This might come as a blow to Metroid fans who were really looking forward to a fourth game; however, Nintendo of America makes the point that not everybody who owns a Wii owned the GameCube. They consider this a chance for everybody to get on the same Metroid page at the cost of only one game as opposed to having to shell out for Corruption and the Wii-released Prime and Echoes. And before you start flinging cans of soda and empty chip bags at your computer screen, the control scheme is actually pretty fun.

Oh, and there's multiplayer, too.

What Is It?
Metroid Prime was released for the Wii in Japan this March, while Metroid Prime 2 will be out later this year, both with new Wii controls replacing the original GameCube ones. Rather than simply porting those titles, however, Nintendo has decided to do American audiences one better by combining the Wii-released games with Metroid Prime: Corruption for a compilation release.

What We Saw
I visited Nintendo's offices to play through the very beginning of Echoes just to see how the Wii controls stacked up and then dove into four-person deathmatch multiplayer.

How Far Along Is It?
Metroid Trilogy is due out August 24, so I'd say fairly final.

What Should Change?
Nothing New, Really: Don't get me wrong – the control scheme certainly makes Prime and Echoes feel different. But there isn't any new content added to any of the games, which could be a real bummer to people who already shelled out and played through all three games.

Not A Seamless Experience: When you load up Metroid Trilogy, you can access all three games from a hub individually. You don't have to beat Prime to unlock Echoes or finish Echoes to play Corruption and what you do in one game doesn't have an impact in what you do in other games. You could even play like 20% of Echoes and then double back to Prime whenever you got bored. It's convenient, I suppose, but I think it makes the plot feel disjointed. Or, you know, unimportant since they're not trying to preserve continuity.

What Should Say The Same?
The Wii Controls: They feel good, they play well and they cut back on some of the menu selection and scan point operation tedium. For example, to select the scanner, all you have to do is hold down the minus button to pull up a heads-up display. From there, you just point at the item you want to select it and then point that item at whatever you want to scan – very painless and very quick, which is going to make it easier to absorb what story there is through scan points.

The Multiplayer: The multiplayer from Echoes is back and immediately accessible from the hub with no gameplay prerequisites. It's a little sad that it's local-only four-way-split-screen, but there is something to be said for having four people flailing around with Wii Remotes trying to shoot each other or drop bombs and bounce to safety while in ball form. Also, you can totally screen-watch to see who just picked up invincibility and thereby avoid making a tactical error in attacking them.

Myriad Tweaks: Trilogy supports 16:9 widescreen. They've added bloom lighting to all three games. Doors open faster. Loading times are faster. Samus can now do that ball-form jump where she drops a bomb and – with a well-timed Wii Remote flick – get extra air when it goes off in all three games. It might not seem like any one of these things really matters, but altogether, the tweaks go a long way toward making the games feel good and play well.

Tweaked, But Not Too Much: Nintendo says the tweaks to the control scheme don't compromise the difficulty in the game and that they've preserved the puzzle element in all the games. I believe them, because Samus' ball-form jump from Corruption could in theory wreck some jumping puzzles from Prime and Echoes. But during my hands-on time with Echoes, I didn't feel like anything had gotten easier. It just got prettier; and while that made it a little less frustrating in difficult jumping sections, it wasn't less challenging.

Collectibles Give Old Hands Stuff To Do: Throughout all three games, you can pick up different colored badges to buy collectibles like a Mii bobble head for Samus' dashboard in her ship or unlock the game's original soundtrack.

Final Thoughts
I'm pleased with Metroid Trilogy. I like multiplayer and I like getting three games for the price of one. I wish that Nintendo were using this time to make a sequel instead of remake some classics. But at least they're doing them well. And if nothing else, I can easily delude myself into thinking that Trilogy is just a way for Nintendo to clear its throat braving a Metroid Prime 4.

The statue is crafted entirely in transparent resin, with over 25 LED lights incorporated to give it the unhealthy Phazon glow, and the who thing is mounted on a mirror base that ties the whole effect together. Standing at 11 inches tall, Phazon Suit Samus is very pretty, but also pretty rare at only 1,500 pieces worldwide, and pretty expensive at $224.99. If you've got the funds and are so inclined, hit up the order page immediately to make sure you get yours when they are released in early 2009. Hit the jump for two more pictures of this spectacular piece.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Metroid Prime Phazon Suit Next in First 4 Figures Metroid Line!

With the unique color scheme of black helmet and red visor, the Phazon Suit is awarded after defeating the Omega Pirate. Both Samus’ suit and gun are infected with pure Phazon. This gives the Phazon Suit an ability to protect Samus from the deadly effects of the deadly blue substance and shoot the Phazon Beam when standing in pools of Phazon. Just when Metroid Prime is defeated, the Phazon Suit is stolen and used to create one of Samus’ greatest enemies, Dark Samus!

First 4 Figures is extremely proud to present the ultimate version of the Samus Aran's Phazon Suit. First 4 Figures has used the official game files in order to create an extremely accurate recreation of the Phazon suit, with pose inspiration taken from official Metroid artwork.

Looks incredibly on its own and really completes a display when put together with the Varia suit and Gravity suit statues.

