Episode 289 - MercurySteam Accused of Crunch, Horrible Working Conditions; Our Thoughts

We're back with more Metroid Prime 4! This week, we continue our journey and discuss Volt Forge, its crazy puzzles, vertical level design, pounding soundtrack, and pair of awesome, yet curious, boss battles! We then talk Vi-O-La, how it feels, how it handles, what combat is like, and the transition to the biggest point of contention: Sol Valley! What do we think of the desert, do we like the Shrines, are the crashed GF sites interesting, and is the desert just too empty? Plus, we have a HEATED debate about Vi-O-La radio and whether it should be locked behind amiibo or not. Come let us know what your thoughts are, and beware: there are spoilers for Volt Forge and the early parts of the game before Ice Belt within! Net week, we're back with our thoughts on Ice Belt and Flare Pool, so keep it locked on Omega!   Visit OmegaMetroid.com! Subscribe! Podbean x iTunes x Spotify x YouTube Support us on Patreon! Omega Metroid Patreon Buy Omega Metroid Merch! Check out our Etsy merch shop! Download the Omega Metroid Theme Song! Get the Single for Free on Bandcamp! Follow us! @OmegaMetroid x @Spiteri316 x @DoominalCross x Omega Metroid Team Member Starter Pack Chat with us in Discord! Omega Metroid Discord Advertise on the Omega Metroid Podcast!

We are in a new era, the post-Metroid Prime 4 release era! To celebrate, we're dropping a special bonus episode of the pod where the entire gang get together to discuss the opening hour or so of Beyond! We talk about our thoughts on the title menu, Quality Mode and how the game runs, the combat and how enemy variety and early combat options impacted us, the graphical prowess and majestic world of Viewros, thoughts on Chrono Tower and Fury Green, what we think of the story so far and how the game sets you up, the Aberax and Carvex boss fights, and our opinions on Myles MacKenzie and if the preview reactions were overblown or not, and so much more! There are spoilers, such as they are, for the story up until the end of Fury Green (your first time there anyways), so be warned! On Wednesday, we're back with our thoughts on Volt Forge, Sol Valley, Vi-O-La, and more! See you then!   Visit OmegaMetroid.com! Subscribe! Podbean x iTunes x Spotify x YouTube Support us on Patreon! Omega Metroid Patreon Buy Omega Metroid Merch! Check out our Etsy merch shop! Download the Omega Metroid Theme Song! Get the Single for Free on Bandcamp! Follow us! @OmegaMetroid x @Spiteri316 x @DoominalCross x Omega Metroid Team Member Starter Pack Chat with us in Discord! Omega Metroid Discord Advertise on the Omega Metroid Podcast!

This is the LAST EPISODE of the Omega Metroid Podcast you will EVER HEAR before METROID PRIME 4 IS RELEASED! A surreal sentence to type, and to celebrate, we are answering a whole gambit of questions, such as: is it better to sell more copies with a lower Metracritic score, or sell less with higher quality? Are we planning om playing in Quality or Performance mode? Are open areas going to be the norm going forward? What's one thing we hope the game doesn't do with Sylux? How could you make Myles actually a cool character?  All this, PLUS we dicuss the early critical reception to Beyond, talk about the developmental timeline, and give thanks to all the Metroid fans that have been with us on this journey! Make sure you check this out, and we'll see you this weekend for a special edition of the podcast with our first impressions!   Visit OmegaMetroid.com!   Subscribe! Podbean x iTunes x Spotify x YouTube Support us on Patreon! Omega Metroid Patreon Buy Omega Metroid Merch! Check out our Etsy merch shop! Download the Omega Metroid Theme Song! Get the Single for Free on Bandcamp! Follow us! @OmegaMetroid x @Spiteri316 x @DoominalCross x Omega Metroid Team Member Starter Pack Chat with us in Discord! Omega Metroid Discord Advertise on the Omega Metroid Podcast!

