Nintendo How Can Metroid Prime 4 Appeal to a Broader Audience?

[A Link In Time]

I'm sure some people groaned when they saw this thread title, but let's face it: Metroid needs to appeal to a wider audience. The original Metroid Prime is still the best selling Metroid game with about 2 million copies sold. The best numbers from Mario and Zelda completely dwarf this figure. With Metroid Prime 4 potentially being shown at the Game Awards in just two days, now is a good time to discuss this issue.

There is the intangible Switch factor to consider. The nature of having these console quality games on the go continues to be a big appeal to many people, and that will surely interest some more people. But I don't think that will have as big of an effect on Metroid as Mario or Zelda.

I think something that should be done is adding a hint system similar to the Sheikah stones in the N64 Zelda remakes for 3DS. This would help newer players not get lost in the expansive world by playing a short clip of what to do.

Taking a page from Samus Returns, an optional icon on the map showing the next location to go to after completing a major objective would be a middle ground for those who want some help but don't want to see exactly what to do.

Also, the difficulty of the game should be adjustable at any point. If players get stuck on a certain boss, they can lower the difficulty to make it easier to progress. Metroid has traditionally been hard, but I think this is a necessary step to get more people through the door.

Do you have any ideas on how Metroid Prime 4 can be more accessible to broaden its audience?

 

[Spirit]

Metroid isn't very popular in Japan which doesn't help its world wide sales and short of a reboot and complete tonal shift or reworking I don't see it ever appealing to a broad Japanese audience.

The first two Prime games were on the Gamecube, a console most people at the the time wrote off as a failure despite a great library. Prime 1 got the most critical acclaim too.

Prime 3 may have appeared on the Wii (which had a higher install base) but the fact it was the third game in a series most people hadn't played the fist two of most likely put a lot of people off.

Yes, Nintendo put the Prime trilogy on the Wii but speaking as a Brit, the trilogy was terribly rare (like every Fire Emblem until Awakening) and so didn't help the Wii sequel problem.

I'm pretty sure Prime 4 will end up being the best selling game in the series. The Switch install base is healthy and the Prime series is seen as one of the top tier classics that most didn't play, so combined with Switch user base and the legacy of Prime, I think Prime 4 is ready to sell more than most Metroid games.

Releasing the Prime trilogy in HD on Switch will also solve the sequel problem.


As for what it should do...

Get Sakamoto out of the ****ing production. (If the rumours of him leading a Bamco team are true).

Seriously, I have NO faith in Prime 4 being as good as it could be with Sakamoto at the helm.

The guy who hates the Prime series so much as to consider them at best to be an alternate Metroid universe and completely non-canon at worst is heading Prime 4?! What?!

I can't shake the feeling that he is trying to bring the series down from the inside.

As soon as Sakamoto got full control of Metroid after Gunpei died Metroid started suffering. Fusion was fine to play but it was the beginning of the end of Samus as a character and Other M finished her off.

Sakamoto showed incredible ignorance in both Fusion and Other M of a series he helped create and now he is heading the production of a Metroid sub-series he actively dislikes? How can I have faith in it?

And before anyone brings up Samus Returns, that game had Sakamoto problems too.
Not only was it horribly tense that I thought Samus would go all Other M at any moment, Sakamoto also wrecked the ending with Ridley's pointless and nonsensical inclusion.
He also did something with the Chozo in vague storyboards that seemed to paint them as an evil race? I have no idea what was going on with those storyboards.

As for gameplay, I don't think Prime 4 needs to be much different from the other three. It'll have motion control just because of the amount of motion control options the Switch has. As long as the gameplay design isn't like Corruption with shoehorned hazards and enemies built specifically around the motion controls I'll be fine with it.

As for a hint system for noobs... as long as it's optional.
Difficulty options would be welcome too.

Though I do think EVERYTHING that could go wrong will be more connected with Sakamoto and his sheer ignorance.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I think Metroid as a series not ever being very popular does have something to do with the games being difficult. It also didn't help that there were typically long gaps between some releases, the Prime games were a height, but then Other M and Metroid Federation Force were off putting games.

