GC sales in Japan are way up, Xbox tied for last with PSX

[A Black Falcon]

No, I don't know what to believe... so I'll wait for further information. :) Well I do think that Metroid Prime 2 does exist, but don't know if it's for Cube or N5... Cube is probably the more likely of the two, though.

[OB1]

I think it's cube. It's so far in development that it'd be dumb to do it all over again for the N5. And it's not like the GC is dying right now like the N64 was when Dinosaur Planet was moved.

[Great Rumbler]

I think it'll probably come out on the Cube.

[A Black Falcon]

Depends how long it takes them to finish... if they're timely it should be Cube.

[OB1]

I don't think Metroid Prime got delayed once, and that was the first game from a brand-new studio that had tons of problems early on. The engine is done, so two years should be plenty of time to make a sequel.

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, it wasn't delayed, I think, but to get that they cancelled like four games, had layoffs and hirings, etc... it wasn't pretty...

[OB1]

I just checked and I was right, Prime never got delayed.

[A Black Falcon]

That's ignoring all the other things that happened during development, though...

[Great Rumbler]

Things which aren't likely to happen again I should think.

[A Black Falcon]

Easily possible, which is why I'm not sure of the status of Raven Blade and MP2...

[Dark Jaguar]

I wasn't aware this rumor came about. Being one to ignore both these news sources, I'll think what I thought beforehand. By sheer coincidence, that'll be more in line with what Spong is "reporting".

[Great Rumbler]

Easily possible, which is why I'm not sure of the status of Raven Blade and MP2...

I made a slight typo in my post. Read it again.

[The Former DMiller]

I don't get where the rumors about MP2 came from, but the game is almost certainly going to be for GameCube, and will probably be released by the end of the year. The Raven Blade rumors are interesting, though, but seeing the source of those rumors I don't lend them much credence.

[A Black Falcon]

Nintendojo reported it too... oh wait I don't think too much of them either...

I made a slight typo in my post. Read it again.

Well I agreed with the way it was before, not how it is now. :)

[The Former DMiller]

This is why we don't report on rumors at N-Philes. Sometimes you get lucky and they are right, but most of the time they are way off and it just makes you look stupid. Unless we have an insider source on a rumor we never report on them.

[A Black Falcon]

And now the retraction.
http://www.cube-europe.com/news.php?nid=6001

[OB1]

That's ignoring all the other things that happened during development, though...

That has absolutely nothing to do with what we're talking about, which is Metroid Prime delays or if Retro can finish up MP2 in time. They're not having problems anymore, obviously.

[Great Rumbler]

The reason I don't think those problems will come up again is because the management before Nintendo bought them out was wasting money on parties and that was probably the main cause of people not wanting to try very hard [that and pressure from Nintendo], but MP proved that the could produce a very good game if they set their minds to it [a fact which no doubt raised moral a lot].

[A Black Falcon]

True, the extremely high quality of Prime should help... but can they get Prime 2 out on time? I don't know, it still seems like a big task...

[Great Rumbler]

If they can build MP from scratch in about 3 years, they should be able to make MP2 in about 2 years.

[The Former DMiller]

Management before Nintendo bought them out? Didn't Nintendo start Retro from the ground up in 1998?

[A Black Falcon]

Yes...

[Great Rumbler]

No, Nintendo bought them out fully around 2000, I think. Before then their CEO was spending a bunch of money throwing private parties at his house. Nintendo, it seems, didn't like that very much, so the bought up the rest of the stock and gave that guy the boot.

[The Former DMiller]

That might be right, but I know the company was founded based on a huge amount of money from Nintendo.

[Great Rumbler]

but I know the company was founded based on a huge amount of money from Nintendo.

That's probably true.

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah. It might have had its own CEO but it was never a independant company because Nintendo put up the money to start it, and has controlled it all the way...

[N_A]

Ehhh.. the next Zelda game better be on the level of quality and difficult as Majora's Mask. WW was a totally dumbed down game.

[A Black Falcon]

Yes. I know I've complained a lot about MM, but if the alternative is WW...

I'll take MM. That game was annoying in its 'hurry hurry' style and challenge that came from that and the save situation, but when the alternative is a pathetically easy game like TWW, it makes MM look good...

[OB1]

WW was very easy, but I'd take it over MM any day of the week.

And why do you think it'll be so difficult for Retro to make another Metroid game using the Prime engine in two years? That's plenty of time.

[A Black Falcon]

WW is too easy. And too tedious in parts. MM might be frusterating but tedious? Not really. At least a lot less than WW. :)

And okay maybe they can, but it's a Nintendo subsidiary so I won't expect on-time products. :)

[Great Rumbler]

but it's a Nintendo subsidiary so I won't expect on-time products.

Metroid Prime was on time.

[OB1]

The tiny bit of map searching at the end and the constant need to use the wand was a bit annoying, but definitely nowhere near as much as the tediousocity (I made that word up) of MM.

And Prime was on time. Which I already stated.

[A Black Falcon]

Tiny bit? You spend hours looking for those idiotic triforce pieces and more getting enough money to pay off that idiot Tingle...

[The Former DMiller]

Wind Waker was easy, but I didn't find it too tedious. It reminded me a lot of Link to the Past because of the exploration aspects. I'd definitely pick it over Majora's Mask.

[A Black Falcon]

It's funny, but it seems that with time MM seems better in my mind, but back when I was playing it it was so frusterating with the time limits and stuff... but when I think back I think on how it did have so many great parts... if only the time limit was longer it could have been the best Zelda game, I think...

[OB1]

"Hours"?? I spent no longer than half an hour at the end of the game searching for those maps and shards. It was nothing.

Derek knows what he's talking about. :D

[A Black Falcon]

Half an hour? But it takes way more time than that to just sail to the eight places where you have to find the eight map pieces that you have to find to be able to go to Tingle, much less figure out how to GET said pieces...

[OB1]

It was super easy...

[A Black Falcon]

Some of them. But I got a couple and quit in annoyance so I'm not sure how long it takes overall...

[OB1]

*tsk tsk tsk*

[A Black Falcon]

Tedious and annoying (and unsure of how to get them) made me quit. And I'm not sorry. :D

[The Former DMiller]

You didn't finish the game?! You didn't get to see the best final boss battle ever in a Zelda game?! I have lost all respect for you!

[A Black Falcon]

It was boring and tedious! It took me months to just force myself to finish the second Temple... then the next task is this. Argh.

[OB1]

Man, are you serious? Wow. You suck.

[A Black Falcon]

Not months as in "I was stuck for months", but as in "I got stuck, gave up for a while, and it took me quite some time to get myself to play again because it wasn't particularly fun"...

Oh, the only time I've died so far in the game is once in the boss of that temple (the sand worm thing), when I accidentally wasted my faerie (I have only one bottle) and didn't know what to do... the second time, though, I killed it.

[OB1]

Hahaha.

*laughs at ABF's suckitude*

[A Black Falcon]

That is just not true.