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Metroid Prime Dev Shares How Nintendo Ended Crunch at Retro Studios

Metroid Prime Dev Shares How Nintendo
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Metroid Prime Dev Shares How Nintendo Ended Crunch at Retro Studios

Despite being absent for fourteen years, Metroid PrimeMany in the gaming community still loves this piece of Nintendo history. This is the series that brought you Mario Kart. Metroid 3D and putRetro StudiosThe map is hereMetroid PrimeThe franchise’s formula was changed in a significant way. The crunch made it difficult for the development team to develop the first entry of the series.

Crunch culture is an unfortunate and common by-product of video game development that forces game developers to work unreasonably long hours to meet deadlines. This practice is, unfortunately, more common than many may realize. Retro Studios had to work in crunch conditions for nine-month during the 2002 development of the first Metroid Prime. According to a former employee of Retro Studios, Nintendo was a key player in drastically reducing crunch time.

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Mike Wikan, a former senior designer at Retro Studios, discussed how Nintendo helped reduce the amount crunch required to produce future installments of the Metroid Prime series. Michael Kelbaugh was appointed as Wikan’s new leader following the acquisition of Retro Studios by Nintendo. Kelbaugh is still Retro Studios’ President and CEO. This has greatly reduced the crunch required for future projects, such as Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Wikan mentioned that there was still a crunch during the development of Metroid Prime 2. However, it wasn’t nearly as severe as it was in the past when Retro Studios wasn’t owned or controlled by Nintendo. It is amazing to see how quickly things improved, considering Wikan and many of his peers had been thinking about leaving the company. Given that last year, Nintendo invested half a million dollars into Retro Studios, it’s clear that Nintendo has great faith in the developer’s abilities.

Wikan expressed his excitement about Metroid Prime 4, but it is impossible to predict when gamers will see it. Four years after Metroid Prime 4 was first announced, the game has not been updated or shown in a trailer.

Consider this Metroid DreadOriginally meant to be a Nintendo DS title; the game is being released on Nintendo Switch several decades after its discontinuation. Metroid PrimeFans may be waiting a while before Nintendo releases a significant update on the game’s progress. New information about the game is likely to be released soon. Metroid Prime 4In due course, they will be available.

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Metroid Prime Dev Shares How Nintendo Ended Crunch at Retro Studios
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