Samus’ latest outing Metroid Dread has received a lot of praise since it arrived on the Nintendo Switch in October and now it’s been crowned #1 in TIME’s 10 best games of 2021.
The newest chapter in the Metroid series managed to place ahead of heavy-hitters such as Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, and even The Game Awards’ winner, It Takes Two. Here’s exactly what TIME had to say about MercurySteam’s most recent Metroid release:
“When most people think of Nintendo, they conjure up images of kid-friendly characters like Mario and Pikachu. But Samus Aran, badass intergalactic bounty hunter of Metroid fame, has long earned her place on the Mount Rushmore of the company’s characters. And after more than a decade without a proper Metroid game, Samus returned in a big way with this year’s Metroid: Dread, a 2D side-scroller for the Nintendo Switch that sees our hero stalked by artificially intelligent killer robots on the mysterious planet ZDR. Dread, which longtime Metroid producer Yoshio Sakamoto has been cooking up on and off for nearly two decades, is often legit scary-though not quite on the level as something like an Alien: Isolation- and a delightful return to form for a classic and beloved franchise.”
And here’s is TIME’s full list:
Metroid Dread
Inscryption
Forza Horizon 5
Chicory: A Colorful Tale
Hitman III
Returnal
Halo Infinite
Deathloop
Sable
It Takes Two
Just last week, Metroid Dread took out best “action/adventure” game at The Game Awards. It was up against titles like Psychonauts 2 and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
Have you played Metroid Dread on the Switch? Is it your game of the year? Tell us down below.
If you’ve been wondering what the developer MercurySteam is up to now that Metroid Dread is available on the Nintendo Switch, it appears it’s already got a brand-new game in the works.
The Spanish-based studio is teaming up with Digital Bros and its publishing division 505 Games for a new title codenamed “Project Iron“. It’s described as a brand new third-person action RPG set within a dark fantasy world.
The title will receive a “multiplatform global release” and the project’s initial development investment amounts to €27 million. Along with this, “the intellectual property of the game is co-owned by Digital Bros. and MercurySteam through the joint-venture MSE & DB S.L. set up under the Spanish Law”.
Here’s what the co-CEOs of Digital Bros had to say about this announcement:
“We are thrilled to work with the team at MercurySteam, a proven studio that over the years has created numerous phenomenal IPs – including the recent hit release Metroid Dread in partnership with Nintendo. With MercurySteam’s creative vision and talent and 505 Games extensive experience, gamers can expect a high-quality, captivating and engaging videogame.”
In recent times, MercurySteam has also released a series of patches for Metroid Dread on the Nintendo Switch.
Would you be interested in seeing MercurySteam’s future projects like this one on the Switch? Interested to know more about “Project Iron”? Leave a comment down below.
Now, this is going to be a very tentative article, because there’s a good chance this deal will expire before I even finish this sentence. But, Metroid Samus Returns on the 3DS is available for just $41.25 at Amazon (see here).
Yes, I know this is a four-year-old game, but the resell value for Metroid Samus Returns on eBay is currently between $50-60. This is a rare game, and I’m pretty sure copies are no longer in production. If you’re a collector, and you want to have this game on your shelf, I’d buy this quick, before the price shoots back up again.
Metroid Samus Returns Down to $41.25 for Black Friday
Brand New
Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
Cheaper than buying second-hand from eBay.
Sure, the Special Edition of Samus Returns is definitely worth a lot more. But, having the standard edition as a physical copy will also have its merits, especially at this price.
If you want to play the game after experiencing Metroid Dread, this is the perfect opportunity. Otherwise, consider this deal an investment into your gaming collection. Honestly, I half-expect to log on tomorrow to see this out of stock, or listed for $60-70, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Have you played Metroid: Samus Returns?
All the Best Black Friday Deals and Sales
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
Well, it seems a lot of people don’t like Nintendo’s new Switch Online Expansion Pack based on the reveal trailer’s likes and dislikes. The video, which revealed the pricing details for the plan, now has 104k dislikes on YouTube, overtaking the previously most hated video on Nintendo’s channel: A trailer for Metroid Prime: Federation Force.
