The results of our poll to discover Shinesparkers readers favorite Metroid game of 2023 are now available. After 388 votes, we find out how each game ranked.
MercurySteam co-founder says Metroid Dread has sold 3 million copies
The co-founder of MercurySteam, Enric Álvarez, has recently given an interview to the Spanish gaming website Game Reactor. When asked to respond to a report from Anait Games in which anonymous former developers claimed Metroid Dread had a “chaotic” production, Enric denied any rumors of a rocky development. He cited as proof of this the award Dread won for Best Action Adventure Game at The Game Awards in 2021, and said that it has sold more than three million copies. The last update we had on the game’s total sales was back in May 2022, when Nintendo announced it had sold 2.9 million units. While the exact figure is unknown, if it has sold more than 3 million, then it is the first Metroid game to do so. Congratulations to MercurySteam and Nintendo on a remarkable achievement!
Additionally, Enric praised the working relationship with Nintendo. He would not say whether MercurySteam is currently working on a sequel to Metroid Dread, but he did confirm that Dread’s Creative Director Jose Luis Márquez is still with the studio.
You can watch Game Reactor’s interview with Enric below. The article is in Spanish, but the video interview is in English. The Dread portion starts at 12 minutes in.
Source: Game Reactor
E.M.M.I. Figma preorders have opened
The E.M.M.I. Figma, the second of two announced Figma based on Metroid Dread, is now available for preorder from Good Smile Company. They estimate it will ship in Japan in May 2024, and the United States in Q3 2024. It is very posable, much like an E.M.M.I. in Dread, and it comes with accessories based on its faceplate and DNA extraction spike, as well as a stand. Sadly, it doesn’t look like Good Smile will be producing variants based on each color of E.M.M.I.
You can preorder the Figma if you’re based in the United States or Canada here, and from other countries here.
Source: Siliconera
Community Spotlight: Tatsuche
Our next Community Spotlight of 2023 is now live! This month we are featuring Tatsuche, a French speedrunner and one of the top five Metroid Dread speedrunners in the world. His personal best time, which he recently achieved, is 00:53:06! Tatsuche talked to us about his journey to reach the highest rankings in the speedrunning community. To learn more, click the link below.
Fall Out Boy’s new song mentions Metroid
An unexpected reference to Metroid has surfaced! The band Fall Out Boy released a cover of the Billy Joel classic “We Didn’t Start the Fire” yesterday, which namedrops multiple public figures and popular culture events that have caught the public’s attention between 1989 and 2023. At about 1:50 into the song, Metroid is referenced. If you want to listen to the song for yourself, you can at the link below.
Source: YouTube
Your Favorite Metroid Game 2023 (Poll Opens)
The poll to discover the community’s favorite Metroid game for 2023 is now live! People are now welcome to vote for their favorite Metroid title, with votes being collected between June 28th to July 31st 2023. As in years past, the results will be revealed on August 6th 2023. In 2022, Metroid Dread won with 178 of your votes. This year, we’ve seen Metroid Prime Remastered come out, allowing new fans to experience one of the series’ most popular games. Maybe this will have an impact on the result? We’ll compare last year’s scores in this year’s rankings, and we can’t wait to see what you decide!
Votes can be cast in our Google forms document here
Please spread the word and share it with your Metroid loving friends! The more votes cast by individual fans, we can get a clearer picture on what fans love.
Feature: Famous Metroid Fans
Our newest feature is live! I worked with our Features Manager Quadraxis to find celebrities who are known to be Metroid fans. Many of them are well known at this point, including Brie Larson, John Cena and Chuck Lorre, yet there are many more who might surprise you. Did you know Venus Williams loved playing Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission? Find out more by clicking the link below!
Interview: Matthew Nightingale
Shinesparkers is delighted to share an interview with Matthew Nightingale, a former level designer at Metroid Prime Pinball developer Fuse Games! Matthew discusses his career in games, how Fuse got the chance to produce Pinball, and what went into the design of each of the tables. We want to thank Matthew for speaking to us, and giving Metroid Prime Pinball, which doesn’t get a lot of love, its chance in the spotlight!
Metroid Prime Remastered has sold 1.09 million copies
Nintendo has released its financial report for the preceding fiscal year, which reveals that Metroid Prime Remastered has sold 1.09 million copies since its surprise announcement and simultaneous release this past February. This figure is based on physical sales. The report indicates that digital sales for Remastered were higher, since the physical version was not released until several weeks later.
All things considered, this is incredibly good going for the Metroid franchise. The original Metroid Prime on GameCube sold 2.78 million units by 2006, making it the best selling Metroid game until Metroid Dread overtook it with 2.9 million copies sold. This means that, at least physically, Metroid Prime has sold a grand total of 4,680,000 copies worldwide. With digital figures, which Nintendo doesn’t share, the number is likely higher.
The financial report still lists Metroid Prime 4 without a release date, placing it after Pikmin 4, which is due to come out on July 21, 2023.
Source: Nintendo
Neill Blomkamp wants to make a Metroid movie
District 9 and Chappie director Neill Blomkamp was recently asked on Twitter if he was interested in making a Metroid movie, and he responded “yes”. This is especially interesting as Blomkamp was once working on a fifth Alien film, and Alien as we know has greatly influenced Metroid.
It seems that the cry for a Metroid film is growing louder and louder. Mere weeks ago, the stars of the Mario movie said they want Metroid to be next, and Brie Larson has long volunteered to play Samus in it if a movie is ever made. With Nintendo having said recently that more movies based on their games will come, there’s never been a greater chance to see our bounty hunter on the silver screen.
Source: Neill Blomkamp