My mistake. I just had OTL mixed with TTL for the studio's fate. Hey, speaking about Nintendo, how's the Club Nintendo service doing against SEGANet? I'd really like to know that.
Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium
- Thread starter RySenkari
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My mistake. I just had OTL mixed with TTL for the studio's fate. Hey, speaking about Nintendo, how's the Club Nintendo service doing against SEGANet? I'd really like to know that.
Summer 2009 (Part 5) - Hit Or Miss Sequels
Eye In The Sky 2
Eye In The Sky 2 is a futuristic FPS published by THQ. The game focuses on surveillance technology and security, and continues the story from the original 2007 game, keeping Aaron Beecher as its primary protagonist. It takes place five years after the original, and features Aaron now as a rogue operative looking to take down the World Protection Force's satellite monitoring system, though he tries to do so in the most nonviolent way possible, and the game has a heavy focus on stealth, to the point where the player can get a game over if Aaron kills certain people. To help the player accomplish their missions with a minimum of unnecessary bloodshed, they have unprecedented access to a number of hacking and stealth tools that will allow them to access enemy positions and see things that they'd otherwise not be able to see. Meanwhile, Suleka, the young hacker from the previous game, is now a top hacker for the WPF and plays a more antagonistic role, frequently guiding the enemy during stages. In fact, Suleka, who is a superior hacker to Aaron, will often intercept his communications and hacking attempts to taunt or try to warn him not to interfere. Suleka can even access some of the data saved on the player's hard drive, commenting on their game choices or their tastes in movies and music. While Suleka is antagonistic, she's no villain: in fact, much of her actions are guided by her experiences as a hostage of Mona in the previous game, which traumatized her and turned her off permanently to Mona's (and later Aaron's) goals. This conflict, in which Aaron and Suleka don't actually physically confront one another until almost the end of the game, forms a major conflict of Eye In The Sky 2 and guides much of its plot. There are other major new characters, mostly consisting of Aaron's contacts in his organization. Mona never makes an appearance in the game (with one exception toward the end), but her actions and goals permeate the entire plot, forming the basis for its themes, its conflicts, and the actions of almost every other character. The HUD and stealth are improved significantly from the previous game, designed to make the player's task less frustrating and designed to guide the game toward a stealth playstyle. The game clearly identifies characters that the player isn't allowed to kill, while also identifying significant threats and enemy movements. It's up to the player to decide how to best utilize this information to accomplish their goals. As progress is made through the game, Aaron's hacking skills will grow, partially based on the victories he's able to achieve over Suleka, learning from what she does and then using it against her. Suleka learns as well as the player progresses, so Aaron is forced to mix up his tactics to stay one step ahead of her. The game's graphics have improved somewhat, especially considering that the game will be the franchise's debut on the Sapphire.
The plot sees the WPF attempting to install a satellite system that can literally view into every building on the planet. which Aaron's organization, the Blind Eye, considers absolutely unacceptable. Though the WPF has saved many lives through its actions, the potential for the abuse of their power is seen as too great, and Aaron and his fellow hackers and spies attempt to sabotage the WPF wherever they can. There's no overarching plot, no true villain, but each mission sees Aaron attempting to sabotage a WPF operation in a different manner, and Suleka, whose motivations are explained extensively through dialogue and flashbacks, attempts to stop him. As Aaron continues to hamper the WPF at every turn, Suleka is put under more and more pressure. Her superiors start to accuse her of helping Aaron, something she denies and something that drives her even more to stop him. Eventually, Suleka achieves a massive breakthrough when one of her hacks causes the Blind Eye's headquarters to lose power, leading to a massive WPF operation that leads to the capture of most of their agents. Aaron narrowly escapes, and though he's able to rescue most of them in a later breakin operation, two operatives, including a woman named Eleanor who had been Aaron's love interest throughout most of the game, are killed. Eleanor's death, in fact, can be directly attributed to a hack that Suleka performed that caused Aaron not to be able to reach her in time. When Suleka learns this, she apologizes to Aaron, but he refuses to forgive her. Aaron is told that the only way that the WPF can be stopped is if Suleka is taken out of the picture, and the Blind Eye's leader wants to capture Suleka. Aaron refuses, not wanting to put Suleka through the same ordeal that Mona did, but the leader says that the operation is already being carried out without his permission. Aaron defies his superior and tries to stop Suleka from being captured, but it's too late, and we see that Suleka is reliving some of her trauma again as she is interrogated by the Blind Eye. Aaron decides to rescue her, at the same time that a WPF strike team is being sent in to kill her because she's now a liability. Aaron fights his way through both groups and reaches Suleka, who's in bad shape but reveals that she refused to break and reveal the way to stop the WPF's satellite system from being implemented. Aaron asks her why she still believes in the WPF, and she says that she believes if everyone is being watched, no one can be hurt like she was. Aaron fights his way out of the prison where Suleka is being held while she uses her hacking to clear a path for them to escape. Once they reach safety, Aaron tells Suleka that he can't let the satellite system go up, and threatens to kill her if she doesn't help him stop it. She just laughs and says she wishes she was dead most of the time anyway, and grabs Aaron's gun to try and kill herself, forcing him to knock her out to stop her. Realizing that Suleka won't help him, he takes her to safety and goes to shut down the WPF satellites himself. He fights his way to the main control and gets revenge against the man who killed Eleanor, but just as he's about to sabotage the satellites, they go online, and it's revealed that Suleka woke up and managed to find a way to hack into them from Aaron's safehouse. Aaron, who knows the satellites only went online because he protected Suleka, just collapses against the control console and laughs quietly, finding cold comfort in the fact that Suleka will be safe in the new world. WPF personnel surrounds the room, and it looks like Aaron's about to be killed, only for all the satellites to self-destruct. Aaron recognizes the code used to destroy them and realizes that it's the work of Mona, who has somehow done this despite still being trapped in a blacksite prison. Aaron fights his way to safety in the confusion and rushes back to the safehouse to check on Suleka, hoping she hasn't harmed herself. Instead, he finds her packing up most of his things, and asks her what she's doing. She says she's going to find Mona and kill her, and she'll kill him too if he tries to stop her. Then she leaves, leaving Aaron dumbfounded. In a post-credits sequence, we see Mona emerging from a crawlspace in Aaron's safehouse, having been there ever since Suleka was brought there. She tells Aaron she was right about him regretting stopping her. Aaron asks her why she didn't kill Suleka, and Mona says that she's done enough to the poor girl and doesn't consider her a threat. She asks Aaron if he's going to help her stop the WPF once and for all, and when Aaron tells her he doesn't like what they're doing but that he doesn't want to work with her ever again, she points a gun at him and tells him he doesn't have a choice. Then the sequence ends.
