Samus is mostly free these days. She hasn’t had a new mission in over four years now, since Metroid: Other M on Nintendo’s WIi. So it seems like in her off time, she decided to take a break from bounty hunting, and instead… go monster hunting. Yes, that’s right, Samus Aran will be featured in Capcom’s upcoming Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate for the Nintendo 3DS in the form of costumes (both, a regular Samus and a Zero Suit Samus).
This is just another instance of Nintendo allowing third parties to use their characters for their games- Bayonetta 2, for instance, has a Star Fox easter egg. Meanwhile, Tecmo Koei got to make a Zelda themed Dynasty Warriors (the surprisingly successful Hyrule Warriors), while Namco Bandai got to handle the reins on Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. 4- arguably Nintendo’s biggest games for the entire generation.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate launches exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS, in 2015 in the west, and in the coming weeks in Japan.