KYOTO, Japan — Nintendo acknowledged the 35th anniversary of its beloved Metroid franchise with a new Direct presentation that featured just 30 minutes of silence.
“Join us Monday at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET as we celebrate Metroid’s 35th birthday,” Nintendo tweeted before the showcase. “The Direct will feature no indication of how Metroid Prime 4’s development is coming along or hints as to whether or not the franchise is even considered active in 2021. Please enjoy.”
Despite the explicit warning from Nintendo, Metroid fans were still outraged by the live stream, which featured no new announcements or audio whatsoever. Thousands of fans live tweeted throughout the presentation, despite the fact that the video only featured a static black screen for a full half-hour.
“I know Nintendo said it wasn’t showing anything, but I still expected more,” posted angry Metroid fan Peter Tarrant. “I figured we’d at least see a full 3D remake of Super Metroid, a Metroid Prime 4 shadow drop that would be available as soon as the stream was over, or Mario Kart 9 at bare minimum. I don’t think that’s unreasonable at all.”
Despite showing nothing, the stream left fans of other Nintendo franchises hopeful that the company would finally acknowledge some of their favorite series. The Golden Sun community is cautiously optimistic that the series could at least get a Mii costume in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for its 20th birthday, while F-Zero fans hope that the game at least comes up in a board meeting once this year.
“Advance Wars?” Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said when asked about the game’s 20th anniversary this year. “Never heard of it. Did you just make that one up?”
Nintendo, however, hyped up fans again when the company announced it would be hosting another much anticipated birthday Direct later this week. After hours of intense speculation, Nintendo unveiled its Mario 36th anniversary presentation featuring three hours of new game reveals, re-releases, and global celebrations.
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