Variety's Metroid Corruption review highlights message conflict
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Aug 29th 2007 at 1:00AM }
The Variety review has some kind words for the game, but it seems so clearly written with the realization that the marketing of the Wii console as a casual system doesn't click with this game. Another scathing point they make is Metroid is more "tedious than epic," they say the boss battles are "exhaustive affairs requiring dedication, patience, and most importantly, a familiarity with the vocabulary of videogames: double jumping, circle strafing, shooting weak points for massive damage, etc. Those who previously used the Wii only for party games will need a 13 year-old boy to explain it all." Whether this analysis is right or wrong isn't the point, 10 million people may own a Wii, but how many of those people actually move beyond the casual titles or would purchase a game like Metroid? The Wii was sold on casual fun, Metroid is not -- to an outside consumer -- a Wii title.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Fernando Rocker @ Aug 29th 2007 1:09AM
What the fuck...
Thats the dumbest I´ve heard in all this year
lessbiasedthanmost @ Aug 29th 2007 1:13AM
Funny what a reputation for casual games will do to one that isn't casual by any means.
spoo @ Aug 29th 2007 2:49AM
What is that sound I hear?
Backfire. Wii is too casual for it's own good.
Fatass of Kickassness @ Aug 29th 2007 6:50AM
Or perhaps its that this reviewer is too stupid for his/her good. I mean, it'd be better if they were actually approaching the review from a casual standpoint as the reviewer obviously was a casual gamer, but nope - the dipstick decided to review it as though he/she actually knew shit about games outside of run-and-gun titles like Halo.
Matters @ Aug 29th 2007 1:47PM
Don't you guys (minus the original poster) think we should wait until we see how the game does in sales before we open our mouths?
It's one review by a site that i've never freaking heard of and if it really bothered them that much they would have spoke up with other non-casual games like RE4 and Godfather came out for the Wii.
Fernando Rocker @ Aug 29th 2007 1:13AM
This is the best Wii title to date, and have the best FPS controls on any console.
Besides... the story is less gerenic than Halo.
Metroid has a great history behind. Im dissapointing with this kind of people that says bad things about this great game.
I bet that they are not even gamers.
Triforceowner @ Aug 29th 2007 1:15AM
Is the story really better than Halo's? Halo 2's story was better than Fusion's, but that's all I know. Fusion probably beat Halo 1.
Fernando Rocker @ Aug 29th 2007 1:18AM
Anyone have this game? I want to trade tokkens.
Anyone?
Word of the street. @ Aug 29th 2007 1:19AM
Well to be honest the level design could have been better. There were moments in the game where I felt like it was Halo especially the corridors, Metroid Level design is usually better. Yet Controls in Metroid are incredible responsible while Halo meh.
BPM @ Aug 29th 2007 1:19AM
I do, Fernando.
6216 5640 3127 8703
Fernando Rocker @ Aug 29th 2007 1:23AM
My Friend Code: 6140 3530 5783 6618
Are you there sheppy, kye, jake...?
Fernando Rocker @ Aug 29th 2007 1:24AM
BPM
Great! Im going to add you right now...
Noshino @ Aug 29th 2007 1:27AM
No Fernando, that is where you got it all wrong, they ARE gamers, CASUAL gamers, and you should stop complaining about this kind of review, because Nintendo has been targeting that market, the casual gaming one, and when they see games that are focused for the NON CASUAL (aka hardcore) gamers, they wonder why Nintendo came out with that kind of game when that wasn't the market that is being targeted by the Wii.
See, it works this way, when you target a console for the hardcore gamers and they come with game for casual gamers, there is no complaining, but if you market a console as a casual gaming one, then you come out with games like MP3, there is bitching.
mmm, let me explain it with lamer terms, let's say you signed up for a Calculus class, if you do some algebra or trig, then there will be no complaints, but if you were to sign up for an algebra or trig class, and you where to have lessons of calculus, wouldn't you bitch about it?
Nintendo brought this onto themselves :]
samfish @ Aug 29th 2007 1:34AM
The problem with your reasoning is that the New Gamers/Casuals don't see themselves as being "targeted" by Nintendo.
Thus, they shouldn't/don't feel like everything on the system has to cater to them (unlike hardcore gamers, really). If they did, they'd probably be offended by a game like Zelda and that would've long since turned them off to the Wii.
What they see is a game console that appeals to them and has games they would actually like to play for once.
But in my experience, these New Gamers also fully understand that it's a videogame console and there are still going to be your "typical" sort of games for it, too.
