Metroid Prime is a first-person action-adventure video game made by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube game console . Metroid Prime is a video game developed by Retro Studios and Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube , released in North America on November 17 , 2002 . It is the first 3D game in the Metroid series , and is classified by Nintendo as a first-person adventure rather than a first-person shooter , due to the large exploration component of the game .