retro studios
News
The Man Who Never Wanted To Make ‘The Citizen Kane of Games’
4:00AM Stephen Totilo | Three unusual things happened to former Metroid Prime designer Mark Pacini in 2009: He received high praise he didn’t seek, saw a somewhat depressing game box and figured out that gaming in 2011 “is going to kind of suck.” More »
Culture
Is Metroid Prime The Citizen Kane Of Video Games?
10:20AM Michael McWhertor | If Orson Welles’ groundbreaking, multiple award winning film Citizen Kane has an analogous counterpart in the video game space, one ABC News report argues that it’s Nintendo’s Metroid Prime Trilogy. More »
News
Development Studios That Don’t Put Out Many Games Might Be Busy
6:00AM Stephen Totilo | Do you ever wonder why some of gaming’s top development studios put out so few games? I know, I know. Making games is hard. But here’s what happens when you ask the Metroid Prime developers that question. More »
Features
Metroid Prime Team Discusses Decade Of Samus, Ponders Future
3:40AM Stephen Totilo | Following the recent release of Metroid Prime Trilogy, members of Nintendo’s development teams in Texas and Japan answered Kotaku’s questions about what the Metroid Prime series got right, what it missed and more. They even hinted at Prime’s future. More »
News
Key Metroid Prime Staffers Leave Retro Studios
9:20AM Michael McWhertor | According to report from Shacknews, three senior staffers at Metroid Prime series developer Retro Studios have left, described as being “escorted off the premises last Friday.” Specifics weren’t provided, but Shacknews theorises that the move could indicate that the trio, which includes Metroid Prime 3 Corruption director Mark Pacini, is planning to set up shop outside the confines of Retro. Pacini was quoted last summer that the Retro Studios team would be taking a break from all things Metroid, but may not have had any idea how permanent it would be for some. There have been no announcements about the Nintendo-owned, Austin-based studio’s next project, but wherever the recently departed wind up maybe they’ll get to put some guns on some cars. Key Metroid Prime Staff Leave Retro Studios [Shacknews] More »
News
Retro Studios Loses One Of Its Own To Cancer
1:16PM Michael McWhertor | The gaming industry lost another long-time contributor yesterday, IGN reports, as Retro Studios senior software engineer Mark Haigh-Hutchinson succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Haigh-Hutchinson’s 23-year career spanned stints at both LucasArts and Retro, where he specialised in camera systems and controls. He helped to create beloved games such as Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Sam ‘n’ Max Hit the Road, Zombies Ate My Neighbors and the Metroid Prime series. He was also the author of the book Real-Time Cameras, published in 2008. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters. Mark Haigh-Hutchinson was 43. Famed Industry Veteran, Retro Studios Programmer Dies [IGN] More »
How Retro Primed Metroid
12:54PM Michael McWhertor | At the Montreal Games Summit, Retro Studios prez Michael Kelbaugh and game director Mark Pacini waxed nostalgically on the development of the Metroid Prime series. While opinion on the decision to change the series’ direction from 2D action adventure to 3D, first-person shooter may be divided, what I think we can agree on is that behind the scenes look at how it all came to be is certifiably neat-o. Hearing tales of Shigeru Miyamoto shooting down game design concepts, the months long struggle to make the game’s morph ball work and the last-minute decision to include the scan visor are the kinds of things one rarely hears about from Nintendo published games. From the original Metroid Prime to Echoes to Corruption, some great internal-only moments are revealed. That first hands-on with the Nintendo “Revolution”? I’d have been giddy, too. Gamasutra has a fantastic write up of the session, which fans of Metroid shouldn’t miss. MIGS 2007: Retro Studios On The Journey Of Metroid Prime [Gamasutra] More »
Blow Your Cash On A Gaming Coffee Table
5:00AM Luke Plunkett | Think a four-grand arcade stick-cum-PC was stupid-expensive? Hah. It’s a bargain compared to this. Admittedly somewhat classy-looking (if you kept the joystick bits away from guests) with its glassy finish, this coffee table from “Surface Tension” is just that. A coffee table. One with a couple of arcade controllers sticking out the side, a PC in its belly and a screen on the top so you can play Double Dragon while you eat your breakfast cereal and cut commercial quantities of cocaine on it. Which you’d need to be doing if you wanted to pay for this thing. Based in Britain, the sellers are asking £3295. Which more than AUD$8000. Surface Tension Gaming Table [Surface Tension, thanks MarkB!] More »
Retro Taking A Well-Earned Break From Metroid
1:20PM Luke Plunkett | Poor Retro. All these years, all these Metroid games, they must be sick of Samus. Sick to death of her pretty blonde hair and big orange suit and arms that are guns and suit that’s a ball. The guys have done enough for the Nintendo faithful, and they deserve a break. And a break’s what they’re going to get. We are taking a break from the Metroid series and from Samus. I think that there will be other titles created. But as far as Retro Studos is concerned, we’ll take a break for a little bit. Take five lads. Go to some exotic Mediterranean resort, drink fruity drinks with umbrellas in them, have a discreet rendezvous with a bored Italian housewife. You’ve earned it. Metroid Prime 3: Developer Interview [Yahoo, via Game|Life] More »