Eye In The Sky 2 is released in August 2009, for the Sapphire, Xbox 2, and Apple iTwin. It achieves excellent review scores, slightly better than those of the last game, and is seen as the best stealth title thus far this generation, with an excellent hacking system and an HUD rivaling anything in Techno Angel: Immortal. Its multiplayer, which is somewhat like the last game's but with a few more modes, is seen as a slight improvement and one of the better FPS multiplayer modes of the year. The game, highly anticipated upon its release, sells about evenly on all three consoles, with the Sapphire version's sales suffering slightly due to the original game not being released on it. The plot is fairly highly praised as well, though some critics dislike the cliffhanger ending, they do think the game gives Suleka a strong arc and also praised Mona's return toward the end (though many critics also make comparisons between this game's Mona and Mona Sax from Max Payne, with a few joking that Rockstar should sue). Ultimately, the game is considered a strong success for THQ, and a third game in the series would be planned for 2011 or 2012.
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Stranded 2
Stranded 2 is the sequel to 2005's Wave exclusive adventure title Stranded, which was one of the biggest critical and commercial successes of that year. The game took place on a deserted island and forced the player to carefully manage their resources as they struggled to solve the mystery of what had happened to them and figure out a way back home. While the game does continue the plot of the original, it focuses on a brand new protagonist, a man named Gerald, as he awakens in the middle of a massive forest and must, like Ron in the first game, figure out why he's there and how to escape. The game's survival mechanics work much like they do in the original, but are somewhat more complex, thanks to the improved power of the new consoles (the game is on Sapphire, iTwin, and Xbox 2). Gerald, much like Ron in the original game, must carefully manage both his physical and emotional health if he is to survive. He must also work to survive the elements, as the place he's in is very cold and he'll die if exposed for too long. What the player ultimately learns is that Gerald is one of the two agents that Omen supposedly had killed in the previous game, and that he must re-establish contact with Natali (and later with Ron). Secondly, Gerald is in the Alaskan wilderness, and must find his way back to some kind of town, while trying to avoid people sent to kill him. Unlike the original game, Gerald doesn't meet any friendly faces until much later on, but he does eventually befriend a wolf-dog, who he's eventually forced to kill and cut open for warmth during a particularly harsh blizzard. The game is somewhat inspired by Jack London's classic short story "To Build A Fire", with several elements of the game taken directly from it, including a harrowing sequence in which the player absolutely must build a fire before Gerald freezes to death. Most of the game is spent surviving the elements, with comparatively little time spent in combat, which again is meant to highlight the player's struggles with nature. Gerald can occasionally stumble upon hidden journals and radio transmissions that hint at what Ron and Natali have been doing since the events of the original Stranded and what they're currently up to. The game features a strong voice cast, with Christopher Reeve reprising his role as Ron, and Kiefer Sutherland as the voice of Gerald, who doesn't have much in the way of spoken lines but has some internal dialogue and does talk to the wolfdog fairly often.
The game's plot begins with Gerald awakening on his back in the woods. As he comes to, he quickly remembers who he is and that Omen's people abducted him, then he woke up here. Realizing he has to contact Natali, he searches through the woods for a way to communicate with the outside world and manages to find a radio station, but can barely get a call through to Natali, who reveals that she's with Ron (which means that this initial part of the game takes place just after the events of the original). It's spring in the woods and after more gameplay, the passage of time reveals that it's now been about seven months and that it's winter. The player must now take winter survival into account as they continue to search the forest for a way out. Gerald's survival skills have grown significantly and he can now find his own food and take care of himself, but his health is still getting somewhat poor and he knows he needs to get back to civilization. Eventually, he begins to encounter Omen's men, and it's implied he's killed some of them before. The game continues like this for a while, with Gerald making his way back to civilization, surviving in the forest, meeting (and later being forced to kill) the wolfdog, and avoiding Omen's men. He finally reaches a small town, but Omen's men seem to have infiltrated it, as only one person, a woman forest ranger, is willing to help him. Gerald learns that Ron and Natali have finally found him but they're pinned down and need help, and he and the forest ranger make their way to where Ron and Natali are. They defeat Omen's men and several important plot threads are revealed, including the reason Gerald was taken and abandoned and not merely killed, what became of the last missing operative (who really is dead), and Omen's current whereabouts. This leads to a conclusion in which a dying Gerald leads Ron and Natali to Omen's HQ in a forest in Europe, and finally takes him down, with Gerald dying in the effort. Ron and Natali get their revenge, and the story, at least seemingly, is concluded.
Stranded 2 is released in September 2009. As the sequel to one of the best games of the previous generation, it gets quite a bit of hype, but the critical reception is significantly worse than the last one. The setting of an Alaskan forest is praised, but the gameplay itself is considered a rehash of the original, and exploration, which was fun and thrilling in the last game, is mostly seen as boring, with confusing forest paths and little in the way of reward, with the player mostly wanting to get the main quest over with as soon as possible. The plotline is seen as terribly rushed, with the game's explanation for why Omen kept Gerald alive (as revenge for a mission Gerald achieved several years earlier) seen as extremely flimsy, and the complex and thrilling plot twists of the last game replaced with rushed twists and the shunting off of much more interesting characters to the side. The dog killing moment, which was meant to be a tragic emotional climax, had its impact somewhat reduced by Kiefer's somewhat overdramatic voice acting (attributed to shoddy voice direction, with Kiefer saying that he thought two of his other takes were much better), and became a meme in the latter part of 2009. While Stranded 2 wasn't a complete flop, it was considered a major disappointment when compared to the first, and sales end up being significantly lower.
Eye In The Sky 2 is a futuristic FPS published by THQ. The game focuses on surveillance technology and security, and continues the story from the original 2007 game, keeping Aaron Beecher as its primary protagonist. It takes place five years after the original, and features Aaron now as a rogue operative looking to take down the World Protection Force's satellite monitoring system, though he tries to do so in the most nonviolent way possible, and the game has a heavy focus on stealth, to the point where the player can get a game over if Aaron kills certain people. To help the player accomplish their missions with a minimum of unnecessary bloodshed, they have unprecedented access to a number of hacking and stealth tools that will allow them to access enemy positions and see things that they'd otherwise not be able to see. Meanwhile, Suleka, the young hacker from the previous game, is now a top hacker for the WPF and plays a more antagonistic role, frequently guiding the enemy during stages. In fact, Suleka, who is a superior hacker to Aaron, will often intercept his communications and hacking attempts to taunt or try to warn him not to interfere. Suleka can even access some of the data saved on the player's hard drive, commenting on their game choices or their tastes in movies and music. While Suleka is antagonistic, she's no villain: in fact, much of her actions are guided by her experiences as a hostage of Mona in the previous game, which traumatized her and turned her off permanently to Mona's (and later Aaron's) goals. This conflict, in which Aaron and Suleka don't actually physically confront one another until almost the end of the game, forms a major conflict of Eye In The Sky 2 and guides much of its plot. There are other major new characters, mostly consisting of Aaron's contacts in his organization. Mona never makes an appearance in the game (with one exception toward the end), but her actions and goals permeate the entire plot, forming the basis for its themes, its conflicts, and the actions of almost every other character. The HUD and stealth are improved significantly from the previous game, designed to make the player's task less frustrating and designed to guide the game toward a stealth playstyle. The game clearly identifies characters that the player isn't allowed to kill, while also identifying significant threats and enemy movements. It's up to the player to decide how to best utilize this information to accomplish their goals. As progress is made through the game, Aaron's hacking skills will grow, partially based on the victories he's able to achieve over Suleka, learning from what she does and then using it against her. Suleka learns as well as the player progresses, so Aaron is forced to mix up his tactics to stay one step ahead of her. The game's graphics have improved somewhat, especially considering that the game will be the franchise's debut on the Sapphire.
