Would any of us honestly be surprised if after being fired Spangenburg was like "Well I just go make my own best game ever, but with blackjack and hookers" and that was where The Guy Game came from?
Seriously, the guy would’ve probably been able to take most credit for reviving Metroid and the Metroid Prime series in general if he would’ve just showed up and not hosted a porn site.
What's most ironic about the whole story is that Nintendo's background is actually in illegal gambling and sex motels. Hiroshi Yamauchi's family ran and owned the latter, and Nintendo's first franchise, Mach Rider (which was remade in 1985 by Gunpei Yokoi for arcades and the NES), was originally a set of hanafuda cards made for Yakuza-run gambling circles in the 1960s. No joke, look it up.
It sounds like they had a good grasp of Metroid's design philosophy, were well equipped for the graphical and lore updates it needed for 3D, and Miyamoto's bizarre requirements ended up being exactly what MP1 needed. Probably a *good* thing spangenberg screwed up so much in the end, huh?
@@NachostheXth Could be, but if Jeff did his job, it's possible all promised titled games including Prime would had come out. It just highlights that Jeff was wasting the talent and (and the studio) with his own shenanigans.
@@worldofthought8352 Didn't Matt say that the only reason they got the chance to make Prime was because, in a weird opportunity, the barely started concept for one of their games convinced them they could do it. If it was released I get the feeling they would have considered a Metroid FPS redundant, especially if the game failed in the market.
Fun fact; I was offered the Lead Design position on "Action Game" by Spankberg, over the phone. When I was flown down to Texas, during the interview (which was meant to be just a formality), Spanglebunk says to me, "you don't LOOK the way you SOUND..." then, promptly tells me the other team members I was meant to meet are all sick. Funny that... O_o
Ugly duckling stories like Prime's never fail to put a smile on my face. When stuff that had disaster written all over it just pulls through and becomes a legendary piece of media that will be talked about for generations.
Seeing such a negative reaction to Metroid Prime before it's release from the gamers back in 2000 makes me shudder to imagine the awful abuse that Retro Studios staff would've faced online if this game was developed nowadays.
Its not new, zelda share the same fate with windwaker and even mario with sunshine. Gamecube is such a revolution in nintendo's franchise while I prefer mario 64 and oddysey to sunshine, I apprecite their courage to try something new.
@@FunkyGhost37 The difference is that Other M isn't...good. So regardless of how people on the whole reacted, most negativity towards the game was unfortunately justified. So long as none of it was directed at the game developers themselves since they were just doing what they were told.
@@okagron The "backlash" against Sunshine was more to the tune of... is that it? You're going to follow up one of the most capital-I Important games ever with the same game but at the beach? Oh, he has a squirtgun; that's super. It wasn't really "backlash", just a general disappointment at the seeming lack of imagination one got from the trailers.
@xg223 Dude. The PS2 sold like hotcakes because it was a DVD player and a game machine. He's saying that if it had actual DVD's and not mini DVD's it could've had more success rather than be 3rd place that generation. If Nintendo had the foresight to use actual DVD and had DVD movie playback they could've been able to be in 2nd place and beat the Xbox.
@@Snacks256 In reality, the only stressful part of game development is adhering to deadlines, last minute changes from execs/leads, and team compatibility.
Even better, make it a hidden boss, similar to the one Nier: Automata DLC where you fight the CEO of Square Enix as an in-game boss, except it's Samus Aran getting into a super duper secret room that requires 100%ing the game, and has Jeff Spangenberg, (except it's a legally dubious knock-off named Jeffrey SpankinBurger or something like that) and, despite being a guy in a tanktop, is by far the hardest boss fight in the game, has multiple phases, and requires use of all the gadgets and upgrades obtained along the way. I would pay Nintendo actual money for that.
Miyamoto really saved this entire game, holy shit. I mean, obviously credit to Retro's developers for coming up with all these solutions to morphball mode and "having a bugs head," but those ideas really boosted the game beyond just being a FPS. This is one of my favourite games of all time and it's wild to hear all this summarised.
I never really thought about until now but the scan visor and stuff really added a lot. It makes you feel like the terminator that you can tell a ton about something just by looking at it
@@RyanStorey1231 Basically Sticker Star and every Paper Mario game after it when it comes to Miyamoto making bad decisions. Someone really should convince him to make Paper Mario more like the first two games.
Actually, I would say that it wasn't so much Miyamoto's ideas, but his insistence on pushing the team into uncomfortable places and designs. Encouraging them to step outside their comfort zones and actually think big. After all, he didn't say "scan visor"; it was the team that piggybacked off of his idea about altered perspectives and used it to create an innovative storytelling mechanism.
Metroid Prime is the greatest example of don’t judge a book by its cover when it comes to video games. What looked like a generic FPS game riding on the current trends, ended up being one of the best action-adventure games of all time.
@@darthcinema4262 Seeing Samus and the Slayer using their grapple beam and meat hook to yank and enemy toward them and blast them to bits with the super missile and super shotgun would be a dream come true.
@@KRS2000 Even better: A tag team glory kill. Doomguy latches onto the upper body, samus latches onto the bottom, they yank said enemy apart and blast their pieces to bits.
@@senounatsuru6453 I meant to say that earlier. Even having Samus ripping zombie guys shields out of their hands with her grapple beam, and then the Slayer jumps in and saw them into pieces. A cool glory kill would be the Slayer blowing off a Cyberdemons (or Tyrant) leg, dropping it, and Samus jumps on and pulls its head back, and she jams her arm cannon down its throat and fires a super missile, and completely blows its body apart.
