HAWT First4Figures Metroid Prime 2 Gunship is 250 bucks.

I love Metroid, and it’s no overstatement for me to say that this is possibly the coolest toy I’ve ever seen: a model of Samus Aran’s gunship from Metroid Prime 2. The windshield and engines light up, too. How much for this sexy piece of Metroid kit? Why, only $250.

Kudos to First4Figures on an awesome design, but unless the thing flies on its own, that (already discounted) price seems a little steep.

Source: Play-Asia.

At the risk of ending this fan’s world… it’s a Metroid II remake!

Regardless of how you feel about them (well, us), fans of Nintendo games are a breed apart. Many won’t let the obvious legal danger of playing around with Nintendo’s IPs deter them from making their own versions of Nintendo’s classic games. Case in point is this surprising remake of the 1992 Game Boy game, Metroid II: Return of Samus, which I reviewed for Aeropause. Go ahead and read that one, I’m proud of it. I’ll wait.

So what this loyal fan, going by the name DoctorM64, has done is ripped the assets out of Metroid Fusion (hey, you can read a review for that, too) and used them as a starting point to rebuild the ol’ monochrome beep-fest in much the same way Nintendo did for the original Metroid with Zero Mission (hey, what do you know…).

It’s Windows-only unfortunately, but judging by the video at the source, it’s some impressive work that clearly took a really long time to do. Let’s keep in mind that the better this man does, the more likely he is to be shut down with a firmly-worded cease and desist letter. He even points out that he’s aware of that on his blog. Brilliant job though, this guy should be cooperating for a Cave Story sequel instead of getting himself in trouble like this.

Source: Fan remake of Metroid II is not only awesome, but also playable at DSFanboy.

Great Metroid medley from Video Games Live.

This smile-inducing compilation of Metroid tunes plays out like a quick trip through Super Metroid with an orchestra at your back. I mean, that game sounded great on a Super NES, this is what it would have sounded like in person. I guess.

Anyway, sounds great.

Source: Video Games Live via GameVideos.com

Check out my new morph ball tattoo.

While it’s not my first tattoo, I have to say this morph ball tattoo I got yesterday is my first gaming tattoo, and probably not my last. If you have a tattoo, or know someone who does, you already know they can be addictive. I was fortunate enough to have a relative who’s a tattoo artist and enjoys giving tattoos as gifts. A real pro, she made the three hour sitting breeze right by.

The design for this tattoo comes from the original Metroid Prime concept art, which is unlockable on the game disc. I considered a few pieces before this one, and figured this one would translate well. I eventually want to get one of Ridley, but the kind of detail that would likely require would mean it would have to be a huge tattoo. That would be a bit much.

See also:
Do not feed the metroids.
Leave Luck To Heaven - Crazy Gamer Tattoo
Get your gamer ink on.
Metroid Hatchling Tattoo

Retro Studios’ Mark Haigh-Hutchinson dies at 43.

Programmer Mark Haigh-Hutchinson died this past Tuesday of pancreatic cancer at the age of 43. My sincerest condolences go to the family he’s left behind. Mark was most recently known for his work as part of Nintendo’s Retro Studios on the Metroid Prime trilogy, and his prior legacy is impressive, to say the least.

Haigh-Hutchinson’s illustrious career spans decades. He worked on such classics as Paperboy before joining LucasArts in the late ’80s, where he went on to co-develop titles like Star Wars: Dark Forces and Rebel Assault. Nintendo fans will better remember him as the project leader and contributing programmer on such N64 games as Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

Source: IGN via Game|Life

Cicada rocking the Metroid, telling us why, offering more.

While blundering aimlessly around the Internet as I so often do, I ran into a site offering remixes of some classic Metroid tunes. Never one to turn down anything Metroid related, I clicked, and downloaded. It turns out what I downloaded is the work of a guy who goes by the name Cicada, who’s got quite a lot of music on offer. Very little of it, in fact, is from the Metroid franchise, but it would all be of interest to gamers like us.

