At this point I'm not even totally convinced it hasn't been quietly canned. I certainly don't think it will ever appear on Switch.
So we’re all in agreement that Metroid Prime 4 is at least Cross-Gen?
- Thread starter ChaosXVI
- Start date
No offense to Sackboy, but I don't think they are at all comparable in gaming enthusiast mindshare. The better comparison in that regard is Demon Souls PS5.
Metroid Prime 4 has a built in floor (composed of 1 million diehard fans). If it somehow gets over shadowed or under performs (barely hitting 2 million for example) when launching on a brand new system + an older one with 150M userbase, it wasn't gonna succeed no matter the release schedule or circumstances.
Nah, the circumstances are completely different. Those two Zeldas had to be saved from the Game Cube and Wii U because their userbases were too small for the games to reach their potential.
Switch hasn't that problem at all. Every game that is released on Switch has more than one hundred million potential buyers.
it's totally gonna be cross-gen. They really should never have announced the game until they were closer to release. Going through nearly a whole console cycle is pretty nuts in terms of it's development even with the switch of dev teams.
Absolutely.
And I'm so happy about this. Its the sort of game which would benefit from taking advantage of that extra power.
If Prime Remastered is anything to go by...then this going to look stunning
Having this in the launch window alongside 3D Mario (and Mario Kart 9?) would make it a solid first year for Switch 2.
And I'm so happy about this. Its the sort of game which would benefit from taking advantage of that extra power.
If Prime Remastered is anything to go by...then this going to look stunning
Having this in the launch window alongside 3D Mario (and Mario Kart 9?) would make it a solid first year for Switch 2.
Why?
If it's that good, why not give it the push instead of just going "well it's Metroid so it's not gonna sell great from jump".
These arguments are all over the place and some of you want to have it both way. Too niche, but needs the "140+ million install base" that 90% aren't even going to buy.
The money is there, the pedigree is there, that's how you make premiere titles. Here's our leading lady Samus, cooler than ever, here's our online multiplayer. If the quality is there, push it as such, don't use previous sales as an excuse not to, especially if you already spent the money making the game. BotW got the push it did because the quality was there.
Hopefully it'll play just fine on regular Switch while the improvements on Switch 2 are noticeable. I'd hate for it to not sell as well as it deserves.
Don't make it a Switch 2 launch year exclusive because that might actually kill its potential.
Don't make it a Switch 2 launch year exclusive because that might actually kill its potential.
But as I've said before, Nintendo is pretty conservative when it comes to their sales expectations. They aren't suddenly going to expect a franchise that has only sold just over 3 million at most to rocket past 10 million.
As for Zelda, it was already close to that 10 million barrier before BotW with TP's 8+ million.
I honestly hope it's 100% Switch 2.
It would suck for people not getting the next system, but I really want to be impressed with MP5's graphics and not feel like it's making sacrifices to fit on the old Switch hardware.
There could be cross-gen upgrades that make it better on Switch 2 compared to the Switch version, but I'd personally just prefer it if it was built fully for more powerful hardware.
It would suck for people not getting the next system, but I really want to be impressed with MP5's graphics and not feel like it's making sacrifices to fit on the old Switch hardware.
There could be cross-gen upgrades that make it better on Switch 2 compared to the Switch version, but I'd personally just prefer it if it was built fully for more powerful hardware.
Yup.
BOTW is from a genre that Nintendo knew was popular (open world action adventure games). Even if they weren't expecting the gargantuan sales it's had, they probably expected better sales than Skyward Sword, for example.
Metroid doesn't live in a vacuum where Nintendo has no idea how much the latest "sci-fi first-person exploration" games have sold. And do you know what they look at when doing their calculations? In games like Alien: Isolation, Prey, things like that. Games that could hardly be defined as system sellers, regardless of their quality. They will also have watched with interest the sales of Doom and Doom: Eternal on Switch, even if they are more different.
This what I mean by trying to have it both ways.
How many copies did both of those games sell on their old consoles compared to the knew.
I've been getting Twilight Princess vibes for MP4 for a while now. Like they haven't revealed it because part of the selling point will be Switch 2 BC. So they want to use the two as part of the marketing.
10% of 140+ million is 14+ million... for reference, Wii U's total hardware sales were 13.56 million...
Gambling that their expensive 6 year+ project is (a) going to be popular enough among the small initial install base of the Switch 2 to offset the opportunity cost, and/or (b) going to be as evergreen as BotW, is quite the bet. Especially when the highest seller of the franchise is only a little over a third of Twilight Princess.
Not even God of War, Horizon, or Gran Turismo got that bet from Sony.
Everyone's doing cross-gen for their large/long projects for a reason. The big PS5 launch exclusive was a BluePoint remake for a reason.
There's too much time and money put into MP4, to risk hoping that it's such a massive hit to a small install base to offset that. If it was a smaller game with a smaller dev time and smaller investment it could make sense, like Astrobot or DeS remake.
Last edited:
My point is that Zelda was much closer to the 10 million barrier than Metroid currently is, so Nintendo (being as reasonable as they are) probably isn't gonna expect 10+ million sales from MP4.
I agree that if Nintendo wants Metroid Prime 4 to be one of the games for Switch 2, nothing is stopping them from doing so, or at least attempting to. If they have confidence in the game and are ready to give it that push, I don't see why not. The "Metroid doesn't sell well" arguments are just stuck to looking at previous patterns... which, granted, do set some expectations of course.
