No Metroid 3 before June confirmed

The retail success of Nintendo's Wii has been one of the top stories in the gaming industry since the launch of the current crop of home consoles. Now, fanboys are focusing their attention on another critical aspect of Nintendo's turnaround--first-party games for the new system.

The lid has been kept tight on several of the company's familiar names, one being the latest in Nintendo's sci-fi series, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Nintendo's most recent slate of releases did not include the game even though back in December, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Newsweek correspondent N'Gai Croal that it would be coming out "early in 2007."

Croal got a chance to catch up with Fils-Aime last month at GDC 2007, and in an interview posted yesterday asked him the obvious question: Where is Metroid?

"Metroid is not going to ship by June," said Fils-Aime. "And the fact with Metroid is we want to make sure that that game is perfect."

Fils-Aime points out that Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, released on the GameCube in 2004, didn't meet sales expectations even though it was well received by critics. "We want the sell-through as well as the critical acclaim for Metroid Prime 3: Corruption to be the best in the series, and that's a lofty bar," Fils-Aime explained. "To do that is taking a little bit more time than we had anticipated. But it's coming. And it will be great."

For more on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, read GameSpot's previous coverage.