METROID PRIME 4 Developer Revealed!

One of the biggest announcements that came from Nintendo at E3 last year was the teaser trailer for Metroid Prime 4 for the Nintendo Switch. Since then, little to no detail has been revealed about anything else regarding the sequel to the Metroid Prime trilogy.

 

For those that need a refresher, one of Nintendo’s first games on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was the side-scrolling adventure simply titled Metroid. In it, an adventurer named Samus is tasked to explore the planet of Zebes, all the while battling the enemy wildlife and upgrading your weapons to some pretty impressive visuals. When completed within five hours, the game revealed its biggest secret: Samus is actually a woman!

Samus is a woman! Awesome!

It was a great milestone in video game history, but one that never got to thrive until 15 years later when Metroid Prime released on the Nintendo Gamecube. While there were Metroid games since then, it never seemed to hit the same popularity as the first game, sticking mainly to the handheld market. With Metroid Prime, the franchise came to life again, which gave (literally) a new perspective on the game by making it first-person. Developed by Retro Studios, this newfound surge spawned 2 sequels: Metroid Prime Echoes and Metroid Prime Corruption.

After Corruption, the franchise would dwindle yet again, popping up slightly with Hunters on the Nintendo DS, then disappearing for another 10 years.

Until now.

 

Cut to today. Eurogamer has recently confirmed that Bandai Namco is going to be behind the new Metroid game…more specifically Bandai Namco Studios Singapore. Rumor has it that it has since moved to Bandai Namco Japan so it seems like they’re keeping it close to home. Many believe that they are utilizing some of the staff from the recently cancelled Star Wars 1313 game by LucasArts which could be a good sign, but with Retro not in the picture, it poses a big question mark on Metroid’s future.

It doesn’t mean Retro Studios is out of Nintendo’s good graces, though. The development company is working on an unannounced project at this time so it’s very possible Nintendo is trusting them with an even bigger mission. But that remains to be seen.

 

Unfortunately, there has been no new news on the Metroid Prime 4 game itself, though it is known that the team is still in early development which means we may not see this game come out until next year, possibly holiday 2019 or even 2020.

 

Stick with Nerd Report for up to the date news on Metroid Prime 4.

 

Fantastic Fest Review: Assassination Classroom

Assassination Classroom is the kind of idea so strange they could only get away with it in Japan, yet so whimsically absurd that it’s what movie audiences everywhere need. At least this one does. It is based on a manga, which has also been adapted as an animated series too, yet you need no knowledge of the source material to appreciate its weirdness.

Unkillable Teacher in Assassination Classroom

Unkillable Teacher in Assassination Classroom

An alien destroys the moon and is planning to destroy the earth, but makes a deal with the government to train a classroom full of students to assassinate him. If they succeed, they win 10 billion yen in addition to saving the world, but otherwise this just keeps him busy until his deadline. He can dodge bullets, regenerate tentacles and more, so they call him Unkillable Teacher, or UK for short.

A comedy about school violence is understandably a tough sell in the U.S., but trust me, there is no risk of imitation, nor bad taste. The students are provided with weapons that will only hurt the Unkillable Teacher, but have no effect on humans. It is literally just a bizarre self-fulfilling premise that allows teenagers to shoot and stab an alien while never committing human on human violence.

The kids come up with some inventive ways to try to exploit UK’s weakness, but every time they do, it seems like UK has some new power he’d kept secret until such time as it benefited him. Or, such time as the audience needs an explanation for why he’s not dead yet.

What’s so weird is how hard the film tries to make sense out of such a nonsense premise. UK takes genuine pride in his students and you see them become emotionally attached. It doesn’t really play the whole “student must overtake his master” card. It’s just an absurd emotional roller coaster that rings true at every loop.

How could you kill a face like that?

How could you kill a face like that?

The visual effect of UK looks cartoonish. That’s appropriate since the live-action movie was preceded by art and animation. A Hollywood film would make the mistake of making UK more realistic, but this way matches the tone of the subject much better.

I just couldn’t believe what I was watching, and that’s a great feeling to have after decades of watching movies. And there’s already a sequel, Assassination Classroom: Graduation, so Franchise Fred approves!

New DRAGON BALL Show Announced! Details Here!

Most of us look at Dragon Ball with fond memories. Whether it was watching it through channels like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon or by “other” means (I was watching pirated Dragon Ball through Super8 video tapes way back in the early 90’s), it’s a show that’s stood the test of time. Many an anime have built on and perfected the multiple episode fight, but we were all hooked.

DragonBalls

Who could forget these little gems? What would you have wished for?

It’s been about 18 years since the last new Dragon Ball show aired (GT aired from 1996-1997). While we in the United States get these episodes far later due to localization and contractual issues, the Japanese have been waiting far too long for a new Dragon Ball TV iteration; many fans have never seen a new episode in their lives.

DragonBallGT

It’s been 18 years since the last Dragon Ball GT episode aired…in Japan.

Note, this is not to be confused with the Dragon Ball: Battle of Gods (which was the latest Dragon Ball film to be released in 17 years) and Dragon Ball: Resurrection F, both of which have been recently released as feature length films and not TV episodes.

dragon_ball_z_resurrection_of_f

But this summer, as reported by Anime News Network, Dragon Ball will release their newest TV iteration called Dragon Ball Super. The story is set after the events of the Majin Buu saga and as per Dragon Ball protocol, a new and more powerful enemy has appeared. This is supposedly set to take place after the recent movies, so maybe we’ll see a Super God Super Saiyan God Super Mode X-Infinity!

Obviously I just made that last thing up, but how many prefix/suffix power levels will we see before creator Akira Toriyama kicks the bucket? There was some speculation back in 2013 that he would retire, but his latest ventures have proven otherwise.

 

The new show is set to air in Japan this July!