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Forums - Nintendo - The Development of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond — Interview

curl-6 said:
Leynos said:

Cartoony maybe but still horrifying. I would not call Metroid realistic but stylistic. The most we got was MP3 with Samus transforming and vomiting phazon.

Metroid's art style may not be photorealistic, but it's much more realistic than Torna's anime aesthetic.

How realistic things look affects how they're treated by ratings boards, hence why many game have alien blood appear as green or blue to soften the violence rating.

Yes the game is full of style, did you play it? Even Yakuza series are styled. The main characters don't look like any real person unless they license someone. 



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

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curl-6 said:
Pemalite said:

Do mature ratings really impact sales?

I mean, things might be different here... But when I was a kid I had no issues grabbing a copy of Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem and more.

I mean it won't greatly decrease sales, but it may mean less parents pick it up for their kids, and Metroid is already a niche series with low sales, so given the game is likely among the most expensive Nintendo has ever made, they probably wanted to appeal to the widest audience they could.

What kids are playing Metroid Prime? Most Prime fans are adults. If this was Animal Crossing then sure. Not that Metroid needs to be M or anything but I doubt it would affect it at all. Metroid isn't that niche as you make it out to be. Not the biggest seller in Nintendo IPs sure but Dread still sold over 3 million.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

Leynos said:
curl-6 said:

Metroid's art style may not be photorealistic, but it's much more realistic than Torna's anime aesthetic.

How realistic things look affects how they're treated by ratings boards, hence why many game have alien blood appear as green or blue to soften the violence rating.

Yes the game is full of style, did you play it? Even Yakuza series are styled. The main characters don't look like any real person unless they license someone. 

You're missing the point; it may not be photorealistic, but it is much more realistic in style than Torna. Ratings boards assess violence and such according to how realistic it appears.

Leynos said:
curl-6 said:

I mean it won't greatly decrease sales, but it may mean less parents pick it up for their kids, and Metroid is already a niche series with low sales, so given the game is likely among the most expensive Nintendo has ever made, they probably wanted to appeal to the widest audience they could.

What kids are playing Metroid Prime? Most Prime fans are adults. If this was Animal Crossing then sure. Not that Metroid needs to be M or anything but I doubt it would affect it at all. Metroid isn't that niche as you make it out to be. Not the biggest seller in Nintendo IPs sure but Dread still sold over 3 million.

For a Nintendo IP, maxing out at 3m is pretty niche. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's a small market compared to Mario, Zelda, etc.

Of course, we can only theorise, but for whatever reason the fact remains that Nintendo isn't interested in making Metroid an adult only game, and Prime 4 is pretty much on par with prior Primes in terms of its subject matter.



curl-6 said:
Leynos said:

Cartoony maybe but still horrifying. I would not call Metroid realistic but stylistic. The most we got was MP3 with Samus transforming and vomiting phazon.

Metroid's art style may not be photorealistic, but it's much more realistic than Torna's anime aesthetic.

How realistic things look affects how they're treated by ratings boards, hence why many game have alien blood appear as green or blue to soften the violence rating.

Yes, but I'm not saying have a Galactic Federation trooper's head torn off and their neck release a fountain of red blood, just show stuff that demonstrates what horrifying monsters the Metroid are. Maybe add a crunching sound as a Metroid bites down on it's victim.



Granted this is pre ratings but even remastered for modern consoles it's rated E10+. Maybe because of sprites? Even tho we have M rated 2D indie games with less than this so I don't know what the Criteria is. This game is Gynoug on SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive plus modern systems. Great game.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

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Leynos said:

Granted this is pre ratings but even remastered for modern consoles it's rated E10+. Maybe because of sprites? Even tho we have M rated 2D indie games with less than this so I don't know what the Criteria is. This game is Gynoug on SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive plus modern systems. Great game.

Lol, ratings are amazing.



Leynos said:

Granted this is pre ratings but even remastered for modern consoles it's rated E10+. Maybe because of sprites? Even tho we have M rated 2D indie games with less than this so I don't know what the Criteria is. This game is Gynoug on SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive plus modern systems. Great game.

A more shocking example would be Zero at the end of Kirby's Dream Land 3, and more infamously Zero 2 at the end of Kirby 64.



CaptainExplosion said:
Leynos said:

Granted this is pre ratings but even remastered for modern consoles it's rated E10+. Maybe because of sprites? Even tho we have M rated 2D indie games with less than this so I don't know what the Criteria is. This game is Gynoug on SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive plus modern systems. Great game.

A more shocking example would be Zero at the end of Kirby's Dream Land 3, and more infamously Zero 2 at the end of Kirby 64.

It's no Cho Aniki



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

Leynos said:
CaptainExplosion said:

A more shocking example would be Zero at the end of Kirby's Dream Land 3, and more infamously Zero 2 at the end of Kirby 64.

It's no Cho Aniki

Eh, it's not like there's blood dripping from the ceiling or people being decapitated.

And I'm surprised Super Metroid didn't get a T rating with what happened to Crocomire.

Normally you'd have to play Mortal Kombat to see something that graphic.



CaptainExplosion said:
Leynos said:

It's no Cho Aniki

Eh, it's not like there's blood dripping from the ceiling or people being decapitated.

And I'm surprised Super Metroid didn't get a T rating with what happened to Crocomire.

Normally you'd have to play Mortal Kombat to see something that graphic.

Splatterhouse series has all that. Then check out the game over screen for Ninja Gaiden arcade lol. Chiller in arcades is maybe the first game I remember with gore in it but wasn't until Splatterhouse arcade that it looked goopy. 



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!