Wow. When playing it, Metroid Prime always felt like a perfect game made by professionals who were masters of their craft. I never would have guessed it was made by a bunch of panicking college grads who were shitting their pants. It really was a miracle!
Now that he's doing "Wha Happun" to good games, may I suggest doing one on Kirby's Return to Dreamland? That game has been through some serious development hell. It went from a 2.5D game like Kirby 64, to a full on 3D game, to a pop-up book styled game etc.
Meta Shade --- maybe first The Witcher game? I know that the game might not be very good, but it's development is really fascinating to cover. (it was been in development for around 8 YEARS, and like around 1/4 was different studio's work)
"Everyone is cowards" Sounds like a good title for an indie game, just need a good idea to go with it (as well as being able to develop it, and not over promise on kickstarter)
Could be a last man standing type of multiplayer game. Where you need to avoid physically contacting people or you lose. But the trick is the arena/environment is setup in a way that makes it difficult to avoid contact. Or a reverse Pac-Man game where everyone is a ghost and the last person still alive wins (Pac-Man 99 is sort of like that).
Meteoid Prime was my introduction to the Metroid universe. (playing Samus in Smash64 doesn't count) And I was hooked. To this day Meteoid Prime 2 Echoes is _STILL_ my favorite game. And that game is almost two decades old. Nothing has beaten it since. Some have gotten close mind you. But none have taken Aran's crown. I still remember when Nintendo came on YT and said "we have scrapped Meteoid Prime 4 as it hasn't met our standards. We will be bringing in Retro Studios who helped with the original trilogy to help make this game right. We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience this has caused and we hope that you'll give us some patients." All of the internet was like "TAKE YOUR TIME! ME WANT GOOD GAME!"
Prime 1 was my introduction to the series but I didn’t get completely hooked until I played the GBA games. After that, I replayed Prime 1 with a better appreciation and did a 100% play through
Prime and Fusion weren't my intro but the first time I really ever got into Metroid and "got it". Previously Metroid as a whole I just couldn't get my head around how to approach the games.
The number of stories where Miyamoto asks vague "What if you did this?" questions that led to ground breaking game mechanics is crazy. It's amazing how he's able to direct people without actually telling them what to do. He seems to prefer to allow people to figure things out on their own.
I love the story that everyone at Rare was cringing that Donkey Kong brought out a realistic shotgun, so Shigsy sketched out the Coconut Gun on a piece of paper and that was the end of that.
Wow, that story of Spaggenberg spending company funds on lavish parties and sports cars kind of reminds me of the story of Pat Lee and his short-lived comic book company Dreamwave Productions... which itself published a comic book adaptation of Metroid Prime, fittingly enough. Speaking of which, if you're ever thinking of dabbling in comics in this series, you have _got_ to do a video on Dreamwave. The story behind that disaster is amazing.
@@jet100a Unfortunately, I have to say know for both. Dreamwave went out of business in the mid 2000s for various reasons (thus my suggestion for a Wha Happun on the subject), and to my knowledge the comic has never been reprinted so any existing copies can likely only be purchased on eBay for ludicrous prices. If the rights to the comic are anything like Dreamwave's Transformers license, then they've likely defaulted back to Nintendo, and considering how seldom it licenses its IP to other companies for multimedia projects (they infamously turned down Archie/IDW Sonic writer Ian Flynn's pitch to make a Mario comic), I don't see the rights going to another comic company anytime soon. Afraid I don't have a link either. While I do not doubt scans exist online, I've never sought them out myself. I honestly only know of the comic's existence because previews were printed in issues of Nintendo Power when I was a kid, and was just remembered because Spaggenberg's conduct reminded me of DW head Pat Lee (except toned down from Lee, if you can believe it), and my brain made the connection from there.
The classic “Bugs Head” challenge. You love to see it. It’s when you hire a team of talent, then tell them something about making it like a bugs head. They never know what to do, but it always comes out good
Never knew how difficult something so simple like the Morph Ball was one of the biggest and complex features that made it or break it for the game. Thank god they did it, what followed was some of the best games ever made.
Often, many things that seem simple are exceedingly difficult to do. Indeed, the fact that they *seem* simple is precisely what makes them hard: because you have to get everything about it *right.* Where does the camera go? In a 1st person game, that's not even a question you ask. So once you say you're putting in 3rd person play, you have to *write* a camera system in a game that maybe wasn't designed to have one. But more than that, it has to work in open areas just as well as tight corridors. Which means you have to build a camera system that can be overridden based on where Samus is. Where artists can build environments and say "put the camera here when in morph ball", and you have to make that work. And remember: these aren't experienced masters of programming; they were mostly people some scumbag hired off the street. And they're not working with Unreal Engine 4, but something they created from whole cloth. At a time in 3D gaming when being good at cameras was still more art than science.
That "See You Next Mission" card towards the end put a big smile on my face, I'm looking forward to seeing what Retro's going to cook up next. Also a nice touch to put the actual time the video is at there!
The whole entire Prime trilogy is a masterpiece, from the gameplay, the graphics, story, and music. I adore the music from this game trilogy. Retro went on to make another amazing production of Donkey Kong Country which is awesome in itself.
Damn, all the young programmers that have the dream to make a game for a big dog like Nintendo, and this Spankingburgers guy gets stupid ideas. Just think about it, this guy could have nuked Nintendo's trust in American developers.
