So since Donkey Kong Country Returns launch in November 2010, the next step for Retro Studios has been kept as a huge secret. Everybody is asking if they are working in Raven Blade, Star Fox, the next Metroid Prime or even another different project.
The story of Retro Studios is something that almost every Nintendo fan knows: they started with several prototypes, such as the mentioned Raven Blade, but the decissions being taken in-house and some other scandals, turned on the panic light in Japan and they had to turn up the table in a very strong way. Probably what happened there is that Nintendo, aside of buying the team, exported its methodology of working from Japan and implemented it in Austin. This is something that probably resulted in a big cultural shock in the team, but the facts show Metroid Prime as one of the best games from last gen and actually a masterpiece. But if we look at how the company is being doing during these years and we forget about the excellent games they have managed to create, there is something that always makes me wonder what the hell is happening there.
Retro Studios has been dropping talent after each iteration in the Prime series, and also after Donkey Kong Country Returns. Some ID Software guys even said that they are getting resumes quite often from people working at Retro. This is something that comes together with the new offices for the team, as they became almost twice as big. After the DKCR 3D announcement, lots of fans thought that this was been made in-house, and a fact that this was some kind of training for the new members of Retro to understand better the insides of 3DS and get ready for a Metroid game developed exclusively for the handheld, but not so long ago we learned that this is actually being ported by the guys in Monster Games.
Now, i have the questions. What is happening in Retro? As a development team and as a working methodology for all this talented people to leave? The only thing we know is that they are working in something, but that is the only clue. It could be a new IP a new Metroid Prime or even as lots of people are wondering now, Eternal Darkness 2.
What do you think? What is happening in one if not the most important western team that Nintendo has? Why is all this people leaving, causing on of course not only loss of talent but also the fact that the Nintendo methodology must be worked on again inside the team?
The story of Retro Studios is something that almost every Nintendo fan knows: they started with several prototypes, such as the mentioned Raven Blade, but the decissions being taken in-house and some other scandals, turned on the panic light in Japan and they had to turn up the table in a very strong way. Probably what happened there is that Nintendo, aside of buying the team, exported its methodology of working from Japan and implemented it in Austin. This is something that probably resulted in a big cultural shock in the team, but the facts show Metroid Prime as one of the best games from last gen and actually a masterpiece. But if we look at how the company is being doing during these years and we forget about the excellent games they have managed to create, there is something that always makes me wonder what the hell is happening there.
Retro Studios has been dropping talent after each iteration in the Prime series, and also after Donkey Kong Country Returns. Some ID Software guys even said that they are getting resumes quite often from people working at Retro. This is something that comes together with the new offices for the team, as they became almost twice as big. After the DKCR 3D announcement, lots of fans thought that this was been made in-house, and a fact that this was some kind of training for the new members of Retro to understand better the insides of 3DS and get ready for a Metroid game developed exclusively for the handheld, but not so long ago we learned that this is actually being ported by the guys in Monster Games.
Now, i have the questions. What is happening in Retro? As a development team and as a working methodology for all this talented people to leave? The only thing we know is that they are working in something, but that is the only clue. It could be a new IP a new Metroid Prime or even as lots of people are wondering now, Eternal Darkness 2.
What do you think? What is happening in one if not the most important western team that Nintendo has? Why is all this people leaving, causing on of course not only loss of talent but also the fact that the Nintendo methodology must be worked on again inside the team?
