Nintendo: "We believe Other M should be a million seller"

Gamerzines writes: "Nintendo has said it is looking into reason why action/adventure title Metroid: Other M didn't sell as well as they had hoped.

Nintendo of America boss, Reggie Fils-Aime, says Nintendo believed the collaborative effort between themselves and Team Ninja should have been a 'million unit title'."

[Parapraxis]

I'm sure it will surpass 1 mil eventually.

[Elven6]

The main benefits are usually to be reaped at the original price point though.

It's a shame, I haven't played Metroid: Other M but it seems like it's a pretty cool game. The ads for it were pretty cool, they felt very "Haloish" in presentation with the use of live action.

[CranberryPub]

I saw quite a few adverts on TV for this in the UK and it did quite poorly if Chart Tracker is to be believed.

I'm not entirely convinced a lack of marketing was the issue (in the UK at least).

[Yi-Long]

... the lack of having the option to play the game with the original voice-acting.

That's MY reason for not getting it.

However, Nintendo might need to understand that their current customers aren't the same demographic that would buy an all-out action game.

The Wii isn't known for that kind of games, and the gamers that do love hectic 3rd person action-games, aren't really the ones who have a Wii.

You reap what you sow. With the Wii, Nintendo went after the casual marktet. And that's what they got. Then don't be surprised if the casual market is more excited about a new Cooking Mama than they are about a new Metroid game.

[Skullomania]

Exactly.

[N4g_null]

Seriously yi-lon

You didnt buy it because of anime voice options not being present, really so you would rather play the story than the game. Umm your a casual gamer your self lol.

Some of the biggest selling games are action oriented.

Mario kart is down right blood thirsty
Smash brother sold crazy also.
Mario 5 keeps selling.
Another thing most casual titles that sell have arcade action elements.

Cooking moma almost bankrupted that company lol.

People didn't buy this game because they wanted metroid not a cgi movie. Most of you could not sit thur Appleseed the 3d remake with out all the cool action.

People that did not buy this game are people who bought super metroid. That game started out with you thinking your Gina die lol.

The casual market truely has ruined gaming and the true casuals want easy games online and lame movies and have no idea why people loved gaming in the past. The graphic whores do not help.

I got the game just to see how it plays and the story made me stop playing just like metal gear lol. The pacing is horrible. They have some ok game ideas but the coolness of metroid is forgotten.since that guy actualy knows how to tell a story.

Now a metriod that plays like vanqish would be sweet.

Ill be looking forward to last story

[ChickeyCantor]

"they felt very "Haloish" in presentation with the use of live action."

You mean, federations in space? Aliens?! Sci-fi??

*facepalm*

"You reap what you sow. With the Wii, Nintendo went after the casual marktet. And that's what they got. Then don't be surprised if the casual market is more excited about a new Cooking Mama than they are about a new Metroid game."

You do realise that Metroid games never sold as fast as other games right?

"I got the game just to see how it plays and the story made me stop playing just like metal gear lol. The pacing is horrible. They have some ok game ideas but the coolness of metroid is forgotten.since that guy actualy knows how to tell a story. "

The game actually gets better, story wise Metroid was never that impressive. I mean the presentation of it.
In the past it was all just text on a screen.
If you play on, you know its pure Metroid. ( cept for the little backtracking)

[Active Reload]

Yeah, Nintendo games can be the poster child for games with "selling legs".

[trikster40]

You kinda contradicted yourself there bud.

"People didn't buy this game because they wanted metroid not a cgi movie."

So you bought the game. Why did you quit playing it? "I got the game just to see how it plays and the story made me stop playing just like metal gear lol."

So you bought it for the ACTION and quit playing it because of the STORY. Per your words, "so you would rather play the story than the game. Umm your a casual gamer your self lol."

People didn't buy the game because it sucked. Period. Horrible reviews didn't help either.

[Theonik]

I didn't buy the game due to the controls and voice acting. I might get it in a few months when it'll cost me 10 pounds.

