Former developers believe the snub is “shameful”
At last week’s Nintendo Direct the company surprised fans with the announcement of Metroid Prime Remastered, continuing the surprise with a same day stealth-drop of the beloved title. Now the game has come under scrutiny for leaving the original Prime team out of the credits.
The in-game credits list the new team who worked on the remaster while the original team at Retro was given a vague thank-you graphic at the end of the credits. Team members who worked on the original release are sounding off on Twitter in regard to the snub. While most of them look positively at the work done to the title to bring it to modern systems they expressed disappointment with the lack of credit for their work. Senior designer Zoid Kirsch praised the title, saying that it “should be played and enjoyed” but he was “let down Metroid Prime’s Remaster does not include the full original game credits”.
Former lead engineer Jack Mathews had a much stronger opinion and did not mince words regarding how he felt. He called the exclusion “shameful” and that while his code work may have been rewritten or replaced the game should still credit the original team. He alluded to the idea that the game used “uprezzed” textures, instead of new assets, thus facilitating the need to credit Retro properly.
The exclusions don’t end with the original team. Many who worked on the remaster have also voiced concern over their removal from the game’s credits, even though many spent months working on the title. A senior artist on the project, who left early in development, found her name listed in the Special Thanks section with nothing noting her role on the project. She later elaborated that those let go from the project, due to layoffs or firings, were not included in the credits at all.
The exclusion of both old and new staff on the title is disheartening for a publisher as big as Nintendo, especially when it has gotten the remaster credits right before. Games are made by teams of talented people who work to make the best product they can. Their placement in the credits is one of the best ways to add work to their portfolio and grow within the industry. For Nintendo to remove them, essentially erasing them from production, is a slap in the face. At this time Nintendo has not made a statement regarding the situation, but it seems the best possible solution to this problem would be to patch the credits, giving all team members the credit they deserve.