We completely reengineered the original Varia suit model to make the Phazon suit by casting it entirely in transparent resin, adding over 25 LED lights through the suit and finished it off by adding a mirror base which really shows off the lights. When the lights are turned off, an internal IC chip allows for the lights to fade out slowly. The statue is hand finished and hand painted with metallic paints to give an authentic representation of the suits. Comes packed in a foam interior full colored box with a card of authenticity.

The Phazon Suit is highly limited at just 1500 pieces worldwide.

Height: 11 inches across base

SRP: $224.99

While the majority of the Japanese Wii line-up looks to be targeted at families who wear nothing but sterile white cotton, the marketing for Metroid Prime 3 Corruption skews a bit differently overseas. That image of a lonesome gamer transfixed by the blue glow of a monitor in a darkened room, the very thing Nintendo was rejecting? Apparently, it's kosher again and precisely the kind of thing that appeals to women looking for something to play between bouts of Wii Play. We'll see if attractive, wispy Japanese women and fashionable Japanese men take the FPS plunge when the Wii Metroid ships in Japan next week. I'm expecting a debut somewhere in the teens.

Codes for the Cockpit radio (Use radio from left to right)
• Code1 2751 Iwata
• Code3 4617 Sakamoto

Tips
• The four lights on the top of Samus' helmet indicate the battery life in your Wii Remote
• Hypermode - by managing your Hypermode correctly, you can stay in Hypermode for 35 seconds. As your Hypermode bar level increases, shoot your weapon to deplete Phazon. This way, you can "float" in Hypermode and stay in it longer.
• Ghor Battle - Freeze the Fuel gel puddles on the ground to cause Ghor to Spin out and slam into a wall, making him stay stunned for a longer period of time.
• The following creatures can be killed with one shot by using the Nova beam and X-ray visor:
1. Metroids
2. Metroid Hatcher
3. Bezerker Pirates
4. Commando Pirates

Bumper Stickers available
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• WarioWare: Smooth Moves
• Excite Truck
• Mario Party 8
• Wii Sports
• Wii Play
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Super Mario Galaxy

Anyone pick up a title from this week's releases? Any lucky PAL citizens enjoying the Hanabi Festival? Let us know what you're playing this weekend in the comments.

Oh yeah, plenty of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption as well. So what's up? What are you playing this weekend?

That's it for this week's purchases, but my LA pals have our weekly Geek Night next Thursday, giving me a chance to finally check out the final version of Lair. I expect much bitching about the SIXAXIS. I'm off to cough my guts out, but before I depart, I have to ask; what are you playing this weekend?

Mind you my time with the title has been brief, and my four hours of playing is only 20% of the overall game, but the important thing here is that I really want to experience the other 80%. While the first two titles were technically proficient and well-crafted examples of Metroid goodness, after a while I just didn't want to continue. I just didn't feel as if I was having very much fun. The Wii controls have changed all of that for me.

After the abysmal Red Steel I was truly worried about MP3. Hell, I was worried about any FPS game on the Wii for that matter. Everything was far too loose, and I never felt as if I were truly in control. I don't know what they did wrong in that game, but developer Retro Studios not only got things exactly right, I'd say they've defined what FPS controls on the Wii should be. After minutes of flailing around and making myself incredibly dizzy the Wii controls felt natural and fluid in my hands. The control stick movement combined with the Wiimote camera controls have been done before, but never quite this good.

The only real complaint I have is that during some of the morph ball sequences it was a bit hard to bomb jump correctly. One moment I;d be fine and the next I am banging myself against the wall over and over again like some sort of developmentally disadvantaged child. No wonder Samus always wears that helmet.

By far my favorite game mechanic thus far is the grapple lasso, which grafts onto your hand at an early point in the game. How it works is you lock on to debris, objects, or enemies with the Z button and then move the nunchuk like you;re casting a fishing line...because that's pretty much what you are doing. Yank it back and the debris goes flying out of the way in a very satisfying manner. You can easily imagine you are Samus casting out the beam of energy to snag your target. It made me feel pretty.

Speaking of pretty, the game is the best looking thing on the Wii by far. While by no means comparable to the level of graphics you'll find on the 360 or PS3, MP3 completely trumps the first two games in both beauty and scale, giving the game an epic feel while not sparing the small touches, like Samus's eyes reflected in the visor when you are in scan mode.

While the enemies I have faced so far have been pretty standard Metroid fare, the boss fights have been particularly impressive. One fight specifically had my jaw dropping at the sheer cinematic coolness of it all. I won't spoil anything, but if you don't think Balrog during the fight then you obviously aren't up to date with modern day Hobbit cinema.

And voices! I know that many Nintendo purists would argue that voices are unnecessary for a truly great gaming experience, but the addition of speaking characters just adds so much to the series for me. I particularly like the three helper bounty hunters that aid you in your mission, whose personalities go a long way towards appeasing those who feel Samus is lacking in that department.

I'd go into the music here, which is a truly competent score for a sci-fi adventure game, but as far as I am concerned there are only five musical notes that truly matter in a Metroid title. You know the ones. The rest could be bubbly j-pop for all I care.