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is out in EIGHT DAYS. You heard that right folks! The hype has officially kicked into overdrive here at Omega Metroid as this long anticipated release is now just around the corner. To celebrate this grand occasion, we take a trip down memory lane and recount the entire journey that led to this moment. Everything is discussed including the initial reveal after the Federation Force backlash, the restart, the first gameplay and so much more! We also talk about how Omega Metroid's very foundations were rooted in the leadup to Metroid Prime 4, making this a very personal episode for us. Get your questions primed for next week's Q&A, we're almost at the finish line!   Visit OmegaMetroid.com!   Subscribe! Podbean x iTunes x Spotify x YouTube Support us on Patreon! Omega Metroid Patreon Buy Omega Metroid Merch! Check out our Etsy merch shop! Download the Omega Metroid Theme Song! Get the Single for Free on Bandcamp! Follow us! @OmegaMetroid x @Spiteri316 x @DoominalCross x Omega Metroid Team Member Starter Pack Chat with us in Discord! Omega Metroid Discord Advertise on the Omega Metroid Podcast!

What a week for Metroid fans! We had an absolute ton of new information drop, including the latest Overview trailer for Metroid Prime 4, several previews from mainstream publications go live last Friday, the Japanese Metroid website dropping tons of new information (borderline spoilers, so beware!), and a new threat arising in the Metroid universe unlike any we've seen before: Myles "Big Mac" MacKenzie! The whole gang is here, and we give our thoughts on all the comings and goings of the week, and yes, dedicate a bunch of time to talking about Myles and how companions could work! All this, PLUS we chat about the Zelda movie, Skilksong being up for GOTY, and more! Come hang out!   Visit OmegaMetroid.com!   Subscribe! Podbean x iTunes x Spotify x YouTube Support us on Patreon! Omega Metroid Patreon Buy Omega Metroid Merch! Check out our Etsy merch shop! Download the Omega Metroid Theme Song! Get the Single for Free on Bandcamp! Follow us! @OmegaMetroid x @Spiteri316 x @DoominalCross x Omega Metroid Team Member Starter Pack Chat with us in Discord! Omega Metroid Discord Advertise on the Omega Metroid Podcast!  

With Metroid Prime 4 less than a month away, we're kicking things into gear by looking back and ranking some of our favorite bosses in the Metroid Prime series! From the obvious picks like Metroid Prime and Dark Samus, to Temple Guardians, to corrupted Hunters, and even a sneaky appearance from Metroid Prime Hunters, we're revisiting some of the most heart-pounding moments and looking forward to what Beyond could have in store for us! All this, PLUS a look ahead to Omega Metroid's release schedule and an update on programmatic ads - we've shut them off to avoid anyone having to hear any gross government ads. Come hang out with us!   Visit OmegaMetroid.com!   Subscribe! Podbean x iTunes x Spotify x YouTube Support us on Patreon! Omega Metroid Patreon Buy Omega Metroid Merch! Check out our Etsy merch shop! Download the Omega Metroid Theme Song! Get the Single for Free on Bandcamp! Follow us! @OmegaMetroid x @Spiteri316 x @DoominalCross x Omega Metroid Team Member Starter Pack Chat with us in Discord! Omega Metroid Discord Advertise on the Omega Metroid Podcast!

Andy and Doom are back with a whole schwack of Metroid news! First on the docket is going over the new Beyond trailer that just dropped today! We go over and see what new details we can see, and then we transition over to the recently released Metroid Prime 1-3: A Visual Retrospective art book. We discuss what we liked, what we were disappointed with, and what we learned from Kensuke Tenabe's producers notes. All this PLUS some Canadian Metroid Prime pre-order bonus info and a quick look back at the downfall of Halo. We're one month away, let's go!!!!   Visit OmegaMetroid.com!   Subscribe! Podbean x iTunes x Spotify x YouTube Support us on Patreon! Omega Metroid Patreon Buy Omega Metroid Merch! Check out our Etsy merch shop! Download the Omega Metroid Theme Song! Get the Single for Free on Bandcamp! Follow us! @OmegaMetroid x @Spiteri316 x @DoominalCross x Omega Metroid Team Member Starter Pack Chat with us in Discord! Omega Metroid Discord Advertise on the Omega Metroid Podcast!

