Joystiq

Former Metroid Prime devs found Armature Studio, partner with EA

Christopher Grant — 2008-09-16T12:56:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

If you'll recall, three of Retro Studios' key developers - Mark Pacini, Todd Keller, and Jack Matthews - left the Nintendo-owned studio, famous for the Metroid Prime series, last April. Now the trio has announced the formation of an entirely new entity: Armature Studio. Armature isn't your run-of-the-mill developer though - a "core creative team" will be tasked with creating new intellectual properties and then partner with an external development team to implement the design. It's an outsourcing model (think Wideload) that allows smaller creative teams the ability to develop AAA titles.

But while the model is great, it's not very valuable without a publishing partner to help get those games out there. Cue: "a long term, exclusive publishing deal with EA" - presumably the secretive EA Blueprint, since that imprint's Louis Castle is serving as executive producer for the Armature titles. For the guys at Armature, they're just excited to "rethink how games are developed for this generation of consoles." Yup, "consoles" - no longer limited to Nintendo hardware, Pacini says, "What really gets me going is that now, no platform is off limits." Xbox 360? PS3? Gizmondo?

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Shacknews: Key staff leave Metroid Prime dev Retro Studios

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-04-23T18:52:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii

Shacknews reports that several "key" employees of Austin, Texas-based developer, Retro Studios, have left the company. The studio is best known for its work on the critically acclaimed Metroid Prime trilogy, which concluded in August last year on Nintendo's Wii.

Staff members said to have been escorted off the premises last Friday include design director Mark Pacini, art director Todd Keller and principal technology engineer Jack Matthews. There's no word yet on what their futures entail, but Shacknews notes that Retro Studios is in no danger of closing. Which is just as well, really, since we're in no danger of not wanting more games from them. We'll let you know when we hear more on this subject.

Update: There's some unconfirmed gossip from mysterious dealer in rumors, Surfer Girl, who mentioned that "something definitely went down at Retro" in a post dated Sunday, April 20th. An unnamed individual is quoted in the post as saying, "Pretty much no one at retro would agree to relocate at nintendo's behest, as asinine shenanigans are typically met with little fanfare."

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Paperboy, Metroid Prime programmer dies at 43

Justin McElroy — 2008-01-17T11:00:00+00:00

You probably don't know the name Mark Haigh-Hutchinson, but you've almost certainly been entertained by one of the games he helped to create. From Paperboy and Zombies Ate My Neighbors to a series of Star Wars titles like Dark Forces and Rebel Assault, his career has spanned several years and several genres. Sadly, the programmer died on Tuesday after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was 43 years old.

Perhaps the part of Haigh-Hutchinson's legacy that will be familiar to most of you though is his work with the Metroid Prime series, for which he served as senior engineer and helped to create the game's camera system. Besides his gaming legacy, he leaves behind him a wife and two daughters.

[Thanks, Donald]

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Best of the Rest: Ludwig's picks of 2007

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-01-02T06:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Features, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)

Though its puzzles may occasionally infuriate, the real source of frustration regarding Zack & Wiki stems from the fact that nobody bought it. Every year has its share of titles that deserve an audience yet never find one, and in this regard, Zack & Wiki is easily one of the most tragic games to put an uncontrollable smile on your face. Relentlessly charming and beautifully presented, the debut of Capcom's choc-chomping pirate and his simian sidekick challenges the mind and warms that cynical, meh-spouting lump in your chest. How refreshing it was to overcome obstacles and bosses by choosing the power of the mind over an impossibly large bazooka.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PlayStation 3)

Don't praise this game as the PlayStation 3's long-awaited killer app. Don't praise it for its guided tour of Cell and Blu-ray possibilities. Rather heap your kind words on Naughty Dog's impeccable design, snappy writing and tight grip on the very concept of "adventure." It may not be a riot of innovation -- Gears of Indiana Jones and whatnot -- but the game's likable characters and cinematic flair make sure that the edge of your seat is as far as you go.

Pac-Man: Championship Edition (Xbox Live Arcade)

If I was to envision a mental calendar representing what I was doing with my life for most of the year, there'd be a mysterious black patch, lasting several weeks, around the time Pac-Man: Championship Edition saw release. The truth is, in-between the game's addictive modification of the Pac-Man formula and a constant high score war with folks on my friends list, my life outside of games became a complete blur. If it didn't help me plot a more efficient way of devouring ghosts, it was irrelevant.

Tomb Raider Anniversary (PC)

Honestly, I'm tired of having to explain this game to friends who raise an eyebrow and say, "But dude, hasn't Tomb Raider been rubbish for the last twenty games or so?" The series had its Batman Begins reboot with Tomb Raider: Legend and has been totally awesome since. Dude. Anniversary remakes Lara's iconic debut, melding Legend's superior controls and fluidity with the original game's intelligent level design. Trust me, the result is better than the game in you imperfectly remember.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)

It's impossible for me to tell if this is the best Metroid Prime overall, but there are certain things which it's best at compared to the previous two and utterly fantastic games. Prime 3 is perfectly paced, to the point where "just one more missile upgrade" becomes "just one more area." Next you'll be wanting to do "just one more planet," only you've finished the game and remarked that the end of the trilogy finally brings with it a truly engaging story. The Wii's controller also delivers the best combat yet -- I think we can drop that "First-Person Adventure" nonsense now and call this one a shooter.

