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Former Retro Studios dev says a Metroid Prime Trilogy Switch port “would take a lot of effort” and is “skeptical” of it happening

LukasManak22

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Former Retro Studios dev says a Metroid Prime Trilogy Switch port "would take a lot of effort" and is "skeptical" of it happening

With Metroid Prime 4 in the works for Switch, many fans have hoped that Nintendo would bring the series’ first three games to the platform. It’s unclear whether or not that will ever happen, but a former developer at Retro Studios has weighed in by sharing his own thoughts. Michael Wikan spent...
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Michael Wikan spent many years at Retro having played a big role in all three mainline Metroid Prime titles as well as Donkey Kong Country Returns. In fact, he was a senior designer on each one of those projects.



Over on the Shinesparkers Facebook page, Wikan said the following when one fan mentioned wanting to play Metroid Prime Trilogy on Switch:

"That would take a lot of effort, so I am pretty skeptical it will happen. It was straightforward to update MP1 and 2 to motion controls, but converting MP3 to normal controls would be a herculean effort, as it is scripted very specifically using volumetric triggers to detect the motion in precise manners to do specific switches, and the bosses are tuned to take into account the ease of gestural aiming."
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Wikan later added that "Retro no longer has functional editor tools to work with the Prime code base, so everything has to be 'brute force' hard coded." He suggested that it could take a year with a full time team of four to five people to rebuild the hundreds of interaction sets in Metroid Prime 3 as well as retuning the gameplay "to take in the slower engagement pacing of conventional controls".

As for gyro controls on Switch, Wikan doesn't believe they would work adequately for the Metroid Prime games.
 

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Should have bluepoint do it.

Seriously though I guess that rumor about Nintendo sitting in the trilogy waiting to release it was bullshit.
 
Pop-O-Matic

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But insiders told me it's been done for years and Nintendo's just been sitting on it for the right moment like a long drought of new titles caused by a worldwide pandemic...shit...
 
Juraash

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Honestly, I just kind of want to replay the first one. I doubt they'd only do Prime or Prime and Prime 2...but I'd be plenty content with that.
 
Kouriozan

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Surprising, there were a lot of rumors of that happening.
Or maybe it already has happened and Nintendo is sitting on it, haha.
 
Noppie

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So he knows nothing. I'm sure it would be challenging, but that's about all the relevant info here.
 
IonMagus

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Say it aint so. Nintendo released tons of low effort Remasters that only upped the Resolution and FPS so not sure whats the problem here
 
Weiss

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Motion controls were a mistake.

I'm curious as to why MP3 is a problem when Skyward Sword is coming to Switch, but Skyward Sword HD is going to outsell any Metroid Prime Trilogy release by magnitudes so even if it takes more effort and money it's still going to be worth it.
 
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LukasManak22

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I think it's indeed still very possible, there was a lot of smoke in 2019, if anything Trilogy will be released close to Prime 4 launch.
 

giapel

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But the switch has gyro in all configurations. So I don't agree with his point.
 
Nere

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If they did it with Skyward sword they can probably easily do them with MP3.
 
qatak

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Shiba said:
Should have bluepoint do it.

Seriously though I guess that rumor about Nintendo sitting in the trilogy waiting to release it was bullshit.
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Their offices are like 20 mins from each other in Austin, I'm sure there's a lot of overlap/relationships between the two companies
 
Finale Fireworker

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I am in the camp that believes if Skyward Sword can be made to work with standard controls MP3 is absolutely within the realm of possibility. Perhaps this is a dumb impression only someone unfamiliar with game development would have, however.
 
Alex840

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It would also likely sell very well and more than justify the effort. Not everything should be as easy as the Wii U ports we've had so far.
 
cdm00

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That's what they want us to think! Metroid Prime Trilogy HD confirmed for reveal this E3!



/s



Disappointed to hear this news. Would have been amazing to have the Prime series in HD
 
Lwill

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Interesting that MP3 would require the most work.
Otherwise, it's a former employee. They could already have it done.
 
-shadow-

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After the rumours of an HD Remaster happening ever since... 2014? 2015? I've simply given up hope.
 
Big G

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Plot twist: This is the mystery project Retro was working on from 2014-2018.
 
Kschreck

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4-5 developers working for a year on it... doesn't sound bad to me. What's the problem? Game will sell millions and prepare people better for Metroid Prime 4. No logical reason for Nintendo not to put the effort in here.

Would be kind of weird to launch Metroid Prime 4 without having access to the original trilogy.
 
Kinthey

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Doesn't Skyward Sword turn the joycons into a wii mode replacement? Wonder if that would work for MP3 as well
 
Mr Pricklefingers

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I'd be ok with just 1 and 2 then. Or even just a Prime 1 remaster. The sequels were good, but I never have the same urge to replay them like I do the original.
 
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SaidTheTickTockMan

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I mean sure it would take a lot of effort, and also Retro had like 5 years between Tropical freeze being released and the announcement they were taking over Prime 4. I feel like that would have been more than enough time to overcome the challenges the guy mentioned.
 
Lant_War

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Kinthey said:
Doesn't Skyward Sword turn the joycons into a wii mode replacement? Wonder if that would work for MP3 as well
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Skyward Sword used the Gyro from the Wii Motion Plus for everything instead of the usual Wiimote motion controls, so I imagine that is probably more simple to work with.
 
Jon Carter

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ned_ballad said:
Metroid Prime Trilogy on Switch, except they replace Prime 3 with Hunters lol
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But first they'll release this standalone for $60:

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Mbolibombo

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With Skyward Sword which people said would never come to Switch due to the integral part of motion controls and also Mario Galaxy coming to Switch... I'll just wait and see.
 
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