That said, I still think it'll be released on the current Switch as well, if only for the fact that they've said it's releasing on it.
I am not going to disagree that Metroid is not a big-seller, at least not as much, as Mario and Zelda. And Switch 2 relying sorely on it as a launch title is, indeed, a big risk.
However, I am assuming that Nintendo does have "Odyssey 2" on the oven, and ready for the lunch window. In that scenario, I think it could back-up/pair with MP4. Just like the Switch was backed by both BotW and Odyssey.
It'd have to be paired with Metroid to court the masses. And unlike Mario, Metroid actually needs that Switch 1 install base early in the Switch 2's life.
I think it's cross-gen, and it's possible that they're using it to showcase the new graphics capabilities in the Switch 2.
What good marketing they could pull off with side by sides.
Switch version? Old and busted.
Switch 2 version? New hotness.
What good marketing they could pull off with side by sides.
Switch version? Old and busted.
Switch 2 version? New hotness.
Given the shadow drop of Metroid Prime Remastered in February, I was legit expecting Metroid Prime 4 to come out this year, but at this point I think it's more likely to be cross-gen.
Mind you, as I have said multiple times before, I don't think Nintendo would have released the Remaster if 4 was not close to the finish line, so I definitely think we'll see it next year. All those "development hell" comments in the first page seem... very unwarranted. XD
Now, Metroid it's not going to be the marquee launch title of the Switch 2 (that one is most likely going to be 3D Mario), but I definitely expect it to be a launch or launch window game.
Mind you, as I have said multiple times before, I don't think Nintendo would have released the Remaster if 4 was not close to the finish line, so I definitely think we'll see it next year. All those "development hell" comments in the first page seem... very unwarranted. XD
Now, Metroid it's not going to be the marquee launch title of the Switch 2 (that one is most likely going to be 3D Mario), but I definitely expect it to be a launch or launch window game.
Nah, Sony and Microsoft have avoided that with good reason. You don't want those who buy the old gen version to feel bad about their purchase. That's terrible marketing.
Solid point I didn't consider. I guess you just ignore the Switch version then? You shouldn't purposefully hamstring the Switch 2 version, right?
There was no public apology or acknowledgment, they handled it more like vaporware.
You just show the Switch version in different videos, like Sony did with God of War, Horizon and the others. https://blog.playstation.com/2022/01/27/a-glimpse-at-horizon-forbidden-west-ps4-gameplay/
I'm not convinced the game is being actively developed. In any other instance (where we've only seen a "logo" after six years), we'd assume the game isn't in active development any longer. The last time the game has been directly referenced has been 2019 when it restarted development, yeah?
But then that's also bad for the new hardware... Cause it kinda shows there is no real gap nor reason to upgrade. Difficult positioning..
Ideally he game looks amazing on Switch but is designed from the start to use real graphic features of the new console and not just run better.
I honestly don't think crossgen games have hurt PS5 sales. Yeah, you have a lot of people complaining on the forums about "Imagine what Horizon and God of War would have looked like without PS4 versions", but in the end they buy the game anyway.
I think the best case study I can think of is Halo Infinity. It came both on Series S/X and Xbox One, but the marketing rightfully focused on the best version (Series X). Still, The Xbox One, altough "inferior", was perfectly playable, which is the version I played indeed.
So, assuming the it's cross-gen, I think the best course would be to, indeed, focus all marketing efforts on the Switch 2 version, while ensuring the Switch version, although inferior, is perfectly playable and free of game crashing bugs.
On a personal/anecdotal note, I bought my Switch backed sorely by the MP4 announcement. In this hypothetical scenario, as much I would like to play the best version, I can see myself going for the Switch version, just like I did for Halo Infinity. However, knowing MP4 would be Switch 2 exclusive, that would push me to buy Switch 2. I do acknowledge that I am a Metroid fanboy and not the type of audience that Nintendo is looking for.
Last edited:
More than likely, yeah.
But you know, it could look like Prime Remastered and I would be perfectly fine with it.
But you know, it could look like Prime Remastered and I would be perfectly fine with it.
At this point I'd say it's probably cross-gen. It's the type of game that can push graphics and will generate a good amount of hype for their new hardware, but it's been a Switch game for so long that I think Nintendo wants to still make current Switch owners can still play it.
I mean, I would go as far as to suggest it's next gen only. But that may just be wishful thinking
Yes, and I'm thinking maybe the Switch2 version has some level of raytracing to set it apart from the Switch version.
OK, sorry, but this is just drive-by doom posting XD.
When they announced Metroid Dread at E3 2021, they directly stated that the team at Retro Studios was still working on Metroid Prime 4, and all of Nintendo's financial reports to this day still include Prime 4 in their lists of upcoming products (although still with a TBA date).
Not to mention that the first game's Remaster was apparently finished for awhile and Nintendo was just waiting for the right window to finally release it. I don't believe they would have done it if Prime 4 hadn't completed a major development milestone or wasn't already close to the finish line.
I felt confident that Prime 4 was going to be shown off today, but now that we know it didn't I am starting to believe it's just going to have a BOTW like situation where it gets revealed in 2024 as a Switch 2 game (with the Switch version still coming but not pushed like the Wii U version of BOTW).
Thoughts? Feelings?
Thoughts? Feelings?