NSO’s Expansion Pack costs $50 a year, more than double what the basic Nintendo Switch Online plan costs. That extra money gets you access to an Animal Crossing expansion (which can and should be bought separately) and 23 N64 and Sega Genesis games. It’s not a great deal and making matters worse, the emulation quality of these games ain’t great, with many complaining that the older games run poorly, lack proper control remapping, and feature numerous visual and gameplay bugs and glitches. It’s just a big, over-priced mess.
It appears that many others are too keen on the Expansion Pack plan, its high price, and its paltry selection of classic games. As spotted by VGC, the trailer announcing all of these details, which was uploaded to Nintendo’s YouTube channel on October 15, has quickly racked up over 100k dislikes. In comparison, it only has 17k likes.
If you check out some other uploads for it, the numbers are smaller, but the dislikes are still winning. The Nintendo UK upload, for example, has 1k likes but nearly 6k dislikes.
The previously most hated video on Nintendo’s YouTube channel was an E3 trailer for Metroid Prime: Federation Force. That currently has 96k dislikes. But that was uploaded in 2015. The Expansion Pack overview trailer has only been live for 16 days and has already earned more dislikes in that short amount of time.
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While I highly doubt Nintendo will change anything based on some dislikes on YouTube, it’s still notable that so many people seem to be fed up with the Expansion Pack’s price and quality. Even if GoldenEye is added in the near future, I’m not sure that’s going to convince more people to fork over $50 a year.
Most people who have played Metroid Dread say the game is very good, but what if you are not one of those people, and for whatever reason do not trust those people? Well, now you can simply download part of the game for free and try it for yourself.
Nintendo, who must have woken up this morning thinking it was 1999 and this was still a totally normal and common thing that happens in this business, just announced the surprise move on their website:
This Halloween, suit up as Samus Aran and see what goes bump in the night on planet ZDR with a fun-sized bite of the Metroid™ Dread game. Download the free demo now from Nintendo.com or Nintendo eShop on your device!
Experience the eerie isolation of a remote alien world, face a relentless mechanical menace, and power your way through a section of what Shacknews calls “a sci-fi blast of brilliance that fans and newcomers alike will more than likely enjoy.”
If you need more Metroid Dread in your treat bucket, you can pick up the full game today.
I’m really digging this resurgence in demos! Long ignored if not outright despised by publishers, you’ve been able to download a ton of very good demos from the eShop over the last year or so, for games like Age of Calamity, Monster Hunter Rise, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX and Yoshi’s Crafted World.
There hasn’t been one for a game this high-profile, though, or one as critically-acclaimed, so if this is a sign that Nintendo is becoming increasingly willing to let folks try a big game instead of just expecting/hoping they’ll spent $60 on it, then that’s just great.
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If you haven’t played Metroid Dread yourself yet and want to try out the demo, it’s out now and is available from the eShop or by following this link on Nintendo’s site.
Last week, Nintendo issued a notice on its support website stating how it had been made aware of an error “near the end” of Metroid Dread that forced the software and game to close.
It said it was working on a fix to prevent this from happening, and it’s now officially arrived. This minor patch bumps the game up to Version 1.0.1. Several other issues have also been fixed to improve the experience, but Nintendo doesn’t go into further detail.
Here are the full patch notes, courtesy of Nintendo’s support page:
Ver. 1.0.1 (Released October 20, 2021)
General Fixes
Fixed an issue where, if a map marker is placed on a specific door on the map screen (the door destroyed with the beam obtained at the end of the game), destroying that door at the end of the game would cause the game to forcefully quit with the message “The software was closed because an error occurred”.
Fixed several other issues to improve overall gameplay experience.
If you haven’t tried out Metroid Dread yet, what are you waiting for? You can learn more about it in our Nintendo Life review – where we awarded the game an outstanding 10 out of 10 stars.
Have you downloaded this update for Metroid Dread yet? Notice anything else? Leave a comment down below.
Metroid Dread might have just been released for the Nintendo Switch (and it’s outstanding by the way), but over on social media, the conversation is all about Team Ninja’s 2010 Wii title, Metroid: Other M. While it was mostly well-received back then, as time went on it’s fallen out of favour.