The plot sees the WPF attempting to install a satellite system that can literally view into every building on the planet. which Aaron's organization, the Blind Eye, considers absolutely unacceptable. Though the WPF has saved many lives through its actions, the potential for the abuse of their power is seen as too great, and Aaron and his fellow hackers and spies attempt to sabotage the WPF wherever they can. There's no overarching plot, no true villain, but each mission sees Aaron attempting to sabotage a WPF operation in a different manner, and Suleka, whose motivations are explained extensively through dialogue and flashbacks, attempts to stop him. As Aaron continues to hamper the WPF at every turn, Suleka is put under more and more pressure. Her superiors start to accuse her of helping Aaron, something she denies and something that drives her even more to stop him. Eventually, Suleka achieves a massive breakthrough when one of her hacks causes the Blind Eye's headquarters to lose power, leading to a massive WPF operation that leads to the capture of most of their agents. Aaron narrowly escapes, and though he's able to rescue most of them in a later breakin operation, two operatives, including a woman named Eleanor who had been Aaron's love interest throughout most of the game, are killed. Eleanor's death, in fact, can be directly attributed to a hack that Suleka performed that caused Aaron not to be able to reach her in time. When Suleka learns this, she apologizes to Aaron, but he refuses to forgive her. Aaron is told that the only way that the WPF can be stopped is if Suleka is taken out of the picture, and the Blind Eye's leader wants to capture Suleka. Aaron refuses, not wanting to put Suleka through the same ordeal that Mona did, but the leader says that the operation is already being carried out without his permission. Aaron defies his superior and tries to stop Suleka from being captured, but it's too late, and we see that Suleka is reliving some of her trauma again as she is interrogated by the Blind Eye. Aaron decides to rescue her, at the same time that a WPF strike team is being sent in to kill her because she's now a liability. Aaron fights his way through both groups and reaches Suleka, who's in bad shape but reveals that she refused to break and reveal the way to stop the WPF's satellite system from being implemented. Aaron asks her why she still believes in the WPF, and she says that she believes if everyone is being watched, no one can be hurt like she was. Aaron fights his way out of the prison where Suleka is being held while she uses her hacking to clear a path for them to escape. Once they reach safety, Aaron tells Suleka that he can't let the satellite system go up, and threatens to kill her if she doesn't help him stop it. She just laughs and says she wishes she was dead most of the time anyway, and grabs Aaron's gun to try and kill herself, forcing him to knock her out to stop her. Realizing that Suleka won't help him, he takes her to safety and goes to shut down the WPF satellites himself. He fights his way to the main control and gets revenge against the man who killed Eleanor, but just as he's about to sabotage the satellites, they go online, and it's revealed that Suleka woke up and managed to find a way to hack into them from Aaron's safehouse. Aaron, who knows the satellites only went online because he protected Suleka, just collapses against the control console and laughs quietly, finding cold comfort in the fact that Suleka will be safe in the new world. WPF personnel surrounds the room, and it looks like Aaron's about to be killed, only for all the satellites to self-destruct. Aaron recognizes the code used to destroy them and realizes that it's the work of Mona, who has somehow done this despite still being trapped in a blacksite prison. Aaron fights his way to safety in the confusion and rushes back to the safehouse to check on Suleka, hoping she hasn't harmed herself. Instead, he finds her packing up most of his things, and asks her what she's doing. She says she's going to find Mona and kill her, and she'll kill him too if he tries to stop her. Then she leaves, leaving Aaron dumbfounded. In a post-credits sequence, we see Mona emerging from a crawlspace in Aaron's safehouse, having been there ever since Suleka was brought there. She tells Aaron she was right about him regretting stopping her. Aaron asks her why she didn't kill Suleka, and Mona says that she's done enough to the poor girl and doesn't consider her a threat. She asks Aaron if he's going to help her stop the WPF once and for all, and when Aaron tells her he doesn't like what they're doing but that he doesn't want to work with her ever again, she points a gun at him and tells him he doesn't have a choice. Then the sequence ends.
Eye In The Sky 2 is released in August 2009, for the Sapphire, Xbox 2, and Apple iTwin. It achieves excellent review scores, slightly better than those of the last game, and is seen as the best stealth title thus far this generation, with an excellent hacking system and an HUD rivaling anything in Techno Angel: Immortal. Its multiplayer, which is somewhat like the last game's but with a few more modes, is seen as a slight improvement and one of the better FPS multiplayer modes of the year. The game, highly anticipated upon its release, sells about evenly on all three consoles, with the Sapphire version's sales suffering slightly due to the original game not being released on it. The plot is fairly highly praised as well, though some critics dislike the cliffhanger ending, they do think the game gives Suleka a strong arc and also praised Mona's return toward the end (though many critics also make comparisons between this game's Mona and Mona Sax from Max Payne, with a few joking that Rockstar should sue). Ultimately, the game is considered a strong success for THQ, and a third game in the series would be planned for 2011 or 2012.
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Stranded 2
Stranded 2 is the sequel to 2005's Wave exclusive adventure title Stranded, which was one of the biggest critical and commercial successes of that year. The game took place on a deserted island and forced the player to carefully manage their resources as they struggled to solve the mystery of what had happened to them and figure out a way back home. While the game does continue the plot of the original, it focuses on a brand new protagonist, a man named Gerald, as he awakens in the middle of a massive forest and must, like Ron in the first game, figure out why he's there and how to escape. The game's survival mechanics work much like they do in the original, but are somewhat more complex, thanks to the improved power of the new consoles (the game is on Sapphire, iTwin, and Xbox 2). Gerald, much like Ron in the original game, must carefully manage both his physical and emotional health if he is to survive. He must also work to survive the elements, as the place he's in is very cold and he'll die if exposed for too long. What the player ultimately learns is that Gerald is one of the two agents that Omen supposedly had killed in the previous game, and that he must re-establish contact with Natali (and later with Ron). Secondly, Gerald is in the Alaskan wilderness, and must find his way back to some kind of town, while trying to avoid people sent to kill him. Unlike the original game, Gerald doesn't meet any friendly faces until much later on, but he does eventually befriend a wolf-dog, who he's eventually forced to kill and cut open for warmth during a particularly harsh blizzard. The game is somewhat inspired by Jack London's classic short story "To Build A Fire", with several elements of the game taken directly from it, including a harrowing sequence in which the player absolutely must build a fire before Gerald freezes to death. Most of the game is spent surviving the elements, with comparatively little time spent in combat, which again is meant to highlight the player's struggles with nature. Gerald can occasionally stumble upon hidden journals and radio transmissions that hint at what Ron and Natali have been doing since the events of the original Stranded and what they're currently up to. The game features a strong voice cast, with Christopher Reeve reprising his role as Ron, and Kiefer Sutherland as the voice of Gerald, who doesn't have much in the way of spoken lines but has some internal dialogue and does talk to the wolfdog fairly often.
