Bit.Trip Runner is a platformer, but it’s not as predictable as you might imagine. You control Commander Video, an all-black blob with protruding sticks representing his arms and legs, and you have only limited say in exactly how he moves. Commander Video is an impatient hero, so he will not wait for you to push right on the D pad for him to begin moving. Instead, he jogs at a steady rate all the time, and you have to time your jumps, slides, and karate chops in time with the obstacles to keep your plucky protagonist alive. It’s not particularly ..read the full article

[GameTrailers]

[GameTrailers]

Sega of America has recently interviewed High Voltage Software concerning their upcoming Wii game Tournament of Legends. Check out the question and answer session below.

Tournament of Legends is another Wii exclusive from HVS. Why is that — is Wii your favorite platform?

[Kerry Ganofsky] Wii is an amazing platform but asking us to choose a favorite is like asking a parent to choose a favorite child. (laughs) We decided to release Tournament of Legends on the Wii for two reasons: first, the gameplay was designed specifically for the platform and second, building on our Quantum3 technology, we were able to ..read the full article

Gamespot has been given some exclusive access to Project Needlemouse (now Sonic the Hedgehog 4).  Recently, they had a chance to sit down with Sega’s Ken Balough for an interview on the upcoming Sonic 4 game.  Check it out below.

GameSpot: Why did you choose to go with a title like Sonic 4? Does this mean this is a direct sequel to the Genesis games?

Ken Balough: I think one aspect to keep in mind is this game is truly a labor of love. A lot of us grew up on the Sega Genesis console; in fact, I remember vividly ..read the full article

[Above is just an "artist's rendition" don't wet your pants just yet]

The Asahi Shimbun has an interview with Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, where he comments on a successor to the Nintendo DS. Iwata tells the paper:

The future handheld will be able to output high resolution graphics and have a motion sensor.

While Nintendo is developing the machine, Iwata did not set a release date. Instead, he mentioned DS sales in North America reached an all time high in 2009.

Most forums are buzzing about a Fall 2010 date, we shall see!

[NeoGaf] [silconera] [asahi]

ONM: Recently, you said that you’ve wanted to create a multiplayer Mario game for 15 years. Why did it take so long to come to fruition?

Shigeru Miyamoto: We’ve been experimenting with many different approaches over the years. As a result, through trial and error, we realised we finally had the know-how to create a multiplayer mode. But the biggest change was the availability of the technology within the Wii hardware.

Before then, it was not actually possible. It’s quite a technical thing you are talking about – to enable multiplayer mode in one fixed screen like in Super Mario Bros – ..read the full article

Back in October, we had an exclusive interview with Tommy Tallarico of Video Games Live on our podcast. The interview was over two hours long and had TONS of great stuff. Tommy even exclusively revealed to us that Video Games Live would have a PBS special that would air in 2010. And now, I was just emailed a press release that confirms it. The PBS Special airs June 2010, followed by a DVD and Blu-Ray release, as well as their Volume 2 CD (Volume 1 was AMAZING by the way) sometime in the Summer of 2010. So, check out the ..read the full article

Click here to view the embedded video.

“The Tracks Go On” — A picture book published by Kin-no-hoshi sha Co., Ltd. in 2003. Story by Fumiko Takeshita, art by Mamoru Suzuki.

Iwata: Does somebody like trains? Before I discovered video games, back when I was in middle school, I was absolutely crazy about trains. There were steam locomotives which ran in Hokkaido and were about to be decommissioned, and I went up there and tracked it down so I could get photos, and I collected model trains…. Things like that. Was there a railroad fan on the development staff?

Aonuma: No railroad fans.

Iwamoto: There weren’t any at first.

Iwata: What do you mean, “at ..read the full article

Click here to view the embedded video.

In a recent interview regarding Zelda Wii, Eiji Aonuma, talked about improving the Twilight Princess experience:

With Twilight Princess, we challenged ourselves to create the most vast and realistic world the series had ever seen, but we don’t feel that we were able to fully complete this objective. With that as a starting point for our improvements to the series in the future, we are of course working on a new game for Wii.”

“For any game to be remembered for a long time, just like Ocarina of Time was, the game must give the strong impression that it has set a ..read the full article

Click here to view the embedded video.

Producer Eiji Aonuma talks us through the legend of Link

In a recent interview with Scribblenauts Technical Director, Marius Fahlbusch, he was asked by ONM about a “Scribblenauts Wii”:

ONM: What’s next for 5th Cell? What about a Wii version of Scribblenauts?

MF: It would certainly be interesting to do the game for the Wii, but for the moment we are concentrating on Scribblenauts for DS. We’re always looking to do something new, something that hasn’t been done before. We’re going to continue on that path.

Going by what Cell 5 has done for the DS and their brand of “You create/draw it”, I think we’re in store for some pretty cool ..read the full article

Miyamoto answers the following:

* Mario Couldn’t Jump At First * The Reason Mario Wears Overalls * I Saw A Pipe On The Way Home From The Office * Letting Everyone Know It Was A Good Mushroom * Allowing Novices To See the Ending Too * A Medal for Skilled Players * A Block Floating In Mid-Air Is Unnatural * Capturing That Mario-Esque “Smell” * The Correct Way to Enjoy An Action Game

Mario ..read the full article

[Illustration by obakeobake]

Why did the development team finally decided to include the Princess as a playable character in the series?

Aonuma:

“Why would an archenemy like the Phantom become your ally, we asked ourselves, and during that discussion we came up with the idea that one way would be if a second character took control of that Phantom for you. But who? We thought Zelda might be an interesting and appropriate character.”

“Her spirit form can take on the adventure together with Link”

“So that’s how we decided upon the story where Zelda is going to have her body taken away by an enemy. ..read the full article

Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma reveals even more about the change of the “Zelda structure” than he did yesterday when he was interviewed by ONM

“We’re making efforts regarding the total flow of the Zelda game. So far, the basic flow of the Zelda games is you’re exploring a field, you go to a dungeon, you conquer it and return to the field. We’re looking at altering that traditional flow. That’s all I can share, and I can’t say more until E3 next year.”

– Eiji Aonuma