[Darrius Cole]

I think Yi-Long is correct.

I don't own a Wii, nor am I a Metroid fan. But I own a PS3 and a 360 and Metroid is the only game on the Wii that appealed to me.

The fact is that lots and lots of CRAP games sell a million copies on name recognition because they are sequels to known franchises. The word is that Metroid:Other M was actually a GOOD game. I saw some ads for it, so it had advertising. Further still, the Wii is at about 70 million units sold. If Other M didn't sell one million that can only mean that the fanbase is not on the console.

Good game + Large enough installed base + Good Advertising = Good Sales

Other M not reaching one million can only be because the actual installed base for it is actually small.

Yi-Long is right, Other M does not appeal to people who normally buy Wii's.

[Elven6]

sidar: No...in the way the ads conveyed story and just the overall action theme. The Halo adverts that are live action use similar themes and it's the closest one can really relate it to when looking at game ads.

[Smacktard]

I hope it doesn't. The game, while fun, was really lacking, and was only a shell of what it should have been. It was nothing compared to the Prime series. It didn't have the love, the funness, or the dedication to detail that the Prime series has in spades. It's a real shame, seriously.

[ChickeyCantor]

You hope it doesn't?
That basically means a lower budget for their next metroid game.

" It was nothing compared to the Prime series."

Why are you comparing it to the prime series?
Come on, usually you say brighter stuff than that.
You can't even move in FP view.

If anything you should compare it to fusion and super metroid.

[TOO PAWNED]

Meh Nintendo just make another Mario remake and sell it to same 10 million mo..ns

[Knushwood Butt]

@ Yi-Long

You nailed it. Nintendo drank their own kool-aid and think they can have their cake and eat it.

Hell, even Metroid Prime 2 on the Gamecube, which most people seem to hate, blew away the sales of Other M.

Next Reggie's going to be having a hard think about Kirby's Epic Fail.

[turok]

metroid as a franchise was always a slow seller.

[CranberryPub]

Very true but I think Other M showed a significant slump in sales compared to the Prime series (the exception being MP2: Echoes).

[turok]

wut i said applies to all metroid games. i dont remember a metroid game that sold well to begin with. the prime series isnt that well off either. heck i bet it was similar sales if comparing sales during first 6 months since launch.

[hatchimatchi]

true.

metroid has never been Nintendo's strongest seller. Awesome series but it's always been in the shadow of Zelda and Mario.

[EvilTwin]

Metroid just has never been a huge seller. And this game is a very curious beast. I think it's probably the most ambitious experiment in game design this gen. Name another third-person action game that goes from "normal" behind-the-back 3D, to sidescrolling, to arena-style battles with melee, a FPS perspective, and lighter Prime-ish scanning. And that's in like one minute and thirty seconds of gameplay. It's constantly shifting.

Super Metroid was never as big as Mario or Zelda, either. Give Other M a year on the market, and I bet its sales will be about what Prime 2 and 3 have sold LTD.

[AWBrawler]

I'm confused too. Other M was a great game

[EvilTwin]

Not sure how you got so many disagrees...

Other M was great. If you loved 2D Metroid, this was the game you were waiting for since 1994, IMO. The most vocal critics didn't seem to really review the gameplaly; they reviewed the cut scenes.

[N4g_null]

Your right the story made me feel like I was playing ninja gaiden on the xbox because of it's Story. The stories sucked in that series when it went 3d.

I'm starting to winder is 3d only for pixar type stories? I can think of many failed mature cg movies yet pixar makes hit after hit.

The more gaming becomes like movies the more it will be judge like a movie. I really though I could over look the bad but a little voice kept saying you have work to do and this is sucking lol.

Hey but I love my job even when we have bugs to fix.

[Genecalypse]

Leave it to Nintendo to think even a terrible an unneeded approach to a good series would sell millions on name alone.

[jarrod1981]

i dont own a wii but this is one of nintendos bigger franchises isnt it. i am actually suprised. seems like they sell millions of so many of their long running series i kinda figured this one would to.

