When the time comes to choose a developer for the next Metroid game, Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios will be given "very high priority," according to legendary Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto.

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Speaking with the Official Nintendo Magazine, as reported by Nintendo Insider , Miyamoto, who is the general manager of Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis & Development division, spoke positively about Retro and indicated it would be given strong consideration for the next Metroid game."Retro is a very capable studio and can design a lot of different types of game and I know that because I produced Metroid Prime," Miyamoto said before explaining that Retro requested to develop another Donkey Kong game following Donkey Kong Country Returns. He went on to say, "I think Retro has really come to a point at which it's possible for it to have multiple lines running at the same time and having different projects in development. I totally think there are possibilities to see different projects from Retro in the future."As for Metroid specifically, he called it a "really important" franchise for Nintendo before stating, "I definitely think it's a franchise that we value and we certainly want to see what we can do with it in the future. And, obviously, Retro is a very high priority in terms of the potential team that would be considered for working on a Metroid game."News on the Metroid front has been quiet as of late, with one of the few recent headlines involving the shutdown of a Metroid fan film on Kickstarter . The most recent release in the Metroid series was Other M, an action game for Wii developed by Team Ninja and released in 2010. Retro's last entry in the series was Metroid Prime 3: Corruption in 2007. It also developed the first two Metroid Prime games and is currently finishing up development on Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for Wii U, set for release on December 6.Would you like to see Retro return to the Metroid series, or would you prefer that Metroid be handed off to a different or new developer in the same way it was with Retro over a decade ago? Let us know in the comments.

Chris Pereira is a freelance writer who spends his spare time agonizing over the final seasons of The X-Files. Check out what he's saying on Twitter and follow him on IGN