So, what’s all the fuss about now? While many have been talking about MercurySteam’s latest release, it seems an offshoot of this is about whether or not ‘Other M’ was a blight on the Metroid series’ history. A lot of Metroid fans are apparently “defending” the title, while others still don’t really like it. Here’s a round-up of just some of the many responses to this topic, which has now generated more than 80k Tweets.
How do you feel about Other M after all this time? Have your thoughts changed towards it now that you’ve played Metroid Dread? We thought we would see what Metroid fans here on Nintendo Life thought, so vote in our poll and comment below.
Following on from disputes over Metroid Dread developer MercurySteam’s policy regarding the in-game crediting of staff, further allegations have surfaced in the last few days which suggest questionable management practices and handling of employees at the Spanish studio, makers of the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow games, Metroid: Samus Returns, and — of course — the latest entry in the Metroid series.
Spanish website Anait Games has published further information after speaking to multiple former staff members regarding their time at the studio working on Dread. Programmers and artists who worked on the game talk about management and organisation issues, and a negative, stressful culture at MercurySteam.
The article details various grievances throughout development. One area involved ‘overscope’ that necessitated cuts on the part of Nintendo. A period between April and July 2020 when Nintendo reviewed progress on the game and made various cuts to address a supposed bottleneck in the art pipeline. “There were about 120 cinematics to do, it was too big an overscope,” says one ex-programmer (via Google Translate) who left the studio shortly after. Another substantial cut is mentioned from the previous year, as well.
Development of Metroid Dread is described as “quite chaotic. Many times, giving me directions, my lead and the game director contradicted each other,” says another programmer. Another artist had this to say to Anait of the management style in place at the studio:
They do not trust the worker at all and it shows. You don’t feel valued. The bad atmosphere is constant and it is very tense, in general.
Punishments at the studio are alleged to “range from isolating the worker or changing the group to the same sudden dismissal”.
Elsewhere, allegations are made of improper treatment of staff and contractors regarding salary negotiation, as well as a negative assessment of the studio’s response to the pandemic. One programmer said that the “pandemic has not been well managed. It was total and utter chaos,” and describes unsafe anti-COVID measures employed in the workplace as staff were unable to work on the project remotely.
Inconsistencies in the Human Resources department’s responses to employee grievances are cited, with one example detailing the workers’ right to leave the office to cast a vote for the Madrid community elections — which fell on a working day — questioned due to the current state of development at that time.
The article also touches on the credits debate, with a fear of speaking out in public suggested as a factor which has kept people silent until now:
I think they play a bit with the fact that a lot of people don’t dare to speak in public. I know two more people who are not properly credited but I understand that they are afraid to complain because it seems that they are going to sink your career
Another worker elaborates:
The main leaders know a lot of people and they can destroy your career if they have a problem with you. They don’t mind talking bad about you and screwing up your career and that’s why people don’t talk
Metroid Dread launched on 8th October to overwhelmingly positive reviews and strong sales. The credits controversy and these new allegations don’t seem to have had an effect on the game’s momentum — not yet at least — but it’s certainly disturbing to hear stories like this, especially when they mirror similar allegations concerning MercurySteam management and culture made years ago when Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 was released.
We discussed the credits issue in a Talking Point article on the subject written before these new allegations surfaced. MercurySteam put out a response to the previous credits issue, although no comment regarding these latest allegations has yet been made. We’ll update this article if a statement is released.
The conversations around Metroid Dread have been mostly positive since its launch, but a recent topic that has caused a good deal of debate and criticism of developer MercurySteam has related to the game’s credits. Multiple contributors to the game have raised the fact that they’re not credited, and the developer has responded to clarify its internal policy. Its statement is below.
The policy of the studio requires that anyone must work on the project [for] at least 25% of the total development of the game to appear in the final credits… sometimes exceptions are made when making exceptional contributions.
There are issues with this policy, so let’s briefly outline a couple of perspectives. Two contributors to state their case online have put their periods at the company at 8 and 11 months, with the latter therefore presumably missing out based on the project being around four years or more in development.
The issue with a threshold such as “25% of the total development” is how vague and open to abuse that is – when does a development project start? Is it when MercurySteam first discussed Dread with Nintendo, or perhaps when they took initiative to produce a pitch deck? Or perhaps it’s dated when the nitty gritty begins of conceptualising and planning the game. The point is, all are arguably ‘start points’, and can greatly impact the definition of its development period.
