Released just over a week ago, Metroid Prime: Federation Force is not doing too well in the Japanese market.
As reported on Eurogamer a few days ago, the spin-off title is said to have sold less than 4,441 copies during its opening week. According to Famitsu, Federation Force is sitting at last place in the Japanese top 20 charts. With the title now released in North America and Europe, we'll continue to monitor these sales.
Federation Force is first Metroid title to be released in six years, and the only Metroid game to be released during the 30th anniversary of the series. Since its initial 2015 announcement, Federation Force has been hit with intense scrutiny from both gamers and fans of the original series.
From the high dislike ratio on its 2015 E3 trailer, to a petition demanding for the cancellation of the title; many have criticised the title for its visuals, lack of traditional Metroid elements, and absence of Samus Aran. In a March trailer released this year, Nintendo went as far to disable the like/dislike feature within hours of uploading.
The news comes a month after the fan remake of Metroid 2, AM2R, was hit with a DMCA takedown notice from Nintendo. In an email sent from a lawyer in Nintendo, it claimed that the title infringed on Nintendo's copyrighted materials, and requested the download to be removed immediately. Created by DoctorM64, the remake took roughly six years to complete and was released on the day of Metroid's 30th anniversary.
Quick Take
Like a lot people, my first impressions of Federation Force weren't too great. When I first saw the E3 trailer; I thought the game looked dated as all hell and knew right off the bat that this wasn't going to be the title for me. I think if these sales continue to do poorly throughout North America and Europe, Nintendo definitely needs to do some soul-searching.
What are your thoughts on Federation Force? Do you think this will be a complete flop? Are you interested in playing it at all? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
