Nintendo Developer Hints at Metroid Wii U

[gumby_trucker]

What exactly is the point of Other M? Seriously, what is it?

When you control your character with a d-pad in a 3D space and have one button to aim diagonally, you still aren't able to properly cover any given position of an enemy. d-pad controls equal eight directions, not 360° freedom. You would need to constantly readjust the position of your character to be able to hit enemies. Similarly, switching back and forth between views for more precise shooting would mean giving up on movement.

With a Wiimote/Nunchuk setup you could move in any direction at any time while shooting in any direction at any time. That is complete control without any tradeoffs. Running through corridors while killing off enemies like in Other M could be done at the same speed, but completely manually.

RolStoppable said:

gumby_trucker said: playing Other M with a remote and nunchuck is completely missing the point of the entire game. Pressing another button to shoot in certain directions is no more clunky than having a lock-on button in 3D games. In fact, I only suggested this addition because super metroid had diagonal aiming, but with other m's controls this option is actually made redundant now that I think of it. Switching back and forth between views is IMO a perfect solution to the problem of integrating agile movement and platforming with scanning and precise shooting. Scanning and platforming should have been done better in the game (not to mention lock-on being optional) , but the point still stands. Regarding movement in 1st person,I already explained why l don't think this is a great fit with Metroid anyway. And nowhere am l suggesting that Metroid should try to become a mass-market game, quite the opposite in fact.

The point was to create a modern game which retained the simplicity and oldschool feel of classic NES games, therefor allowing for a reintroduction to the series as well as a homage to the original. Based on that the method of control was probably the first thing to be decided upon. It's true that this approach didn't have to imply the game be so linear, but it did essentially have to play like a side-scroller, and everything from the level design to the camera system was built to accommodate this. Giving the player an analog stick would have practically broken the game because for the most part you only have two directions to choose from when moving. This is not just my opinion, it's all documented in the Iwata Asks features with Sakamoto and Team Ninja.

Just like in the original or Super Metroid where you could only aim in a limited number of directions, the game's level design and enemy placement is built to accommodate your limited aiming. In that sense it wouldn't have been impossible to do away with auto-aiming altogether had the decision been made. You're not meant to have absolute directional control just like you don't have it in Super Metroid, which helps create a smoother, more streamlined experience.

The addition of the pointer controls was something Team Ninja suggested later in order to afford a limited amount of 3D spatial awareness, expand the gameplay and also balance out the game's oldschool design by adding a few modern, cutting-edge features. To each his own but I found this marriage of old and new intriguing and engaging. Regarding the loss of movement, the way you describe it it actually makes a lot of sense, since accurate precise shots are usually not something you can perform when not standing still. To me personally this also went along well with the idea of not being able to fire missiles in 3rd person, because more powerful and destructive weapons usually also require more precise aiming and calibration.
The developers realized that not eveybody would feel comfortable making this transition all the time, or that some would have trouble doing it quickly, which is why many of the game's more intense battles can be beaten in ways that don't involve constant use of missiles, and also why they added the cool bullet-time effect that slows the game down, gaining you an extra half-second or so, whenever you enter first person.

Regarding your last sentence, I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Using my previous suggestion you could just as easily run through corridors shooting enemies as you go, and without the need for lock-on.