As I said though, this clearly isn't the case for the reverse, judging by the epic amount of whining from the "hardcore" crowd.
Noshino @ Aug 29th 2007 1:43AM
err, samfish, what more of a proof do you need to prove you that these "NEW" gamers see the Wii as their console? for god's sake, its VARIETY!!!!
oh, and the Zelda point, well, Zelda was the launch title, the Wii hype, the real hype, started afterwards, it took a bit for them, the "NEW" gamers, to take the Wii as their console, that's why other games like Red Steel, Excite Truck, and some other games (hey, that's all I could think of off the top of my head) weren't seen as a threat.
samfish @ Aug 29th 2007 1:54AM
OK, how about Super Paper Mario, Resident Evil 4 and Sonic? All could be considered "hardcore" games and were released well after the system's launch.
New Gamers DON'T see the Wii as "their" system. This is the first article I've ever seen that takes that reasoning. Maybe this represents the start of that line of thinking changing, but there's no reason to draw that conclusion at this point.
While these New Gamers are possibly let down a little bit that a new major game isn't being released that appeals to them, it's not like it's not the case in reverse, also. Christ, you can still hear the echos of the Hardcore gamers whining about Wii Fit today.
Noshino @ Aug 29th 2007 2:10AM
"OK, how about Super Paper Mario, Resident Evil 4 and Sonic? All could be considered "hardcore" games and were released well after the system's launch."
Super Paper Mario, cmon, its Mario, I can put a Mario stickeron a gun and everyone would see it as harmless.
Resident Evil 4, port.
Sonic, as old as Mario, and it wasn't even a AAA title like MP3, so yah.
"New Gamers DON'T see the Wii as "their" system. This is the first article I've ever seen that takes that reasoning. Maybe this represents the start of that line of thinking changing, but there's no reason to draw that conclusion at this point."
No, Nintendo has been moving that line of thinking, every conference they are moving a bit more towards the casual gaming market. Like I told you before, they are targeting that audience, they are getting this onto themselves, unless this is what they really wanted, to get just the casual gaming market. I believe Wii Fit is just the beginning...
"While these New Gamers are possibly let down a little bit that a new major game isn't being released that appeals to them, it's not like it's not the case in reverse, also. Christ, you can still hear the echos of the Hardcore gamers whining about Wii Fit today."
well, I never heard them, all the people that I know that have a Wii (hardcore gamers) didn't even complain, they just didn't care about that. Like I said, most hardcore gamers don't really care about casual gaming, in the contrary, casual gamers do care about hardcore gaming because they, developers, put too much into those games which most of the time are complicated for them.
samfish @ Aug 29th 2007 2:32AM
"Super Paper Mario, cmon, its Mario, I can put a Mario stickeron a gun and everyone would see it as harmless."
What does that have to do with it? To these people who have been ignoring games for years, Mario is the EPITOME of video games. There's a reason they call him Mr. Videogame.
"Resident Evil 4, port."
So what? Most of them don't know that. Why would they? They don't follow the news like you and I do. They see a violent shooting game is all.
They're probably more surprised to learn that there's at least 3 other Resident Evil games.
"Sonic, as old as Mario, and it wasn't even a AAA title like MP3, so yah."
Doesn't matter. Sonic being as old as Mario only makes it all the more likely that the see Sonic and think of a "typical" video game.
They might know a Mario or Sonic game is "harmless", but they also know they sure as Hell aren't aimed at them.
"No, Nintendo has been moving that line of thinking, every conference they are moving a bit more towards the casual gaming market. Like I told you before, they are targeting that audience, they are getting this onto themselves, unless this is what they really wanted, to get just the casual gaming market. I believe Wii Fit is just the beginning..."
Of course they have been. Someone earlier compared what Nintendo is doing to having a new baby and the older sibling getting jealous.
They HAVE to foster this new market. It's not going to build itself or anything.
But at the same time, they're trusting their core audience to continue being there for them. To have a little faith. Just because they aren't talking to US as much anymore doesn't mean they're ignoring us. Their '07 lineup is proof positive of that (nobody knows WHAT they really have in store past Q1 08, so don't bring that up).
Nintendo has said repeatedly that their aim is to MERGE the casual and hardcore markets into one huge market...similar to what Sony did (stumbled upon, IMO) when they found they could sell PS2's to people on the back of Madden and that's about it.
"well, I never heard them, all the people that I know that have a Wii (hardcore gamers) didn't even complain, they just didn't care about that."
