Our third Community Spotlight of 2021 is now live! This month we are featuring Damian Merazzi, an aspiring product designer with a passion for complex action figures. He is also a fan of Metroid who used a 3D printer to bring toys based on some of our favorite bosses, including Metroid Prime and Quadraxis, to life. These incredible figures even received attention from a designer of the Metroid Prime saga. We hope you’ll check out his designs, and should you have access to a 3D printer yourself, use them to make your own real-life Metroid bosses!
Megan Fausti (Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order) is writing Metroid Prime 4
It seems that a pretty major hire has evaded our attention for a long time! We have learned that a writer for Metroid Prime 4 was hired in July 2020 according to LinkedIn. Her name is Megan Fausti, and she has previously written games such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which was published by Respawn Entertainment, and Battle Chef Brigade, which was published by Adult Swim Games.
In previous posts, we’ve shared that Retro was hiring a storyboard artist. One of the responsibilities of this position was to “Help define emotional scenes that will resonate with audiences.” This, along with a former Star Wars writer being brought aboard to pen the next Metroid’s story, tells us that Metroid Prime 4 will have a larger narrative focus compared to previous games in the series.
Best of luck to Megan in her role!
Feature: Metroid.jp Interviews
Today, Shinesparkers has an exciting new feature to share with our readers: an exclusive translation of four interviews that were shared on Metroid.jp in 2003! The people interviewed include Yasuo Inoue, the director of the Japanese commercial for Metroid Fusion, Tadashi Konan, the founder of apparel brand The King of Games, Michael Mann, Mark Pacini and Karl Deckard from Retro Studios, and Japanese author Miyuki Miyabe. The interviewees discuss their interest in the Metroid series and the merchandise or work they have done for the franchise. This feature would not have been possible without Vectrex28, who generously translated these interviews for us. We hope you enjoy them!
Samus Helmet statue coming from First 4 Figures
Not one to be outdone by their amazing Meta Ridley statue, First 4 Figures have revealed a massive replica of Samus Aran’s Helmet. Unfortunately, it can’t be worn since it is a statue. It appears to be based on its incarnation in the original Metroid Prime. At this point, all that First 4 Figures have shared is a brief teaser video, but they’ve said they will reveal its price, availability and release date in a livestream (embedded below) on Tuesday, March 2nd, which is next week. They are also giving away one of these statues on their website, which you can access here.
Source: F4F on Twitter/YouTube
Community Spotlight: Dana Nicole
Our second Community Spotlight of the year is live! This month, we are sharing the work of a talented illustrator and digital artist, Dana Nicole. Dana’s work focuses on who Samus is underneath her Power Suit, and also includes Adam Malkovich, who is often neglected in Metroid fanart. We were amazed by the drawings of Dana, and felt she deserved a Spotlight.
We are always looking for new Community Spotlights, so if you or someone you know is a cosplayer, artist, musician, speedrunner, YouTuber or has an interesting Metroid project that you feel could use a bit more attention, don’t hesitate to share it with us via social media!
Metroid fan album “The Last One in Captivity” available now
Musician Danilo Ciaffi has released a Metroid fan album titled “The Last One in Captivity” a post-rock tribute to the series. The album features four tracks, which are the main theme from Metroid, Red Soil from Super Metroid, and two tracks from Metroid Prime: Phendrana Drifts and Sunken Frigate. Guitarist Mark Autumn is also credited on the album, along with the amazing artwork by Alessio Ciaffi. We really love what we have heard, and the world could always use a bit more Metroid music!
Quote from Danilo:
This album was quite a comeback for me on the Metroid+post-rock combo, and it features a mix of new and old arrangements that I think portrait the beginning of my post-rock journey. I am proud to finally present it to the world 🙂 The biggest of thanks to Mark Autumn for lending me his buttery guitar skills all along this project and ultimately making it possible.
The Last One in Captivity is available via Spotify and iTunes right now, and you can check out the opening track on Danilo’s YouTube channel, and by clicking the video below.
Episode 12 – Metroid Board Game Concepts
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Our twelth podcast is now available! We kick off 2021 with a discussion on Metroid board games, and how an original game could look, in addition to a Metroid themed game based on existing properites already made, such as Monopoly and Frustration. This podcast features host Amanda, with team members Leon, RoyboyX and Dalagonash.
1:07 – Main Topic: Metroid Board Game Concepts
30:23 – Outtakes & Bloopers
Feature: Online Multiplayer Metroid Game Concept
Ever wondered what a modern-day online multiplayer Metroid game might be like? For our first feature of the year, team member Glaedrax shares his ideas for his perfect multiplayer Metroid game, which would include a death-match mode like Hunters, but with team missions too. It would obviously include Samus, but also feature a variety of different characters across the series. Glaedrax goes in-depth on the type of move sets these characters could have. Give this one a read, and let us know your own ideas via our social media channels!
Sam Tung (Rooster Teeth) joins Retro Studios as a Storyboard Artist
In October, we shared that Retro Studios was seeking a Storyboard Artist for Metroid Prime 4, a position which they’ve now filled. Sam Tung, a Storyboard Artist formerly at Rooster Teeth, announced that he joined Retro in that position yesterday. A longtime Metroid fan, Sam released a storyboard animatic he developed in his spare time back in late October. It’s a cool and flashy piece that shows Samus dealing with a secret Space Pirate base teeming with Metroids. You can watch it here.
Some of you may be worried about what this means, and whether this position getting filled just now means Prime 4’s development hasn’t been going well. Not to worry! In game development, the core gameplay is usually worked on first, and then cinematics are concepted, developed and animated afterwards. Think of it this way: with a Storyboard Artist at the studio, we are one step closer to a possible cinematic trailer for the game!
We want to congratulate Sam for joining Retro Studios and wish him the best in his new role. We can’t wait to see the no doubt gorgeous cutscenes he will work on.
Source: Sam Tung
Lego Metroid set could become a reality, if you vote for it (UPDATE: officially under review!)
Update: since this was posted, the Metroid set has reached 10,000 votes and will now be reviewed by LEGO! L-DI-EGO has expanded the set with several Ridley designs, minifigures of the Dachoras and Etecoons, and alternate Samus Gunship builds based on the versions used in Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime Hunters, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Metroid Prime: Federation Force. He also unveiled the Zero Suit Samus minifigure. Here’s hoping that LEGO will approve the project, and secure a license from Nintendo to produce it as an official set!
Original Post:
Lego Ideas is a site where fans of Lego products can submit designs based on properties, locations or other subjects in popular culture considered for an official release. One very creative fan’s idea for a Metroid range is quickly gaining support, but it needs your help for it to gain Lego’s attention.
The range includes custom Samus and Zebesian minifigures, as well the Morph Ball, the Baby Metroid’s iconic capsule and a constructible version of Samus’s Gunship. A “mystery” figure – likely Zero Suit Samus given the silhouette’s shape – will be unveiled when the project gains 9,900 supporters. It was first designed in December 2019 and shared in early 2020, getting halfway to where it needs to go this month.
For an idea to be considered by Lego, it must have 10,000 supporters in an allotted time limit. As of this writing, the project has 5,711 supporters, and it must gain 4,289 more in 514 days – that’s June 18, 2022. If you have not yet signed up to Lego and supported the project, please do so! It would be amazing to see an official Metroid range released by Lego while we await news of Metroid Prime 4 and future games.
Source: Nintendo Life/LEGO Ideas