Metroid Prime 4 May Not Release In 2018

Nintendo released a new document after its recent earnings call that lists the game's release date as "TBA."

[Neonridr]

TBA can still mean 2018. Just means they don't have a release date in mind quite yet.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I can't tell if this is what the writer actually believes, or if this is yet another one of those posts meant to cast shadow and doubt over the Switch's lineup...
Regardless, what Woolly_ and Neonridr already said; TBA doesn't mean that it's been knocked out of 2018, just that a specific date isn't prepared at the moment.
And as we've all already learned the hard way, even supposedly "rock-solid" dates can change last minute...

[narsaku]

Shadow and doubt. There's no reason to mention a date that was never talked about in the first place.

Just get Siteblock from google chrome and block gamespot, Dunkey was right about em.

[Nu]

Good to see your still alive. I hadn't seen a comment from you in a minute.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I've been trying to stay a bit more conservative with my comments as of late. That and not a lot has caught my interest enough to be worth saying anything about.
That said, a good Metroid article is one way to catch my attention; I'm hoping we'll hear details about Prime 4 around Spring of next year, at the earliest.

[TekoIie]

Given that Nintendo has learnt their lesson when it comes to preventing droughts, I think they'll avoid delaying it.

With that said if it needs to be delayed then that's what they should do.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photo...

[krontaar]

of course not, pokemon wont either. They've got kirby, yoshi, smash and who knows what else for next year.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Pokemon is gonna be Holiday 2018

[ShadowWolf712]

I don't expect Pokemon til 2019/2020.

This is a ar more advanced system than the 3DS, they're gonna have to put in a bit more effort for a console release, re-animate sprites, probably update the sound of the cries a bit... gonna take a while, realistically, and they apparently JUST started on it.

[narsaku]

..May not release in 2018?

It was never suggested to be a 2018 title.

..This is how rumors and suggestions start and before you know it, everyone's making fun of their own stupidity.

I guess it's finally time to update siteblock with Gamespot.

[Summons75]

Well it was since Nintendo did say that everything in the E3 spotlight that wasn't dated for this year is intended to be released next year but that still isn't even an official release date for next year.

[tormentor91]

I agree, in relation to the new pokemon game they explicitly stated that it might take longer, but everything else was implied to be released at least until the end of 2018. That said it doesn't really matter to me personally. I'd rather have them take their time like with Breath of the WIld, that payed off too.

[ShadowWolf712]

The post isn't suggesting some sort of delay, it's suggesting that it likely shouldn't be expected.

And it's not an unreasonable suggestion.

[narsaku]

I can't wait to see the negative spin we'll start seeing over this game and pokemon RPG, "I'm already seeing it with Pokemon here".

Ohh, but of course.. It's totally okay for Sony to announce games 5-10 years early. At least with this community.

[PhoenixUp]

I don't see a game that only bad its logo revealed this year releasing next year

[The 10th Rider]

Well, I'm of the opinion that this one is at least two years off, but Nintendo does have a knack for holding announcements off until last minute. Splatoon 2 was officially confirmed about 6 months from release. Arms had about 5 months between the reveal and release. Super Mario Odyssey was barely shown off about 10 months before release. It's entirely possible that we could get a gameplay reveal next E3 and have it release before the end of the year (though, as I said, I think it's at least 2 years out.)

[PhoenixUp]

That's a bad example. Splatoon 2 is a game that reuses various assets from its predecessor, hence why it was released relatively quickly. Metroid Prime 4 on the other hand will use completely new assets built directly from the ground up, so it's going to take a lot more development time.

The other games you listed already had plenty of footage shown off when they were first revealed. A lot of development had already occurred for them prior to the reveal. There's not a lot of examples where we only get a logo of a Nintendo game and then it releases the very next year. For example remember how we first got artwork of Skyward Sword in 2009 but the actual game released in 2011.

[The 10th Rider]

Yeah, but I'm saying even though it was a logo this year, if they showed extensive gameplay next year it's conceivable that it could release something like six months after that.

Fire Emblem Warriors was basically given just a logo at it's reveal, but it's coming out around 8 months later. A mainline Fire Emblem was confirmed for Switch just earlier this year and is supposedly coming out next year, less than 23 months after being revealed without even a title or trailer. Super Smash Bros was announced by saying that development was just beginning and it came out for 3DS around three years later. (The home console version was a little later but they also had the job of releasing two versions.) Prime 4 obviously isn't deeply in development, but it wouldn't be shocking for it to of had a year of development already. Depending on the team they put together and the amount of work they've already put in, releasing within the next two years isn't totally unreasonable.

As I said, I'm of the opinion that it's over two years out, but it'd hardly be unheard of for it to release before then.

[DanteVFenris666]

Metroid trilogy to this date is my favourite fps franchise. They can take 5 years like Zelda did if we will have an evolution such as that.

However I doubt they'll give metroid the time Zelda had but I definitely don't mind 2019

[Relientk77]

No surprise there, all they had was a logo

[King_Lothric]

It will come at the end of the Switch life cycle. Just like some other Metroid games releasing at the end of a Nintendo console life cycle.

Metroid should and must be a priority for Nintendo. The lack of respect to this beloved franchise is jaw dropping.

[deafdani]

The Prime games didn't come out at the end of the Cube's life cycle. Neither did Prime 3 nor Other M on Wii.

And there's very little reason for this franchise to be a priority for Nintendo when each Metroid game released since Prime 1 has sold worse than its predecessors. Nintendo has a lot of IPs that sell much better, so they make those a priority.

I'm just glad we're getting a new Metroid game.

[deafdani]

In other news, water may be wet.

[bumbleforce]

2020

[bumbleforce]

I bet that teaser was all they had. The game I'm sure only exists it paper form knowing nintendo

[TheOttomatic91]

Considering all we got is a logo I see it being similar release to BOTW being released simultaneously for Switch and New Switch/Switch 2

[Ristul]

If that would come to pass, I hope they can at least secure some great third party or second party games. We need more games, Nintendo can't afford the long wait between releases if they want Switch to be successful.

[ShadowWolf712]

Noooo, what with them having a whole jpeg of a logo to show off I FULLY expected this game to be finished inside a year.