Were you not here for the Nintendo's E3 press conference thread? Or for ANY thread on Joystiq regarding Wii Fit or a casual sort of game? It's NOTHING BUT whining.
Maybe the whining is blown out of proportion on the internet, but it's equally blown out of proportion (if not more so) by a single article in a non-gaming magazine.
"Like I said, most hardcore gamers don't really care about casual gaming, in the contrary, casual gamers do care about hardcore gaming because they, developers, put too much into those games which most of the time are complicated for them."
Not true. You're assuming that casual gamers are as knowledgeable as you are about gaming and development. They aren't. They have no idea what goes into making a game.
All the people I know who own a Wii could be classified as (sadly, to me) casual gamers.
They don't care about games like Mario, Sonic, Metroid or Resident Evil...and believe me – I've tried. They've all taken one look at the games I've tried to show them and brushed it off as uninteresting. All they want to know is when a game that appeals to "them" is going to come out.
They care about those games about as much as your hardcore friends care about Wii Fit, in other words.
jadenguy @ Aug 29th 2007 8:57AM
what i find funniest is the fact that they call the hardcore gamers 13 year olds if you read that paragraph carefully. so basically you couldn't be hardcore unless you were born around when duke nukem 3d was made. also, why does the FPS generation own the phrase hardcore, or should the phrase be considered derogatory at this point?
Matters @ Aug 29th 2007 2:09PM
Noshino you're full of it.
Basically what you're saying is that if MP3 came out for the GC first or at the same time as the Wii then we would never be having this debate.
But what is the freaking difference?!?!
Your logic is that the console is for casual games and that games like Metroid deserve press like this but then you completely ignore all of the other non-casual games on the system and come up with lame excuses as to why they are fine. What difference does it make if the game is a port or not?
What will you be saying with the other RE game comes out for the Wii? That one is an exclusive.
The ONLY thing I disagree with that Nintendo did is advertise this game using the same ads that they use for their casual games. They should have switched it up a little bit.
But honestly it's not that big of a deal. I think any true casual gamer will be able to tell just by looking at the clips of the game in the ad that it's not a casual game and they don't show old playing the game or anybody like that so it's not a huge deal.
In other words my dad and uncle (both in their 50's) won't be saying "I want to play that" after seeing the ads like they did after seeing ads for other Nintendo games or games like Tiger Woods.
Snatcher @ Aug 30th 2007 12:34AM
Noshino is right. The reason the casuals didnt bitch early on was because there werent enough of them to garner this kind of attention. Initially it was the nintendo hardcore faithful that waited in line to lap up the systems. Now more and more casuals have the system. In fact, with EACH PASSING DAY THE Wii gets more and more casual. It's now causal enough that it gets into mainstream publications. This means that the fruity kids (metrosexuals)are now playing the Wii while sipping martini's at their friends Condo. They dont get Metroid. Imagine if you bought a fighting game and every move required a 12 button press combination to pull off. Thats what Metroid is like for them. Newbs.
Word of the street. @ Aug 29th 2007 1:13AM
I feel so insulted by Variety right now and I'm a x360 fan.
"Ultimately, gamers looking for a well paced, thrill-a-minute shooter with a compelling narrative are going to be disappointed. 'Halo' this ain't."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McAeQiLmEYU&mode=related&search=
How dare they?!, Who Compares Metroid with Halo?, Idiots that’s who .Metroid was one hell of a game when Halo is more of a over rated Shooter and I have the right to say this since I pre-order the game.
I don’t believe flaming other people opinions is right but they should be corrected when they are WROONG!!.
qbix @ Aug 29th 2007 2:45AM
Wait, let me get this straight. So claiming to have a preorder for Halo 3 gives you THE RIGHT to say it's an over-rated shooter? Oh, I see, it's like those fanboys on either side of this triangular boxing ring who claim to own a console only to legitimize their negative opinions about it.
I'm going to save you a few keystrokes in the future. Everyone has the right to dislike any game just like everyone is entitled to their own opinions about games they haven't played or consoles they blindly hate. You don't need to justify statements like "Halo is an over-rated shooter" because most people have enough common sense to judge these kind of statements.
If Halo was over-rated, how do you explain its ability to create exponentially more fans of the series after each release? And why is it that developers have taken so many clues from Bungie and implemented them into their own games. Do you think the term "Halo killer" is coincidental? I hope you understand why I can't take your statement seriously.
