11 Feb 2022
Metroid, Metroid Dread Permalink

Dread Suit Figma Figure Announced

February 11, 2022

Earlier today, it was announced that Good Smile Company will be manufacturing a new Figma Figure from the Metroid series. This Figma features Samus Aran donning her Power Suit as seen from Metroid Dread.

Similar to previous figures, the PVC model should include posable joints allowing owners to set Samus in a variety of poses and scenes. Other details, such as pricing, release, sizing, and other additional features are yet to be confirmed.

This isn’t the first time Metroid has received the Figma treatment, in fact, there are currently four other models that have been made, such as Zero Suit Samus and Metroid Prime 3’s Power Suit.

11 Feb 2022
Super Metroid Permalink

Super Metroid “Special” Added To Nintendo Switch Online

February 11, 2022

Earlier this week, Nintendo dropped an SP (Special) version of the classic Super Metroid to their Nintendo Online service, which is effectively a save state with the intention of showing a later part of the game to encourage new players to try it out. In this instance, you start the game just outside of the Gold Statue Chamber with all abilities and full health, as you descend down into Tourian, you can fight Metroids and eventually come up against Mother Brain, the final boss of Super Metroid. There’s even plenty of time on the clock to complete the game in under three hours to see the best ending.

To be honest, a rather random and odd addition to the Nintendo Online service, but if it encourages more people to play Super Metroid, we’re all for it!

09 Feb 2022
Metroid Dread Permalink

Free Updates for Metroid Dread Add New Modes

February 9, 2022

Metroid Dread is receiving some free updates to enhance the existing game. From today, Metroid Dread will include two new mode! Dread Mode will offer a great challenge for players, where a single hit will cause an instant game over. For new players, a Rookie Mode will also be available, offering increased recovery to help those players who struggle. Both of these modes are available right now. In April, a Boss Rush mode will allow you to face bosses continuously, one at a time.

We are delighted to see Metroid Dread receive some free updates to enhance the game even further!

UPDATE: The updates are now available. Rookie Mode increases enemy and ammo replenishments, decreases boss attack damage and the durability of their projectile attacks, increases the Missiles you have at the start, and makes some Finish Counters are easier. The Results Screen also shares new details (only for files started after the update), and fixes an issue where Samus sliding down a surface and touching a frozen enemy would crash the game. The demo of Metroid Dread available on the eShop has been updated as well to add Rookie Mode, and extend it so you can fight Corpius (without crashing the game this time).

You can read the patch notes here.

03 Feb 2022
Metroid Dread Permalink

Nintendo announces Metroid Dread sales of 2.74m units globally

February 3, 2022

Nintendo’s have confirmed that Metroid Dread for Nintendo Switch has sold 2.74 million units during its launch on October 8th to December 21st 2021, which makes it the best selling 2D Metroid title ever! The results come from Nintendo’s latest financial report, which confirms that the game has outsold every other Metroid title except Metroid Prime, which during that period was only 100,000 units short of surpassing it. This is a fantastic result for the series, which has seen plenty of interest from gamers, and recognised by the wider gaming industry with nominations for several gaming awards in 2021, winning TIME’s Game of the Year award, and Best Action Adventure at The Game Awards in 2021.

It’s also worth noting that the Nintendo Switch, which has sold 103m units, has now officially outsold the Wii (101m units) as of December 21st 2021, which has surely helped the game thrive with such a healthy install base.

As Metroid fans, we needed no convincing that Metroid Dread was a very special title, but its great to see those figures finally confirm the success the game has managed to accumilate. We have no doubts that Dread will secure those additional 100,000 units to make it the best selling Metroid game to the present day. A huge congratulations to MercurySteam for the huge success the game has been bringing!

Source: Nintendo

Permalink

Episode 21 – Jack Mathews (Ex Retro Studios)

Shinesparkers Podcast
Shinesparkers Podcast
Episode 21 - Jack Mathews (Ex Retro Studios)
Loading
/

Our twenty-first episode features special guest Jack Mathews, Technical Lead Engineer of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Principal Technology Engineer on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. In this special extended podcast, Jack goes into his thoughts on Metroid Dread, and answers questions relating to speculation and rumours surrounding the three Metroid Prime games he worked on. He shares his thoughts on a theoretical Metroid Prime remake for Nintendo Switch, and some thoughts on what Metroid Prime 4 and the future of the series could be like for Retro Studios.

