You must be young, you obviously don't remember the hellish winter for Metriod fans between Super Metriod and the releases of Metriod Prime/Fusion... 8 FRIGID years, not counting their initial announcements in 2001, before we got anything.

Buy one of the Smash Bros out there, enjoy Samus there both in and out of armor because it is likely years (if we are lucky 2016) before we see another one again. I hope I am wrong but Nintendo has really stopped priotizing franchises that aren't popular globaly or at least in Japan.

Wii U begs to differ. You really think millions of people are going to buy Donkey Kong, Yoshi and Captain Toad? Xenoblade Chronicles sold worse than any Metroid game ever yet it gets a spiritual sequel. 

Besides, it's been since 2007 since we had a true Metroid game. Other M was just a bad game made by some third party studio. The poor story was NIntendo's fault though. I haven't bought Other M and have no intention of ever doing so. It took away everything that makes Metroid great: gaining powerups, exploration, isolation, puzzle solving, etc. 

And I'm not that young, but I only became a Metroid fan after buying Metroid Prime 2. My parents never bought me a console when I was a kid. ;) All I had was a gameboy. 

And I'm not a Smash fan. 

Millions, no but Captain Toad was made on the cheap, plus like Yoshi is tied to the Mario brand, which means a decent number in sales. Donkey Kong is sort of connected to Mario's brand but even by itself the Donkey Kong franchise has become something that will get Nintendo some cash without backbreaking effort, its not the test ground franchise they have turned Wario into but its family friendly and easy to package. Nintendo is pushing Xenoblade, because it represents a niche (fantasy/scifi JRPG) they rarely had much success in and it grew extremely hot in the NA and European territories so they are trying keep that fire burning.

Metriod, while well loved outside of Japan has had difficulty finding a voice with the actual Nintendo of Japan developers, who obviously love the character but don't quite know how to sell it to the Japanese audiences and the Western world at the same time.

Gameplay wise, Other M, had some interesting and good ideas but mired by other bad game decisions and that weak story they tried to push to the forefront.

Gameplay wise it wasn't bad per se, I only said it was bad for a Metroid game. I think reviews would've been higher without the story and a brand new character (new ip).

Even though DKC: TF is my favorite Wii U game at the moment, I still would've rather seen a 3D game from Retro (didn't even have to be Metroid). Metroid might not sell that much, but it definitely would've pushed more consoles than DKC imo (or Captain Toad, Yoshi, etc). 

I think they're kind of in limbo as to where to go with it. I feel like a Metroid Prime 4 would bring very little new to the table, and I think Retro feels the same way and doesn't really wanna do it. Of course the 2d series isn't going to bring anything new either. They've done all they can do with that. The hybrid idea didn't work for Other M so they probably ruled that out for the next game. So where do they go? I think they're looking to completely re-invent it again the way Prime 1 did but it's taking a really long time for them to figure out how to do that. I still won't be completely shocked if we don't see the franchise re-emerge until next gen. Maybe we get a new 2D title for the 3DS to tide us over.

Well, 2016 is the 30th anniversary of the Metroid series, so I'd be shocked if we didn't get a Wii U Metroid game then. Also, I'm fairly confident we'll get a 3DS Metroid game next year, since the 2015 3DS lineup so far seems VERY thin. They need a 3DS Metroid game for 2015.

That doesn't seem to make difference for Nintendo. 2011 was Metroid's 25th anniversary and we got NOTHING. Zelda got tons of celebration. METROID GOT NOTHING.

And seeing as 2016 is also Zelda's 30th anniversary... yeah.

I say ditch the Japanese audience. The Western audeince has grown while the Japanese audience has dwindled to near insignificance. If NOJ developers can't make it work then give it to Western dev or a collaberation with a 3rd party.

Yep, it does sort of suck sharing the anniversary with the other big Nintendo franchise.

I'm pretty sure that there will be a double Metroid release again, like Fusion and Prime.