The game's plot begins with Gerald awakening on his back in the woods. As he comes to, he quickly remembers who he is and that Omen's people abducted him, then he woke up here. Realizing he has to contact Natali, he searches through the woods for a way to communicate with the outside world and manages to find a radio station, but can barely get a call through to Natali, who reveals that she's with Ron (which means that this initial part of the game takes place just after the events of the original). It's spring in the woods and after more gameplay, the passage of time reveals that it's now been about seven months and that it's winter. The player must now take winter survival into account as they continue to search the forest for a way out. Gerald's survival skills have grown significantly and he can now find his own food and take care of himself, but his health is still getting somewhat poor and he knows he needs to get back to civilization. Eventually, he begins to encounter Omen's men, and it's implied he's killed some of them before. The game continues like this for a while, with Gerald making his way back to civilization, surviving in the forest, meeting (and later being forced to kill) the wolfdog, and avoiding Omen's men. He finally reaches a small town, but Omen's men seem to have infiltrated it, as only one person, a woman forest ranger, is willing to help him. Gerald learns that Ron and Natali have finally found him but they're pinned down and need help, and he and the forest ranger make their way to where Ron and Natali are. They defeat Omen's men and several important plot threads are revealed, including the reason Gerald was taken and abandoned and not merely killed, what became of the last missing operative (who really is dead), and Omen's current whereabouts. This leads to a conclusion in which a dying Gerald leads Ron and Natali to Omen's HQ in a forest in Europe, and finally takes him down, with Gerald dying in the effort. Ron and Natali get their revenge, and the story, at least seemingly, is concluded.
Stranded 2 is released in September 2009. As the sequel to one of the best games of the previous generation, it gets quite a bit of hype, but the critical reception is significantly worse than the last one. The setting of an Alaskan forest is praised, but the gameplay itself is considered a rehash of the original, and exploration, which was fun and thrilling in the last game, is mostly seen as boring, with confusing forest paths and little in the way of reward, with the player mostly wanting to get the main quest over with as soon as possible. The plotline is seen as terribly rushed, with the game's explanation for why Omen kept Gerald alive (as revenge for a mission Gerald achieved several years earlier) seen as extremely flimsy, and the complex and thrilling plot twists of the last game replaced with rushed twists and the shunting off of much more interesting characters to the side. The dog killing moment, which was meant to be a tragic emotional climax, had its impact somewhat reduced by Kiefer's somewhat overdramatic voice acting (attributed to shoddy voice direction, with Kiefer saying that he thought two of his other takes were much better), and became a meme in the latter part of 2009. While Stranded 2 wasn't a complete flop, it was considered a major disappointment when compared to the first, and sales end up being significantly lower.
Will we start hearing anything about E-Sports? With streaming taking off and the technologies for larger multiplayer gaming being realized the stage should be set for it to start its rise to popularity.
In that context, any idea what is happening with League of Legends, DOTA, Counter-Strike or any of the other esport games?
In that context, any idea what is happening with League of Legends, DOTA, Counter-Strike or any of the other esport games?
From a point of view e-sports already exist with EVO and co, plus of those game only counter Strike exist and like OTL already got his tournaments and controversies, among others...stay tuned....
We Will discuss it on the next anime update
So, it would appear that TTL has a big three of video sharing now: YouTube, Videocean and Okuma. I assume that on the smaller end are sites like DailyMotion, Revver (man, who remembers that site?) and Blip. So, with that and the changes that have been done to the timeline since, I do have a few thoughts on the web entertainment landscape.
1. Channel Awesome
This was a huge part of my teenage years, so seeing how this changed is a big thing and it's only been more a tantalizing prospect after the absolute shitstorm that Change the Channel brought on. As people have speculated already, TGWTG might not actually be a site thanks to the differences in Youtube policy, so it'd be interesting to see how this gets addressed.
2. Rooster Teeth
Yes, Rooster Teeth is officially butterflied away, which does make me wonder what other members of RT would've done ITTL. Whether it be the original crew (Geoff, Joel, Hullum, Gus, etc.) the newer members (Ray, Michael, Gavin, Ryan) or groups like Funhaus, Cow Chop, Sugar Pine 7 and ScrewAttack.
3. RWBY
This one is getting its own section because while I have read that RWBY is butterflied away, I don't think that would be the case. RWBY was Monty Oum's creation more than RT's so while it may not take form as a web show, that doesn't exclude its existence entirely. Hell, Monty worked on the Afro Samurai game IOTL, so that does mean there's an opening for him to get into gaming industry and bring RWBY with it.
1. Channel Awesome
This was a huge part of my teenage years, so seeing how this changed is a big thing and it's only been more a tantalizing prospect after the absolute shitstorm that Change the Channel brought on. As people have speculated already, TGWTG might not actually be a site thanks to the differences in Youtube policy, so it'd be interesting to see how this gets addressed.
2. Rooster Teeth
Yes, Rooster Teeth is officially butterflied away, which does make me wonder what other members of RT would've done ITTL. Whether it be the original crew (Geoff, Joel, Hullum, Gus, etc.) the newer members (Ray, Michael, Gavin, Ryan) or groups like Funhaus, Cow Chop, Sugar Pine 7 and ScrewAttack.
3. RWBY
This one is getting its own section because while I have read that RWBY is butterflied away, I don't think that would be the case. RWBY was Monty Oum's creation more than RT's so while it may not take form as a web show, that doesn't exclude its existence entirely. Hell, Monty worked on the Afro Samurai game IOTL, so that does mean there's an opening for him to get into gaming industry and bring RWBY with it.
Yep, he does.
No, they don't get killed ITTL, the nephew isn't born ITTL though.
SegaNet has considerably more users. Club Nintendo is unique in that they're the only ones giving out physical swag, at least right now.
E-Sports will start really taking off in a year or two. Counter-Strike still exists and is popular, but DOTA and League of Legends don't exist (League of Legends did get a similar game ITTL, we'll discuss it more probably in 2010/2011).