Good video, was surprised about Miyamoto's involvement. I did read once he mentioned about the helmet feature but that was it, but didn't think his involvement was this extensive and that he had more ideas that shaped the direction of the game. He gets praised for Mario games, but should get be as much recognized as getting things done, given how things were spiralling under Jeff Spangenberg, the whole sleazy dealings under Retro's server is mindbogglingly absurd, to the point I'm still finding it hard to believe!
After playing the remaster, it baffles me how they were able to make the vast majority of this game in under a year. From the interconnected world to the endless power-ups and visors, it’s crazy they were able to pull it off with such little time. Even with the immense crunch it’s a testament to the skill of everyone who worked on the game that it does not feel rushed or half-baked in any sense.
It isn't an unknown concept for Nintendo. Owning a sex motel chain made them big in Japan at the start, and they also own the '90s Super Mario porn movies (although they bought those rights to keep off those miserabilities off the market)
This has been a fun episode, didn't know Metroid Prime went through as much Hell as it did, great that despite the odds Retro Pulled through and made a name for themselves, very impressive.
There's a detached sarcasm to matt's voice that is unbelievably hilarious. I love that youtube suggested this channel to me. It's become one of my favourite things
Matt McMuscles on May 29th, 2021: "Retro seems to excel in launching polished, fully formed experiences, oftentimes out of nowhere." Nintendo on February 8th, 2023: "We're bringing Metroid Prime Remastered to Switch...and you can download it from the eShop starting TODAY!" And given the remaster's massive critical acclaim (it has a Metacritic score of 94 as of this writing), Nintendo and Retro Studios' effort to shadow drop such a polished, fully formed remaster out of nowhere has paid off beautifully!
I knew it was gonna be great, but even I was surprised at how beautifully the remaster was brought to the Switch! Playing Metroid Prime on the go is almost too good to be true, and yet here we are 😁😁
I was one of the doubters when I first heard about the "first person shooter" Metroid game. I know a lot of people were, but it's kind of silly in retrospect. Some of the earliest PC role playing games had elements of first person exploration, so the idea that a first person perspective game could only be a mindless actionfest never really made sense, but i guess a lot of us felt that way.
Very surprised to see how the origins of Retro Studios were a mess created by an uncaring head. They ended up becoming a widely well regarded studio after their successes and it's shocking to see that Metroid Prime was almost a bust before becoming one of the best Gamecube games around. You sure do keep making great videos, Mr. McMuscles and I can't wait to see what you put out next!
Considering everything and how they pulled it off, there is no way this would have been possible today. One could say Retro was power-bombing themselves with a project that should never have been good. And today, I still consider Metroid Prime to be my favorite game of all-time.
Always love these kind of miracle stories! It's still unbelievable how well Metroid Prime holds up so well after all these years... I don't have a game to recommend for the next episode, but please more positive ones!!
Great video! I had no idea about the founder and his shenanigans. I wonder if we will get the full story of what happened at Bandai Namco for the original Prime 4. That will be one for the books I'm sure.
I think it's great to include some good games on What Happened? too. A story about a train wreck that somehow came out awesome is even more interesting than a train wreck that ended up being...a train wreck.
Man I can't believe it's really been 20 years. The fact that I can remember it so vividly kind of brings a nostalgic tear to my eye. Thanks for the success story Matt
I think that, after the whole"the guy game" debacle, Jeff spangenberg, out of shame, made a facial modification surgery and change name to try to escape the ridicule.
Jeff Spangenberg... Imagine Viktor Frankenstein using liters and liters of Monster Energy instead of electricity to give life to the Creature. The result will be this man.
Prime 2, in my opinion, is gaming perfection. It has been unmatched and I have been anxiously, *anxiously* awaiting another game to come along to match it. I can only imagine what Prime 1 could have been had old Jeff not blown Nintendo’s money on his own selfish greed. I hope Prime 4 delivers. This is the one game I need to be right.
Looking forward to Metroid Prime 4 - What Happened?, where we finally find out what hot garbage Bandai Namco cooked up that got Nintendo to spam the eject button immediately.
Wow, finally someone (English-speaking) who uses search action! I use it for personal game organization but swap to the ~~bad~~ conventional name for communication (so as to be understood)
If I had a nickel for every time a studio was founded in the mid-to-late 90s, got massive funding from an established game developer/publisher, spent a big chunk of that funding on a fancy office with a state-of-the-art motion capture system, lost the rest of their runway because the CEO wanted to live like a rockstar and didn't understand that the guy running the business isn't the rockstar, and then somehow managed to release a critically-acclaimed FPS with an immersive, expansive world full of environmental storytelling that you can get lost in for hours I would have at least two nickels
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Imagine being fired from your own company and then the first game they make without you becomes one of the best games ever
Would any of us honestly be surprised if after being fired Spangenburg was like "Well I just go make my own best game ever, but with blackjack and hookers" and that was where The Guy Game came from?
@@MrQwint22 ah the TNA route eh?
If he had NOT been fired, Prime wouldn't have happened, I'm sure of it.
Seriously, the guy would’ve probably been able to take most credit for reviving Metroid and the Metroid Prime series in general if he would’ve just showed up and not hosted a porn site.
@@itsRecreational To me he would become the Jeffrey Katzenberg of Nintendo which perfectly describes the first part of the sentence you written
Starting a porno site on Nintendo's dime is probably the funniest thing I've ever heard on this show.
