Regarding the Review Diary

So... I know i said I was going to do a review diary of Other M. I guess I lied. After playing for like 5 hours straight (and loving it), I really don't feel like attempting to chronicle what happened AND analyze it AND post my thoughts on the gameplay, story, music, controls, and all that good stuff. I will post my review of the game when I beat it. I hope you all are enjoying your copies of the game as well! See you next mission!

Poll Voting Closes Soon

Just a reminder: the voting in the "favorite Metroid game" poll I put up closes soon. I believe voting is still active on the 31st, but it may shut down at midnight tonight. I'm not exactly sure. There are currently 11 votes. First place is being held by Super Metroid with 4 votes, followed closely by Metroid Prime with 3. Just thought I'd remind you! (Of course if you follow the blog then you've probably already voted. Unless I allowed multiple votes, which if I did it was unintentional). Anyway, see you next mission!

Metroid: Other M Review Diary - Part Zero

Hey guys!

As you may know, I will be review diary-ing Other M, starting tomorrow. Don't worry about spoilers, as if I feel a post contains something significant I will say so in the post title. To ultimately avoid any spoilers, I would suggest not reading any of my review diary posts until you have finished the game. At the start of each post I will attempt to explain in a spoiler-free manner roughly where I am in the game so you as a reader know whether or not it is "safe" to read the post. I will probably segment tomorrow's review diary posts, as I am taking the day off school to play Other M. A single post about many hours of gameplay could easily turn in to a wall of text, and nobody wants to read a wall of text. Anyway, hang in there! Only a few more hours to go until the long-awaited release of Metroid: Other M! Comment, follow, contact yours truly (that would be me), and I'll see you next mission!

So... close...

Hey guys!

First off, look at the followers tab! We have three followers now!! I also rearranged the front page a little bit, so now some of the information is on the left sidebar. I was quite surprised to see that seven people had voted in the poll. Just to let you know, I am not one of those seven people. Interestingly enough, someone voted for... METROID II!!! Gasp! Actually, I'm still playing it, and quite enjoying it at that. I would like to notify you all that I will be doing a review diary of sorts for Metroid: Other M. I will mark what posts are diary posts in their titles, so if you wish to avoid such things until you play the game then you will know which posts not to read. We're so close now, just a few more days until release. Keep hanging in there. As always, comment, subscribe, contact me. See you next mission!

Really, Nintendo Week?

Hey, everyone!
First things first, I would like to apologize for not posting in a while. I just got busy, I guess. Anyway, today was the day I expected to see a Metroid: Other M episode of Nintendo Week. They announced this two weeks ago. So today, I'm all giddy with anticipation. I fire up my Wii, go to the Nintendo Channel, and click on the August 23rd episode of Nintendo Week. The opening mimics that of Super Metroid. Green text, awesome music, half-shadowed shots of the hosts faces, everything. I'm all like "this is awesome!" until I find out that the ENTIRE episode is devoted to Super Metroid. Don't get me wrong, it's probably my favorite game ever, but seriously? I tuned in to hear about new games, not games that have been out for 16 years! I learned nothing new, except for the fact that next week is the Other M episode. Next week. Thanks, Nintendo.

Two Weeks of Torture

Hey everyone,

Well, it's just about two weeks until Other M's release, and that has got me all super excited and stuff. There's a fresh batch of screenshots over at the Metroid Database, and while you're over there you can click the link to the all new INTERACTIVE Metroid: Other M trailer! It's basically just a "click the Wii remote to switch to first person" thing, but it keeps the trailer moving. It's also entirely new footage, so that's cool. One thing that kinda sucks right now is that my Metroid II save file was mysteriously erased, meaning I have to start all over. I'm kinda bummed about that. Today is Monday, which would normally mean a new Nintendo Week, but they took the week off. However, as I mentioned last week, Nintendo Week will begin to cover Other M after a one-week hiatus. That means you should check the Nintendo Channel next Monday for Other M coverage! August 31st needs to get here faster. As always, comment, email me, tell your friends about us, vote in our poll, and keep it real. I'll see you next mission!

New Other M Trailer (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

This post discusses the latest American trailer for Metroid: Other M. I will keep the text mostly spoiler-free, but attached photos are taken directly from the trailer. READ AT OWN RISK.

Greetings,

Yes, I know that a Sunday post is a bit late to talk about a trailer that premiered on Friday night (or early Saturday morning, depending on your time zone), but I've been without Internet access for the past couple of days (*gasp*) so I'll share my thoughts now. Also, this is the first time that I will attempt to attach pictures to a post! I email all my blog posts in from my iPod touch (the blog equivalent of "phoning it in"), so we'll see if it works or not. Don't be surprised if the pictures all clump up at the bottom of the post or even fail to appear at all. Here we go...