Nothing particularly, but there are anime shows with similar themes.
Channel Awesome will still exist but will operate primarily on Youtube. As for Rooster Teeth, a LOT of the people who would have worked on that site IOTL will be going into the game industry in some capacity. Monty Oum is currently working on games as an animator.
Actually, Instead, i could see Some different shows filling its niche, like how Shadow Ocean filled Madoka Magica's Niche.
Well, how much physical "swag" have they delivered? More specifically, how much does everything cost?
I could see a different show or anime that could fill its niche, instead. Maybe a final fantasy installment?
This may not be related, but I was wondering what some people thought of this?
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...neshot-scenarios.380822/page-51#post-17807225
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...neshot-scenarios.380822/page-51#post-17807225
Summer 2009 (Part 6) - Metroid Goes Cinematic
Metroid: Starfall
Metroid: Starfall is a third person shooter/adventure game exclusively for the Nintendo Sapphire. It's the first Metroid game for the console, and it's the first game that goes "backward" in the series' timeline, taking place at an unspecified time after Super Metroid but before Metroid: Darkness. The game sees Samus working for the Federation, commanding a squadron of soldiers as they explore a desolate planet called Katastropha, which was recently struck by a large asteroid. The planet, which had recently been populated by sentient beings, is now seemingly devoid of life, and Samus' crew is sent in to investigate. The game plays much like a modern third person shooter, similar to games such as The Covenant, with squad-based gameplay for a major portion of the first part of the game. The player controls Samus, who has an array of different weapons and attacks, but can also command the other members of Samus' squad, and can even combine attacks with them. The camera moves in a very dynamic way: most of the time, it's over Samus' shoulder, closer-up than in games such as the Homecoming games for the Wave, and similar to the perspectives seen in OTL's Resident Evil 4 or TTL's The Covenant series. However, during moments such as enemy encounters or close exploration, the camera dynamically, naturally shifts to a view more appropriate for the action on screen, zooming out to capture the battlefield or zooming in to give Samus a closer look at certain things. This dynamic camera is one of the game's main features, with a huge amount of time devoted to its development, and for the most part, it works extremely well at giving the player the best view of what they need to be looking at in each part of the game. With that said, it CAN be turned off to allow the player to control the camera to their liking, but most players will prefer to play with the game's dynamic camera in place. Samus has her typical array of weaponry and gear in the game, with her familiar Power Blaster returning as her centerpiece weapon. As the game progresses, Samus will find other weapons and items, most of them series mainstays, but a few, such as the Gravity Gun, being new to the series. The Gravity Gun is able to lift objects and materials, trip distant switches, and crush certain enemies, and is found fairly late into the game. Other new gadgets are also available, including the Proximity Bomb and the Containment Chamber, which can be used to move certain liquids from one place to another, or later, to mix them. Starfall, like other Metroid games, contains lots of secrets and backtracking, but does have a slightly increased focus on combat compared to other titles in the series, with Samus learning an array of combat moves over the course of the game. One of Samus' main struggles is the conflict between her soldier training and her bounty hunter instincts, and which approach is best, both when she's commanding her squad and after they disappear, leaving her to fend for herself. Starfall features the series' best graphics to date, with beautiful cinematic cutscenes in which Samus appears both in and out of uniform. Though the game isn't quite as polished or pretty as games like The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Of The Woods or Thrillseekers 2, a great deal of efforts was put into Starfall's graphics and animation, and it's definitely one of the best looking Sapphire games to date, with graphical detail outpacing titles like Techno Angel: Immortal. The game features the most star-studded voice cast to date amongst Metroid games, and arguably Nintendo games in general. Jennifer Hale has been replaced as the voice of Samus, as developers were looking to portray a "different sort of Samus" for this new series of games. Instead, they cast Anna Gunn. Best known IOTL as Skyler White in Breaking Bad, her on-camera career never really breaks through ITTL, and instead she focuses on voice acting, becoming a voice actress in a number of animated shows and video games, with Samus being her biggest game role to date. William Fichtner is probably the most famous voice actor in the game, having been cast as Troza, Samus' second-in-command, a career soldier who disagrees with some of Samus' methods. Khary Payton appears as the voice of Brash, a somewhat young but quite skilled Federation soldier, while Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (who was almost cast as the new Samus, barely losing out to Gunn) voices Lena, a tough-willed soldier who becomes sort of a rival to Samus and somewhat similar in personality to OTL's Gandrayda. Ashlyn Selich voices Phinia, a young cadet on her first major mission who looks up to Samus, and Will Friedle voices Logan, somewhat of a joker who initally doesn't take the mission very seriously but who later comes to regret that decision. Keith David voices the Federation president, who oversees the mission and who has a major disagreement with Samus. Kenji Yamamoto returns as the game's composer, teaming up with anime composer Susumu Hirasawa for certain compositions, including the game's main theme.