On one hand, he sounds like a real scumbag, but on the other I really respect how much balls he had for that.
What's most ironic about the whole story is that Nintendo's background is actually in illegal gambling and sex motels. Hiroshi Yamauchi's family ran and owned the latter, and Nintendo's first franchise, Mach Rider (which was remade in 1985 by Gunpei Yokoi for arcades and the NES), was originally a set of hanafuda cards made for Yakuza-run gambling circles in the 1960s. No joke, look it up.
Nintendo technically owns the Super Mario pornos from the early '90s.
I was NOT ready for that fun fact….
Still laughing 😂
This is where Bayonetta began
It's always refreshing to see a struggle project come out successful
Huh, fancy seeing you here...
Holy shit you exist outside of creepypastas
It really is refreshing
Indeed!
bro celeb appearance
Imagine working at a studio with a boss that doesn't give a shit about anything and nothing is getting done and then you hear Miyamoto is coming lol.
I won’t be surprised if Mario theme as boss music is ringing inside their head
*Dies of a heart attack*
“When you hear Dad shut the car door but you didn’t do any of your chores”
At least it sounds like they punished the correct person. That doesn't always happen
Imagine having to be the person who has to receive and/or deliver that message.
It's insane how Retro Studios had little to no experience yet somehow made a game that revolutionized and revived Metroid as a whole
And then basically did the same with donkey Kong country
It sounds like they had a good grasp of Metroid's design philosophy, were well equipped for the graphical and lore updates it needed for 3D, and Miyamoto's bizarre requirements ended up being exactly what MP1 needed. Probably a *good* thing spangenberg screwed up so much in the end, huh?
@@NachostheXth Could be, but if Jeff did his job, it's possible all promised titled games including Prime would had come out.
It just highlights that Jeff was wasting the talent and (and the studio) with his own shenanigans.
@@worldofthought8352 Didn't Matt say that the only reason they got the chance to make Prime was because, in a weird opportunity, the barely started concept for one of their games convinced them they could do it.
If it was released I get the feeling they would have considered a Metroid FPS redundant, especially if the game failed in the market.
They be like the underdog success story we all strive to be
Fun fact; I was offered the Lead Design position on "Action Game" by Spankberg, over the phone. When I was flown down to Texas, during the interview (which was meant to be just a formality), Spanglebunk says to me, "you don't LOOK the way you SOUND..." then, promptly tells me the other team members I was meant to meet are all sick. Funny that... O_o
That man is pure insanity.
Fun fact: I was offered the lead design for Manhunt but declined the offer in order to do Ape Escape 2.
How professional.
Okay, that tidbit with the "Clear Time" image actually time-stamping the length of the video up to that point was stupidly clever and I ADORE it.
Oh hey, nice icon! For a second I thought I commented on a video I hadn’t even watched yet
Ugly duckling stories like Prime's never fail to put a smile on my face. When stuff that had disaster written all over it just pulls through and becomes a legendary piece of media that will be talked about for generations.
Just like your mom
Seeing such a negative reaction to Metroid Prime before it's release from the gamers back in 2000 makes me shudder to imagine the awful abuse that Retro Studios staff would've faced online if this game was developed nowadays.
Its not new, zelda share the same fate with windwaker and even mario with sunshine. Gamecube is such a revolution in nintendo's franchise while I prefer mario 64 and oddysey to sunshine, I apprecite their courage to try something new.
@@FunkyGhost37 The difference is that Other M isn't...good. So regardless of how people on the whole reacted, most negativity towards the game was unfortunately justified. So long as none of it was directed at the game developers themselves since they were just doing what they were told.
@@showmeyourmoves8551 Did Sunshine actually get any sort of backlash? I don't recall any major upheaval, at least nowhere near as big as Wind Waker's.
@@okagron The "backlash" against Sunshine was more to the tune of... is that it? You're going to follow up one of the most capital-I Important games ever with the same game but at the beach? Oh, he has a squirtgun; that's super.
It wasn't really "backlash", just a general disappointment at the seeming lack of imagination one got from the trailers.
@xg223
Dude. The PS2 sold like hotcakes because it was a DVD player and a game machine. He's saying that if it had actual DVD's and not mini DVD's it could've had more success rather than be 3rd place that generation. If Nintendo had the foresight to use actual DVD and had DVD movie playback they could've been able to be in 2nd place and beat the Xbox.
This show always gives me Saturday cartoon vibes
Well it's Saturday morning!
And it's got those Saturday Cartoon villains!
I feel the same way
I usually have my breakfast with this video ready on Saturday, or Sunday if it's late. It really feels that way
Time to bust out the cereal and milk and sit on the floor in front of the TV.
9:04 That Angery nintendo airplane artwork is master piece XD
it sure is😎
As the artist, I thank you. :)
@@TheCartoonGamer8000 No problem that drawing hit spot in the story ;)
Jesus Christ, after hearing about this development, I’m surprised these games were so good
Team Silent syndrome
That’s why it is not not to just cover bad games, but good or great game with rocky develoment
I'm surprised ANY games are good after hearing how absurdly complicated and difficult making them is in nearly every aspect.
@@Snacks256 In reality, the only stressful part of game development is adhering to deadlines, last minute changes from execs/leads, and team compatibility.
@@danielsosa2240 8 PO 9
I forgot about Jeff until Matt explained who is was, it's a miracle that Metroid Prime exists.
