Is Metroid Dead?

Was Other M truly that bad? or is the fanbase this crazy. It seem the series is struggling but I'm not sure if it because of bad games or the fanbase is worst then the Sonic ones.

No.

It's not dead and Other M wasn't that bad.

The franchise as a combined unit has not sold as many units as a single iteration of Mario Kart. So investing in new games isn't as important for Nintendo.

@foxhound_fox: So your saying the fans are entitled?

Metroid has never been a priority series for Nintendo. They know their is a fan base for it, and they will return to it again one day, but even the best games in the Metroid series have some of the lowest sales of any of Nintendo's big IP's. It doesn't help that their was rumors going around last year that Retro has specifically told Nintendo they do not want to make Metroid Prime 4 and instead want to work on their own new IP, and the fact that Team Ninja's Other M was poorly received by gamers, so they probably don't have anyone to develop a new Metroid right now, and it simply wouldn't be worth setting up a studio to make a new game knowing that it won't sell.

I hope they make a new 2D game..man, i love supermetroid!

I'm with you on this one. Team Ninja did there best with Other M and I too like that game despite it get's the hate.

Well we are getting a new Metroid game, it's called: Metroid Prime: Federation Force 3DS and it's coming out this year.

Not dead, just neglected, at least in the sense of what has defined the series up until this point.

Metroid doesn't need to be AAA. Make it like Ori, that game is amazing and was made on a reasonable budget ($8 million, give or take) that I think Nintendo could easily recoup and then some if they played their cards right. I get the feeling that it's a combination of laziness and greed. It's not that it wouldn't turn profit, it's that it's not worth the effort for that profit. If they're not making exponential RoI, it's not worth it to them. Too bad Nintendo's too obtuse to understand that currency isn't solely monetary. The degree of goodwill it would create would go a hell of a long way at a time when Nintendo badly needs it, and would also introduce more variety into their catalog.

I do believe however that despite FF, a more traditional entry is in the works for the NX. It's hard for me to buy that Nintendo would abandon it entirely, but then again...F-Zero and Wave Race are surely dead. Part of me thinks Nintendo's changed so much as a company that they'd be incapable of doing the type of Metroid that everyone would love to see.

Metroid is alive in spirit through the numerous indie games that borrow from its formula. Metroid isn't the seller Nintendo wants it to be and expecting a release outside of 3DS would be a fool's errand.

I could see them making Metroid in an Encharted: Drakes Fortune style game which could be cool if there was more exploration and less "on rails" gameplay. Oh and if they made Metroid like Mass Effect, I'd buy it in an instant.

Essentially, Nintendo needs to decide how to modernize the series without alienating core fans, like they did on the Gamecube.

For a very long time it seemed like a priority. Of course it took a lengthy hiatus from the SNES to GCN/GBA and now with the absence on the Wii U but that isn't much of a concern. Off the top of my head, it was only neglected with the N64 and Wii U unless you don't consider MPT on the Wii U which is available in the eShop. Federation Force is coming and although it is not even a fraction of the Metroid game I'd prefer, it still is coming to the 3DS.

This pisser of it all is how a Metroid game on the Wii U could have used the game pad in wonderful ways but it isn't happening.

Metroid is not dead. The 8th generation system of Nintendo Wii U will not feature a Metroid game. But the Nintendo 64 era did not have a Metroid game either. Metroid may return during the Nintendo NX era.

While Metroid the other M was not the greatest entry in the series. Eventually Metroid will return hopefully without the aspects that Other M experimented with and failed to impress Metroid fans.

It's at least in a comatose state. They are probably unsure as to where it fits in in today's market.

It never was a big seller, but then that Team Ninja garbage, Other M, killed it.

One bad game does not mean dead. Plus, if nothing else, Federation Force proves that the series is still on their minds, even if it isn't a true Metroid game. The series may come back in full force, yet.

I think the problem is that Metroid has had such disjointed releases since its inception. The series had its two (in my opinion) best releases in the early 2000s with Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion, and really revived the series after it had been dormant for some time. It was followed up by a few more decent Retro Studios games - Prime 2 and 3, Hunters and Pinball, and the original team didn't really do a whole lot else after Fusion.

There is just a lot of empty space between new game announcements for Metroid. But it's hardly the only Nintendo IP that has been neglected for too long. You'd think the innovative geniuses at Nintendo would take another stab at an interesting idea like Odama, or Geist. It just seems like they're apt to keep putting Mario on Mars or cubes and clear pipes, and keep rehashing pretty much the same Mario Kart and Animal Crossing games from now til the end of time.