#OperationSamusReturns

Many times there are ideas created with the best intentions, but can end up hurting more than they try to help. When it comes to Nintendo franchises, there are those which always will be here, bringing new elements to interact with (Mario, Zelda, Pokémon). There are those which appear from time to time, but are well-received (Kirby, Donkey Kong, Fire Emblem). And finally, there are those which, inevitably, are left behind simply because they don't sell well. And that is the case I'm going to talk about today.

(Author's note: I'm not a Metroid fan, thus I'm not the most appropiate person to talk about this but considering the release of Metroid: Samus Returns, it's necessary to talk about it. If my favorite franchise was in the same position I'm pretty sure you'll do the same)

This is not new in the videogame world, we've seen over the years franchises that fall into oblivion (despite being considered classics nowadays and contribute many elements important nowadays) simply because they couldn't adapt to modern standarts and are re-released as nostalgic curiosities in a compilation (Crash, Megaman, all Rareware franchises). Metroid belonged to this category until last E3.

The best 43 seconds of the conference, enough to give Nintendo the "best presentation" award.

This trailer gave fans a new hope that the franchise has come to stay permanently and they began this campaign with the purpose of promoting the next Metroid games and, thus, these can have successful sells, encouraging Nintendo to not drop the franchise. This was stipulated by the spanish Youtuber MightyRengar, vivid fan of the franchise and the one who started the campaign #OperationSamusReturns.

This campaign is done with the best intentions, but there are a few problems with it.

What if the games are not good? Take into account the last games where Other M, which disappointed everyone (with unfair reviews in my opinion) and Federation Force, which nobody liked.

What if the games don't sell? If we exclude Mario and Zelda, the rest of Nintendo franchises are not exactly console sellers. Just take a look at what happened to Star Fox, which is probably canned (sadly, for good) thanks to the mixed receptions and poor sales.

I have the hypothesis that, if we exclude the gameplay issues, this game bombed because... do you really wanted a remake of a game (that was already a remake, by the way) for a new entry on the franchise?

The last problem is that the slogan of the campaign is "Make Metroid Great Again"

...It's not for hearing like a hater, but Metroid... wasn't great to begin with. The games are good, fair enough, but almost all of them are cult classics. If you mention the name "Nintendo" to everyone, hardly there will be at least one who identifies the company with Samus. The sells are another point. We know nothing about Metroid Prime 4, and if the game is bad (which I doubt, but there's a small, teeny-tiny possibility), we're saying "Let's buy shit so we can have more shit!" Besides, America was the only reason Metroid was alive during the past decade because the games have sold well here... but in Europe and Japan the story is very different. I mean, the best-selling game of the franchise is Metroid Prime (2 million units), which is very low compared to other games released at the time like Mario Sunshine (6 million) and Twilight Princess (7 million).

We can be excited about the new games, but don't treat them like the second coming simply because you felt disappointed with the last entries. Treat them like what they are: a good or perhaps a bad game. It's ok to be a fan, but even you can accept that the product you consume has good and bad things. And that's normal, that's fine, it makes you rational. That's what differenciates a fan from a fanboy.

I'm going to buy the game, even if I'm not a fan of the franchise and I'm conscious I'm going to have a $40 brick in my collection, but I want to see other people happy. Spread the voice.

#OperationSamusReturns

EDIT: Arlo uploaded a video about this topic. Watch it for more information.