Jack also pays a heartfelt tribute to two of his colleagues, Mark Haigh-Hutchinson (Senior Engineer) and Andy O’Neil (Technical Lead Engineer), who played a significant role in the games we love. Podcast features host Amanda and team member Darren.

Featuring brand new jingles, provided again by Mozzaratti!

01:06 – Guest: Jack Mathews (Dread, Interview)
42:14 – A tribute to Mark Haigh-Hutchinson and Andy O’Neil
52:02 – Topic: What we want to see from a Metroid Prime remake for Nintendo Switch
1:10:12 – Bloopers

Real Time Cameras: A Guide for Game Designers and Developers is available on Amazon

16 Jan 2022
Metroid: Other M Permalink

Interview: Lenka Volfová (Metroid: Other M Commercial)

January 16, 2022

We are proud to share our latest Shinesparkers interview, this time with Lenka Volfová, the actress who played Samus for the Metroid: Other M Commercial back in 2010! Lenka’s identity remained relatively unknown to the Metroid community for many years, so we are delighted to be able to recognise her work and learn more about her in this interview. We want to thank Lenka for taking the time to speak with us, and for bringing a beloved character to screen in such an awesome way!

Click here to check out the interview

14 Jan 2022
Uncategorized Permalink

Community Spotlight: Gario

January 14, 2022

Our first Community Spotlight of 2022 kicks off with musician Gario, a musician who has been creating music for many years, contributing to the OCRemix community, and more notably to our Harmony of a Hunter albums. His two tracks were Eldrich Spore Spawn from Harmony of a Hunter: 101% Run in 2012, and Garden of Zebes with our latest album, Harmony of a Hunter Returns. His spotlight marks the fiftieth Community Spotlight since we began highlighting some of the Metroid related talent across the internet!

Be sure to check out the Spotlight here

13 Jan 2022
Uncategorized Permalink

Metroid manga Samus & Joey gets eBook re-release

January 13, 2022

Kodansha publishing has announced that the Samus & Joey Metroid manga will be re-released as an eBook manga! It was originally published in Comic BomBom (a monthly Japanese manga magazine) between December 2002 and April 2004, and was written and illustrated by Idzuki Kouji. This release will be part of their Fukkatsu BomBom series (Revival BomBom), and all three volumes of the Samus & Joey manga will be released as a digital eBook. Updates will be given via the official Twitter channel, which links to their website (currently down at the time of publication).

Back in November 2019, we had the pleasure of interviewing Kouji-san about his work on the Samus & Joey manga series, you can check that out here. We are thrilled to see a classic Metroid story get a revival for a new generation of fans to enjoy, and wish to congratulate Kouji-san on its publication.

Source: ReBOMBOM_PR

31 Dec 2021
Uncategorized Permalink

Feature: End of Year 2021

December 31, 2021

Our final piece of content for the year is our annual End of Year feature. The team shares their favorite moments from 2021, and the excitement the series brought to them, and what they observed from the community in 2021. Naturally, Metroid Dread took centre stage in this feature, but we were also able to reflect on some of our own published content, including our fan-arrangement album Harmony of a Hunter Returns.

Happy New Year to all our readers, and thank you for your support this year. We look forwards to 2022, and the great content we have planned!

Click here to read our End of Year 2021 feature

24 Dec 2021
Metroid Prime Hunters Permalink

Interview: Lawrence Schwedler (Metroid Prime Hunters Composer)

December 24, 2021

Recently, we had the pleasure of interviewing Lawrence Schwedler, the composer of Metroid Prime Hunters, and for Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt. Lawrence kindly offered many great responses to our questions, and anecdotes from his time working on the two software titles. We don’t want to give too much away, so we urge you to check out the interview in the link below. We are incredibly thankful for the opportunity to learn more about the sounds of Metroid Prime Hunters, and want to thank Lawrence for taking the time out to shae them with us!

You can check out the interview right here