Although the critically acclaimed Metroid Dread was primarily developed by Spanish studio MercurySteam, Nintendo itself was heavily involved in the creation and marketing of the game, as you’d expect.
Like many major Nintendo Switch releases, Metroid Dread also benefited from the launch of amiibo, with a Samus/EMMI double pack available alongside the game itself. Nintendo developer Uenaka Minoru recently talked about creating amiibo via employment site and how his postgraduate study of ‘art anatomy’ helped shape the overall look of the figures (thanks, Nintendo Everything).
According to Minoru, the team wanted the two amiibo figures to look like they were facing each other when placed next to each other, so he used his knowledge of anatomy to create a “dynamic yet natural” pose that fans would be happy with.
“We decided to make Samus and EMMI amiibo, and I was also involved in overseeing them. So we specifically thought about placing the two figures so that when they line up, it looks like they’re facing each other, and we also had keeping in mind that customers would be happy if they had both together.
“It was difficult to express it, but I think I was able to use the knowledge I learned about the human body during my student days to create a dynamic but natural pose. I was very happy to be able to participate in the process of not only creating the CG, but actually creating something tangible.
“I was also very happy to be able to deliver a carefully crafted model to the customer and also experience the thrill of holding the product in my hands.”
Along with the interview, Nintendo showed two images of the amiibo in question, one of which appears to be a prototype of the final design, while the other shows Minoru’s approach to the product’s poses:
It’s hardly revolutionary stuff, but it’s interesting to know what kind of work went into creating the amiibo; we’re often guilty of assuming that the figures are simple adaptations of the poses used in the promotional material, but it seems like there’s a lot more thought put into it than we thought.