Metroid: Starfall can largely be divided into three major parts, each taking up about a third of the game's main storyline. The first part has Samus leading her squad on their mission on Katastropha, investigating the mysterious deaths of the planet's sentient population while exploring the planet and encountering the strange creatures who now inhabit it. This part of the game is fairly closed in terms of exploration compared to some other Metroid titles, and is carefully structured to give the player time to get to know and care about Samus' new squadmates. In addition to team segments, Samus will also get one individual segment with each squad member, which from a gameplay perspective is designed to play to that character's strengths (each of the five has their own individual talent) and from a storyline perspective is designed to help Samus bond with that squad member and to show the contrast between that character and Samus. Troza thinks bounty hunters are scum, but he and Samus have a grudging respect for each other. Brash is cocky, but also eager to learn and reminds Samus of herself in an earlier time. Lena and Samus are probably the closest in personality, and though Lena is somewhat jealous of Samus, they also bond quite a bit in conversation. Samus definitely sees Phinia as a sort of little sister, and though Phinia is probably the least skilled of the group, Samus deeply cares about her well-being, and while Logan messes around way too much and drives Samus up the wall, he also has a few really smart insights that even Samus wasn't able to figure out. The squad missions take place over two sections of the planet: an initial rocky, desolate section, and then a surprisingly lush segment surrounding a lake radiating a strange force. This lake segment will ultimately see the group teaming up to battle a massive, dragon-like monster, the game's first major boss and probably the "peak" of Samus' relationship with her team, when she finally gets used to commanding a squad. After that, the group comes across a lab, and things go downhill quickly: Logan disappears, followed by Lena, followed by Brash, followed by Phinia, and finally Troza seemingly sacrifices himself to save Samus from a pack of feral beasts that nearly tear her apart. This is when the game opens up significantly: Samus learns that the planet was overrun by these feral beasts before the meteor came, and the beasts summoned a meteor in a ritual to bring some kind of hideous beast to Katastropha. The beasts are actually sentient lifeforms that were transformed by a powerful evil energy: the former inhabitants of the planet. She learns that if she doesn't save the other squad members, they'll meet the same fate. This leads into the second major segment of the game: Samus must find her squadmates, each of which has been transformed by the evil energy into a boss creature that Samus must fight. She'll gain a valuable item from defeating each one, which helps her progress to the next one. Samus must then return each of them to the healing chamber aboard the ship, the only way they can be purged of the evil energy and possibly saved. As Samus battles them, hints of their personality seem to leak out, with Lena being cocky and spiteful, Brash being overwhelmingly strong and fierce, and Phinia being somewhat horrified and begging Samus to save her as they're fighting. Samus fights Logan first, who's been transformed into a kind of bird creature that throws objects and laughs as it battles Samus. Lena is next, retaining a mostly human form but battling with strange plant-based attacks. Brash attacks Samus as a mutated bear, while Phinia is like a banshee, turning incorporeal and shrieking as she fights Samus. After Samus defeats them and returns their comatose bodies to the ship to heal, Samus uncovers more of the planet's mystery, but also seems to be experiencing corruption by the dark force herself. She finally encounters Troza, who is alive and seemingly normal, and the two begin exploring the planet together, looking for a way to the crater left by the meteor. However, Troza eventually reveals that he too has been affected by the darkness when he turns on Samus, summoning a horde of feral beasts to attack her, then transforming into a large beast himself to attack. She defeats him, but the fight leaves her exhausted, and she collapses before she can get him to the pod. He awakens, still transformed, and asks Samus to save the others, before dying in his arms. Samus resolves to press on, making her way to a research facility, the last place that sentient survivors may have gone before the meteor strike. She finds notes left by the last scientists before they were killed, but gets into a fight with a powerful research specimen on her way out of the facility. She learns that the dark energy permeating the planet was caused by Metroid experimentation performed by the citizens at the behest of the Federation, and that the beast carried on the meteor might be a new species of Metroid. Samus makes her way to the crater, only to experience the beginning effects of the dark energy. She finds her mind shifting, her body changing, getting impulses she can't control. She tries to press on, but finds herself returning to the ship instead, and we see that she intends to shut off the life support systems of her comrades. We see a reflection of Samus in a mirror as she goes to the console, looking very much like Dark Samus from OTL's Prime games. However, she just barely stops herself from doing so. Realizing that she has been affected by the dark energy as well, she resolves to go to the crater and crush whatever is there, hoping that it will break the darkness' hold over her. As she leaves, we see that Lena's pod is empty. Samus returns to the crater and battles her way through a multitude of fearsome creatures, only to encounter Lena. Lena tells Samus that she saw what she almost did and that she can't let Samus live, as she's become a threat to the entire galaxy because of the darkness inside of her. Lena then blames Samus for Troza's death. Samus tells Lena that she's trying to stop the darkness, and asks for her help. Lena refuses, and the two have one last battle. Samus barely defeats Lena and suddenly goes to kill her. Just as Lena recoils in horror, Samus stops. Realizing Lena is right, Samus tells Lena that if the darkness is destroyed but Samus still hasn't changed back, to kill her and get the other squad members off the planet. Lena agrees to this, before suddenly a massive beast sets upon them: the Metroid, known as Metroid Celestial, a huge glowing beast with numerous tentacles and a powerful lightning-esque glow. Samus does most of the fighting, but Lena contributes numerous times, and the two defeat the Metroid. Samus and Lena both seem to be free of the darkness, but as they go to leave, Metroid Celestial strikes out at Samus one last time. It grabs her, only for Lena to cut off the beast's last tentacle, seemingly saving Samus. The two celebrate their victory and shake hands, only for Lena to be struck down from behind by a new threat... Dark Samus, born from the planet's last remaining darkness and the Metroid's dying energy. Samus cradles the dying Lena in her arms, who makes Samus promise to save the others and take Dark Samus down. The final battle takes place between Samus and Dark Samus in the center of the crater. Once Dark Samus is defeated, Samus returns to the ship, and heals Logan, Brash, and Phinia of the darkness that had infected them. They mourn Troza and Lena before leaving the planet behind. As the ship leaves Katastropha, Samus thinks about the Federation, and wonders what other dangerous experiments they might be responsible for unleashing...
Metroid: Starfall is released on August 11, 2009. Reviews are highly positive, praising the shooting gameplay, the squad member combos, and the dynamic camera style, which is considered one of the best cameras ever featured in a game, giving it a highly cinematic feel. However, the game's plot progression is criticized somewhat, with a few critics believing that the game tries to be too much like Metroid: Darkness, and that even though the new characters are received well, the game itself is just too much of a retread of previous Metroid games. The bosses and enemies are also considered somewhat of a weak point, despite the transformed squad member fights being considered a highlight. The increased voice acting budget pays off: the voice acting is universally praised as being the best in the series, though most fans consider Jennifer Hale to still be the superior Samus. Overall, the game averages review scores in the low 9s, comparable to Spirit Of The Woods: an excellent game, but maybe not quite a Game of the Year contender. Amongst hardcore Metroid fans, the game is a bit polarizing: it's quite good, but was expected to be truly excellent, comparable to Super Metroid and Metroid Darkness, still considered the two best games in the series. It's definitely considered in the same conversation as the two Homecoming games, but many fans believe it could have been just a bit more, and hope that the series' next game, which looks to be either a late Sapphire release or a game that will appear on the Sapphire's successor, picks up the torch. Sales are excellent at the beginning, but the game doesn't quite show the same sales resilience as other Nintendo first party titles. It's definitely no flop, but isn't quite the mega-blockbuster that some expected it to be.
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Comic-Con Bombshell: James Cameron Announces Live Action Metroid Film
While Metroid: Starfall is expected to be a big hit when it's released next month, James Cameron may have just given Metroid fans their biggest gift of the year: a live-action Metroid film is in the early stages of development, with the acclaimed Aliens and Terminator director at the helm. Cameron made his announcement at a panel for Metroid: Starfall, in which a tie-in comic series was expected to be the biggest new product announced. Instead, about five minutes before the expected end of the panel and after a fan Q+A segment with voice actors Anna Gunn, Khary Peyton, and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, the moderator showed a pre-taped message from James Cameron, announcing the upcoming Metroid film, revealing the logo, and giving a tentative 2011 release date for the project. It will be the first live-action film based on a Nintendo property since 1993's Super Mario Bros., a film which still leaves a bad taste in many fans' mouths. James Cameron's video attempted to quell some of those concerns when he explicitly said "this won't be another Super Mario Bros. movie", and that he loved the Metroid games and planned to "do them justice" with his film.
