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Tag: Metroid

  • Nintendo Shows Up At VGX, Awkwardness Ensues

    Ever since its inception, Nintendo has never had much of a presence at Spike TV’s VGAs. When it was announced this year that Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime would show up at the newly christened VGX, fans got a little too excited. In fact, that excitement may have led fans to being more crushed than usual at the rather timid announcement.

    On Saturday night, it was revealed that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will feature a fourth playable character – Cranky Kong. This will be the first time the character’s been playable since his first appearance in Donkey Kong Country on the SNES. He can use his cane a la Scrooge McDuck to pogo bounce his way across obstacles.

    While Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze looks excellent, most of the demo was devoted to Geoff Keighley trying to get more information out of Reggie. The subject soon turned to Metroid – a franchise that’s been dormant since Metroid: Other M – and Reggie revealed that he was wearing a Metroid-themed pin on his jacket. Of course, this led to more awkward conversations as Keighley tried to get more information out of Reggie while celebrity host Joel McHale made jokes about how much money Nintendo makes.

    In short, Nintendo’s appearance at the VGX was one of awkwardness and disappointment. None of this is to say that they showed off a bad game, but many viewed this as a chance for Nintendo to win back the core gamer. A character reveal for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze might not do that.

    You can check out the full 11-minute demo and mini-interview below:

    Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze launches February 21 exclusively for Wii U.

    [Image: gametrailers/YouTube]

  • Norwegian Engineer Creates The Morph Ball Spider Robot Of My Dreams

    Robots tend to be a touchy subject for me. I am constantly terrified of their potential to rule over the human race with a literal iron fist, but some robots are just too charming and awesome for me to hate. Take for instance the MorpHex, a spider morph ball robot.

    Kåre Halvorsen, an engineer from Norway, has built one of the most fascinating robots of the year. The MorpHex is described as a morphing hexapod, but I’m more inclined to say it’s a spider that’s gotten ahold of the morph ball from Metroid. Check the robot out in action:

    It’s more than just a ball and spiderbot though as the video demonstrates. It can change its form in any number of ways to tackle a variety of situations. It can even frighten children who are just trying to turn it off. It’s better to teach them young so they know not to go against their robot overlords when they grow older.

    Halvorsen points out that his robot is not yet perfect. It can’t roll in all directions due to the internal design being asymmetrical. Future versions will correct this so that the robot will be able to roll in any direction that it wants.

    Now Halvorsen just needs to paint the MorpHex orange, and it will be the Metroid-inspired robot of my dreams.

    [h/t: Wired UK]

  • Nintendo 3Ms Art Pieces Save The Day

    Mario

    Nintendo is know for a lot of things, but the one thing they are really famous for is introducing us to some of the most iconic characters in the video game universe. Donkey Kong, Simon Belmont, Link, Kirby. But nearly no 3 characters are more well known than the protagonists from Super Mario Bros., Mega Man, and Metroid.

    Using a “vector style,” Adam Limbert from the United States has created a series he has titled the 3Ms of Nintendo. These art pieces focus on our favorite plumber, the Blue Bomber, and the heroine that makes us all blush. Check out his Deviant Art page for more cool pieces like some great Ninja Turtle ones.

    Mega Man

    Metroid

  • Sega and Double Fine Announce “The Cave”

    Sega and Double Fine have teamed up to create a fun-looking puzzle-platforming game called The Cave. The companies officially announced the game today, and have released a launch trailer which demonstrates the game’s quirky aesthetic. The game combines elements of platforming, exploration, teamwork between multiple characters, puzzle-solving, and various genre references. It also has dragons.

    According to Kirk Hamilton over at Kotaku, who got a hands-on with the game, players will choose three characters from a larger cast of seven and take them on a journey through a large cave packed with symbolism and nooks to explore. Hamilton compares the exploration aspects of the game to the 2-d Metroid and Castlevania games. The characters each have different powers, meaning that multiple play-throughs with different party make-ups will reveal different portions of the cave. From Kotaku:

    Each character will have one unique ability, and that ability will come in handy in each character’s one designated section of the cave. See, the cave is one giant map—it’s seamless, and from the area where characters choose their characters onwards, there won’t be any breaks or loading screens.

    The game is scheduled, like so many recently announced or delayed games, for release in early 2013. The game will be available for download on the Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network, or on PC.

    (via Kotaku)

  • Metroid-Star Fox Crossover Planned For Wii U [Rumor]

    As mentioned earlier this morning, the rumor mill is kicking into high gear as we approach E3 this year. We already got a look at an updated Wii U controller. The next rumor seems more like fan fiction or wishful thinking, but the source is reputable.

    The latest rumor from Paul Gale Network, the same site that revealed PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale months before the reveal, has heard what Retro Studios may be up to on the Wii U. The rumor points to a crossover game that has the Metroid and Star Fox universes colliding. It’s the kind of idea that only fan fiction could dream up, but crazier things have happened.

    The rumor says that Retro Studios have been working on a new IP for a while now, while others at the studio wanted to make a space combat game like Star Fox. Nintendo compromised and is having the studio work on both in one game. The structure will be a mix of classic Metroid Prime style gameplay with Star Fox space battles. The player will switch back and forth between the two as the stories between the two characters intertwine.

    The idea is completely off the wall and a lot of gamers have already voiced their disgust in regards to the idea. The good thing is that it’s just rumor for now, but if true – Retro Studios is the only developer that could pull it off. They already proved that they can go outside of their Metroid comfort zone with the excellent Donkey Kong Country Returns. I think they could do a Star Fox game justice as well.

    If this does end up being true, the only real problem would be that both games are very different from a setting standpoint. One features mostly realistic human characters while the other is anthropomorphic animals flying space ships. The only real similarity is that both franchises take place in space.

    I guess we’ll find out soon enough if this turns out to be true or not. I do want a new Metroid game and Retro is the studio to do it after the disappointing Other M. I also want a new Star Fox after the last few entries have also been disappointing. Combining them, however, might not be the best solution.