For those who want an even more accurate assesment of what we discussed today, our friends at Shinesparkers released an article professionally translating the Nintendo Dream article from Japanese to English. This was released the day after we recorded, so it's not brought up in the episode. Most of what we discussed still stands, but there are a couple areas that their translation addresses which we did not accurately speculate on. Last week, a new Metroid Prime 4: Beyond article published by Nintendo Dream, a Japanese based magazine, was released and quickly spread throughout the Metroid community like wildfire. This led to all sorts of discussions on the possbilities that these new revelations could be hinting at. While doing some research for this episode however, we noticed that a lot of the juicer info being talked about in the community stemmed not from the Nintendo Dream article, but from a piece by Universo Nintendo written by 'Necro' Felipe Lima attempting to translate the article from Japanese to Portuguese which has since been deleted. Being that a lot of this information is translated between 2 different languages, we realized that some of the stuff being talked about in the community might not be entirely accurate. Today, Doominal Crossing is joined by Dakota Latsky making his grand return as the two attempt to dissect this info once and for all. The duo goes over both the original Nintendo Dream article (with the help of Google Translate) as well as the Universo Nintendo follow-up to get an answer on what's fact, what's fiction and where the mistranslation happened. All of this, plus a short follow-up discussion on new details from both of the 16 second Metroid Prime 4: Beyond spots discovered on YouTube, which we also covered on OmegaMetroid.com!   Visit OmegaMetroid.com!   Subscribe! Podbean x iTunes x Spotify x YouTube Support us on Patreon! Omega Metroid Patreon Buy Omega Metroid Merch! Check out our Etsy merch shop! Download the Omega Metroid Theme Song! Get the Single for Free on Bandcamp! Follow us! @OmegaMetroid x @Spiteri316 x @DoominalCross x @DakCity_ x Omega Metroid Team Member Starter Pack Chat with us in Discord! Omega Metroid Discord Advertise on the Omega Metroid Podcast!

Unfortunately, we don't have the most fun episode in the world today, but an incredibly important episode. As reported by Shinesparkers, and then subsequently followed up on again in a later report, acclaimed Metroid Dread developers MercurySteam have been accused by several former employees of fostering a culture of crunch, exploitation, and horrible working conditions. The guys are going over the report, detailing the allegations, offering their thoughts on why this isn't a bigger story in games media, talking about the human cost of developing video games, and what this means for Metroid going forward.  All this, plus, we give talk about the misinformation around Shigeru Miyamoto's supposed quote about movies outliving games and how that came to be and why your algorithm shows negative news. Come hang out with us, and let's keep the developers at MercurySteam in our thoughts!   Visit OmegaMetroid.com!   Subscribe! Podbean x iTunes x Spotify x YouTube Support us on Patreon! Omega Metroid Patreon Buy Omega Metroid Merch! Check out our Etsy merch shop! Download the Omega Metroid Theme Song! Get the Single for Free on Bandcamp! Follow us! @OmegaMetroid x @Spiteri316 x @DoominalCross x Omega Metroid Team Member Starter Pack Chat with us in Discord! Omega Metroid Discord Advertise on the Omega Metroid Podcast!

Get ready for a SOLO SPITERI episode, as Andy is by himself this week talking about Hollow Knight: Silksong! We asked for your questions, and you delivered, so we get to touch on a bunch of different topics, including: what do we think Hollow Knight did better than Silksong and vice versa? What was Andy's favorite boss fight? Is it a per-requisite for Metroid 6 to have side content now? Could charms or a skill tree work in a Metroid game? Should Metroid 6 try and be as long as Silksong? And finally, what's Andy's take on the difficulty of the game - was it not accessible enough, or was this the right vision? All this, plus some Middle-Earth: The Podcast previews. Come hang out as we talk all things Silksong!    Visit OmegaMetroid.com!   Subscribe! Podbean x iTunes x Spotify x YouTube Support us on Patreon! Omega Metroid Patreon Buy Omega Metroid Merch! Check out our Etsy merch shop! Download the Omega Metroid Theme Song! Get the Single for Free on Bandcamp! Follow us! @OmegaMetroid x @Spiteri316 x @DoominalCross x Omega Metroid Team Member Starter Pack Chat with us in Discord! Omega Metroid Discord Advertise on the Omega Metroid Podcast!