Right from the start I want to let everyone know what I believe about this game, and why it is so important that this game is so different from the pervious Metroid titles.

Point 1 - Metroid Prime sold over 2.5 million Worldwide

Point 2 - Metroid Prime 2 Echoes sold just over 1.2 million Worldwide

Point 3 - Halo sold over 6.4 million Worldwide

Point 4 - Halo 2 sold over 7.8 million Worldwide

Why do I bring up Halo? Because whether anyone wants to admit it in Nintendo or from the fanboy world or not these games are going head to head and these games are going to compared to each other directly (whether they are related in essence or not).

Now Nintendo has to be thinking the same thing, but why does Halo sell so many while Metroid doesn't?

Nintendo can NO WAY be happy with 1.2 million for Metroid Prime 2 and I even think they would want to sell more.

Now what I want to discuss in this thread is what people think is the main driving force for sales of this game?

I don't think it has ANYTHING to do with being a Metroid game, or that it stars Samus or that it plays for x hours or that it has x quality graphics, all of these features are shells for a simple thing... and that is a definitive demonstration of how a Wii FPS can be controlled.

IF the controls are spectacular and really are intuative and fun and feel 'right' to play like they are touted then this game SHOULD sell more then both Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2, simply because it will be the FPS game for FPS games to 'try' because they hear the controls are so awesome... IF it's good enough for these players to try it and enjoy playing this way within a short amount of time, then it has succeeded.

IF the controls are good but not great then this game is doomed, and further Wii potential as an FPS console will be squashed and it will lose a BIG chunk of a very large market.

Do I think that this game can sell at levels as high as Halo 3 is likely too? Yes I do, if it is done right...

Do I think that this game can steal some of Halo 3's thunder? Again, yes I do, ALOT if the controls are as good as they are supposed to be (multiplayer or not a majority of Halo players will be buying the game for the singleplayer campaign).

Notice how Nintendo announced their release date to be a month before Halo 3? Do you think if the game was released after Halo 3 it would be swallowed up in the Halo 3 hype storm? Yes, I do think so, it is retail suicide to go head to head with it.  I think Nintendo made their release date AFTER they know when Halo 3 was going to release, because the one month extra hype, word of mouth and impressions are going to do wonders for this game IF ITS GOOD ENOUGH!a

Do I think Nintendo are holding back the impressions of the game for a good reason? Yes I do... it's all about getting the right 'idea' of the game into the public... if it receives crappy or average reviews then its going to do crap, if it is touted as the 'next best thing' then it's going to be massive... they are waiting and there is going to be a media HURRICAINE leading up to the release of this game.

Nintendo talks constantly about Nintendo being the disrupter, and Metroid is exactly that, it's there to disrupt and 'steal' sales from Halo, not go head to head, but to cut a chunk out of it.

All it comes down to is whether or not the FPS controls are good enough and above expectations and standards... it doesn't matter that it's Metroid or Samus or has x polygons like i said... I know it's been said to death, but for this one it's true... it's Gameplay over Graphics.

 You make a good point about how Nintendo wants this to be their Halo, but here's the deal;

 This statement is completely and totally erroneous. Maybe Metroid will sell the same amount in one year as Halo does in its opening to weeks, but I don't care how optimistic you are, Metroid WILL NOT and CAN NOT keep pace with Halo.

Don't get me wrong, I like Nintendo, and I like it when they do well, and I am more of an optimistic when it comes to their sales numbers, but by no stretch of the imagination will Metroid keep pace with Halo. 

Long read! but yeah i agree, If the game play is intuitive then it would have a chance to be stellar. I did not know Halo sold that much, any predictions for Halo 3????

Well, that was a great post. I like how you capitalized all of the speculation. I KNOW that Nintendo was unhappy with MP2 sales, Reggie has stated it before. The only point I can disagree on is, in fact, your opinion. I think that it wont reach Halo 3 levels. It may reach 4-4.5million WW, but not Halo 3 sales. It will do remarkably, assuming they DO nail the controls. But IMHO, Halo 3 levels would be insane. However, it is simply my opinion. I would like to see it do Halo 3 numbers, so I hope I am wrong.

If it is so important, then how come we never got a Metroid 64?

Because there was no Halo in the N64 days. Maybe...

Nice post, but Metroid & Halo are *very* different games (with different expectations) and here is why.

1/ Halo is the "platform leader" on the Xbox. People buy the device to buy the game, and its the flagship title for MS. It also represents the 'character' (or spirit) of the console.

Metroid is NOT the same to Nintendo. Its a "big" franchise, but doesn't come close to Mario or Zelda. It never will. People do not (primarily) buy Nintendo hardware to play Metroid - they do to play Zelda/Mario. Metroid is closer to say... PGR than it is to Halo.

2/ Halo also represents the "pinnicle" of MS's online efforts. It has always been online, and this is the main selling point - a kick-butt online title.

Metroid is the opposite. It is NOT online (and I do not think it should be) - it should focus on being an awesome single-player, fantasy/sci-fi adventure game. And I think it achieves its objectives pretty well.

...

Whether Nintendo try and position Metroid as a Halo killer is up to them - but I think its a bad move. It is a different type of game (its not even an FPS - nor should it be one).

If Nintendo want to create a Halo "killer", they should create a new franchise (i.e. their own Killzone). But Miyamoto (now famously) said "he doesn't want to make Halo". I'm sure they would love to have the sales of Halo though ;)

I think if the controls are intuitive enough that FPS fans are going to enjoy it, over just the regular 1 - 2 million Metroid fans out there, then yes it can sell a hell of a lot more than it's potential as just a Metroid game... but it's all riding on how well the game is done. I still think if its done properly it can steal a lot of Halo's thunder and perhaps keep up with it, I suppose that's a bit of wishful thinking but it's just the way I see things. It's key to Nintendo in their 'expanding the market' style at the moment... they are trying to expand it in every direction... can they steal some PC FPS players that think halo is the bane? There are a lot of them, it's just a matter of getting those people to give it a try.

And we did have Goldeneye 007.

Well, I wouldnt say steal, but they may pick up the Wii. It is cheap, and they could experience something different. I doubt they would make it their primary.