Metroid Prime 2 - 20th Anniversary Interview With Bryan Walker (Producer On Prime 2)

[@KIWITALKZ]

FUN FACT: Bryan & I recorded this the day before the U.S Election TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:50 - EA Preparing Bryan To Work With Japanese Producers 01:49 - Challenges Of Working With Nintendo Japanese Producers 06:12 - Streamlining The Production Of Metroid Prime 2 09:35 - Managing Differences Between Japanese & American Culture 11:15 - Nintendo Is Obsessed With Microsoft Excel 12:30 - After Mario Kart 7 Nintendo Were Giddy With Retro Studios Processes 13:45 - “Always Give Developers Options” 15:08 - Bryan Was Hands Off With Prime 2’s Development 16:52 - Nintendo Doesnt Care About Marketing/Reggie Fils-Aime 20:18 - Metroid Prime 2 Sales/Metroid Prime 2 Remastered 22:38 - Favourite Boss 23:50 - Tanabe’s Influence On Bosses 26:00 - What Aspect Of Development Is The Most Costly 28:57 - Cost Of Game Development 33:10 - Metroid Games Are ONLY Made To Diversify Its Games LineUp 35:29 - Favourite Area 37:40 - Favourite Item Upgrade 39:10 - Favourite Music Track/Importance Of Music & Sound Design 41:54 - Celebrity Game Developers 44:22 - AAA Games These Days Are An International Endeavor 47:12 - Q+A - What Inspired The Darker Direction Of Prime 2 48:43 - Nintendo Thinks Of Games In Isolation 50:04 - Q+A - Nintendo’s Guard Rails 51:00 - Sakamoto’s Involvement 52:30 - Q+A - Lore Details That Bryan Thought Were Cool/Galactic Federation 53:43 - Bryan’s Thoughts On Metroid Prime 4 Trailer 55:43 - Metroid Fans Often Knocked On Retro Studios Doors Asking About Metroid Dread 57:09 - Retro Studios Is Kept In A Bubble/Metroid Series Sales 59:08 - Final Thoughts

[@daserfomalhaut9809]

"We just thought the world of Reggie." So do us fans man. Miss him every Direct. Bless him and Mr. Iwata.

[@nick-at-day]

"never pass up an opportunity to keep your mouth shut" is 100% goated advice

[@FranklinCorsino-v6v]

Not for the Fucking Shepherd

[@StiffAftermath]

Lol. Yeah, that's called self-control and humbleness.❤

[@momzwrite]

​@@FranklinCorsino-v6vI don't even agree with your reply, but I have to give you props that was a clever response

[@overflowyouknow]

He literally just resonates experience and confidence. Like this guy knows his shit.

[@spyfoxguy]

I'm feeling the WASP Nostalgia too

[@jordanfranck]

This guy is a class act

[@Thechozochampion]

I need a Prime 2 and Prime 3 remasters before Prime 4 drops

[@jasonball3496]

Incredible interview. Walker exudes intelligence and seems sharper than all the men I know who are half his age. And he is asked such great questions that also come from a place of intelligence and genuine curiosity. Wonderful to watch you two.

[@dompetro]

This is so fascinating. Coming from a music background, I find a lot of similarities in this mindset when it comes to tour managing and handling all the logistics involved in getting a band on the road successfully. Down to the day and the exact number, it’s so cool to see this perspective in another walk of life like producing one of the best games ever made. Cheers KIWI TALKZ, love all of the hardwork you’ve put into opening this fresh lens to Metroid and its production ❤

[@dompetro]

Like seriously man. Seeing you take the things you’ve learned in the other interviews and apply them to this chat, bravo. I’m sitting here mapping questions in my head only for you to ask them a second later 😂. You’re great at this!

[@robertkenny1201]

I would love for them to HD Remaster Metroid Prime 2 Echoes someday.

[@ItApproaches]

It and 3 should be ready now...we have to get them before Prime 4...

[@CorruptedDogg]

Nintendo’s probably got it done 2 years ago and is now sitting on it like so many other games

[@Leee275]

It's unrelated but I like how his dog seems to blend well with the rest of his room.

[@2NDFLB-CLERK]

▪️ A dog is a man's best friend. 🟥

[@frodofragginsgaming]

I love Bryans personality and this interview. Very informative

[@Foetoid2k6]

Prime 2 still my favourite of the trilogy!

[@SuperSunshine321]

Japan & Microsoft Excel, name a more iconic duo.

[@crawdad]

Retro is based in Texas though

[@SuperSunshine321]

​@@crawdad Check out 11:15. Japanese companies are known, among other things, for their love for Microsoft Excel.

[@stroyosh4670]

literally workin in excel rn 😭

[@momzwrite]

Hey Excel is a great tool, a true swiss army knife. But it's a jack of all trades, master of none scenario.

[@theherooftime]

I love your interviews so much.

[@KIWITALKZ]

❤️

[@x0j]

I've seen the localization for OOT in microsoft excel, it's honestly a decent way to do it

[@jackayers4955]

Wow. Was it in the gigaleak? Or you worked for Nintendo?

[@x0j]

@@jackayers4955 leak

[@CorruptedDogg]

Bryan is such a well spoken and knowledgeable guy. Truly a pleasure to listen to

[@Doran.]

