"So what if it sold horribly? It was a darn good game, so we're making sequels!!"

[OB1]

I know this died a while back, but I have to say it... Midway was never awful, but the last few years have been tough. They didn't adapt well after leaving the arcade business, I think. But they are recovering now, and have hired some great talent... remember a while back John Romero and Tom Hall joined Midway? J.E. Sawyer of Black Isle is also there... that's good talent.

Yeah Romero is a genius all right. Let's see, what has he made since he left id?
Daiktana... awesomeness
Hyper Space Delivery Boy... awesome... if it were a cellphone game
Red Faction for the N-Gage... supremely awesome

This I agree with. The game is set up on a very simple premise. In a very Pikmin, or even ICO way, the game is set up for you so you can progress through without having to worry about the story. You don't have any real-time plot twists and backstabbing, and government organisations that you're working for, which is very effective for the overall feel of the game.

However, MP does have a story to tell (rather, a back-story, but regardless..), and I think it does this in a very unique way which leaves it up to the player to discover at his/her own discretion (as we've all discussed). This means that for those of you who just want to play the game, progress, power-up and get off the planet and not have to worry about the story - this is all you have to do. But for those of us like ABF who thrive on the small details, the adventuring, the discovering the little facets of the game it's a perfect way to tell a story so that he can get more out of the game.

Does the game tell a story effectively? Well, there's really not much of a real-time story to tell, so it doesn't need to tell a story well. But it does offer more story depth than it necessarily needs to, which is what I like about it.

All this has probably already been covered and whatever, just thought I'd respond.

Pikmin, maybe, but ICO, no way. ICO actually tells a good story through not much more than a few short cinemas, the emotional bond between yourself and Yorda, the predicament that both of you are in, and the twists and turns that happen throughout the game. The stuff in Prime is just background information, nothing that affects the game on an emotional level.

And remember that this is coming from the biggest Metroid Prime fan here. It's my favorite game ever right next to Super Metroid.