SmilingKnight @ Aug 29th 2007 4:42AM
Wow, and here I thought the article was perfect. The story is going to be nearly impossible to figure out for anyone who didn't play Prime 1, 2 or any other Metroid game. I played 2 before 1 and was completely lost story wise as to who Dark Samus was. And they say that it's not like Halo. Anybody seeing the recent tv comercials might have thought so, but we all know that Metroid isn't a run and gun game, it's about exploration and the reviewer says so. Heck they gave it one of the best compliments I can think of, saying that it's like Myst!
They aren't saying that the game is bad. They're saying that the game is long and difficult, and that if you can handle that then it's rewarding, but if you can't you'll be frustrated by it. And really, that's what Metroid games are all about
BPM @ Aug 29th 2007 1:14AM
Who cares what they say? They're Variety!
Word of the street. @ Aug 29th 2007 1:15AM
Casuals?.
Edog Lost @ Aug 29th 2007 2:46AM
some very important people, who make big decisions, with lots of money, read Variety. trust.
Anononomous @ Aug 29th 2007 1:17AM
Meh. This is the same reviewer who said that Deus Ex was "90 % bad."
Word of the street. @ Aug 29th 2007 1:31AM
Now I hate that guy 100x times more than I hate Jack Thompson or Rockstar.
Kill him with Fire.
Poisoned Al @ Aug 29th 2007 8:31AM
and hammers.
Fire hammers!
hvnlysoldr @ Aug 29th 2007 1:15AM
Flip the giant enemy crab. And attack its weak spot for massive damage.
cc123 @ Aug 29th 2007 1:17AM
Some quotes from the review:
"It's not a very coherent game, particularly to anyone who didn't closely study the last two."
"In addition to being borderline nonsensical, "Metroid Prime 3" is also difficult. It has the audacity to say, "Welcome to this strange place. Now go figure it out.""
"Too much of the time, though, "Metroid Prime 3" is more tedious than epic. This is particularly true of the boss battles, which are exhaustive affairs requiring dedication, patience, and most importantly, a familiarity with the vocabulary of videogames: double jumping, circle strafing, shooting weak points for massive damage, etc."
It honestly sounds like they are offended that Nintendo put out a difficult hardcore game on "their" system.
The N-Hive better pray this game does well in sales.
Word of the street. @ Aug 29th 2007 1:28AM
Actually that was the biggest pile of crap I have read in a while (I meant the article not your post, your post is is good)
A game being criticized for not being casual enough?, What the Hell?. Seriously is just plain dumb, I mean if the game was bad or the controls were unresponsive or the level design was boring but for not being casual, for real who wrote the article some pompous guy using a Mac while listening to his Ipod and watching video in his Iphone? Really this doesn’t help to the casual stereotype at all.
What the hell the moron expected?, that Metroid was some minigame collection with Samus doing Joga exercises? , Stupid n00b.
Fortunately no one in the gaming community gives a f*** about variety but Metroid fans are going to be so mad about this.
samfish @ Aug 29th 2007 1:37AM
"A game being criticized for not being casual enough?, What the Hell?. Seriously is just plain dumb"
It's only about as dumb as the Hardcore players criticizing casual games for not being "deep" enough.
For God's sake – just look at any thread about Mario & Sonic for proof of that.
cc123 @ Aug 29th 2007 1:49AM
I agree that this review is completely retarded. The person that wrote it went in with very weird expectations.
And yeah it's the same as when gamers bitch about casual games BUT at this point I think Nintendo would be more prone to cater to the tastes of Variety/casuals than to the gamers/gaming press. At least thats what they have demonstrated in the past couple of conventions.
If a game like this doesn't do well it might show that casuals really are the main demographic for the Wii and that they aren't interested in these big epic games. And I think Nintendo would accommodate this into their future plans.
This will be something to watch for in the next NPD.
Word of the street. @ Aug 29th 2007 1:50AM
I believe this is worst Samfish. Well I’m not a hardcore player or a casual player just some dude that talks about videogames so maybe I’m missing your point but when players criticize a game for not being "deep" enough that could be taken as a constructive critic, for example maybe they game could have been better with extra levels or a improved difficulty etc, I mean you want a run for your money right?.
But when you are criticizing a game for being too deep, well is like hating Counter strike for getting killed. What I understand is that probably the game was too hard for him in areas where Halo is more easy for example Halo doesn’t count with the complexity of Metroid puzzles or environments is just going from point A to point B when in Metroid is go ahead take a look and search every corner until you found what you are looking for, I mean is an adventure shooter after all.
