In what will possibly be the last Metroid Prime-related post of the day, another interview with series producer Kensuke Tanabe has revealed some telling additional detail in relation to the current status of the IP beyond Metroid Prime: Federation Force.

Some of the negative reaction to the 3DS title has come from the fact that it's far-removed from fan hopes for a Metroid Prime IV home console release. Unfortunately, Tanabe-san has indicated to Eurogamer that no extensive development on a home console game is currently taking place, and that the scale of the game - with a presumed three year development time - would see a new entry fall on the Nintendo NX hardware.

If we started for Wii U now, it would likely take three years or so. So it would likely now be on Nintendo's NX console. It's a long time but it would need to include a lot of content, which would take a lot of work on the development side. ...I'm the producer of the Metroid Prime series, and [Metroid series co-creator] Yoshio Sakamoto is the one in charge of Metroid itself. I'm not sure when he's planning on making such an announcement so I can't speak for him.

I'm not thinking about anything like that [partnering with another studio] right now. We have nothing to announce on working with any specific team.

Some have considered whether a new Prime title could span multiple planets in an intergalactic adventure, but Tanabe-san has thoughts on a more intimate yet complex setting. "I would have one [planet] and would focus on the timeline, and being able to change that. That's one interesting idea I have in mind... but I understand many people thought that [Echoes] was too difficult".

Finally, Tanabe-san acknowledged the merits of dual-screen GamePad play for the franchise, but reiterated that it's simply not likely to happen.

It is a great idea, I agree. Truth be told, making HD games takes a lot of time and resources. I haven't been able to collect a team or the resources to do it.

Not particularly pleasing news on the prospects of a Wii U entry, but nevertheless the series producer is clearly considering the next move for the Prime IP.