I am all for Retro doing something different, and if Retro asked to do Donkey Kong then I am excited about them working on the title.  If Nintendo forced them to do it, then I think that is a bad call...because I believe Retro should be able to use their amazing art teams, and programmers to create an original idea or at least work on a desired project after working so hard on the Metroid franchise.

If this rumor is true, I hope it is a mainline Donkey Kong and not just another spin-off.

What's the source of this rumor?  IGN pulling stuff out of their magic hat to generate page views?

"Someone from the floor."

I wouldn't be surprised is this is just horsecrap, but it might not be. We'll find out soon enough.

Will it be another Kid Icarusgate? Time will tell.

STAY TUNED!

Rumors before E3 make me hesitant to believe them. It is just a way to hype up the show more.

What is a mainline Donkey Kong game, though? The series has taken so many different forms that I'm not sure there's a standard at this point.

That is true. Are we talking the NES titles? The DKC series of platformers? The Mario and DK series?

I would imagine that the platformers is what TJ is talking about.

Well, all of them (except stuff like Barrel Blast) are platformers, they're just very different kinds of platformers.

Basically a platformer, year. We only had 1 on the N64, and sorta 1 on GCN (Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is not a traditional platformer). We have mostly had spin-off's like Donkey Konga and Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.

DKC4 or bust

ALL ABOARD

We also had DK King of Swing on the GBA and DK Jungle Climber on the DS, which were both platformers, albeit very, very unconventional ones.

I didn't see the "Hint" that led to Donkey Kong, and IGN has no one left with connections to Nintendo anymore, so I'm gonna go ahead ans say some lines crossed and what the guy on the floor said was "Jungle Beatdown" or "Congo Country" which was interpreted as being another Donkey Kong game when it is in fact a new IP.

If this rumor ends up true, I'll be supremely disappointed.  Just the idea of waiting 3 years to see what Retro was working, and the finding out they're working on a B/C-list franchise like Donkey Kong would be incredibly underwhelming.

I agree, but at this point I just want to see something, anything, by them; I want to know that they're not dead.

I'm totally with Insanolord.  They released three of the best games in the pantheon of Nintendo platforms and then POOF! disappeared for the next two years. Very strange.

However, since two years is about what it takes to make a full-fledged Wii game, it wouldn't surprise me if a Retro game will be the big title this Christmas (since it'll be finished already, or close to it), and Zelda will get delayed to early 2011.  That's my call.

The Metroid franchise was basically dead when Retro Studios was given it (there hadn't been a Metroid game in over 7 years and its only appearance was Samus being playable in Super Smash Bros.) and they made it better and more popular than it ever had been. The Donkey Kong franchise used to be a A-list franchise too (Donkey Kong Country was one of the best selling games of all time), and I have no doubt Retro could restore Donkey Kong to its glory too.

Maybe Zelda is the game Retro's been working on!

Whoo-woooo!

That was a rumor at one point too.

There's no way that Nintendo would let a non-Japanese developer work on a "sacred cow" franchise like Zelda.  No way.  Now the B-level franchises like Donkey Kong, Metroid, StarFox, F-Zero, etc. - those are and have been fair game.  But Pokemon, Mario, and Zelda will always be Japan-developed, I'm confident in that.

Of course, at this point somebody will scream "Mario RPG", at which time I will tell you to shut up.

Not to mention that Super Mario RPG is just a spin-off rather than a mainline Mario game (and it would still count as Japan-developed since Square is a Japanese company).

And yet, on the most recent RFN there was the discussion of how Reggie being appointed to his position was surprising, and not just because of his Pizza-Hut origins.

Wasn't it an American branch of Capcom that developed several Zelda games already? ;)

Nope, those were down by the Japanese based Flagship. You may be confusing them with the American based Flagship Studios (whose biggest game was Hellgate: London).

I'm calling it now: I'm gonna be the next Reggie when I grow up. Better start practicing taking names now. Maybe he's looking for an apprentice?

I want them to do F-zero for Wii. Retro would make that awesome, if anyone could top Sega's F-zer GX it would be retro. If it's donkey kong they will need to have a impressive trailer to get me to care.

First person banana collecting?

"F-you elephant! Get your own 4500 bananas!"

I demand that the player be forced to collect bananas, Jinjos, and Bafmodads, and get no unlockable rewards for collecting all of them.  If this is not included, it is not canon.

I demand Greg be hired to do Donkey Kong's voice acting.

HEEE-HRUUAAW!

I want first person Dixie Kong helicoptering, motionplus enabled. 

Am I the only one who would prefer it to be 2D?  I'm actually not excited for another possible DK, frankly I think it would be a waste of Retro's skills. 

if the rumor is true that would explain the mass exodus from Retro to Armature studios, sadly this seems very Nintendo.

plus Armature could be a double entendre, where as it 1 means a skeletal structure that holds something together, and 2 Are Mature, meaning they make adult oriented games.

Can it really be considered a mass exodus though? It was only 3 people who left.