DiRT (Xbox 360)

The only game to cause me personal injury, Dirt is the most thrilling racer to come along in years. From out of nowhere, Codemasters produced an amazing graphics and physics engine, one conveying every bump, jolt and ill-advised jump on the track. Choose an interior viewpoint and watch out for the trees!

Phoenix Wright 3: Trials & Tribulations (DS)

Let's face it, there's not a whole lot going on here in terms of pure gameplay. Strange then, that the game I had the most fun playing was Phoenix Wright's third and final turn(about) as the most chronically and comically unprepared attorney in the world. A great cast of characters and a story which thrives on ridiculous twists make it a great read... but what makes it a good game? I know exactly what the answer is now. It's the swell of excitement that arrives when you make the connection, when the amazing soundtrack kicks in and you flip an impossible case around at the very last and desperate moment.

Disappointments

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) -- Bad poetry says it best: A bore, a snore and a chore. It took me several months to claw my way through this game, as all desire to play it quickly evaporated every time I touched my DS and remembered that yet another return to the Temple of the Ocean King awaited me. I could forgive the bland music, dull environments and utterly dreadful sailing, but this was one bad design boomerang I loathed. I desperately wanted a sequel to my beloved Wind Waker... just not this one.
Blue Dragon (Xbox 360) -- Assembled by a JRPG dream team, I think it's fair to say that Blue Dragon delivered what I expected. Exactly what I expected and what I thought I wanted. It turns out the line between "traditional" and "old fashioned" isn't always clear, a fact which Blue Dragon learns throughout its unevenly paced adventure. I liked it, but I should have loved it. The feeling that Mr. Final Fantasy phoned this one in just couldn't be avoided.
Super Paper Mario (Wii) -- I send my condolences to the families of the developers responsible for this charming title. As I understand it after playing the game, the entire team was mysteriously killed halfway through development, leaving the disastrous second half to random amateurs. What a shame.
Stranglehold (PS3) -- Though it captured the destructive action of Hard Boiled fairly well, it also did a good job of capturing silly aspects of game design. Do we really need irritating bosses that, for some reason, absorb 10,000 bullets before keeling over? Certainly no more than we need poor checkpointing, sluggish aiming and the ugliest implementation of Unreal 3.0 to date.
The Darkness (Xbox 360) -- A surprisingly forgettable game, The Darkness was carried by its morbid atmosphere and highly entertaining use of vicious tentacles. There was a decent game here, but every mechanic felt woefully underdeveloped. The last part of the game is a complete mess, deluging you in abrupt cutscenes (depicting things you could do yourself!) and leading you to believe that there's an important choice to be made. There isn't.

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August NPD: Madden and Wii on top, but not together

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2007-09-13T20:12:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

While August yields some noteworthy NPD data in terms of hardware sales, the games populating the top twenty spots in the software chart provide the most interesting commentary. Before we get to that, however, we should gaze at the gargantuan pile of cash that represents the U.S. game industry. GameDaily BIZ reports that total sales climbed to $993 million dollars, a 46% increase over the same month last year, with hardware sales alone reaching $302 million.

Nintendo's Wii once again sold the most units, followed by the DS and a now cheaper Xbox 360. Microsoft had best hope the jump in sales extends to more of a protracted hover, as it seems the PS3 has already come down to Earth following its July "clearance sale."

Nintendo Wii: 403.6K (4 million total)
Nintendo DS: 383.3K (12.7 million total)
Microsoft Xbox 360: 276.7K (6.3 million)
Sony PlayStation 2: 202K (39.1 million total)
Sony PSP: 151.2K (8.3 million total)
Sony PlayStation 3: 130.6K (1.75 million total)

EA's 2008 release of Madden absolutely dominated software sales, with the Xbox 360 version falling just over 100,000 units shy of selling one million copies. However, the massively popular franchise fared the worst on the most popular console, with the Wii version of Madden bested by both the PlayStation 3 and original Xbox. This state of affairs must lead to some frustration in the halls of a third-party publisher like EA, so desperate to reach out to the Wii's alluring install base yet unable to grasp it.

Two of August's most anticipated games, BioShock and Metroid Prime 3, made strong debuts, with the former aquatic title shifting nearly half a million units. Similarly, Samus fared well in the final week of August, though it's uncertain if she'll stay in the top ten during the course of September. Either way, you can be sure that Metroid Prime 3's overall performance is being closely eyed and considered by Nintendo.

1. Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360) -- 896.6K
2. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) -- 643.6K
3. BioShock (Xbox 360) -- 490.9K
4. Madden NFL 08 (PS3) -- 336.2K
5. Wii Play/ w remote (Wii) -- 256.8K
6. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii) -- 218.1K
7. Mario Strikers Charged (Wii) -- 147.4K
8. Guitar Hero 2 w/guitar (PS2) -- 145.4K
9. Mario Party 8 (Wii) -- 138.3K
10. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s (PS2) -- 127.1K
11. Madden NFL 08 (Xbox)
12. Madden NFL 08 (Wii)
13. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (DS)
14. Two Worlds (Xbox 360)
15. Pokémon Diamond (DS)
16. High School Musical: Making the Cut (DS)
17. Guitar Hero 2 w/guitar (360)
18. Madden NFL 08 (PSP)
19. Pokémon Pearl (DS)
20. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (Xbox 360)

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