Prediction: MP4 will not release on Switch

[Jumpin]

Vodacixi said:

Jumpin said:

You do have access to the lists, I provided links. You can see that none of Metroid Prime’s design team, and none of their senior or lead engineers, art, or animators are still with the studio.  I am talking about dev staff, not the corporate staff whose backgrounds are accounting and marketing and work mostly away from the site of the studio.

While the new guys might have some talent, most have few to no games to their credit. The original MP staff had Iguana Studios Turok games under their belt. There is nothing to suggest Retro would be any better at developing Metroid Prime 4 than any other studio. Retro Studios couldn’t even do DKC TF alone, they needed help. If Metroid Prime 2 and 3 were a decline from the first game, imagine what a distantly developed Metroid Prime 4 will be from an understaffed and inexperienced studio?

Additionally, Nintendo COULD hire an adequate team, as dozens of old Retro staff (including most of the leads and senior staff of Metroid Prime) work at Armature Studio.

They spend hundreds of millions on image. I don’t think a few million more to maintain a skeleton crew, and to let Retro run it’s course and close down without controversy is going to be considered a poor investment. Retro studios has essentially been a failure, the staff has been reportedly miserable and the studio itself fails to get work done. In almost the last decade they’ve released ONE game, and they needed help on it.

The writing has been on the walls for years.

Oh yeah, Retro Studios lost those guys... who then created Armature Studios... and then those guys started making mediocre games. Yeah... those guys were definetly irreplaceable.

If I recall correctly, during all these years Retro has been recruiting people from very famous and recognized studios like Vigil Games (Darksiders), id Software (DOOM, Quake, etc...) or Naughty Dog (Uncharted). And those are just the ones we were reported about. In a videogame studio, specially a western one, people are constantly entering and exiting.

Also, Prime 2 and 3 being a decline from Prime 1 is very strong personal opinion. All three games are excellent and all three do some things better than the others and some others worse.

Stop talking about Armature Studios. They are a bunch of nobodies. They may have worked on Metroid Prime, but as for now, they are not capable of handling nothing but forgetable games.

As for Monster Games working with Retro on Tropical Freeze... why do you assume it was because of Retro's incompetence? Is EAD incompetent because Monolith Soft had to help them on Breath of the Wild? Sometimes projects need from some extra hands to make them happen. Yes, even 2D platformers.

If Nintendo hasn't closed Retro Studios yet is because they are up to something. If they wanted to get rid of them, they could have done it a long time ago. Not now that they are developing one of their most important games for the Switch. Nintendo is constantly making decisions that make fans rage, one more wouldn't make a difference to them.

Honestly, all of your arguments are based on assumptions that make very little sense or that are very debatable.

Armature Studios has the team that made Metroid Prime. Retro Studios does not. This is a fact. It's not relevant if you like their games or not; it doesn't change the fact that Nintendo hasn't given it to the people with experience.

And yes, EAD lacked the ability and experience to make Breath of the Wild without the learnings and experience of Monolith Soft; why else would they need them? Similarly, Retro Studios lacked the ability and expertise to make Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze without help; and that is a far simpler project than something like Metroid Prime. Retro Studios needed help to make a rather average Nintendo platformer, while EAD needed help in making what is arguably the greatest game of all time.

Metroid Prime's series decline was not my personal opinion as it declined both critically and commercially from the first game.

I am not sure why these things make little sense to you?

You also claimed people from Naughty Dog, Id Software, and Vigil Games? What are their jobs in Retro? Who are these people?
Do you have any evidence of this? Because otherwise, we can dismiss your claims without evidence.

Looking back to a year ago, there was a lot of smoke around people being unhappy at Retro Studios; many expected the studio to close down. This was after about 4 and a half years with not even a game to announce: https://mynintendonews.com/2018/07/03/former-retro-studios-employee-claims-nintendo-is-shutting-it-down/

How is a studio with such low productivity going to make a massive game like Metroid Prime?
Considering a game living up to Metroid Prime in 2019 needs a core staff of hundreds, how is Retro Studios going to cover that? If Nintendo were serious about making a top tier game, they wouldn't give them the staffing of less than some mobile dev teams.

It should also be noted that whatever they were working on for the 4 and a half year gap after DKC TF has been a failure.

Put all of this together with the fact that Metroid isn't an essential franchise from a business perspective - mostly from an image perspective - and what conclusion would you come to? To me, it looks like they are a burden, and Nintendo is looking for an easy and painless way to get rid of them - even if they have to dump a few extra million into it - they'd be far from the first publisher to pull stuff like this *cough-cough THQ/EA*.

On the other hand:

Does it make sense to you that a studio with a lack of experience, lack of productivity, and lack of staff numbers CAN produce a Metroid Prime game without it being mediocre and therefore disappointing?
If they do produce a game that doesn't wow/inspire fans and flops commercially and critically, what do you think Retro's fate will be?

And yes, I realize I'm the guy with the "asshole argument" here (and my Nintendo-heart does ache that I'm forced to be THAT guy), I'm pissing off Retro fans who treat this studio as a sacred cow and pretend as though they're just holding back all sorts of magic... The fact is, Retro studios have only successfully produced a 2D platformer they co-developed, and a few classic tracks remixed for Mario Kart 7, in NINE years!

Last edited by Jumpin - on 28 June 2019