G4's Adam Sessler had the pleasure of interviewing the President of Retro Studios, Michael Kelbaugh, Metroid Prime: Corruption's director, Mark Pacini, and the Senior Producer on the project, Bryan Walker. They came in and walked Mr. Sessler through their game, talked about how it got made, and then showed it off.
Check out the three separate video interviews.
"If you're not directly working on the game, go away" - former Retro world artist, Nate Purkeypile
Then there is Microsoft's approach which is just to piss in the wind and 95% of their stuff turns out bad. Developers might like that personally but you'll be out of a job quicker than you know it through badly shipped products.
First party Nintendo titles are held to a specific standard for a reason. It could be argued that both Sony and MS could benefit from doing the same, but you are right with MS nonchalant approach and "it scored well internally" and then putting out something like Redfall. Even Halo, MS' flagship series, wasn't overseen with the fine tooth comb to ensure it was top notch quality.
Nintendo first party games are very rarely duds, let alone non functional ones. You don't get that without a little (or a lot) of micromanaging. Is it annoying? No doubt. Their track record speaks for itself though and you can't deny that.
I think there is good evidence for both sides of that argument, really.
Japan Studio didn't have much oversight and that studio produced pure magic. Financially, it wasn't a cash cow studio, but I sense that anyone who played their games really felt the care and passion for their creation at work. Media Molecule is another one. I personally feel that Sony and Microsoft micromanagement tends to be overly negative. It might work for Nintendo because they're big on making a fun and engaging game first and entice people that way.
Sony as of late and Microsoft for at least two generations now, when they get into the micromanagement, it seems like a profoundly anxious experience.
i dunno if i agree with that.
i think some leeway is necessary to achieve atleast some sort of spectacle.
With the Wiimote as your Arm Cannon, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a motion control revolution.
From Xfire: "Is Super Metroid still as super as it once was in 1994? If not, which Metroid game is better than the influential title?"
I look forward to the day any game beats that Super, Metroid or not.
Hollow Knight come damn near close to knocking Super Metroid from the top of my list, that’s a huge achievement for such a small team.
The problem for me is I’ve been waiting for a 2D Metroid that beats Super but I don’t think I’ll ever see that day. I still play the original 1-2 times a year and a few randomiser plays.
Fully agree with the list and all points it makes for each game. I’m expecting Dread to fit in the middle of that list but I’m happy to be wrong about that.
As much as I think Adam Sessler sucks, I'll admit he does ask the right questions.