New Metroid game named?

[05.14.01] » "Metroid Prime" domain names snapped up by seemingly-fictious people.

   Planet GameCube has reported that "Metroid Prime" may be the name of one of Nintendo's upcoming Metroid titles. As first noted by Gaming Age forum member milhouse31, six domain names containing the "Metroid Prime" domain name were all snapped up on May 7th by buyers using free e-mail accounts and goofy names. These are likely aliases used by Nintendo to hide the title from searches for Nintendo-owned domain names.

   Assuming that it is indeed the name of one of the Metroid games, "Metroid Prime" would suggest the game is a prequel to the original Metroid trilogy. And not only are prequels generally in vogue, a prequel story would be the most logical way of continuing the Metroid franchise given that the last Metroid died in Super Metroid, the series' previous installment. Of course, there's no word on whether the "Metroid Prime" name would be intended for use with Retro Studios' GameCube Metroid game, with the portable Game Boy Advance Metroid title, or with both.

   The GameCube Metroid title will be unveiled at Nintendo's pre-E3 press conference on Wednesday; it's possible that the Game Boy Advance version will be revealed as well.