TheDinoman
Member
Now, before you blurt out "NEW IP" or "STARTROPICS REVIVAL", I'd suggest reading what I have to say here.
A little while back, Emily Rogers, who has gained everyone's trust thanks to the Switch rumors being true, claimed that Retro Studios wasn't working on either Metroid or Donkey Kong Country, and would instead work on a different or all new IP altogether. A lot of people got excited...until a NeoGAF user by the name of Chris FOM appeared and had these to say:
I know a few people at Retro. They a, don't talk about what they're working on, ever, and b, all say that Emily Rogers has no idea what she's talking about.
I don't give names out of respect for my friend, but I can confirm it easily enough. There's a Retro employee here on GAF. If he's agreeable I can PM him my name, my friend's name, and he can talk to them at work and confirm that I'm not making this up. That said, I don't have any actual insider info. She takes her job incredibly seriously and has never given me even a hint of their current projects, although she likes to hear my speculation. What she has told me, quite directly, is that everything Dmoly Rogers has ever said about Retro is categorically wrong and that Emily clearly doesn't know anyone in the studio.
To put the final nail in the coffin, Emily Rogers herself just recently said the rumor isn't exactly trust worthy, saying it came from a second hand source.
The biggest take away from Chris FOM's "they all say that Emily Rogers has no idea what she's talking about" comment for me is that, contrary to Emily's second hand source, Retro is indeed working on either DKC or Metroid Prime. If these are indeed our two options, which one do you think Retro would decide to work on?
I myself could see it going both ways, really. Some people would question the idea of a third Retro DKC game after how Tropical Freeze didn't exactly light the charts on the fire, but it should be noted that Retro started working on their next project when TF was finished back in late 2013. It's possible DK could of still been on their minds at that point. I think its possible they could feel obligated to make a third and final DKC game to wrap things up as a trilogy, like what they did with Metroid Prime.
Speaking of which, some people would question the idea of a new big budget Metroid Prime game due to how probably expensive and resource intensive it would be, especially since Metroid isn't exactly an AAA seller. But, that being said, I could see a Metroid Prime 4 happening on the account of Nintendo generally wanting a big meaty hardcore title to gain some goodwill back from Metroid fans and 'core' gamers. Nintendo kinda does this a lot, actually. Over the years, they've funded a lot of "vanity projects" that they most likely know aren't going to sell well, like Bayonetta 2, Sin & Punishment Star Successor or The Wonderful 101, most likely just as a way to throw some bones at the hardcore gaming crowd. Funny thing is, Metroid IS basically a AAA seller in comparison to those games lol (The only games in the series that didn't break one million were Zero Mission, Other M and Federation Force)
One thing to note is that after DKCR, Nintendo gave Retro a choice: keep working on Donkey Kong Country or return to Metroid Prime. They said it was a "hard choice" but they ended up choosing DK, of course. Retro also stated that it was possible for them to come back to Metroid one day. So it's probably still on their minds.