Then there is the fact that Metroid tends to fall in the middle ground with ratings. It has never broke into the realm of an M rating. Out of Nintendo's selection of series, Metroid is probably the best candidate to go the route of M rated. It already has an isolation horror vibe, they could probably really push it further and draw in hardcore gamers who are older, and it seems the fans of the series, especially those who maybe moved on from it, are older.

 

[the8thark]

Taking a page from Samus Returns, an optional icon on the map showing the next location to go to after completing a major objective would be a middle ground for those who want some help but don't want to see exactly what to do.

Considering the fact that AM2R is better than Samus Returns inm every way, I think Nintendo need to ask the public what they want.
Also Nintendo need to prove to us that MP4 is actually a good game. FF and OM were terrible and people felt burnt by those games. MP4 has to be a good game.
Does MP4 have to appeal to a wider audience? There's nothing wrong with more niche games that break even as long as other games really sell well.

I think MP4 needs to be the best it can be and as long as it breaks even, that's all that matters. I think going after mass appeal fot the game could potentially ruin how good the game could be.

 

[DekuNut]

Make Prime Trilogy more available so newer players can be intetested and involved by the time Prime 4 comes out.

 

[Dizzi]

Agree deku like ive only played like a minute and spent mosta it not knowing what went on...

 

[Cfrock]

Do you have any ideas on how Metroid Prime 4 can be more accessible to broaden its audience?

Two things:

Don't call it Metroid Prime 4
Switch has a huge install base and a massive chunk of that will be put off by the number 4. No one wants to start there. Call it Metroid Prime: Subtitle. Don't draw attention to the fact that it's four games deep into a sub-series. Doing so will only hurt sales. I know they teased it with a big 4, but that's all we've ever seen. There is time to course correct here.

Advertise it
Marketing is a hell of a drug. It can make all the difference, regardless of the content of a game. All the most successful games are heavily advertised. The Switch is heavily advertised and it's a smash hit. Compare to the Wii U which was notoriously under-advertised and flopped like a dying fish. The PS4 is advertised probably twice as much as the Xbox One and would you look at which one is doing better. Metroid's numbers have always been low but how well known is Metroid to people who don't invest themselves in Nintendo the way a lot of people who would willingly sign up for a Legend of Zelda forum do? Get Metroid Prime: Subtitle on TV, on banner ads, put it on Twitch, on Youtube, put it in newspapers and on buses. Get Ninja to play it, there's a million sales right there. Talk about it all the time. Actually push the brand rather than act embarrassed by it.

The games being difficult isn't an issue. Look at Dark Souls. Inb4 'Dark Souls isn't hard if you're good'. The games being spread out between releases can be overcome with advertising. The issue is that the broader audience of gamers don't know what Metroid is. Bear in mind that there will be millions of kids playing Smash Bros Ultimate who were born the same year Prime came out. Prime 3 even. And what has the franchise shown since then? An abortion in 2010, something in 2016 not even Nintendo acknowledges, and a remake best known for executing a beloved fan project. There are a lot of people who only Know Metroid as that franchise Nintendo use to make themselves look like the bad guys. You have a generation of potential players who have no strong preconceived notions of what Metroid is. Market it. Conceive a notion for them. Push it in their faces, make them beg you to shut the hell up about it. Absolutely paint the eShop with it. There's nothing wrong with the games themselves (Other M and Fed Force notwithstanding). They've (almost) all been critical darlings, the issue is that nobody buys them. So make them. Spend some of that cash to force people to read the words Metroid Prime at least once a day no matter where they go, online or IRL.

That's my tea and biscuits, anyway.

 

[DarkestLink]

Add more world development, ditch VA, and add difficulty settings--especially easier settings. Not much more than that....because I've found that "appealing to a broader audience" is just a corporate talk for ditching the audience they have.

The games being difficult isn't an issue. Look at Dark Souls. Inb4 'Dark Souls isn't hard if you're good'.

I've only played DS1 so I can't speak for the others but...I didn't find it hard. And I'm not good. I'm a filthy casual. It was punishing, but like with most punishing games, the game itself is very easy in order to balance out the unforgiving standards.

It's like taking a 200 problem test. Test A consists of College Math problems. You can miss 35% and still pass. Test B consists of 2nd Grade Math problems. If you miss one, you fail. Test A is harder, Test B is more punishing.