I find myself apologizing a lot for the things Nintendo does that the public reacts badly to. But this is just a bunch of pathetic FUD. Yes, that’s right, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will not have any online multiplayer. And that’s exactly what I wanted to hear.

Others, for some reason, not only want to see multi in a Metroid title, but are actually disappointed it isn’t there. Which is fairly disappointing in and of itself.

Dr.Finger, a mod over at Evil Avatar whom I usually respect, presents this little strawman:

Is this a deal breaker? No, Metroid fans will probably buy the game regardless. But I do think that this represents a disconnect between Nintendo and their non-Japanese fans. Sony and Microsoft go out of their way to make sure that as many games as possible have an online multiplayer component. At best Nintendo does nothing to support online play, at worst they actively discourage it.

“Metroid fans will probably buy the game regardless.” Not quite, Dr.Finger — true Metroid fans will buy the game because it lacks multiplayer. Even N’gai Croal over at Newsweek, an actual game industry journalist that I also have a lot of respect for, seems to think this is bad news:

More problematic, however, was the unwelcome revelation that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption would not feature online play, a staple of first-person shooters on rival machines. While the game’s lack of online multiplayer has an upside–gamers will now be spared the ordeal of entering multiple sixteen-digit Friend Codes in order to do battle with their fellow Metroid Primates–its absence from Nintendo’s flagship FPS necessarily calls into question the company’s commitment to online as anything other than a reverse-ATM, inhaling money from the all too-willing consumers of its for-fee downloadable games.

Ah, so, online multiplayer is “a staple of first-person shooters on rival machines.” Dear lord. That statement is so ignorant, I don’t even know where to begin. Oh, wait — yes I do.

Begin rant. I’m going to lay it all out for everyone, real nice and slow so you can all understand what we’re seeing here.

1. The game is a first-person shooter, so it needs to include multiplayer. This is the first and most flawed argument the detractors are making. Just because a game is in the first-person perspective does NOT automatically mean it needs to include some senseless multiplayer element. This is patterned thinking that comes from years of being inundated with nothing but brainless FPS games that include a senseless multiplayer element. You have to get your head out of the sand and stop thinking this way. Nintendo is trying to break a tired, clichéd mold, and people are trashing them for it.

And in arguing for multiplayer in Metroid, people are forgetting the most obvious element of the game: the fact that it is Metroid.
Metroid games have always historically been about one woman exploring
the vast underbelly of an alien planet. The series has become synonymous with concepts like solitude and isolation. How is a setting like that well suited for
online multiplayer?

2. Nintendo is demonstrating that they don’t support online play. This is just a pathetic argument from people who want to ignore the success of the Nintendo WiFi network that the DS currently uses. The Wii is using the same infrastructure. Nintendo isn’t ignoring online play, they are just taking their time getting the Wii online. It isn’t about not wanting it to happen, it’s about making sure it works first. The DS proves it works, now they are implementing it on the Wii. The system is only seven months old. Give it time.

To summarize in the most basic way possible: I don’t want any multiplayer in Metroid. And many others don’t, either. In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the multiplayer was not only rushed and half-assed; it was incongruent with the concept of the franchise. I don’t want something like that implemented again. Online, or otherwise. I want a fantastic single-player experience, because that’s what Metroid is supposed to represent. And I’m hoping come August 27th, that’s what I’m going to get.

End rant.