http://gonintendo.com/?p=23241

A member of the Gamefaq forums got a change to try out MP3:C at his local Gamestop. Upon doing so he discovered an interesting little feature where you collect tokens, some involving WiiConnect24. Here’s what he has to say:

Here’s a part of the game that I had no idea even existed. If you accomplish small tasks in the game, you are awarded with bonus tokens. These tokens come in four colors: Red, Blue, Green, and Gold. Red tokens are given as you scan a certain number of enemies/items. Blue tokens are given for scanning lore and accomplishing side tasks. Green I believe are when friends give you vouchers, more on that later. Gold tokens are given for beating bosses on various difficulties. You use the tokens to unlock hidden content in the extras menu. The final type of token is the “friend voucher”. Basically these are given for accomplishing some type of cool accomplishment in the game.

For example, when I beat the boss, a gold token flashed at the top of my screen saying it was for killing Lord Beserker. At an earlier point, I saved a GF trooper from being killed by two enemies. I was given a blue token for that one.

I also obtained two friend vouchers. In one case, I saved a GF trooper from being sucked into space. In another case, I killed 100 small bugs in a room before leaving. According to the game, you apparently send these “achievements” to your friends, and they give them green tokens. I think it’s a level of competition between friends to see who’s unlocked the most “achievements”. I was interested in this since there was a “Friend Roster” option and a “Configure Wii Connect 24″ option on the menu.

GoNintendo reader Wiimo pointed out that about eight minutes into a gameplay video we posted the other day, you can see one of said tokens being received.

Seems very likely/unexpected.  

I think this is mainly just to add replay value to a pretty much linear single player game (assuming MP games are fairly linear, never actually finished the first one and didn't play the second).

Interesting. The concept definitely seems cool. Metroid already had replay growing out its ears. This would just make it crazy. Hopefully the rewards are more than simple artwork like in previous titles.

This isn't very new. Nonetheless, it's really cool that Retro/Ninendo decided to implement such a feature to the game. It'll be cool finding out what exactly I can unlock with those tokens.

Ok...I saw in another thread that you weren't excited for this game.  Now I think I understand why.  This is not an attack.  This is like one friend saying to another "you haven't played that game?"  I'm not really sure you played too much of Prime at all.  Again, I am not saying that in a bad way.  But Metroid is anything but linear.  THe major beef with it, in fact, is that it requires so much back tracking.  After you finish the main quest it is a moral imperative to collect all 100 items.  For many this is what actually constitutes beating a Metroid game.  So, no.  These tokens are not to compensate for a linear single player game.

Er, not sure where you saw that. You might have seen that this game isn't the game I'm most excited about, but I'm still pretty damn excited about it (see here). There are a lot of games coming out in the next 4 months and I have to budget my money (as mentioned somewhere else, I'm buying a town home at the moment so money is going to be thin for a little while). Just because I game is tied for 5th on my list of games I want doesn't mean I'm not excited about it; it only means there are 4-5 games I really want more than that.

-edit-
And by what I mean linear, I mean there is one single path to the end of the game, not you beat the game and that's it.  What you described was you beat the game (not sure how many different ways there are) and then you go back later and collect things (replay value).  Don't take this as a bad thing either, it's a great way to get more play out of a game and make people want it that much more.

My bad, Twesterm.  I take linear to mean straight line.  As in, you proceed from one level to the next.  As far as single path go, Metroid games are known for their broken sequences.  Part of the fun of the games is seeing if you can get an item earlier than the developers intended.  But I completely understand what you meant now. 

Perhaps these acheivements are compensation.  Hopefully they are implemented well and aren't just some tagged on gimmick designed to emulate Microsoft (and now Sony).  Then again, they seem to be working so well.  Maybe Nintendo has nothing to do but emulate some aspects of Live.  Afterall, it is one of Microsoft's greatest strengths.

I only just saw this... wow, I thought this would be much bigger news.

Its obviously part of why the Metroid channel is required - maybe tokens act as "score", and allow people to compete and better each other. Maybe some achievements have a score or time attached...

I am much more excited now. This adds a lot of Metroid in IMO - and also fits in better with the concept of additional/downloadable content...

2 months... noooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Why am i dying with anticipation? This just adds to the slew of hype already surrounding the game.

Btw guys RumourReporter.com claims that Metroid Prime 3 from what he has played could be a serious contender to GOTY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very interesting....

Are there any new reviews? It seems like IGN have been asked to keep their mouths shut for the time being (given the subtext for their recent podcast or whatever)