Metroid Prime remaster receives a surprise release

Nintendo has released a remaster of Metroid Prime shortly after its announcement at Nintendo Direct.

The details:

• Metroid Prime, a Gamecube exclusive from 2002, has been given a serious makeover for a Nintendo Switch release, which was announced during last night's Nintendo Direct. The game marked the series' first foray into 3D, and it was followed by two sequels on the GameCube and Wii. It's currently available on Nintendo's store in both digital and physical formats for a reasonable $39.99 USD (£34.99). While digital copies are immediately available, physical copies will be available on February 22 in the United States and March 3 in Europe.
• Rumors of a remaster have been circulating for some time, with claims that it will come out in November 2022, on the 20th anniversary of its original release. Of course, this was not the case but given its proximity and the alleged inclusion of dual analogue controls, it's possible that the release was delayed and that claims of its sequels receiving less thorough remasters could come true.
• The remaster includes numerous improvements to lighting, textures, geometry, and physics, as well as the restoration of details lost in the Wii port of the game. The introduction of dual analogue controls, which bring the game up to date with modern first-person titles, is the most significant change in terms of gameplay additions. Samus' visor was controlled by the Gamecube controller's C-Stick in the original version of the game, forcing players to handle all movement and shooting with a combination of the main thumbstick and buttons. It's also worth noting that in both handheld and docked modes, the game appears to run at a steady 60 frames per second.

Other Nintendo news:

• At Nintendo Direct, Pikmin 4 received an official gameplay trailer as well as a release date. The game looks exactly how you would expect a Pikmin game to look, with cute creature designs and the player launching a small army of Pikmin to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. It will officially launch on July 21, 2023, not the "leaked" May 23 date we saw a couple of days ago.
• The Nintendo Switch is now the third-best-selling console of all time, overtaking the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. The console has reportedly sold a total of 122.5 million units in its six years on the market, over nine times the number of Wii U consoles.
• The classic rhythm game Samba de Amigo has finally been given a sequel after over 20 years. Samba de Amigo: Party Central will be released at some point in summer 2023 and feature gameplay similar to the original title with numerous additions and the ability to use the Switch JoyCons in a similar way to the iconic maraca controllers from the past releases of the first game.
• A slew of new titles and extra content was announced at Nintendo Direct; check out our writeup of what you might have missed at the event here.