Zoid

05 Jul 2021
Uncategorized Permalink

Retailer Best Buy to Restock Dark Samus amiibo

July 5, 2021

According to a listing on US retailer Best Buy, the Dark Samus amiibo will be restocked and available on October 8th 2021, the same day of release as Metroid Dread. While there’s no evidence to suggest that previous Metroid amiibo will be compatible with the upcoming game, such a specific release date is sure to spark some speculation. Its also worth noting that the CPSIA Certificates of Compliance page on Nintendo’s Support website (which lists manufacturing dates for amiibo) has not listed Dark Samus or any other amiibo as being manufactured recently at the time of writing.

Regardless, if you are a fan from North America, this is an excellent opportunity to pre-order the amiibo if you missed out the first time.

Source: Best Buy

30 Jun 2021
Metroid Dread Permalink

Metroid Dread Report Vol. 2 released

June 30, 2021

Earlier this month, Nintendo confirmed that a series of Metroid Dread Reports would be released to promote the upcoming game, which began with Volume 1, which gave a closer look at the reveal trailer. The second installment has now been shared in English, after releasing in Japanese earlier today. The second report focuses on researching the E.M.M.I. robots, the threat that stalks Samus through her adventure on planet ZDR. The report details information about the E.M.M.I, the zones they patrol, and more information on Samus’ abilities and weapons, such as the Phantom Cloak and the Omega Cannon, a weapon that has the ability to destroy an E.M.M.I. robot.

Volume 3 will share Seven key words that define “Metroid.” which we presume will come at some point in July.

You can check out the Metroid Dread Report Vol. 2 right here!

Source:

29 Jun 2021
Uncategorized Permalink

Vote for your favorite Metroid game in our poll!

June 29, 2021

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of Metroid, we are running a poll to find out which Metroid game is our readers favorite. Maybe there’s a clear choice, or perhaps it might be difficult to choose just one! Regardless, we are excited to find out which game you have voted in as the ultimate favorite Metroid title. To vote, please visit the following link below:

Shinesparkers Poll: Your favorite Metroid game

Voting ends August 6th 2021, with the results revealed shortly after!

Permalink

Episode 14 – Metroid Dread

Shinesparkers Podcast
Shinesparkers Podcast
Episode 14 - Metroid Dread
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The fourteenth episode of the Shinesparkers Podcast is now available! This episode focuses on the announcement of Metroid Dread and the team’s initialreactions to the newly announced game. We go on to share our thoughts on what the future of the Metroid series post-Dread could look like as the current story-arc comes to a close. We had a lot of fun making this episode so we hope you will check it out! Podcast hosted by Amanda, who is joined by Roy and Darren.

01:10 – Main Topic: Metroid Dread Reactions
18:56 – Second Topic: The Future of Metroid
27:23 – Bloopers

25 Jun 2021
Metroid Dread, Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Samus Returns, Metroid: Zero Mission, Super Metroid Permalink

Feature: Metroid The Story So Far

June 25, 2021

With the release of Metroid Dread on the horizon, our Community Manager Glaedrax has written a feature detailing the story of Metroid so far. In this feature, Glaedrax recaps the traditional series that will lead to the events of Dread. We hope that this will serve as a good introduction to people who may be experiencing Metroid for the first time with Dread as their entry point, so they can learn about the thirty-five-year story that came before it.

Click here to read the feature