I would have no problem with this rumor being true, I know Retro would do a great job.

usually when people leave a company, they don't just leave for a change of pace, its usually because they get to move, Armature isn't too far. I don't see why the heads of a company would leave a company to do the same thing in the same town, unless something went down. Nintendo has been known to mismanage their western studios, so its not a stretch. The fumbled Rare, they fumbled SK, and the only thing GREAT to come out in the last couple years was the Metroid Series. Hopefully, this is all false and not another Starfox Adventure incident. As much as I like Retro, it doesn't seem a good fit for them to be doing Donkey Kong. I would imagine maybe Kid Icarus, or some new shooting franchise, but Nintendo never does what you hope they would do. They do something totally wacky.

Rare is a complete mess and has been for more than 10 years, I don't think anyone could help them. Silicon Knights is apparently willing to do more with Nintendo, but maybe Nintendo is reluctant since their last few games have not sold well.

Speaking of Star Fox, that would be interesting for Retro Studios (although Nintendo doesn't seem too interested in the franchise right now).

The most fun I have had with a Star Fox game is the multiplayer on Assault. That either says something about me, or the franchise.

I'm finding it hilarious that people seem to know exactly "what Retro would be good at" keep in mind this is a company that went from not having made anything to making some thing that people consider one of the greatest games of all time and because they're new and all they've had the chance to make was FPMetroid games everyone thinks they can only do either shooters or revive old franchises.  I say let them do whatever they want because they've already proven to be a competent developer.  If they were handed something like Donkey Kong then something must have happened behind the scenes where they've proven to be the best people for the job.

I honestly don't care what they're working on because whatever it is I know will be fantastic.

That mode had a lot of potential, but was a bit too limited. I really hope they give it another go and flesh it out more in the next Star Fox game.

What has Retro done besides the Metroid Prime games? Anything?

Nothing. They were working on some GameCube games (like Raven Blade), but those got canceled when Nintendo asked them to make Metroid Prime. All of the games they have had published have been Metroid games.

Yeah baby! I will gladly let my hopes get dashed to pieces if this isn't true only to keep this amazing excitement in me burning for a few days.

Armature's Mission Statement according to Linkedin

"Armature Studio is located in Austin, TX and was founded by industry veterans in engineering, art, and design.

We aim to maintain the creative flexibility of an independent studio while partnering with publishers to create compelling, high quality games."

http://www.linkedin.com/companies/974502/Armature+Studio?trk=pro_other_cmpy

the question is what did Retro do before Metroid Prime? That depends on Who you mean...Retro is composed of veterans, but the staff has never been totally solid.

as much as i love Nintendo franchises, even Zelda which I love deeply...even Zelda according to scathing Twilight Princess reviews gets old. Although, i didn't find it that bad.

It's always possible they still want to work with Nintendo but be independent. Sakurai left Nintendo a few years ago but has continued to work on games just for them.

yeah, but their goal being maintaining creative flexibility seems to indicate that they couldn't previously.

remember that when Retro started they had about 6 or so project that got shelved so that they could focus on MP/2/3/Trilogy.

I don't think they ever got to revisit those IP's and I'm not sure Nintendo is too interested in most of them if any of them at all.

the people who worked on those projects are all gone since mp2, i don't think any of the current members would want to revisit those either. The best thing would be something similar in the scifi genre to Metroid, just not in the fictional universe. If its Donkey Kong it better be Donkey Kong Galaxy! Emphasis on Galaxy! Still, i was really hoping they would make a new franchise.

More like Kingdom Kong.

Eh, I find this rather disappointing.  I'm tired of the same old shit.  I'm tired of every Nintendo game being Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid, Kirby, Donkey Kong, etc.  If it's something new it's total lameass stuff like Endless Ocean or the Wii Series.  It's either crap or sequel.  I do enjoy Nintendo's franchises and I'm sure I'll continue to but they're stale.  They're enjoyable but they need to be complimented by something new and unique.  I became a Nintendo fan because they didn't rest on their laurels.  Their constant reliance of franchises is un-Nintendo.

So after all this time I was really curious to see what Retro could do if they didn't have to cater to a franchise.  Nope, I guess I never get to find that out.  I don't even think Donkey Kong fits Retro that well.  I tend to associate Retro with more realistic visuals and presentation.  DK is cartoony and not very serious.  Now we've only seen Retro do Metroid so I guess we don't truly know if this fits them or doesn't.  Instinctively it feels like Nintendo just assigning them DK though.  Rare did show however that Donkey Kong and cutting edge graphics can co-exist.  So it isn't like Retro's graphic and artistic talents have to go to waste.

If they can restore Donkey Kong to the level of prestige he had during the Rare days then that's great and we'll get a great game.  But Nintendo is just so formulaic these days.  There won't be any real surprises at E3 because Nintendo doesn't make surprising games anymore (unless it's surprisingly bad like Wii Music).  They only make safe games.

If this is true, my abandonment of the Wii will be complete.

Promise?

May I ask why you think a great studio can't make a great game?