It's like Perfect Dark all over again.
Prior to the launch of Perfect Dark on the Ninteno 64, Nintendo launched a website for the DataDyne corporation. DataDyne was the mysterious company featured in Perfect Dark.
With the launch of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes dawning soon, Nintendo is back at it with two new websites: Channel 51 and Orbis Labs.
The first site appears to be a site dedicated to proving conspiracies, and is loaded with all sorts of mysterious videos about aliens and UFOs (some of which is quite obviously footage from Metroid Prime 2 run though a program like Adobe's After Effects to distort it). The site also features a profile of its creator, a female scientist going by the name Samantha Manus, born in Sumas, WA, with a background in aeronautics and system design.
The other site, Orbis Labs, belongs to a military contractor. The "company" is currently developing a new device called the “Battle Sphere.” This weapon will enclose its driver inside and roll around the battlefield. Also, it has a pair of thermal cannons attached to either side for assault. The site says that video of the Battle Sphere is coming soon. There’s also a login area for “government officials.” There’s no doubt that this will soon be cracked by fans, similar to what happened to the DataDyne website.
These two sites offer an interesting glimpse into Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, but sadly don’t offer anything much in the way of new information. Most of the recognizable video on Channel 51 is from trailers of the game that have been out for a long time. The only possible hint at features is a thermal cannon power-up for Samus’ morph ball form, but this seems unlikely. Still though, it’s fun to poke around the sites. Perhaps the sites will become more interesting as we grow closer to release and more is revealed.
