Now that Metroid: Other M has been out for a good while, I think it is safe to say that it wasn't the stellar success Nintendo wanted it to be. No matter where the final sales will actually end up (my guess is somewhere in the 800k to 1M range, the slight uplift in recent weeks leaves me cautiosly optimistic) it is definitely selling below expectations.

So this thread is not the place to discuss the quality of the game, we have an official thread for that. What I want to ask you is, what can you imagine for the franchise in the future and which steps will Nintendo take in your opinion?

I mean, since it didn't meet expectations, I think they will try a different style for the next game and probably hand the franchise to another team aswell. Off the top of my mind, I could imagine another Prime-style game, a game with third person view but with a camera similar to Zelda or Mario or a return to 2D.
Next to the question of perspective, there's also the question how storytelling should be done in the next game.

So here's my opinion. I would like to see what could be done with a "real" 3D third person game. I mean, the Prime games would probably also have worked with a third person view, so this approach should definitely be possible and also fit the franchise.
But it would also be nice to see another 2D game, and now with all the new 2D games we see all around I think this is a big possibility that Nintendo will go into that direction.

In the question of storytelling, I would actually like Nintendo to continue the way they started with Other M. I mean, I liked THE WAY how the story was told. but I would rather not meet so many people during the quest, and the cutscenes should all be flashbacks instead.

That is my opinion. What is yours?

Well I'm not sure which style, but as far as what direction Nintendo will take with the franchise I think it will  see less frequent releases than the last 2 generations.I think Nintendo realizes they have enough franchises (with less demanding productions values) that can sell as much as Metroid or more, that it is not as important for them as it was on the Gamecube. There is definitely a sizeable devoted fanabase for the franchise (just not quite big enough), so I think the ideal solution would be to make it more of a digital download franchise. I think the next Metroid game should be a 3DSWare or Wii2Ware (have no idea if that is what it will be called) title. It will give the fanbase a reason to connect online which can help push the internet connection rate, and I think the franchise has the type of fans that would seek out a title, so a downloadbable game could get similar sales to retail, and those numbers would be sufficient for a download title.

Other M's style is fine with me. Thinking back on it I realized that the control scheme wouldn't changed significantly (if at all) by adding a nunchuk. Perhaps shave down the length of the cutscenes a bit as a lot of the ones near the end got LONG. Nintendo might wait a little longer for another Samus excursion what with the 3DS next year and ol' Link  getting the Skyward Sword.

Cutscenes are not bad in and of themselves. They need better writing, for certain, and adjust the flow of the game to be closer to that of Super and Prime, where it's still a guided experience, but they aren't so incredibly blatant about it.

Keep gameplay the same or similar, and they'll be golden

I think they should continue working with Team Ninja. Other M felt like a (re)introduction of Samus and imo it would be a shame if they stopped there.

Nintendo remaking Super Metroid for Wii2 or 3DS is another possibility.

I said it sometime yesterday: remake Super Metroid with the Other M playstyle.

It would blow minds

Yeah, I remember you mentioning it. It blows my mind just thinking about it.

I would like to see the series put back into the more capable hands of Retro studios. I would also like to see Sakamoto barred from any kind of involvement. Let him work on more Warioware games.

They could use the Donkey Kong Country engine they've created to develop a true 2d Metroid game, one that emulates the gameplay of the original game. That means no awful cutscenes, no flashbacks with campy narration, and perhaps very little story (if any).

The other thing I would want to see is new content. It seems as if every Metroid game has been set in the same boring environments. I would want new areas to explore. Perhaps the next game could be set in a futuristic supercity? 

I would like the next game to not have Samus as the hero. I would, in fact, find it interesting if the next game portrayed her as the villain, or perhaps the damsel in distress. I would want the main character to remain nameless and faceless until the end of the game, just like the original Metroid. The unveiling could be something surprising.

The point of changing the main character would be to take the focus away from "Samus" and place it back on the gameplay and the fun of exploring a new world.

They could call the game "Metroid Returns". It would be awesome.

I came in here ready to hash it out with the usual suspects (Mr Kahn, Aiddon, et al), but this

This

This is far beyond what I had been expecting. Samus as a damsel in distress? How do you justify this? Why not just have Samus never come out of the suit?

Hmm total open wrold awesomeness.