The first thing that I would like to point out is the darkening of Samus's visor. It appears that she does this when prepping for combat, as the story sequences have the visor slightly see-through, while when preparing for combat her visor will go opaque green. Also, this latest trailer showed many shots of the "Samus Screen", a screen showing your current equipment that debuted in Super Metroid. The items shown activated in the trailer are grayed out, but highlighted upon activation. My guess is that the grayed out text is added to the Samus Screen when the item is found, and the text goes from gray to yellow when Adam authorizes the item. Also interesting to note is that the SPOILER:

Speed Booster and Shinespark appear to be authorized separately, and the Grapple Beam can be used in both third and first person.

END SPOILER. I will now attempt to attach the photos, which are spoiler-ish in nature. Although they reveal no plot elements whatsoever (the trailer contained no speaking, although Samus grunted a couple times), if you wish to be kept in the dark regarding items then do not look at the pictures. See you next mission!
UPDATE: Couldn't get the photos to work, if someone knows how to attach multiple photos from an iPod touch then email me. You can watch the video on Gametrailers. For those too lazy to find it themselves, here's the link:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-action-metroid-other/702846
If you're one of those people who has so far been successful in going dark (example: not me) then resist the temptation to click the link. You're so close. You can make it! Anyway, see you next mission!

Metroid II: Quick Impressions

Hey,

Right now I'm going to do a quick piece on what I think of Metroid II: Return of Samus. I don't have long, and I also haven't gotten too far into the game, so this will just be a quickie. The cartridge arrived in the mail yesterday, and the first thing I did when I got home was tear open the package and pop it in to my Super Game Boy. Let me say this: the default color palette on the SGB is hideous. Samus looks ok (she's rendered in red and yellow), but the background is green. Yeah, like a sickly green. I played with it like that for about 2 seconds before switching to the greyscale palette which replicates the way the game appeared on the original Game Boy. I only played to the first save station, but I like the new features that this game introduced such as crouching and shooting down, which make it much better than the original Metroid. Right now I have 33 Metroids left, and so far so good. I must say that the default palette on the Game Boy Advance is much, much prettier than the default on the SGB. See you next mission!

The Unknown

Greetings,

Have you ever felt annoyed, irritated, or bugged because you didn't know something? I am having that problem right now. Bear with me, as this does pertain to Metroid. This morning on my way out the door to go to work, I noticed a small package on the front step. As you know, I recently ordered Metroid II from a third-party seller on Amazon.com. I picked up the package, and noticed it was very light. I began to get excited, thinking Metroid II had arrived. However, I still don't know. I was running a little late, so I didn't have time to open the box. Right now I'm on my lunch break at work, drafting up this post to send when I get home. I will add a few update sentences at the end of the post before I send it, and in a couple days may post a sort of "first impressions" of Metroid II. UPDATE: The package that I thought might contain my game did not. However, another package arrived later in the day which does have my game in it! *cue item acquisition fanfare* Metroid II acquired! I'll post first impressions later. See you next mission!

Other M Coverage

What's up, everybody?

Good news! Nintendo's coverage of Metroid: Other M on Nintendo Week will begin in 2 weeks. Nintendo Week is a weekly show that is posted to the Nintendo Channel on Mondays. Yesterday the hosts announced at the end of the show that, although they have next week off, coverage of Other M will begin in 2 weeks. Also, on yesterday's Nintendo Voice Chat podcast (check it out at www.ign.com), IGN's executive Nintendo editor Craig Harris announced that he has his review copy of Metroid: Other M. Unfortunately, he isn't allowed to talk or write about it until next week. In my personal Metroid news, I ordered Metroid II from Amazon yesterday, and it shipped this morning. This is the only Metroid game that I haven't played, so I'm quite excited. It is set to arrive as late as August 31st. I'd much rather is show up before then, because I don't want to have to switch between playing that and Other M. I noticed that someone has voted in the poll I posted. Thanks to whoever did that; I honestly wasn't expecting anyone to vote. Hopefully we will get more followers here, as I put a link to this blog in my Metroid Database forum signature. Feel free to email me if you have a question, or just want to strike up a conversation. Keep hanging in there, Other M is only 20 days away! As always, I'll see you next mission!

