Nintendo has confirmed that Metroid: Other M has not met sales expectations in the US. Speaking recently, Reggie Fils-Aime stated that Nintendo thought the game would sell a million units in the North American territory alone. However, currently it is only approaching half of that total, with Fils-Aime believing it will not hit target through the holiday period.
We believe that it could be, should be a million unit title. We're not going to get there, not through the holiday. And we are doing a lot of thinking as to why. Because it's a great game. The consumer reaction because of the quality has been strong. We're doing a lot of thinking about why we didn't get there. I think the marketing was strong, advertising was very good, the social media we did was very positive.
- Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime.
Speaking about why the game, which Cubed3 scored 9/10, perhaps did not appeal to fans and if this was to do with Samus Aran's characterisation, Fils-Aime continued by saying:
First off, [I have] nothing but the greatest respect for the development team. Mr. Sakamoto [co-creator of Metoid] did a wonderful job. His partnership with us in promoting the game was stellar. Team Ninja [is] absolutely fabulous. I'm not going to sit here and criticise a style of the game, but have I read the same feedback that said, broadly, that the portrayal of Samus felt different than how the player in the past had internalised the character. I've heard and read the same feedback. Do I think it's warranted or not? I'm not quite sure yet... I don't yet believe that that is the driving factor to the performance of the game."
Will we see more Metroid in the future? Reggie thinks so, "I certainly hope so. I'm a passionate fan of Samus and the Metroid series""
Have you played Metroid: Other M, and why do you think it did not match sales of the Metroid Prime series?