>>And like it or not Metroid Prime is a torpedo being fired into the Red Ocean<<

Yes. Nintendo has said again and again that it doesn't plan abandoning the traditional market. This means there will be "red market" competition going on, especially when they have advantages.

Halo 3 will sell very well, and it should as there are almost 10 million 360 owners out there with HALO on the tips of their lips. The big question is "How many potential system purchasers will buy a 360 due to HALO 3?".

Metroid 3 doen't have to outsell HALO 3 to produce the results Nintendo wants. Selling Wii's to the 10 million very content 360 owners is not important. Swaying new purchaser's opinion of the Wii with a well crafted PC-style controlling FPS will. And that's Metroid.

I predict the XBOX360 will suffer from TOM CRUISE SYNDROME this autumn. For all the exposure the 360 will get, there will a negative slant of "isn't this getting a bit tired?" to it.

MP3 will be awesome, I think it will sell better than both mp1/2. However, Halo3 already has a solid base of supporters. It will probably trump halo2 and sell an insane amount. Metroid does not have that solid base. Even if it is the proof that wii is the fps platform, I don't think a metroid title with mediocre online will sell more than halo3. I would hope that I am wrong, but realistically that is what I see.

Halo 3 already has a confirmed 4 million reserves at Gamestop/Eb Games alone, I'm not so sure MP3 will outsell it.

Wow I wasn't expecting to create such good discussion with this topic!!! Some people have really made some very interesting posts! And the notion that MP3 will bomb is ludacrus... it's one of the big three and you expect it to bomb? I think someone justified the arguements I would have used already. Maybe it wont sell at Halo 3 levels, that's being overly optimistic... but who's to say that Metroid wont fit it's own ongoing groove rather than a hit and miss affair that regular core games have been... that's the word of mouth spread situation that you see on the DS now... I doubt it's going to be like that, it's a hella niche game for sure, but are the controls going to be intuitive enough? I can't say how I think it will go until I play the game and until there are widespread hands on experiences around the net before judgement can be made... the hands on impressions of this game are SO imporant... Nintendo knows this, why do you think they are making it so hard for people to get their hands on it? Do they not want to ruin it's perception too far before launch? Do they now realise that an FPS has amazing possibilities on Wii however there are simply some technical drawbacks with the pointer / nunchuk combination that it can't be purely perfect? I wish there was a second joystick on the Wii Remote (for hardcore games) imagine having two sticks AND pointer aiming... FPS with 3 axis of movement oooooo baby - now THAT's 4D

I think the main reason Nintendo is releasing Metroid that early is so Metroid doesn't compete with other NINTENDO games. Mario, Smash bros, etc.

If they're arguing it will fail because the Wii is for Kids or the franchise isn't good or something like that, than it's obviously silly. But if the controls don't work right... Then it'll be another Red Steel. Oh sure it'll sell a lot more, but it'll trend exactly the same. I really doubt it will be the case...I really REALLY hope that this won't be the case... Oh please don't be the case!

Its basically an internal Nintendo title - and one of their biggest.

They won't allow this happen - 0% chance. Whether everyone likes the controls they come up with, is another question.

If the controls failed completely, they would either change the game to something else - or try and use a more traditional style of control. 

Retro Studios hasn't failed us yet so I have faith in them.

 I have faith in the Big N. But nothing is set in stone with this game yet. If Great FPS controls were easy on the Wii it would have been done by now. But the idea of one analogue stick and a pointer which is doesn't rest centered is something different and new. There's going to be a lot of attention as to whether this game A: Delivers a competent first person shooter control and B: Blows traditional FPS controls out of the water. And it damn well better. You hear me Nintendo? You Hear ME!?

I would laugh so hard if by some ungodly miracle MP3 outsold Halo3, lol