@@Th0tpocket505 unless the pro releases in 2023 no
@@orangeslash1667 it wasnt a japanese bamco studio doing it, was a singaporean that was responsible for a cancelled star wars game
Maybe if he started out as a competent boss maybe we'd have some of those other games they had planned...
@@GameMaker3_5 probs. A shame yea
@@mrdoggo3569 Makes for funny stories though...
Jeff Spangenberg should be the final boss of Metroid Prime 4, seeing how he almost fucked shit up.
Even better, make it a hidden boss, similar to the one Nier: Automata DLC where you fight the CEO of Square Enix as an in-game boss, except it's Samus Aran getting into a super duper secret room that requires 100%ing the game, and has Jeff Spangenberg, (except it's a legally dubious knock-off named Jeffrey SpankinBurger or something like that) and, despite being a guy in a tanktop, is by far the hardest boss fight in the game, has multiple phases, and requires use of all the gadgets and upgrades obtained along the way. I would pay Nintendo actual money for that.
Plot twist: Sylux's final boss reveals that he's Spangenberg.
Miyamoto really saved this entire game, holy shit. I mean, obviously credit to Retro's developers for coming up with all these solutions to morphball mode and "having a bugs head," but those ideas really boosted the game beyond just being a FPS. This is one of my favourite games of all time and it's wild to hear all this summarised.
I never really thought about until now but the scan visor and stuff really added a lot. It makes you feel like the terminator that you can tell a ton about something just by looking at it
Which is funny because Miyamoto is infamous for ruining games with his ideas and oversight nowadays, but sometimes he does know what he's doing.
@@RyanStorey1231 Basically Sticker Star and every Paper Mario game after it when it comes to Miyamoto making bad decisions. Someone really should convince him to make Paper Mario more like the first two games.
Actually, I would say that it wasn't so much Miyamoto's ideas, but his insistence on pushing the team into uncomfortable places and designs. Encouraging them to step outside their comfort zones and actually think big.
After all, he didn't say "scan visor"; it was the team that piggybacked off of his idea about altered perspectives and used it to create an innovative storytelling mechanism.
@xg223 Why are you so angry? It's valid criticism.
"This waffle of a man"
Matt is a man of great words
Metroid Prime is the greatest example of don’t judge a book by its cover when it comes to video games. What looked like a generic FPS game riding on the current trends, ended up being one of the best action-adventure games of all time.
The game was on the same level as Wind Waker for games that many fans dismissed before release
Doom and Metroid Crossover when?
@@darthcinema4262 Seeing Samus and the Slayer using their grapple beam and meat hook to yank and enemy toward them and blast them to bits with the super missile and super shotgun would be a dream come true.
@@KRS2000 Even better: A tag team glory kill. Doomguy latches onto the upper body, samus latches onto the bottom, they yank said enemy apart and blast their pieces to bits.
@@senounatsuru6453 I meant to say that earlier.
Even having Samus ripping zombie guys shields out of their hands with her grapple beam, and then the Slayer jumps in and saw them into pieces.
A cool glory kill would be the Slayer blowing off a Cyberdemons (or Tyrant) leg, dropping it, and Samus jumps on and pulls its head back, and she jams her arm cannon down its throat and fires a super missile, and completely blows its body apart.
The idea of Shigeru Miyamoto just stumbling into a room and asking "what if Samus had a bug's head?" is so funny to me
I'm still so intrigued at what the hell Retro was doing since they finished Tropical Freeze until they caught Prime 4 development.
Supposedly working on another now cancelled original ip.
There's a video by Arlo that covers, what we know at least, pretty well ( ua-cam.com/video/u3_AYcpGnwQ/v-deo.html )
There are rumours of them having at least 3 cancelled projects.
They should have stick with dk and metroid with alternate development.
@@showmeyourmoves8551 No offense man, but you're silly thinking that is all they wanted to work on.
Wow. When playing it, Metroid Prime always felt like a perfect game made by professionals who were masters of their craft. I never would have guessed it was made by a bunch of panicking college grads who were shitting their pants. It really was a miracle!
Now that he's doing "Wha Happun" to good games, may I suggest doing one on Kirby's Return to Dreamland? That game has been through some serious development hell. It went from a 2.5D game like Kirby 64, to a full on 3D game, to a pop-up book styled game etc.
I'm sure he'll get to it. He did Revengeance before this so it's just what was stuck in development hell that gets on.
Meta Shade --- maybe first The Witcher game? I know that the game might not be very good, but it's development is really fascinating to cover. (it was been in development for around 8 YEARS, and like around 1/4 was different studio's work)
I would LOVE to see a Wha Happun on KRtD someday!
I'm still waiting on the Wonderful One-Oh-Wha Happun, because that game was five games before it became the WiiU's best game in every conceivable way.
I want one on Ace Combat 7. For years I was convinced it was vaporware.
I can remember the forums on Game FAQs all say " F Nintendo, we dont want Metroid Halo games!"
Pfffhahaha, GameFAQs. Looking back on it, those forums were consistently miserable.
@@SwordfighterRed the only useable part was always the walkthroughs
@@SwordfighterRed They're still miserable to this day. They've never changed.
I don't know, I liked their regional boards and LUE.
@@SwordfighterRed All forums in general are pretty misserable
I've forgotten all about that Spankenburger guy and his shenanigans until now.
💯 for me: (1) sounds familiar (2) seems sketchy (3) oh no it’s that guy! Clownish incoming! 👍🏼
Don't worry, you'll forget about him again
The whole world has already forgotten about his existence.
