It has been a month since Metroid’s 30th anniversary. People have been clamoring for something from Nintendo to acknowledge this paramount game. Instead, Nintendo sent a DMCA to a remake of Metroid 2. So people were hoping that maybe Nintendo had something else up their sleeves.
Today, Nintendo held another of its Nintendo Direct press events. In this they announced a special anniversary product for a very special franchise. And you will never guess what that franchise is.
The Legend of Zelda! That’s right folks. It’s another Anniversary celebration of Zelda. (You probably already knew that because I spoiled the surprise in the article title.) In this celebration we will get a digital release of Skyward Sword, a Nintendo Select release of Windwaker HD, using Zelda 1 and 2 to sell the NES Classic, and four new Ammibo.
While all that is well and good, I am a Zelda fan after all, this refusal to acknowledge Metroid’s anniversary is getting frustrating. You know what would have been awesome? A digital release of the Metroid Prime Trilogy. A set of Samus Amiibo including an 8-bit Samus. You know, the same kind of adoration that Link and Zelda get. Really anything to let people know that Nintendo remembers that Samus and Metroid exist.
Instead of any of that cool stuff, fans of the Metroid series get a game that is only tangentially related to the Metroid Franchise. A game that if it didn’t have the Metroid name in the title would have been just another generic sci-fi shooter.
All of this is really leading me to believe that Nintendo just doesn’t care about Samus and the games she made so successful. I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised. After Prime they have done nothing except give the franchise to a development studio that is known to treat women characters poorly.
Can they at least tell her happy birthday in a public forum? That isn’t so hard is it? A simple tweet? Anything?
Yeah, it’s mystifying to me why they have seemingly been giving Metroid the cold shoulder the last few years. Samus is more than just a neat Smash Bros. character, guys!
Sadly, I fear that Nintendo will continue to ignore Metroid because I’ve heard that (1) it doesn’t sell as well as Mario, Pokemon, and The Legend of Zelda, and (2) it’s not very popular in Nintendo’s home country of Japan compared to Mario, Pokemon, and Fire Emblem.