Retro Studios

Retro Studios is an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas, USA. It was founded in 1998 by Jeff Spangenberg as a second-party developer to Japan-based video game company Nintendo. It is currently wholly owned by Nintendo (and is thus a first-party developer, rather than a second-party one as it once was), with over 50 employees.

History
Retro struggled in its early years, dealing with several cancelled projects and lay-offs. Then Nintendo offered the company the license to the long-dormant Metroid franchise which proved to be a turning point for the company. The first big project that Retro Studios worked on with Nintendo was Metroid Prime, a game that would become one of the biggest titles for the Nintendo GameCube, receiving both critical and public acclaim. In 2001, then-president Jeff Spangenberg sold his share of stock in the company to Nintendo and left shortly thereafter. In 2003, Michael Kelbaugh was named president of Retro Studios. In 2004 Retro released Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which proved to be just as much of a critical success as the first game. Retro is currently developing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for the Nintendo Wii.

Canceled Projects
--This is a list of projects canceled during Retro's early days in development.
 * Action Adventure — (canceled in favor of Metroid Prime)
 * Car Combat (Thunder Rally) - (canceled)
 * NFL Retro Football - (canceled)
 * Raven Blade for the Nintendo GameCube — (canceled in favor of Metroid Prime)

Nintendo GameCube

 * Metroid Prime — (2002)
 * Metroid Prime 2: Echoes — (2004)

Nintendo DS

 * ''Metroid Prime Hunters - (2006) (involved with art direction and general supervision, though actual development took place at NST)

Wii

 * Metroid Prime 3: Corruption — (in development, due August 27th, 2007)