[tunaks1]

other m was one of the most ambitious games of the year. Deserves to sell a ton.

[xino]

fans of metroid prime don't own a wii
fans of metroid gba versions don't own a wii
fans of metroid who tried it at friends house or just a fan of Samus don't own a wii
fans of gameplay such as this don't own a wii.
most hardcore players don't own a wii

because heck I don't own a wii! I bought one just for Prime 3 and sold it after playing the game.
I would love to buy the game but I don't own a wii and stubborn Nintendo will not lower the price of Wii.

Now they are crying that Metroid isn't selling:/

I guess people got tired of Metroid's bulltrash puzzles, because half the players just never knew where the fark to go next!

[tunaks1]

hmm let me guess the wii's graphix arent eye popping and the game is for teh casuals right?
U so hardcorez!!

[Seferoth75]

You kid are a moron...

Yes fans of certain series always skip buying the console it is.

Like me I am a huge God Of War fan so when this gen started I completely skipped the PS3.

Funny though to make the Wii sound bad you make yourself look like a complete idiot.

You spent over 300.00 for one game and then got rid of it immediately after? And we are suppose to listen to you or feel that what you have to say is valid when you are a fool with money?

LOL I bet you've never played Metroid. You are just one of those bandwagon trolls that jumps on to each and every game to hate on it acting like a fan.

Fact is kid most hardcore gamers own a Wii. It is just casuals like you that will only play one game that are the real issue.

[xino]

So you are a GOW fan and you skip the best console to play it on?

The reason why I sold the piece of sh* Wii is because there was no other games to play on it! I was looking forward to Soul Calibur Legends but it was an half ass unfinished game!
I would get a console just for a game I love (same people who bought xbox just for NG or DOA). Though those fans buying a console just for 1 game would be happy if there were other cool games to play on the console.

Son like you who don't own a PS3 and haven't played one of the best games ever shouldn't even bother commenting on my post!

Lol...calling me a kid as if you are superior, son I am superior over you! You tried feeding your ego acting as if you are better than me, actually I am better than you son and older than you. I don't even think you can avoid a PS3, so go back playing a Wii with your mom. OWNED B*TCH! now GTFO!

And all you other butthurt Nintendo fanboys.
Yes I have played nearly all Metroid Series and I'm a fan of it.
I don't even own a DS and I would love to play Metroid Prime Hunters but DS has trash graphics and doesn't contain that much good games.

In the end METROID OTHER M is a failure just like all your whore moms. And there is nothing you can do about it!

[turok]

... What I didnt need to see or know is a confirmation of ur retardation.

geez no wonder u got 2 bubs. shud be reduced to 1.

[JD_Shadow]

"fans of metroid prime don't own a wii"

You DO know that Prime 3 is ON the Wii, right?

[ChickeyCantor]

"You DO know that Prime 3 is ON the Wii, right?"

I think he was going for sarcasm ....

[N4g_null]

Yeah he is pretty much a fool like most Gamersup employees and buyers.

Buying a game then getting less than half the price you paid is beyond stupid. I think hardcore has evolved into brain dead which means the casuals are all devs have left lol.

Let me guess the halo like story intrigued you? Retro knew what they where doing yet I think we all know what needs to happen. Metroid must become halo next gen online multiplayer with a hint of pokemon or metriod collecting that you can use online lol.

It would be like monster hunter which did sell and pokemon which will always sell and of course halo lol. Imagine that a scary pokemon with guns.

Of course it would need vanquish type speed. Invention should be rewarded.

The puzzels where lame. Now the maze game play still rocks yet dead ends should be scary etc.

[Mahr]

"The consumer reaction because of the quality has been strong"

Strong, yes.

Positive, no.

[Veneficus]

This game is awesome. I'm sure it'll do damn well commercially when all is said and done.

[jc48573]

you know what. I think people (new to the franchise) hate the fact that Samus is a female.