I love the fact for all we know he could be dead, or in jail or stranded on some island. No one knows what happened to him.
@@wallywest4727 likely for the best, the guy is a scary, disgusting, disgrace of humanity I've seen, glad Nintendo kicked him out...
"So whatever it is they're cooking up, odds are, it will be worthy waiting for".
Boy, you were right! Metroid Prime Remaster is amazing!
"Everyone is cowards" Sounds like a good title for an indie game, just need a good idea to go with it (as well as being able to develop it, and not over promise on kickstarter)
Could be a last man standing type of multiplayer game. Where you need to avoid physically contacting people or you lose. But the trick is the arena/environment is setup in a way that makes it difficult to avoid contact. Or a reverse Pac-Man game where everyone is a ghost and the last person still alive wins (Pac-Man 99 is sort of like that).
Build your stats up until there are no enemies left in the world who will dare challenge you to a fight.
is it grammarly correct? Shouldn't be "everyone is coward" ?
@@zeromaisum
Everyone is a coward
or
Everyone is cowardly
Meteoid Prime was my introduction to the Metroid universe. (playing Samus in Smash64 doesn't count) And I was hooked. To this day Meteoid Prime 2 Echoes is _STILL_ my favorite game. And that game is almost two decades old. Nothing has beaten it since. Some have gotten close mind you. But none have taken Aran's crown.
I still remember when Nintendo came on YT and said "we have scrapped Meteoid Prime 4 as it hasn't met our standards. We will be bringing in Retro Studios who helped with the original trilogy to help make this game right. We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience this has caused and we hope that you'll give us some patients." All of the internet was like "TAKE YOUR TIME! ME WANT GOOD GAME!"
Damn! I'm more with MP1. Echoes and the go and back from light/dark world was very confusing at the time.
Echoes is far from my favorite game of all time, but it is my favorite Metroid game, with Prime 1 not far behind.
Prime 1 was my introduction to the series but I didn’t get completely hooked until I played the GBA games. After that, I replayed Prime 1 with a better appreciation and did a 100% play through
The first Prime was my introduction too. I didn't even bother to rent it first, I just bought it straight up, and I don't regret it to this day.
Prime and Fusion weren't my intro but the first time I really ever got into Metroid and "got it". Previously Metroid as a whole I just couldn't get my head around how to approach the games.
Metroid Prime is perfection cubed.
It's a *masterpeece*
i see what you did there .....
Ha cubed. Gamecube. Get it?
Hahaha
I agree with you
@@brobunni --- and I heared that Metroid Prime 3 is the best one, somewhere... (i don't really know, because I didn't played Metroid Prime trilogy)
The number of stories where Miyamoto asks vague "What if you did this?" questions that led to ground breaking game mechanics is crazy. It's amazing how he's able to direct people without actually telling them what to do. He seems to prefer to allow people to figure things out on their own.
He's a good motivator. He just makes simple suggestions and lightly pushes people toward coming up with what they interpret from his suggestions.
I love the story that everyone at Rare was cringing that Donkey Kong brought out a realistic shotgun, so Shigsy sketched out the Coconut Gun on a piece of paper and that was the end of that.
Wow, that story of Spaggenberg spending company funds on lavish parties and sports cars kind of reminds me of the story of Pat Lee and his short-lived comic book company Dreamwave Productions... which itself published a comic book adaptation of Metroid Prime, fittingly enough.
Speaking of which, if you're ever thinking of dabbling in comics in this series, you have _got_ to do a video on Dreamwave. The story behind that disaster is amazing.
Whoa! There's a comic book adaptation of Metroid? I'll look for it online but if you can, could you link it for others? Can it be bought still?
@@jet100a Unfortunately, I have to say know for both. Dreamwave went out of business in the mid 2000s for various reasons (thus my suggestion for a Wha Happun on the subject), and to my knowledge the comic has never been reprinted so any existing copies can likely only be purchased on eBay for ludicrous prices. If the rights to the comic are anything like Dreamwave's Transformers license, then they've likely defaulted back to Nintendo, and considering how seldom it licenses its IP to other companies for multimedia projects (they infamously turned down Archie/IDW Sonic writer Ian Flynn's pitch to make a Mario comic), I don't see the rights going to another comic company anytime soon.
Afraid I don't have a link either. While I do not doubt scans exist online, I've never sought them out myself. I honestly only know of the comic's existence because previews were printed in issues of Nintendo Power when I was a kid, and was just remembered because Spaggenberg's conduct reminded me of DW head Pat Lee (except toned down from Lee, if you can believe it), and my brain made the connection from there.
Makes me think of Blizzard lol
Yeah, all he needs is Pat Lee's article on the Transformers wiki.
The classic “Bugs Head” challenge. You love to see it. It’s when you hire a team of talent, then tell them something about making it like a bugs head. They never know what to do, but it always comes out good
You mean this was done multiple times?
@@anueutsuho7425 Miyamoto is notorious for giving strange or often simple advice that only makes sense if you think about it.
@@anueutsuho7425 the classic bugs head challenge has been around since the ice age
Never knew how difficult something so simple like the Morph Ball was one of the biggest and complex features that made it or break it for the game. Thank god they did it, what followed was some of the best games ever made.
