Metroid GBA confirmed to be new game

[03.24.01] » Nintendo's Ken Lobb says the upcoming title is not a port of Super Metroid.

   Ken Lobb, Nintendo of America's director of game development, today confirmed that the Metroid title for the Game Boy Advance would be an all-new game, reports IGNPocket.

   Word first broke last January that a brand new Metroid game was in development for the Game Boy Advance. In a speech earlier this month, however, Nintendo of Japan's Satoru Iwata stated that Nintendo would be producing "new updated versions of classic games" like Metroid -- leading many to believe that the GBA title would be a port.

   Ken Lobb clarified Iwata's comments at the Camp Game Boy Advance press event: While the GBA game will play similarly to the original Metroid trilogy, the actual contents of the game are new. "One of the things I wanted to get across in today's meeting is that Metroid is not Super Metroid," Lobb said at the event. "It's something new. And that's something that will hopefully be seen at E3 for our sweet little Game Boy Advance.

   Both "Metroid Advance" and its GameCube counterpart are expected to debut at the Electronic Entertainment Expo this May.