THAT's what I'm talkin' about.

Metroid Prime has a very deep lore, but it's the storytelling that lacked. It was all in the chozo lore.

I think they really need to clearly advertise a new Metroid as an alternative/competitor to Halo, a serious one, and need to develop it that way. On every front it needs to be complete. Some areas would be quiet, but others would be full of crisp action.

Here is an example of product lines:

   vs  

It could be done, and in today's environment, it probably should be done.  Metroid has a lot of potential as a story-driven series.  But has Nintendo ever managed a franchise with a cohesive and consistant storyline?  I mean that as a serious question, since I haven't had a Nintendo system in a long while.  Most everything they do seems jumbled and random from the perspective of plot.  Very little seems to flow from game to game but is instead self-contained.  Story-driven franchises are huge in ALL forms of media, be it Mass Effect, Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings.

Even if they don't do it with Metroid, why don't they try it with something else?  Does Nintendo feel so confident in what they have that they simply intend to ignore the success of series with progressive storylines?  I don't know.  I'm sure they have the resources to produce their own series in that style if they wish.  It seems kind of odd that they've ignored the chance to draw in more of the core audience to this point.

Again, speaking as someone who strayed, it's not like I necessarily wanted to break from Nintendo.  It just got to the point where it seemed like they weren't interested in customers who had tastes outside of their existing formulas.  It would actually mean a lot to see them put serious effort into winning me back.

I have a feeling there are a lot of people like you, and you are probably part of the solution for them, as you could help attract gamers loyal to other consoles by being the link between both loyalties. Even some in the mainstream swear by one brand or another, it's interesting.

I think Perfect Dark had a logical storyline, despite it being shrouded in mystery due to the nature of the plot.

But in all I do agree with this. The Walking Dead is a big series nowadays despite being fantasy, it is very palpable. A game like Metroid can be evoking despite the E.T. context.

Nintendo generally doesn't play the hype game. They usually don't show games until they have a working engine, and keep airtight quiet about them until the press event preceding the game's release.

I doubt highly that most people buy Nintendo consoles for their shooters. Some core Nintendo fans will buy the product though. The Japanese are playing catch up when it comes to that genre. Nintendo should give the IP to a PC shooter company and let them go wild with metroid and who knows? It might become a blockbuster. Nintendo is giving the SSB to Namco this time around, so people will definitely start taking the franchise more seriously since they are will be behind it.

sales of the game isnt about the marketing, its about the demographic that nintendo consoles sells to, which are usually kids and young teens

1. Nintendo isn't really giving Smash Bros to Namco. Namco is developing Smash Bros 4 in the same capacity that Game Arts developed Brawl, which is to say, they're providing the manpower, but probably not much else. Sakurai has a small core around him (Sora ltd), and might have some backup from HAL Labs, that will be doing the real directive work.

2. Metroid is not a shooter. It should not be conceived of as a shooter. That was what made Prime Hunters so meh.

Halo selling better than Metroid has little to do with marketing and more to do with everything about the games.

Halo is (was?) cool. Fresh. New system. Awesome, mysterious title. New concept. Not to mention the game was amazing and groundbreaking. It was the first first-person shooter that truly drew me in. I was in university at the time, and playing co-op campaign was awesome. The 4-player vs was great. So many inovations...the regenerative health... the vehicles... the bizzare ring world....it gave me a gaming feeling of awe that I hadn't seen in i don't know how long. Maybe since I first saw Super Mario Bros on NES.

Metroid is dorky. The name sounds funny. Very Star Trekkie sci-fi. It takes lots of exploring and thinking. No co-op, no multiplayer. It's a slow paced adventure. Great game, but nothing like Halo in any respect and it didn't re-energize my love of games like Halo.

Teenage boys who like FPS games can much easier identify with a faceless male in a suit of space-armor than with a female suit of space-armor who shows only her face at the end. Now if Samus would be wearing a bikini throughout the game, I'm 96.8% sure Metroid would sell 10m+. 20m+ if it were in HD.

I'm trying to get you straight here. From what you're saying, do you mean that

1) Game sales in general are not dependent on marketing, but on the consoles which holds the associated demographic to which the game is targetted, no matter when in the console's lifecycle (launch, mid-life, end of cycle).

2) Games sales on Nintendo consoles sell proportionately to their appeal to kids and young teens.

3) Games catering to older teens will never sell on a Nintendo console, no matter what change of business tactics, branding, image or marketing is employed.