I'm enjoying the hell out of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption so far, and that is saying a lot considering my general apathy towards its predecessors. It joins Twilight Princess and Resident Evil 4 as one of the few truly epic games on the Wii to date.

Personally, the only thing on my "buy or die" list is Metroid Prime 3, but with Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix also hitting digital stores this week, I'm sure I'll be plenty busy.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)
Samus is back for another first-person adventure. One of Nintendo's big three for 2007. Do want.

Lair (PS3)
Factor 5's dragon riding game may not be getting great reviews, but it sure is pretty.

Blue Dragon (Xbox 360)
Sakaguchi and Microsoft are banking hard on this easy-on-the-eyes RPG.

Warhawk (PS3)
Incognito's multiplayer-only shooter will be tearing up the network with massive online support.

Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (PSP)
It's huge in Japan. The game that sells PSPs overseas week after week.

Dynasty Warriors Gundam (PS3, Xbox 360)
The Japanese equivalent of chocolate and peanut butter.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii)
The Tiger is back and ready to tap a little white, dimpled ball around carefully manicured lawns for 2008.

Carnival Games (Wii)
Mini-games! Yay!

What are you picking up this week?

The latest Metroid Prime 3: Corruption preview clips added to WiiWare in tandem with the latest Wii firmware update give us a better look at one potential returning Metroid staple. The "Aurora"—more commonly known as the Mother Brain to Metroid and Super Metroid fans—is heavily featured in one of the clips, indicating that a starring role (or at least a cameo) for the organic computer is more than likely.

What's even more interesting is that we may even see multiple Auroras, as the narrator explains that the old school Tourian bitch is just one of many Mother and Father Brains. It's confirmed: My interest in Metroid Prime 3 has never been so high.

My mindset: let this be good for those of use who grew tired of Wii Sports after 10 minutes and haven't had much since.

Metroid Prime 3 Bridge Battle Gameplay [gametrailers]

While the ESRB has yet to issue a rating for either Metroid title, usually a reliable measuring stick for what's on deck, that doesn't rule out a smart marketing move by Nintendo. Don't be surprised if both show up next Monday or the following.

Ultimate Awesome Wii Virtual Console Discussion [NeoGAF]

I spent quite a bit of time playing Metroid Prime 3 at last year's E3, so this year I only had two goals in mind: Confirm no one had fucked it up and check out this new free-aiming lock-on dealio. I am happy to report that the game still plays quite well and is a bit more of what it was at last year's E3.

The free-aiming, where you can lock onto a target and then roam around it, and still have to aim with your controller, seems to work quite well. I liked that it afforded me the ability to easily walk around a baddie without too much button jockeying, but that it still required a modicum of skill to actually aim and shoot.

It felt like it was the perfect balance for a light shooter, something that would go over well with both the hardcore and those new to the system and the idea of shooting things for fun.

The chunk of level I played through had a bit more of a puzzle element to it and worked quite well, it also showed off a bit of graphic flair (I particularly like seeing Samus' face reflected in her visor), but let's face it, the Wii will never be the PS3 or the Xbox 360 and, fortunately, Nintendo knows that, so it doesn't even try.

Metroid Prime 3 remains on my list of games I must get for the console when it hits, but isn't quite up there with such titles as Mario Kart (for it's addictive racing) and Super Smash Bros (because, I believe, I'm required to want this game).

On the subject of when we'll see the next Metroid Prime? Possibly never. While "there's no way they're going to put [the Metroid IP] to bed" this installment does signal the end of the Prime series, wrapping up the planned trilogy of games.

The full interview contains far more information on the game, including the multiple control schemes, but sadly features no mention of a playable Samus in Zero Suit form.

Q&A: Online play not happening in Metroid Prime 3 [GamePro]

However, to be thorough, judgment must be passed. Final grade: C+.

Wait. I'm docking it further for not having Zero Suit Samus anywhere on the cover. Super Final Grade: C-.

That's good news for Nintendo, obviously, but the better news for gamers was that the company will ship three of its biggest, most highly anticipated games before the end of the year. During Reggie's Nintendo Media Summit presentation, he confirmed that Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass would all arrive before December 31, 2007.

This follows close on the heels of the announcement that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption would this summer, making it a very good year for Nintendo fans. It's also going to be an expensive year. I'm now thinking to myself, "I will work more hours to buy these games." Michael McWhertor

While I can't write about any of the first-party content that was shown during the first day of the Nintendo Media Summit, the third-party stuff is free game. Not that there was an overabundance of it, mind you, but impressions and new screens of the few titles on hand will still be flowing throughout the next two days.

For the rest of the goods, make sure you set your Kotaku checking alarm clocks for 8 AM PST this Friday. I'll have plenty to show you starting then. However, those two high profile Nintendo titles mentioned in my previous post? You're gonna have to wait for E3 or make do with some (now) old Metroid Prime 3: Corruption screens. Michael McWhertor

I'm hoping to figure out what exactly the hell is going on in that single non-first-person shot. I'm a little worried about that "new bounty hunters" feature promised by Nintendo. Fingers crossed! Michael McWhertor