Really that kind of criticize is just appropriate when they game is way too hard or punishing but when the game is hard while being entertaining and rewarding is just stupid again is like hating Ghost and ghouls for being hard.
samfish @ Aug 29th 2007 2:00AM
"maybe I’m missing your point but when players criticize a game for not being "deep" enough that could be taken as a constructive critic, for example maybe they game could have been better with extra levels or a improved difficulty etc, I mean you want a run for your money right?."
See, you are missing the point, though. You're obviously NOT a "casual" gamer. The people Nintendo is now making games for don't really want harder difficulties and such. They just want a fun little game they can play for a while and shut it off.
Hardcore gamers are criticizing Wii games for not being "deep" enough. There was a thread on Mario & Sonic somewhere else recently and people were whining about how to make them characters run, you pump the Wiimote and nunchuck up and down.
Wii Sports Tennis was criticized for not being able to control your character and how they automatically run up to the ball for you.
That's what I mean by "deep".
Dopple Boppler @ Aug 29th 2007 1:19AM
Well I'll agree with them on one thing: the first couple boss fights were tight as heck (particularly Ridley) but the big boss at the end of um...Bryyar or whatever it is, that was really, really tedious. I'm not too worried since the rest of the game's been an absolute blast so far, but yeah, that boss fight was kind of lame.
ck @ Aug 29th 2007 10:57AM
What I want to know is how the hell you finished MP3 in less than a day. I mean, did you not eat, sleep or go to the bathroom?
ck @ Aug 29th 2007 11:00AM
Nevermind, I thought you were talking about the end of the game, not a world.
Mr Khan @ Aug 29th 2007 5:32PM
Yeah, the end boss (meta spoiler, although i just read the guide, i'm about to fight meta ridley) is Aurora Unit 313, piloted by Dark Samus
But on topic: This is an odd review, but i see nothing to worry about. Casual/Hardcore coexistence was proven with the PS2, and either way, the gamer media is shitting themselves about this one. Not as much so as BioShock, but still shitting themselves all the same
Either way, i'd expect sales in between the prior 2, ~2 million, give or take
KC @ Aug 29th 2007 1:21AM
When will people realize that a console can have both, epic hardcore games AND casual new gamer games?
Wii has both, and it's knocked for not sticking to one group of gamers. Retarded.
samfish @ Aug 29th 2007 1:24AM
All this really tells us is that the new casual market has to learn to respect the hardcore's tastes as much as the hardcore's need to learn to respect the casual's tastes.
See guys? You have something in common after all.
Almack64 @ Aug 29th 2007 5:07PM
Wow that statement is just so true.
The Stick @ Aug 29th 2007 1:27AM
If it weren't for titles like Metroid, I wouldn't even own a Wii. The thought of not being able to play a new Metroid, Zelda or Mario is impossible to me.
I have zero interest in WarioWare or WiiSports. I've been playing Nintendo long enough to figure out Metroid. I realize it's raking in cash, but without these games, I'd sell mine.
Word of the street. @ Aug 29th 2007 1:35AM
I believe everyone here shares the same thought with you. Without the titles we all knew and love the Wii library would be only a big pile of crap.
Because really when I hear people being interested on a wii or buying a Wii is for Zelda or Super paper Mario but I have never hear anyone said I want the Wii for Wii sports. Really each time I see that Wii sports or Mii Wii ads I just keep saying "I'm buying it for Super Smash Brothers Brawl"
Snidegamer @ Aug 29th 2007 1:32AM
By that reviewers own token then, Halo is a casual game.
Jason B @ Aug 29th 2007 8:59AM
In some sense...if you only look at the online play of H2...he is correct. I mean you can sit down and play H2 online for 5 or 10 minutes with no real commitment. Finish the session and move on. To me that is really what he is saying. He (and maybe casual gamers in general) isn't interested in really committing himself to a game. I think maybe they don't want to become emotionally involved with a games plot or story. Not sure why, embarrassement maybe, but its a thought.
Triforceowner @ Aug 29th 2007 1:33AM
This is actually really weird. It's like having no one eat, ever. The only people who do eat gourmet food. Than fast food is invented and people start eating who never had the gourmet. Than the fast food lovers tell people that the gourmet isn't all that great.
atomicstrawberry @ Aug 29th 2007 1:33AM
Isn't this a good thing? Showing casual gamers who got attracted in by Wii sports that there is more to the platform - and to gaming - than silly minigame collections?