Screw (Attack) this "Going Dark" Thing

Dear readers,

I apologize for neglecting to post these past few days. I've got some news that is post-worthy now, and I also have thoughts to share on it, so here we go. First, the Japanese Other M website (www.metroid.jp) has once again been updated. The "Control" section features a series of new screenshots where you can flip between third and first person viewpoints. The "Characters" section has bios on the members of the "07th Platoon", although all the text is Japanese so I can't really tell what it says. Also, the Dutch Other M website has been updated. I haven't visited it, but really Nintendo? The American website hasn't received new content since like May. Sure, it got a visual redesign in July, but no new trailers or photos have been added. It really bugs me. Finally, Nintendo has apparently lifted their media embargo on the game, which means that gaming news sites can post previews about it as much as they want. Hopefully this means we will see more on the game as the release gets closer. As always, comments are appreciated. I'll see you next mission!

-Nate

Going Dark - Day 5

Hello, people of the Internet!

I really need to get more creative with my post titles. If you've got any thoughts, leave a comment or email me. Well, there really wasn't much that happened today that I consider post-worthy. At least nothing Metroid related. I had some more driver's ed and went to a marching band practice. That ate up pretty much my entire day, so I didn't really play any games. I did play Metroid Prime for about 25 minutes, but other that that not really. This post must be terribly boring to read. I figured that I would rather post about nothing than just not post, but maybe my logic is flawed. As always, if you're reading this, leave your comments and tell your friends about us (or me, rather). Remember to vote for your favorite Metroid game in the poll (closes on the 31st). See you next mission!

Going Dark - Day 4 Part 2/New Stuff

Greetings once again!

I would like to begin by directing your attention to the bar that runs down the right side of the page. Are you looking at it? Ok. First you will notice a list of ways to contact yours truly, ordered top-down by response time (I respond fastest to my email, next is probably a Twitter post/DM, etc.). I don't really care why you contact me, as I'm always up for a chat, but please no spam. Below that lovely list is a survey! I would just like to get an idea of what the favorite in the Metroid series is. I have an idea as to what game will win (if anyone votes at all), but we will see. The poll closes on August 31st. Not much happened in regards to Metroid today. I did finish files on both Fusion and Zero Mission, and continued on what must be my tenth playthrough of Metroid Prime. I can't get enough of that game. Followers (and non-followers), comments would be appreciated. They let me know that someone is actually reading this. Respond to the poll, drop me a line at any of the listed contact options, comment, subscribe, tell your friends to subscribe, and do not feed the Metroids. See you next mission!

Going Dark - Days 3 and 4

Hey, people!

Sorry for not posting yesterday. Stuff happens, what can I say? Anyway, I really suck at this whole going dark thing. Yesterday I visited the Metroid Database (wonderful site, by the way). While browsing the forums, I came across a new topic regarding Other M. Some never-before-seen cutscene footage from Comic-Con had been uploaded to YouTube. The footage revealed a picture that Adam had sitting on his desk. For the sake of not spoiling anybody who might actually be reading this, I won't say who was in the picture. It's not a huge deal to me, as I gained no real new information from watching part of this cutscene. So yes, I cheated. Big deal. I broke my half-hearted promise to myself to only watch official Nintendo trailers. I didn't think I'd break as early as August 2nd, but whatever. I stepped into the light for a few minutes, time to go hide in my dark corner and play some Metroid Prime. Also, we have gained another follower! Welcome, Joseph! That's all I've got for now. I'll probably do another post later tonight; it's only noon where I'm at so today's events can't really be accurately written about yet. See you next mission!

Going Dark - Day 2

Hello world!

Being in the dark wasn't too hard today. I went to church, went out to eat at Chili's with the family, played a little Metroid Fusion, played some darts and ping-pong with my dad, watched Leverage, and am now writing this. Tomorrow is Monday, which means a weekly update to our favorite Nintendo Channel. If that update brings with it a new trailer for Other M, that's great. Yes, I will watch it, because presumably it would be a translation of the latest Japanese trailer, so no new content there. If it is different, that's great too. I would like to take this time to wish you all a happy "Month of Metroid". August is the month in which many of the Metroid games came out. Metroid, Metroid II, Metroid Prime 3, Metroid Prime Trilogy, the Virtual Console release of Super Metroid, as well as the upcoming Metroid: Other M. (not sure if I got all of them, but that's a few). I would also like to point out that we here at See You Next Mission are proud to announce that we have our first follower! I hope you're reading this, Princess Leia. Having followers makes me feel like my random musings mean something. I'm glad to know they're being read by at least one person in the world. I'll update you again tomorrow. If you'd like, you can drop me a line at project538@gmail.com. See you next mission!