Retro Studios, the company behind Metroid Prime 4, has taken under its wing, a former PlayStation employee whose expertise is hoped to set straight the aforementioned game’s tumultuous production.
Jon Marcella has had a prolific career from PlayStation, lasting for nearly a decade.
A prolific career
Looking at his portfolio via LinkedIn, it shows Marcella starting an artistic career before becoming a localization tester for Square Enix. A role he fulfills for the next two or so years since landing it in 2008.
By November of 2010, Jon Marcella sees himself switching companies to Santa Monica Studios, where he became a designer. His initial project with the company was God of War: Ascension, where he gained experience in the various aspects of game design.
Almost three years after, in March 2013, Marcella has seen promotion to a senior designer position where he works with God of War (PS4). Being a higher position from his former job in the same company, it sees Marcella employing new tools, including scripting.
At exactly nine years and nine months, Jon Marcella shows himself leaving Santa Monica Studios in order to join Nintendo as an environment designer. Thus, jumping to the present where Marcella has been working for Nintendo for three months since.
But what does this imply to Metroid Prime 4, which is a title that had seen issues throughout its development? One by seeing what had been a kickstarted project scrapped and restarted from scratch. Another, and more recently, it seeing in dire need of someone to lead its production. To say the least, the development of Metroid Prime 4 has been nothing but trouble.
Valued contribution
Someone, as experienced as Jon Marcella alone, is not necessarily going to fix Metroid Prime 4’s inherent issues in development. But having someone who has relevant experience in his tools and the trade does make for a significant addition where it counts. In the case of Marcella, it’s about designing an engaging and interactive environment.
While that will not guarantee smooth-flowing progress for the project, things are significantly at a better prospect with someone like the guy in the development team.
Despite its popularity, the Metroid franchise has relatively few presences in recent years. Discounting the fact that the series has seen its share of bad entry, the most recent game has been nothing but a remake of an existing. Particularly, the release of Metroid: Samus Returns on the 3DS, essentially merely rebooting on the franchise and not expanding.
Should Metroid Prime 4 become fruition, it will effectively be the first in the franchise to arrive on the Switch.
Image used courtesy of SuperMetalDave64/YouTube Screenshot