Impressed with the audio, I dropped the artist a line, and here’s what he had to say.

Read the rest of this entry »

Do not feed the metroids.

While researching ideas for my next tattoo, I ran into this cool shirt featuring an icon-style metroid on Threadless. Corruption players might recognize the symbol as being very similar to the one used to represent the “creatures” category of scannables in that game, though this image has been around for a little while and might actually predate Prime 3.

Ultimately, I chose to go with a morph ball tattoo, but this is still a neat shirt. Not sure why it was made to look like an element from the periodic table, but there it is.

Noteworthy is the recommendation however… I agree that feeding metroids is a bad idea. Unless you’ve overrun by X, or if you have the opportunity to feed it a Space Pirate. At which point I encourage the feeding, particularly if you have something cold to use against it once it’s eaten.

Source: Threadless

See also:

Poor Sonic
Mario shirt on Threadless
E For All loves Threadless
This Is Not A Pipe
Threadless Watch
Gaming Threadless tee
Original Gamester T-shirt
Bioshock Loves Threadless
LocoRoco loves Threadless
Poor dog, nice shirt

Whew! These people need to advertise here! Actually, no they don’t, do they.

And now, a list of ways developers conceal load times.

Who doesn’t love a list? They’re a good way to group a bunch of examples of something. Or a bunch of… well, anything, because really that’s all a list is.

Load screens are something everyone should be familiar with at this point. While the best games often will at least try to conceal load times behind something else, whether it’s a minigame or even an amusing animation of some sort, this list puts forward eight examples of what the author considers ineffective methods at concealing load times.

Notable in the list for me was Metroid Prime 3’s lagging doors. When Retro Studios’ design team has a large area to load, it’ll put a small but twisting corridor before it with minor foes that slow you down a lot. While you’re fighting through that nuisance, the engine caches the next section. Unfortunately, skilled players can breeze through these loading rooms, and when they get to the other end and hit the door with a beam to make it open, it doesn’t. The room’s still loading. The list says this is a problem when you’re taking shots to the back at that moment, but I don’t recall that ever happening. Who leaves survivors behind to shoot at you in Metroid Prime 3?

Source: OMGLists.

Curse you, gamer arrogance. Curse you!

So as I repeatedly pound my bloodied forehead against a mid-level boss in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, I find myself wondering if I haven’t bitten off somewhat more than I can chew. You see, when I started the game, I found it too easy and quickly decided to start over and head for the higher difficulty level, “veteran” mode. As a veteran of the previous Metroid Prime games, having played the first one inside and out numerous times on the highest difficulty level, I thought I was prepared, and until now, I pretty much was. But here I am in a situation where I understand the strategy and just cannot pull it off. This boss is absolutely destroying me.

I’ve backed myself into a corner, though. I’d have to start over to lower the difficulty level, and then I’d have to play through half the game again. That is not something I’m prepared to do. It’s not that the game isn’t fun, sure it is. But I’d rather finish the game before starting it over again, if I have the option.

Oh, well. Just thought I’d stop in to whine a bit. Back to the fray.

Effeminate Shriek! Metroid Prime’s Frigate Orpheon a stage in Smash Bros Brawl.

The latest update at the Smash Bros Dojo revealed that the opening stage of Metroid Prime, which is the one that covers the exploration of the partially-destroyed pirate frigate Orpheon, will serve as a stage in Super Smash Bros Brawl. I’m pretty excited. It’s hard for me to express what that particular segment of that particular game means to me. It’s probably the most familiar part of the entire game, simply because it’s the one you play first. I can’t say I spent the most time there though, that title goes to a certain boss battle against a certain extremely challenging leader of the pirates who happens to have some very impressive flying abilities to go with his very impressive firepower.

Oh, this is candy, plain and simple. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they did a great job rendering the Parasite Queen boss. She looks more like her kids than herself.

Source: Smash Bros Dojo.