Retro Studios originally took tons of Nintendo's money to make 4 games for GameCube. The CEO drove around in Ferraris and nothing got done in 2 years. Nintendo of Japan wondered where their cash was going. They stepped in, cancelled everything not called Metroid, fired most of the employees in two waves and told the CEO to fuck off. Then Miyamoto, who didn't give a fuck about Metroid, said scrap third-person and make it first-person instead.
The rest is history, 97 on Metacritic.