Yuji Naka talks Ivy the Kiwi, teases new action game

In a Gamasutra interview, Prope founder and former Sonic Team head Yuji Naka mentioned that his new company is at work on a new action game -- but not the "game like Sonic" on which the studio was once working. "Unfortunately, we had to stop development for the time being for the 'Sonic-like platform game,'" Naka said. "However, we are in the process of developing another action game right now."

As for the company's latest game, the DS- and Wii-bound Ivy the Kiwi?, it came from an experiment by some Prope staffers. "I really felt some great potential in the concept as a game so we decided to make it as a company project and it evolved into Ivy the Kiwi." The project was first released on Windows Phone in Japan, Naka explains, because its touch screen was more stylus-friendly than the iPhone's. "However, Windows phones now have electrostatic type touch panels too and users ended up playing Ivy with their fingers anyways, so maybe we should release it on iPhone as well."