[eagle21]

Then they can f-off. Samus is a girl in the 10 million selling Smash Bros. Brawl as well....are they THAT DUMB?

[Kichiguy]

I rented the game via Gamefly and couldn't finish it, because I hated what they did to Metroid:

simplified controls. Samus auto-aims at things in front of her = no skill. You can aim at the screen and go into first-person, but your aim will always start at "neutral", in straight in front of Samus. So, if you have enemies on the roof, and you want to repeatedly aim at them and dodge, you will have to aim up each GD time. Fix? Use the GD nunchuck + Wii-mote combo like you should have instead of just the Wii-mote.

Auto-controls: the D-pad moves Samus, and tapping it will allow her to dodge. You can spam your movement to dodge. There's some move where you press towards a downed enemy (or short enemy), and the attack button, and you'll do a move. I did this move on accident several times within a few seconds. Gee, I sure do love this automated gameplay.

Retarded level design: I got stuck for a bit in a section, when finally I went back the way I came in (which was a dead end), and I triggered a cut-scene. Then there's the times where you're stuck in first-person, and you have to look around and click your button trying to figure out what the developers wanted you to look at. So fun...

The game isn't terrible, but it's not what I've come to expect from Nintendo. I blame Yoshio Sakamoto, as he is the one who made the game Wii-mote only. Nintendo should keep him away from any serious "core" games.

This is all coming from a Nintendo fan who loves high-quality games.

[N4g_null]

It's time they let this guy or make this guy make his own franchise. He appeals to the creative side I'd nintendo with under stand what player actualy want.

When certain people retire from nintendo it is safe to say it will become some thing else.

They should force them to make demos and if that demo sales they can continue development.

[ChickeyCantor]

"simplified controls. Samus auto-aims at things in front of her = no skill."

Good luck on hard mode ;).

" the D-pad moves Samus, and tapping it will allow her to dodge."

...lets see, Castlevania for example uses the shoulder button to dodge...what is your point?

"Retarded level design: I got stuck for a bit in a section, when finally I went back the way I came in (which was a dead end), and I triggered a cut-scene."

So they want to trigger an event because you can't progress is bad level design? Sir are you on crack?

You just bash for the sake of bashing.

" Nintendo should keep him away from any serious "core" games. "
You sure take yourself serious ;D.

Not sure why the wii-mote only is terrible, the only times you actually walked in 8 different directions were in larger rooms which were hardly there. And even so you mostly walked in 4 directions: you walked left/right or up/down.

[DNAbro]

It just didn't look that good. I might pick it up later but that is after i pick up kirby epic yarn and donkey kong country returns. Those two games just look better.

[dmixwell]

nintendo left metriod fall into what i call the next gen cross-over gap. the last real metriod was super metriod (snes) . there was nothing for the n64 only guest visits on games. then the gamecube came along and samus got forced into a fps. many liked this , and for many it was the only way they ever played as samus . so the new fans stayed away when it wasnt a fps .the main reason it didnt sit well with me is the betrayal. it lead me to think i was in for a super metriod experince ( epic music, new weapons,old bosses,the real gravity suite, the real mother brain etc,) but in some way i knew it was going to fall short because super metriod was a graphics power house on the super nintendo . it delivered some alot of things gamers never seen before and the wii can not offer that ever. almost makes me wish nintendo and sony would team up for metriod on the ps3.Blaspemy, i know but i see no other way :(

[N4g_null]

Worst idea ever. Sony has no first party games from the ps1 that would compete with super metriod. Notice they have way better graphic and way more hype yet no one really buys their stuff. It's like crysis on the pc looks great but just is not fun.

Sony is just as dead in the water game play wise. It's like b movie makers are invading video games lol.

Here is a test if a movie can be made of your cut scenes and people like it then it's good. If the game can be played with out the movies then it's good. Yet if one is lacking it will pull the other down.

[NYC_Gamer]

well because the game doesnt appeal to alot of old school fans

[tunaks1]

i think this game only appeals to old school fans...