The #1 question for most fans now is who'll be playing Samus Aran, and Cameron didn't have an answer for fans just yet. He did say that casting had already begun and that he planned to take "a lot of time" to decide who Samus would be. The announcement left fans with more questions than answers, but the idea of a Metroid film was mostly positively received, especially with a director like Cameron at the helm.
The Metroid announcement was probably only the second biggest film announcement of 2009's San Diego Comic-Con, but despite being overshadowed by a certain other sci-fi related film announcement, it's still got fans buzzing and dreaming about ideas for just how this movie is going to turn out...
-from a July 24, 2009 article on Blargo
Metroid: Starfall is a third person shooter/adventure game exclusively for the Nintendo Sapphire. It's the first Metroid game for the console, and it's the first game that goes "backward" in the series' timeline, taking place at an unspecified time after Super Metroid but before Metroid: Darkness. The game sees Samus working for the Federation, commanding a squadron of soldiers as they explore a desolate planet called Katastropha, which was recently struck by a large asteroid. The planet, which had recently been populated by sentient beings, is now seemingly devoid of life, and Samus' crew is sent in to investigate. The game plays much like a modern third person shooter, similar to games such as The Covenant, with squad-based gameplay for a major portion of the first part of the game. The player controls Samus, who has an array of different weapons and attacks, but can also command the other members of Samus' squad, and can even combine attacks with them. The camera moves in a very dynamic way: most of the time, it's over Samus' shoulder, closer-up than in games such as the Homecoming games for the Wave, and similar to the perspectives seen in OTL's Resident Evil 4 or TTL's The Covenant series. However, during moments such as enemy encounters or close exploration, the camera dynamically, naturally shifts to a view more appropriate for the action on screen, zooming out to capture the battlefield or zooming in to give Samus a closer look at certain things. This dynamic camera is one of the game's main features, with a huge amount of time devoted to its development, and for the most part, it works extremely well at giving the player the best view of what they need to be looking at in each part of the game. With that said, it CAN be turned off to allow the player to control the camera to their liking, but most players will prefer to play with the game's dynamic camera in place. Samus has her typical array of weaponry and gear in the game, with her familiar Power Blaster returning as her centerpiece weapon. As the game progresses, Samus will find other weapons and items, most of them series mainstays, but a few, such as the Gravity Gun, being new to the series. The Gravity Gun is able to lift objects and materials, trip distant switches, and crush certain enemies, and is found fairly late into the game. Other new gadgets are also available, including the Proximity Bomb and the Containment Chamber, which can be used to move certain liquids from one place to another, or later, to mix them. Starfall, like other Metroid games, contains lots of secrets and backtracking, but does have a slightly increased focus on combat compared to other titles in the series, with Samus learning an array of combat moves over the course of the game. One of Samus' main struggles is the conflict between her soldier training and her bounty hunter instincts, and which approach is best, both when she's commanding her squad and after they disappear, leaving her to fend for herself. Starfall features the series' best graphics to date, with beautiful cinematic cutscenes in which Samus appears both in and out of uniform. Though the game isn't quite as polished or pretty as games like The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Of The Woods or Thrillseekers 2, a great deal of efforts was put into Starfall's graphics and animation, and it's definitely one of the best looking Sapphire games to date, with graphical detail outpacing titles like Techno Angel: Immortal. The game features the most star-studded voice cast to date amongst Metroid games, and arguably Nintendo games in general. Jennifer Hale has been replaced as the voice of Samus, as developers were looking to portray a "different sort of Samus" for this new series of games. Instead, they cast Anna Gunn. Best known IOTL as Skyler White in Breaking Bad, her on-camera career never really breaks through ITTL, and instead she focuses on voice acting, becoming a voice actress in a number of animated shows and video games, with Samus being her biggest game role to date. William Fichtner is probably the most famous voice actor in the game, having been cast as Troza, Samus' second-in-command, a career soldier who disagrees with some of Samus' methods. Khary Payton appears as the voice of Brash, a somewhat young but quite skilled Federation soldier, while Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (who was almost cast as the new Samus, barely losing out to Gunn) voices Lena, a tough-willed soldier who becomes sort of a rival to Samus and somewhat similar in personality to OTL's Gandrayda. Ashlyn Selich voices Phinia, a young cadet on her first major mission who looks up to Samus, and Will Friedle voices Logan, somewhat of a joker who initally doesn't take the mission very seriously but who later comes to regret that decision. Keith David voices the Federation president, who oversees the mission and who has a major disagreement with Samus. Kenji Yamamoto returns as the game's composer, teaming up with anime composer Susumu Hirasawa for certain compositions, including the game's main theme.
Metroid: Starfall can largely be divided into three major parts, each taking up about a third of the game's main storyline. The first part has Samus leading her squad on their mission on Katastropha, investigating the mysterious deaths of the planet's sentient population while exploring the planet and encountering the strange creatures who now inhabit it. This part of the game is fairly closed in terms of exploration compared to some other Metroid titles, and is carefully structured to give the player time to get to know and care about Samus' new squadmates. In addition to team segments, Samus will also get one individual segment with each squad member, which from a gameplay perspective is designed to play to that character's strengths (each of the five has their own individual talent) and from a storyline perspective is designed to help Samus bond with that squad member and to show the contrast between that character and Samus. Troza thinks bounty hunters are scum, but he and Samus have a grudging respect for each other. Brash is cocky, but also eager to learn and reminds Samus of herself in an earlier time. Lena and Samus are probably the closest in personality, and though Lena is somewhat jealous of Samus, they also bond quite a bit in conversation. Samus definitely sees Phinia as a sort of little sister, and though Phinia is probably the least skilled of the group, Samus deeply cares about her well-being, and while Logan messes around way too much and drives Samus up the wall, he also has a few really smart insights that even Samus wasn't able to figure out. The squad missions take place over two sections of the planet: an initial rocky, desolate section, and then a surprisingly lush segment surrounding a lake radiating a strange force. This lake segment will ultimately see the group teaming up to battle a massive, dragon-like monster, the game's first major boss and probably the "peak" of Samus' relationship with her team, when she finally gets used to commanding a squad. After that, the group comes across a lab, and things go downhill quickly: Logan disappears, followed by Lena, followed by Brash, followed by Phinia, and finally Troza seemingly sacrifices himself to save Samus from a pack of feral beasts that nearly tear her apart. This is when the game opens up significantly: Samus learns that the planet was overrun by these feral beasts before the meteor came, and the beasts summoned a meteor in a ritual to bring some kind of hideous beast to Katastropha. The beasts are actually sentient lifeforms that were transformed by a powerful evil energy: the former inhabitants of the planet. She learns that if she doesn't save the other squad members, they'll meet the same fate. This leads into the second major segment of the game: Samus must find her squadmates, each of which has been transformed by the evil energy into a boss creature that Samus must