This may be the ONLY time for a spin-off; by which I mean that the game has been somewhat in development since the DS. The game might not scale well to whatever the NX is, and people might stop buying 3DS games once the NX is out. Nintendo might not be able to wait until the next main Metroid game to release FF, and…

But Federation Force isn’t the reason why fans aren’t getting what they want. If Federation Force didn’t exist, there still wouldn’t be a main-line Metroid game coming out.

I’m an idiot. I meant Federation Force, and it’s not letting me fix my comment. Ah, well.

Isn’t it true that the next Mass Effect isn’t going to have Shepard in it? I thought they were doing a time-skip with an all-new cast.

So Nintendo isn’t allowed to expand the series beyond the main character even in a spin-off game?

I think it’s more about Nintendo having an interesting idea and Metroid fans being overly hateful.

Samus isn’t in the title for Metroid Prime: Hunters either. It’s a spin-off.

This isn’t the next Metroid game—it’s a Metroid Prime spin-off.

I am pleased by this.

I do.

I heard the next Mass Effect game isn’t going to have Samus playable in it either. Worst game ever.

Hey, Ki!

So much anime...

I think someone with Christian values would be much better off praying for guidance and asking advice from trusted friends and family instead of listening to or worrying about anything from Dr. Nerdlove. It’s like asking a wolf for advice on how to be a sheep.

And here I was hoping it wasn’t F2P. Oh well.

I guess this is where we disagree. There are a few exceptions where certain games obviously take place in reference to other games in the series, but there is no overall grand scheme that places all the games on a timeline.

I just really don’t think the creators care nearly as much about about the timeline as the fans do. It’s not really necessary for the series, and Nintendo can always re-retcon it into something completely different, so I don’t really take it into consideration. To me, the real timeline of the series is a lot more…

I really don’t think that Nintendo thinks about the timeline at all in most cases until someone asks them “Hey, where does this game fit on the timeline?”.

It really doesn’t. I find it amusing that people take that idea seriously, even if it is official per Nintendo. It’s obvious they don’t develop their games with a timeline in mind—nor should they. Each game in the series is more of a re-imagining of the same core concepts found in all the games.

The Zelda timeline is an illusion.