Another awesome interview! Thanks for organizing these retrospective tribute interviews. They are really fascinating and fun!

[@7QWERTY13]

Asked what he'd like to see in a Prime 2 Remaster, and the first thing he mentions is the Wii controls. So based. 47:17 "I'm assuming Alien", I'd prefer if interviewers didn't prime their interviewee with Alien when they ask a question about Metroid's influences. I don't want them to feel any pressure to give the interviewer "the answer they are looking for", and I think the degree to which Alien _actually_ influenced Metroid has been severely overblown by fans who dearly want it to be more important than it actually is.

[@DGFTardin]

I will be "forced" to play Metroid Prime 2 non-remaster at this rate, because this game is top notch!

[@finistterra]

A masterpiece! Thank you for doing an exceptional job from start to finish. It was the first game I bought with my own money (savings), it was worth every penny. In my top 3 of all time! 💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤💜

[@CaptainDoge1]

Great interview! Thanks for featuring my question.

[@Hectorlph]

This man has some incredible depth of knowledge in his field. It was great to hear about his insight into the challenges of communication between the Japan team and his team. Those are things I never even thought about for game development.

[@ItApproaches]

It's crazy to see a guy who was once at EA of all places to not be an out of touch crazy person lol. Seems like he as like oh this is EA's ways, I guess I'll go elsewhere.

[@2NDFLB-CLERK]

▪️ crazy? 🟥

[@Terranigma23]

Game devs at EA are nice. The problem is more the shareholder who always want more money/pursuit the next "trend".

[@CorruptedDogg]

Do you think that EA only hires insane sociopaths? You’re the one who’s out of touch

[@av3nger3]

I've not watched the whole interview yet, but I always wondered if the troopers were more or less a starship troopers reference especially with that killer bug journal entry

[@KIWITALKZ]

In the last interview I did with him he did mention he had input into the Federation Marines due to his military background, if you had asked in my Q+A section I could've asked him, maybe next time.

[@av3nger3]

@KIWITALKZ Well the comment in the game isn't necessarily super specific to any movie necessarily. It just reminded me of it

[@Squigglies]

wonderful interview, wonderful studio ♥ The problem with our industry is we keep looking to tech and scaling up to "improve" but I would say the most effective method of making games more sustainable and cost efficient has always been: A rock solid team culture and leadership that are held accountable for defining scope and quality. Waiting for reviews to tell you what the team already knows years before is entirely too late, and devs are the ones that foot the bill with layoffs. There's no magic tech or AI to fix our broken pipelines and poor leadership - when directors keep overpromising and underdelivering, there has to be a better assessment of why that keeps happening. I don't think gamers want bigger games, but they DO want quality.

[@finistterra]

Beautiful interview! 🤗

[@lizardy2867]

Really enjoy the discussion about the marketing. Marketing really is never supposed to give feedback on the content of the product. In the simplest of terms, marketing should be sales persons, not people who help produce a good selling product. Even if a director is told about the marketing side of the project, that's time and mental energy spent on something which doesn't make a game. They aren't making a game that sells well, they're just making the best game they want, and the sales will come to meet when it is finished.

[@johanschneider4802]

This is awesome! I can listen to OG Retro people talking for ages :) Question, have you ever tried to connect with the old lead concept artist Andrew Jones (now known as Adroid Jones)? His direction on the design of Prime 2 was sooo cool and unique. I would love to hear him talk about it but I can't find anything online on him talking about his work on Metroid.

[@KIWITALKZ]

I’ve tried repeatedly to get a hold of him to no avail, his PR people are gate keepers so I don’t even know if he gets my requests. Androids career is so extensive though if I ever was to do a podcast with him I wouldn’t want to cover just Metroid

[@johanschneider4802]

@@KIWITALKZ That's true! He has done so much more interesting stuff :)

[@StiffAftermath]

Please, MP4, no fetch quests! Love the interview! Thank you, both! ❤

[@Raichu253]

Hat Trick kudos to the great Kiwi Talkz for puttin on for Echoes 🤘🏽

[@hmon661]

These interviews are so good.

[@AICW]

A $100 million budget game has to sell 6 million copies to break even... HOO BOY OH BOY

[@joshuasanderson7359]

A studio can make a great game these days. Just not a AAA one. Maybe not even a AA one.

[@lieutenantpepper2734]

"never pass an opportunity to keep your mouth shut "

[@xHeigoux]

quadraxis is cool indeed, but he's actually so stupidly easy once you know what to do. I probably lost like 1 energy tank the last time I played the game. other bosses are way harder on expert.

[@Leee275]

I recommend watching the video called "The Lost Soul Arts of Demon's Souls". More often than not, a boss fight that requires its own strategy to be beaten ends up being more memorable than a boss that is simply difficult to defeat

[@johnleonard9102]

Everything he said about Sakamoto confirms my theory that he absolutely hated Retro Studios and the Prime games.

[@Leee275]

@@johnleonard9102 In his previous interview he said that about the few times he interacted with them he was supportive in order for Retro to know how to handle progression and backtracking. The only thing he said is that they didn't interact much. Also I remember finding you under a Geek Critique video about Fusion saying how the game released alongside Prime to "sabotage" Prime, and then the channel owner responded with a link telling you how that isn't true.

[@yuriridley8144]

Amazing game. Thank you for your service. 🫡