'Metroid Prime' Series May Not Be Over

Nintendo tied up its "Metroid Prime" franchise nicely with their recent "Trilogy" boxed set, and the company currently has its sights set on "Metroid: Other M," a 2D-ish return to classic "Metroid" gameplay. That project left the "Prime" games' developers at Retro behind to partner with Tecmo. Certain word choices by developers in a recent interview, however, seem to to indicate that future "Prime" games may still be possible down the pipe.

"As all I take part in is the 'Prime' series, I am not capable of commenting on the whole 'Metroid' series," Retro Studios producer Kensuke Tanabe told Kotaku. "But we will keep considering multiplayer for the 'Prime' series. For instance, I think I can come up with some unique ideas using the Morph Ball, which is a specific skill of Samus'."

That's a lot of thought for a game series currently without an announced sequel. It could be that all of Retro's excitement is just entropy after creating some truly innovative gameplay for the Wii and DS. But Retro has a secret project in development and according to their interview, details won't be available until next year at the earliest.

Classic "Metroid" fans will probably be content just to get their hands on a game going back to the series' roots in "Other M," but as Nintendo continues evolving the Wii, such as with this year's Wii MotionPlus, Retro should have some great toys to play with if they're plotting a new "Prime."

Do you prefer classic "Metroid" over "Prime"-style gameplay, or are you all ears about any potential new sequels? Share your reactions in the comment section below.

Tags metroid, metroid prime, metroid: other m, retro studios, tecmo