The other issue is that you could work 11 months on a project when it’s at full speed, in its most productive phase, contributing a great deal of content to the broader game, and by this metric not be credited. It is also very common practice in game development to employ new hires and contractors on fixed and short term contracts. Temporary staff are a factor in all areas of working life, of course, but in the production of major games a studio size can dramatically swell for a relatively short period to push it forward, and then those contracts lapse and many workers are then looking for the next opportunity. We don’t know if that was the case here, but it is common.
Image: Rockstar Games has been criticised on this topic in the past
As highlighted in Eurogamer’s article on this topic this has happened across various companies, so it’d be inaccurate to portray MercurySteam as a lone offender in this regard; in many ways the company is following its own form of the industry norms. It’s not just in the retail / triple-A space either; myself and Kate Gray in the NL team have worked in the Indie game development and publishing scene in the past and discussed the issue of credit earlier in the year. Even in very small teams debates around these acknowledgments happen, and those that perform multiple roles or contribute but then move on are sometimes ignored or put under the generic ‘Special Thanks’ section. Discussion around the title of a credit can be as difficult as having a name included in the first place.
Why does this matter? Well, for one thing, not being credited properly is arguably harmful to someone’s career. For anyone working in the industry each job, each contract, is contributing to a portfolio that helps to advance that career. It seems unfair that someone can say they worked on a game for nearly a year, only for potential employers to then look in the credits and not see their name. To find an equivalence in the website space, it’d be like if my articles from my first stint at Nintendo Life had their bylines removed when I moved into publishing for 3 years. That would be unfair (and didn’t happen, of course!).
The issue is how normal it has become for game publishers and developers of all sizes to disregard or downplay contributions to their games. This does happen in other creative industries (film, music, books, the same debates appear in those areas too), but is arguably worse in gaming because it is still a young and in some ways immature industry. There are unions and representative bodies trying to defend creators of all kinds in other industries, but in gaming we’re still in the stage of mainly relying on organisations that deliver advocacy and awareness, but little solid influence. There’s no real oversight or universal standards for how contributor credits work, so every company effectively wings it. The problem with that is that not all leadership in the industry is inclined to have fair policies.
Image: Nintendo / Nintendo Life
What’s the solution? In the absence of industry standards, we’re stuck with relying on company owners and project leaders to ‘do the right thing’. As we’ve highlighted above, the MercurySteam policy (as one example, it’s certainly not the worst out there) is too vague and potentially unfair. A fixed window should ultimately suffice, in the same way that probation works when you start a new job. Should it be 3 months, or 6 months? Is that enough time for someone to definitely make a contribution that deserves full credit?
I think so, but also think I should discuss it with some developers and project leads and learn from their expertise. Either way, a fixed time period, and not woolly off-the-hoof policies, seems fairer on creators of all kinds. Whether working on scripts, editing, coding, producing concept art, whatever – there are too many contributors to games we love that are overlooked.
At the end of the day it’s an industry-wide concern. There are undoubtedly game developers and publishers that credit people properly, too, so the industry should learn from them. Everyone is trying to make and enjoy amazing video games, it’s a passion and way of life. When someone contributes to this wonderful medium, they deserve to be acknowledged.
Nintendo is working to fix a bug in recently-released Metroid Dread that could halt your progression if you’re unlucky enough to encounter it, the company has announced. According to a support page the bug causes the error message “The software was closed because an error occurred,” forcing it to close unexpectedly. Nintendo says the patch will be released before the end of the month.
Until this patch is released, however, players will need to avoid triggering the bug, which can apparently occur near the end of the game if the player “destroys a door while a map marker for that specific door is displayed on the map.” Thankfully, that means recovering from the crash when it occurs is fairly simple. Here’s what Nintendo says you should do if your game crashes:
“Restart the game and, before playing through this sequence, remove the door icon map marker to prevent this error from occurring.”
Metroid Dread was released last week on October 8th, and represents the first all-new 2D Metroid game in almost two decades (not including remakes like Metroid: Samus Returns). It’s been broadly positively received, although The Verge’s own Andrew Webster notes that the game’s controls can struggle to keep up with its more hectic action sequences, of which there are far too many.
