Samus Aran's career has been long and illustrious, but it's not over. In fact, though she's battle weary, Samus is now busier than ever. Having just completed two momentous missions in Prime and Fusion at the end of 2002, she already has even more on her agenda.

First up, in a move that surprised very few, Nintendo recently announced that a sequel to Metroid Prime was in development at Texas-based Retro Studios, the developer of the original game. This new game makes perfect sense, given the enormous amount of critical praise Prime has received. Further, with the technology and artwork that drives Prime already in the can, Retro should have little trouble making a sequel by building on an already winning formula. Nintendo has tentatively christened the sequel Metroid Prime 2, although that name could change in the coming months. We're looking forward to this one with much eagerness.

Second, and much more shockingly, an announcement was made in early 2003 that the Metroid franchise has been optioned for development into a feature film. The figures spearheading this effort are the same producers that brought us such hits as Final Destination and American Pie. Though this potential Metroid film project has a dubious pedigree, a call is out now for people to work on the movie, so keep your fingers crossed that this one turns out to be less like Super Mario Bros. and more like...well, imagine a good movie based on a video game and hope it will be like that.