Conglometroid Blog » Retro Studios

Metroid Prime Trilogy released and developer interview

Chris — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:02:56 +0000

Great news Metroid Fans, the Prime trilogy has been released in North America as well as Europe. If you haven’t played Prime 1 or 2 now is the time to take the dive. If you’re interested in any changes be sure to dive into the remakes for new controls, improved graphics, and a few new surprises such as faster loading times and modified boss battles.

The official Metroid website also updated for the Prime Trilogies release. You can find a developer’s interview with Retro Studios. They also hint at the possibility of another Phazon based game.

Q. Will you ever see Dark Samus or Phazon again?
A. Do you want to see Dark Samus or Phazon again? It’s up to the fans.

You can view the video below.

Former Retro staff form Armature Studio

Chris — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:22:18 +0000

Remember those key employees Retro lost a few months back? Well they have resurfaced, and they have joined up with Electronic Arts. As it turns out they have set up a development studio by the name of Armature, in Retro’s own hometown of Austin Texas. They have signed a deal with EA to create games for the XBOX 360, Playstation 3, and Wii.

Mark Pacini told Kotaku

“EA approached us with this really interesting business model of creating a small studio that is only comprised of industry veterans. The goal is to create new IP with a very, very small team and to produce a game without having to grow that team.”

It will be interesting to see what they cook up.

Retro Studios loses key employees

Chris — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:10:21 +0000

Shacknews reported that three key Retro employees left the company recently. Each played a pivotal role in the development of the Metroid Prime series: design director Mark Pacini, art director Todd Keller, and technology engineer Jack Mathews were reportedly “escorted” off company premises. It’s still unclear as to why the three former staff members left.

Nintendo has confirmed that in an email to Computer and Video Games that “We still continue to work alongside the team at Retro and no official announcements as to its status have been made”.

Retro was bought out by Nintendo in 2001 three years after its founding. As of now Retro Studios is currently working on an unknown Wii title, taking a break from the Metroid series.