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[/float]When Metroid Prime was first announced at E3 2001, many gaming publications and fans were eager to play Samus Aran's first venture into the 3-D plane. Emotions shifted from excitement to concern however, when Nintendo turned over development of the project to Texas-based Retro Studios. The perspective of the game also took on a dramatic change; players would control Samus in a first-person, behind-the-visor viewpoint. In an era where Halo had only recently kicked off the first-person shooter trend on consoles, fans were understandably worried about the future of the Metroid franchise. Handing over the keys of a sci-fi, adventure-based series to a little-known Texas developer at the onset of the FPS craze seemed nuttier than Samus charging through fire and magma without her Varia suit, and the shift to first-person did nothing to allay the fears of fans. Fortunately, Metroid Prime proved naysayers wrong: instead of becoming a shallow shooter like many concerned, the title perfectly translated the Metroid experience into the third dimension.
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