The Cursed Game

With E3 approaching, I thought I'd take a timeout to go back and talk about a game that is really hard to forget, especially for me. Perhaps it's denial or foolish hope, but for the final time I want to talk about Metroid: Other M. Essentially, the game is something that comes squarely at the blame for Nintendo, not Team Ninja for its' release.

The decisions behind Other M's release are questionable at best. Terrible dialog, bad voice acting, a cliched and convoluted plot, etc. Essentially, while not the worst game in Nintendo's history, it's seemingly the most damaging because it has the potential to outright kill one of their long-standing franchises. All of which comes squarely at the blame of Yosihio Sakamoto and Nintendo. Usually, in the squabbles of fans v. developers, the developer usually has the upper hand, but in this case, where seemingly nothing makes sense, is explained or justified, it comes to the desk of those who were in charge, and that was Nintendo. I can't explain why it was released in a seemingly incomplete state, no one can. Anyone who thinks they know really doesn't because they don't work for Nintendo.

It's not the game fell short of expectations. If the game fell slightly short of its' expectations, it wouldn't be brought up repeatedly. It's that the game fell short in every single area, and fell short either slightly or greatly. Counterintuitive and questionable gameplay mechanics, unmemorable music, mediocre controls, and an awful story. Metroid, and the character of Samus Aran deserve better than what Nintendo thought their fans deserved with this.

In essence, Nintendo lied to their consumers whole-heartedly. They said the game was classic Metroid, it wasn't. They said the story was about Samus, it was about Adam. They said it was a great game, it wasn't. It seemed like at every turn where complaints were brought up by the press and fans alike, Nintendo ignored them. Nintendo has a history of ignoring their fans, and usually they're right and the game turns out awesome. However, in this case is one that I can truthfully say that Nintendo was wrong to let out the door. And in all honesty, out of their entire E3 2009 Press Conference, Metroid Other M will probably be remembered as the worst part about it, even worse than the Vitality Sensor.