Nintendo is not happy with the current progress of Metroid Prime 4 for the Nintendo Switch and despite the game being years into development, the company has decided to essentially scrap the existing progress and turn development over from an unnamed third-party studio back to the original creators of the Prime series, Retro Studios.  It's such shocking news that Nintendo published a video of Shinya Takahashi, Senior Managing Executive Officer, explaining it all.

Don't expect to see Metroid Prime 4 for another few years now.  I wouldn't even be surprised if it became the next The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and launched on both the Switch and the Switch's eventual successor.  Progress on the game must have been abysmal for Nintendo to can it after years of work.  Of course, now I can't help but wonder how bad it was, who was working on it, and how hard Nintendo's team tried to help save it before giving up on it.  Maybe if we're very lucky, we'll learn the rest of the story someday.

My girlfriend has been creative again, this time taking a Uniqlo Pac-Man t-shirt with the famous maze on it from the company's collaboration with Namco and harvesting it for its fabric, then combining it with some Pac-Man and Ghosts pins that I've had in my collection for years but never used for anything.  The result is this fun framed artwork depicting Pac-Man (in fabric) and Ms. Pac-Man (as a pin; note the bow) on the run gobbling up pellets and avoiding the Ghosts.  She has plenty more ideas for gaming-related art and I can't wait to see what goes up on our walls next.

Capcom's Darkwing Duck for the Nintendo Entertainment System found new life for modern hardware in The Disney Afternoon Collection this generation, but many fans of the classic cartoon character hoped for a full-on DuckTales Remastered type of experience that could revitalize the brand.  One of those fans, Simon "Stealth" Thomley from Headcannon who was part of the team behind Sega's acclaimed Sonic Mania, had the chance to discuss the idea with representatives from Capcom at a recent E3 and worked with his team as well as Darkwing Duck writer Aaron Sparrow and artist James Silvani on an example pitch for a new Darkwing Duck adventure that would bridge the gap between the end of the 1990s cartoon and the relaunched storyline from "The Duck Knight Returns" comic book series.  Steelbeak, Taurus Bulba, and the Fearsome Five would have been featured as the game's villains.  Unfortunately, Thomley met with dead ends and silence after that initial interest, but that didn't stop him from releasing the pitch as a free single level demo of a reworked take on Liquidator's sewer level from the original game.  Check out these YouTube videos in which Thomley tells the story of the pitch and then plays through the entire level.

There are new elements in this pitch that set it apart from the original NES game.  The most significant inclusion has to be Darkwing's grapple gun that was a fixture of the cartoon, but not seen in the original game.  It's a shame that Capcom passed on this idea and that, accordingly to Thomley's sources, Disney is not interested in pursuing anything like this.  With Darkwing now reworked as a fictional character within the world of its DuckTales reboot and the cancellation of Darkwing's monthly comic book set in the continuity of the original cartoon, I fear the old Darkwing is well and truly gone.  That's a terrible shame, because I would have bought something like this without hesitation.

With 2018 behind us we say a final farewell to the year with a look back at our top picks for Game of the Year.  Once again we're joined by our friend Ross Polly as we count down the best games that came our way last year.  With so many contenders such as God of War, Spider-Man, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Kirby Star Allies, Mega Man 11 and beyond it's a challenge to narrow the field and pick an absolute best, but somehow over the course of an hour we managed to do it.  Send 2018 out in style with us!   Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, find us on Stitcher, subscribe via iTunes and Google Play, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan, or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way.