fight. She'll gain a valuable item from defeating each one, which helps her progress to the next one. Samus must then return each of them to the healing chamber aboard the ship, the only way they can be purged of the evil energy and possibly saved. As Samus battles them, hints of their personality seem to leak out, with Lena being cocky and spiteful, Brash being overwhelmingly strong and fierce, and Phinia being somewhat horrified and begging Samus to save her as they're fighting. Samus fights Logan first, who's been transformed into a kind of bird creature that throws objects and laughs as it battles Samus. Lena is next, retaining a mostly human form but battling with strange plant-based attacks. Brash attacks Samus as a mutated bear, while Phinia is like a banshee, turning incorporeal and shrieking as she fights Samus. After Samus defeats them and returns their comatose bodies to the ship to heal, Samus uncovers more of the planet's mystery, but also seems to be experiencing corruption by the dark force herself. She finally encounters Troza, who is alive and seemingly normal, and the two begin exploring the planet together, looking for a way to the crater left by the meteor. However, Troza eventually reveals that he too has been affected by the darkness when he turns on Samus, summoning a horde of feral beasts to attack her, then transforming into a large beast himself to attack. She defeats him, but the fight leaves her exhausted, and she collapses before she can get him to the pod. He awakens, still transformed, and asks Samus to save the others, before dying in his arms. Samus resolves to press on, making her way to a research facility, the last place that sentient survivors may have gone before the meteor strike. She finds notes left by the last scientists before they were killed, but gets into a fight with a powerful research specimen on her way out of the facility. She learns that the dark energy permeating the planet was caused by Metroid experimentation performed by the citizens at the behest of the Federation, and that the beast carried on the meteor might be a new species of Metroid. Samus makes her way to the crater, only to experience the beginning effects of the dark energy. She finds her mind shifting, her body changing, getting impulses she can't control. She tries to press on, but finds herself returning to the ship instead, and we see that she intends to shut off the life support systems of her comrades. We see a reflection of Samus in a mirror as she goes to the console, looking very much like Dark Samus from OTL's Prime games. However, she just barely stops herself from doing so. Realizing that she has been affected by the dark energy as well, she resolves to go to the crater and crush whatever is there, hoping that it will break the darkness' hold over her. As she leaves, we see that Lena's pod is empty. Samus returns to the crater and battles her way through a multitude of fearsome creatures, only to encounter Lena. Lena tells Samus that she saw what she almost did and that she can't let Samus live, as she's become a threat to the entire galaxy because of the darkness inside of her. Lena then blames Samus for Troza's death. Samus tells Lena that she's trying to stop the darkness, and asks for her help. Lena refuses, and the two have one last battle. Samus barely defeats Lena and suddenly goes to kill her. Just as Lena recoils in horror, Samus stops. Realizing Lena is right, Samus tells Lena that if the darkness is destroyed but Samus still hasn't changed back, to kill her and get the other squad members off the planet. Lena agrees to this, before suddenly a massive beast sets upon them: the Metroid, known as Metroid Celestial, a huge glowing beast with numerous tentacles and a powerful lightning-esque glow. Samus does most of the fighting, but Lena contributes numerous times, and the two defeat the Metroid. Samus and Lena both seem to be free of the darkness, but as they go to leave, Metroid Celestial strikes out at Samus one last time. It grabs her, only for Lena to cut off the beast's last tentacle, seemingly saving Samus. The two celebrate their victory and shake hands, only for Lena to be struck down from behind by a new threat... Dark Samus, born from the planet's last remaining darkness and the Metroid's dying energy. Samus cradles the dying Lena in her arms, who makes Samus promise to save the others and take Dark Samus down. The final battle takes place between Samus and Dark Samus in the center of the crater. Once Dark Samus is defeated, Samus returns to the ship, and heals Logan, Brash, and Phinia of the darkness that had infected them. They mourn Troza and Lena before leaving the planet behind. As the ship leaves Katastropha, Samus thinks about the Federation, and wonders what other dangerous experiments they might be responsible for unleashing...
Metroid: Starfall is released on August 11, 2009. Reviews are highly positive, praising the shooting gameplay, the squad member combos, and the dynamic camera style, which is considered one of the best cameras ever featured in a game, giving it a highly cinematic feel. However, the game's plot progression is criticized somewhat, with a few critics believing that the game tries to be too much like Metroid: Darkness, and that even though the new characters are received well, the game itself is just too much of a retread of previous Metroid games. The bosses and enemies are also considered somewhat of a weak point, despite the transformed squad member fights being considered a highlight. The increased voice acting budget pays off: the voice acting is universally praised as being the best in the series, though most fans consider Jennifer Hale to still be the superior Samus. Overall, the game averages review scores in the low 9s, comparable to Spirit Of The Woods: an excellent game, but maybe not quite a Game of the Year contender. Amongst hardcore Metroid fans, the game is a bit polarizing: it's quite good, but was expected to be truly excellent, comparable to Super Metroid and Metroid Darkness, still considered the two best games in the series. It's definitely considered in the same conversation as the two Homecoming games, but many fans believe it could have been just a bit more, and hope that the series' next game, which looks to be either a late Sapphire release or a game that will appear on the Sapphire's successor, picks up the torch. Sales are excellent at the beginning, but the game doesn't quite show the same sales resilience as other Nintendo first party titles. It's definitely no flop, but isn't quite the mega-blockbuster that some expected it to be.
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Comic-Con Bombshell: James Cameron Announces Live Action Metroid Film
While Metroid: Starfall is expected to be a big hit when it's released next month, James Cameron may have just given Metroid fans their biggest gift of the year: a live-action Metroid film is in the early stages of development, with the acclaimed Aliens and Terminator director at the helm. Cameron made his announcement at a panel for Metroid: Starfall, in which a tie-in comic series was expected to be the biggest new product announced. Instead, about five minutes before the expected end of the panel and after a fan Q+A segment with voice actors Anna Gunn, Khary Peyton, and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, the moderator showed a pre-taped message from James Cameron, announcing the upcoming Metroid film, revealing the logo, and giving a tentative 2011 release date for the project. It will be the first live-action film based on a Nintendo property since 1993's Super Mario Bros., a film which still leaves a bad taste in many fans' mouths. James Cameron's video attempted to quell some of those concerns when he explicitly said "this won't be another Super Mario Bros. movie", and that he loved the Metroid games and planned to "do them justice" with his film.
The #1 question for most fans now is who'll be playing Samus Aran, and Cameron didn't have an answer for fans just yet. He did say that casting had already begun and that he planned to take "a lot of time" to decide who Samus would be. The announcement left fans with more questions than answers, but the idea of a Metroid film was mostly positively received, especially with a director like Cameron at the helm.
The Metroid announcement was probably only the second biggest film announcement of 2009's San Diego Comic-Con, but despite being overshadowed by a certain other sci-fi related film announcement, it's still got fans buzzing and dreaming about ideas for just how this movie is going to turn out...
-from a July 24, 2009 article on Blargo
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