http://cube.ign.com/news/36517.htmlMetroid, Raven Blade Blues
Trouble at Retro Studios continues; morale low, and some discouraging thoughts on Metroid Prime.
July 11, 2001
Uh-oh -- not again. It seems Texas-based Retro Studios only makes headlines with disappointing news, and today\'s is no different. Insiders have revealed to IGNcube that the company\'s two under development projects Raven Blade and Metroid Prime are not progressing as planned due to engine shortcomings and trouble realizing gameplay mechanics up to what Nintendo expects of its second-party contributors.
Raven Blade, which showed at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in pre-rendered form, has allegedly run into a dead-end game-engine-wise. The original RPG sets players in a post-apocalyptic world with fire-breathing dragons and floating cities. The team behind the project, which boasts an undeniably talented art staff, is said to have met with technical setbacks as it has attempted to convert some beautiful character and level art into a playable product. This, say insiders, is because the bulk of equipped engineers are working on the Metroid project, which Nintendo has secretly given top billing.
"[The Raven Blade team] has been trying to figure out how to get a decent battle system working," said one source under the condition of anonymity. "It\'s only a small part of the overall game and they\'ve been working on it forever." Sources indicate that the project\'s slow progress has taken its toll on the team, which has allegedly never been in lower spirits. Nintendo has set an supposed July 24 deadline for this project, whereupon significant improvements must be demonstrated for the game.
Meanwhile, two separate insiders have come forth to IGNcube with claims that they have actually seen a running version of a recent Metroid Prime build, both with discouraging impressions. "From what I saw, there was a lot of uninspired, formulaic shooting through 3D hallways. There was barely anything to do," an insider told us. Another informant went so far as to say that the build shown "sucked."
It should be noted that the news, while certainly discouraging, is based entirely on individual allegation and still unproven. Furthermore, these claims do not indicate how early the builds of the projects were, or how much time was spent playing them.
Retro has not publicly previewed either title in playable form yet, but it is expected that one or both projects may actually be previewed at Nintendo\'s forthcoming Space World show. The alleged July 24 deadline for Raven Blade definitely suggests that Nintendo wants the title presentable at its Tokyo-based event.
We contacted Nintendo for further details, but the company had no comment.
Nintendo better not mess up metriod that was like the main reason I saw to get a gamecube. Why nintendo why?!!!
Topic: Metriod Prime and Raven Blade..........sucks arccording to igncube?!?!!?!?! (Read 691 times)