Metroid Primed for release

With GameCube titles conspicuous by their prolonged absence from the UK Top 40, Nintendo rolled up its sleeves yesterday with news of five million Euro promotion of the stupendously brilliant Metroid Prime, with a limited edition 'Metroid Pak' being released at around £130 (199 Euros) on March 21st to tempt gamers into buying the console.

The bundle features a free copy of the game, as well as an exclusive Metroid Prime name-plate (the disk that fits in the top of the lid of the cube), and the promotion is backed by TV ads, a "heavy-weight" print campaign (its "biggest ever" UK campaign for a GameCube title), and an MTV sponsorship deal.

Naturally, Big N's European boss David Gosen had plenty to say: "This high impact marketing campaign will bring all the Metroid Prime action and the female bounty hunter, Samus, to life across Europe.

"Metroid Prime sold a staggering 250,000 copies within one week of its release in the US and as the positive reviews keep coming in, European gamers are gearing up for the arrival of the classic gaming franchise on to the Nintendo GameCube for the first time," he added.

As we keep saying, Metroid Prime really is very good indeed - and Tom has barely stopped gushing about it since we got our import copy back in the dim distant days of November. Expect a review near its March 21st release date.