Often, many things that seem simple are exceedingly difficult to do. Indeed, the fact that they *seem* simple is precisely what makes them hard: because you have to get everything about it *right.*
Where does the camera go? In a 1st person game, that's not even a question you ask. So once you say you're putting in 3rd person play, you have to *write* a camera system in a game that maybe wasn't designed to have one. But more than that, it has to work in open areas just as well as tight corridors. Which means you have to build a camera system that can be overridden based on where Samus is. Where artists can build environments and say "put the camera here when in morph ball", and you have to make that work.
And remember: these aren't experienced masters of programming; they were mostly people some scumbag hired off the street. And they're not working with Unreal Engine 4, but something they created from whole cloth. At a time in 3D gaming when being good at cameras was still more art than science.
I'm angry that my favorite Metroid game couldn't have existed without spangenburg.
You could think of it that it only could have existed without him!
spangendouche
Well that's new trivia I'll take with me into eternity. The Guy Game guy is responsible for Metroid Prime kinda.
It's actually more in reverse: Metroid Prime is responsible for The Guy Game.
After today's E3, there NEEDS to be a "What Happened" for Metroid Dread. Geez what a journey that has been.
I would feel bad for metroid fans, if I wasn't a f zero fan. 17 years and still waiting.
"Your suffering is nothing compared to mine"
I have a similar sentiment towards Dark Souls fans as an Armored Core enjoyer.
I hate that Nintendos best IP's are their sci fi ones and they seem to utterly hate making them lol.
@@traceyrinaldi4759 People don't buy them. Of course Nintendo hates making them. Lol Most Metroid games struggle to even sell 1 million.
To try and give you a positive outlook, atleast you aren't a Berserk fan right now :
Jeff Spangenberg looks and sounds like a villain from an early 2000s kids movie.
"Oh nooo! It's melting! My precious Raven Blade... gone forever!"
Always neat to see a Wha Happun on a good game that just so happen to have a rocky development history .
That "See You Next Mission" card towards the end put a big smile on my face, I'm looking forward to seeing what Retro's going to cook up next.
Also a nice touch to put the actual time the video is at there!
This feels like Doom 2016 where everyone on the project assumed it sucked and was gonna flop but instead was loved and very successful
Spangenberg sounds like one of those rockstar producers who made one success and then decided he'd peaked and never had to do anything ever again
Even his name just screams "bro-douche", doesn't it?
The whole entire Prime trilogy is a masterpiece, from the gameplay, the graphics, story, and music. I adore the music from this game trilogy. Retro went on to make another amazing production of Donkey Kong Country which is awesome in itself.
Amazing how well Retro Studios did with the remaster. Looks exactly the same while also looking so much better than the original.
Damn, all the young programmers that have the dream to make a game for a big dog like Nintendo, and this Spankingburgers guy gets stupid ideas.
Just think about it, this guy could have nuked Nintendo's trust in American developers.
When Miyamoto gets on a plane to see WTF you've been doing.... RUN!!!
Good video, was surprised about Miyamoto's involvement. I did read once he mentioned about the helmet feature but that was it, but didn't think his involvement was this extensive and that he had more ideas that shaped the direction of the game.
He gets praised for Mario games, but should get be as much recognized as getting things done, given how things were spiralling under Jeff Spangenberg, the whole sleazy dealings under Retro's server is mindbogglingly absurd, to the point I'm still finding it hard to believe!
I'll shit on his decisions for F-zero and Starfox not getting sequels, but for managing Retro studios? They did good.
Miyamoto was heavily involved in prime as far as I know.
@@pokehybridtrainer starfox got a new game on wii u. Dont know what you are talking about.
I’ve only found this channel recently and LOVE “whu happened?” 😂🙌🏼
One of us! One of us!
That's whuh happon
Come, stay awhile, listen! The same happened to me, and now im hooked on every upload.
Welcome to the Flop House. If you've only watched What Happened, I suggest binging EdgeLords sometime.
> "What would it be like if samus had a bugs head"
*HOW THE HELL DID ANY OF THEM PARCED WHAT THAT RIDDLE SAID!?*
After playing the remaster, it baffles me how they were able to make the vast majority of this game in under a year. From the interconnected world to the endless power-ups and visors, it’s crazy they were able to pull it off with such little time. Even with the immense crunch it’s a testament to the skill of everyone who worked on the game that it does not feel rushed or half-baked in any sense.
I can't freaking believe this game may not exist without the creator of The Guy Game.
Im more entertained by the idea of miyamoto just walking into a meeting and going “what if samus had a bug’s head?”
@@tahamohammad8842 And then the Retro leads just look at each other for a long silence, turn back to Miyamoto and reply, "...We'll look into it."
9:01 I loved this angry Nintendo plane thing.
The biggest thing in this story is the fact that Nintendo once had a porn site, technically.
It isn't an unknown concept for Nintendo. Owning a sex motel chain made them big in Japan at the start, and they also own the '90s Super Mario porn movies (although they bought those rights to keep off those miserabilities off the market)
This has been a fun episode, didn't know Metroid Prime went through as much Hell as it did, great that despite the odds Retro Pulled through and made a name for themselves, very impressive.
Metroid Dread needs a What Happened episode considering the history of that games development
That and Federation Force. It’s a neat idea they had since the DS days that became the most hated and worst selling Metroid game ever.
Can't wait for the episode on Metroid Prime 4
Awesome to see the story behind prime 1, specially now we got a wonderful remaster before the probably equally wonderful Metroid Prime 4!
It's astounding how amazing this game is still today, and even more so considering all that it had stacked up against it.
11:15 Gotta love the NMH 2 KO sound effect, nice touch
There's a detached sarcasm to matt's voice that is unbelievably hilarious. I love that youtube suggested this channel to me. It's become one of my favourite things
Matt McMuscles on May 29th, 2021: "Retro seems to excel in launching polished, fully formed experiences, oftentimes out of nowhere."
Nintendo on February 8th, 2023: "We're bringing Metroid Prime Remastered to Switch...and you can download it from the eShop starting TODAY!"
And given the remaster's massive critical acclaim (it has a Metacritic score of 94 as of this writing), Nintendo and Retro Studios' effort to shadow drop such a polished, fully formed remaster out of nowhere has paid off beautifully!
I knew it was gonna be great, but even I was surprised at how beautifully the remaster was brought to the Switch! Playing Metroid Prime on the go is almost too good to be true, and yet here we are 😁😁
Maybe those movie studio chops payed off for them. Even before the recent remaster, the visuals of Metroid Prime have held up amazingly well.
I was one of the doubters when I first heard about the "first person shooter" Metroid game. I know a lot of people were, but it's kind of silly in retrospect. Some of the earliest PC role playing games had elements of first person exploration, so the idea that a first person perspective game could only be a mindless actionfest never really made sense, but i guess a lot of us felt that way.
Retro is the biggest turn around story in history
Very surprised to see how the origins of Retro Studios were a mess created by an uncaring head. They ended up becoming a widely well regarded studio after their successes and it's shocking to see that Metroid Prime was almost a bust before becoming one of the best Gamecube games around. You sure do keep making great videos, Mr. McMuscles and I can't wait to see what you put out next!
It's crazy that 2 weeks after this video that the new Metorid game was announced
00:52 "Metroid Prime was one of the riskiest gambles that NINTENDO ever took with one of it's classic series"
Laughs in MAH BOI, SQUADALLA!
Well no that was phillips not nintendo.
Metroid Prime Remastered let's gooooo
Experiment Status Report Update: Metroid Project "Dread" is Completed
Considering everything and how they pulled it off, there is no way this would have been possible today. One could say Retro was power-bombing themselves with a project that should never have been good. And today, I still consider Metroid Prime to be my favorite game of all-time.
2 decades later and this classic has been remastered for Nintendo Switch
One of the greatest games ever made i didnt know it had such trouble development, nice to know it worked out
Always love these kind of miracle stories! It's still unbelievable how well Metroid Prime holds up so well after all these years...
I don't have a game to recommend for the next episode, but please more positive ones!!
"Everyone is cowards." I'm ripping that off
10:05 Having to start a Metroid Prime game from scatch? Where have I heard that one before... *remembers MP4* History truly does repeat itself
The music is some of the best in gaming
Looking forward to the Metroid Prime 4 video. Even if it ends up great, you know it's got a rocky journey
This is stunning that a game that had such a horrible start ended up being so good
The clear time 18:44 right when the video effectively ended was a clever touch!
Goddamn I love Metroid.
That Mission Complete screen! Worth watching the whole video for, Matt!
Now that Metroid Dread is actually confirmed, you've gotta do that one.
Great video! I had no idea about the founder and his shenanigans.
I wonder if we will get the full story of what happened at Bandai Namco for the original Prime 4. That will be one for the books I'm sure.
After watching this, I'm honestly amazed that Metroid Prime turned out as good as it did
I think it's great to include some good games on What Happened? too. A story about a train wreck that somehow came out awesome is even more interesting than a train wreck that ended up being...a train wreck.
The Prime games are easily IMO the best Nintendo titles out there. I really hope 4 comes out well!
Man I can't believe it's really been 20 years. The fact that I can remember it so vividly kind of brings a nostalgic tear to my eye. Thanks for the success story Matt
Can't wait to see you make a video about Metroid Dread...
I think that, after the whole"the guy game" debacle, Jeff spangenberg, out of shame, made a facial modification surgery and change name to try to escape the ridicule.
Boy do I have news for you
Jeff Spangenberg... Imagine Viktor Frankenstein using liters and liters of Monster Energy instead of electricity to give life to the Creature. The result will be this man.
Prime 2, in my opinion, is gaming perfection.
It has been unmatched and I have been anxiously, *anxiously* awaiting another game to come along to match it.
I can only imagine what Prime 1 could have been had old Jeff not blown Nintendo’s money on his own selfish greed.
I hope Prime 4 delivers. This is the one game I need to be right.
@18:30 prophetic
Looking forward to Metroid Prime 4 - What Happened?, where we finally find out what hot garbage Bandai Namco cooked up that got Nintendo to spam the eject button immediately.
Lol I love that no more heroes reference at 11:15
METROID PRIME REMASTERED
Wow, finally someone (English-speaking) who uses search action! I use it for personal game organization but swap to the ~~bad~~ conventional name for communication (so as to be understood)
If I had a nickel for every time a studio was founded in the mid-to-late 90s, got massive funding from an established game developer/publisher, spent a big chunk of that funding on a fancy office with a state-of-the-art motion capture system, lost the rest of their runway because the CEO wanted to live like a rockstar and didn't understand that the guy running the business isn't the rockstar, and then somehow managed to release a critically-acclaimed FPS with an immersive, expansive world full of environmental storytelling that you can get lost in for hours
I would have at least two nickels
Jeff Spangenberg . . . . Even the name makes him sound like a 90's highschool jock bully.
2023 here, and remasters is a thing.
Informative video as always! Keep up the fantastic work Matt!