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This could be really big news. Yuji Naka's studio, Prope, revealed what is likely to be the "Sonic-like" game mentioned last year. And Ivy the Kiwi?, the studio's new game (the question mark is part of the title), has some interesting mechanics: the game uses drawn lines to propel a character, sort of like Kirby's Canvas Curse or Wireway, but lets players anchor one side of the line and move the other endpoint around while Ivy's on it, for finer control of the character's movement.

However, it's for Windows Mobile (or, as the platform is being called in Japan, Windows Phone). Not what you'd typically think of as a major gaming platform. This game is part of a move to change that -- it's a launch title for Japan's Windows Mobile Marketplace and will be out in December.

If you've got an iPhone -- and a really secure case to protect it -- you'll be able to play Prope's quirky Wii debut Let's Tap soon. Prope has started releasing individual games from the Wii collection, with the first, Let's Tap: Tap Runner, available on the App Store today for $4. Gem Game will follow on September 25 for .99, with Silent Blocks, Bubble Voyager, and Rhythm Tap coming after that.

In case you don't want to risk tapping your phone right off the table, the games offer a "touch" mode in which you can control them by tapping on the screen, or a "free" mode in which you can tap any part of the phone. Let's watch a trailer after the post break!

[Via GameSetWatch]

We're actually kind of surprised we didn't put this together earlier. Let's Tap features a "visualizer" mode that translates your percussive taps to pretty, swirly effects on the screen. SquidTV's Rick Mears got the bright idea to set the Wiimote on top of a speaker, crank up some Pink Floyd (the go-to band for freaky visual effects), and let the movements of the speaker provide the tapping. See for yourself after the break.

The result, once it really gets going, is an impressive, abstract display that moves to the beat. And now that we think about it, this must have been Prope's intent all along, as a music visualizer makes so much more sense than ... just a visualizer. Of course, who are we to try to make sense of a game that requires you to keep the controller out of your hands?

In Japan, Let's Tap comes in a large cardboard box containing two smaller cardboard boxes for use as tapping surfaces. In Europe, Sega is releasing a similar set as a "limited edition." In North America, the game comes with no boxes except the standard white plastic Wii game case. You're forced to find your own cardboard box.

Giant Bomb discovered that, if you buy the game at Best Buy, you get an exclusive "tapping pad" inside, which, as it reveals in its unboxing video, is basically a thick sheet of paperboard -- or, if you prefer, one-sixth of a box. We've embedded the video after the break, so you can see their impressions of this small card.

[Via GameSetWatch]

Before we even start this post, let's try to explain the elaborate premise of Yuji Naka's WiiWare title, Let's Catch. Okay, so, in Let's Catch, the object of the game is to both throw and catch things. In essence, it is a virtual game of catch. Wait, that's not elaborate at all. Never mind then.

With that out of the way, we suggest you check out the Let's Catch trailer above and peruse the screens below.

The latest weekly installment of Sega's Let's Tap trailer series, visible after the break, highlights the "Silent Blocks" mode, which basically forces us to unlearn one of the most basic tenets of Jenga: stop hitting the table, you jerk. Normally, jostling the play surface would bring about a quick and rage-filled end to any "stack of blocks" game, but in Let's Tap it's how you play.

In the insane world of Let's Tap (a world where you play video games by not touching controllers), you'd be a jerk for refusing to tap on the table.

We're getting dangerously close to the mid-June release of Let's Tap and ... wait, did we say "dangerously?" We obviously meant "thankfully," because how can a game that only requires minor movement of the hands be dangerous? Now that we think about it, there is the possibility of receiving an offhand smack, should your opponents in the Rhythm Tap mode -- seen in this latest video -- wish to throw you off your game.

Surely though, with visuals this tranquil and the constant tap-tap-tapping of fingers on cardboard oh crap it's driving us mad already. On second thought, we are dangerously close to the game's release.

With this trailer, Sega has managed to pull our attention away from the "Rhythm Tap" mode in Let's Tap just long enough to notice one of the other games. The "Tap Runner" mode here is unusual, and not just because you play it by slapping a flat surface. There really aren't that many side-scrolling platformer racing games these days, outside of this, Sonic Rivals and -- kind of -- Metro-Cross. And Metro-Cross is hardly from "these days."

Let's Tap's multiplayer racing looks like it could be enjoyable even if played by holding stuff. Like everything else in this game, the appeal is merely magnified by the novelty of being able to play without any stuff to hold.

We're quite excited that Let's Tap, Prope's "future tapping game," is in our immediate future (the next couple of months). Sega released a new trailer for the box-bopping game that presents Let's Tap as a family party game, much like a previous Japanese trailer did. This one adds visual "tap" effects that we wish could be real!

Let's Tap is a natural for "casual" players, since you don't even have to convince them to touch a controller. But its forward-thinking design and outstanding, unique aesthetic (not to mention the music) make it a lot more interesting to people like us than the average waggle minigame-fest. We approve, Sega, of marketing Let's Tap to the general audience. We also approve of the music in this trailer, even if it isn't the familiar theme.

Today, both Sega of America and Sega of Europe posted amazing Let's Tap artwork they received from Prope's Yuji Naka. Each branch received five pictures of the Tap Runner avatars, apparently hand-drawn by Naka. He even drew the logo on each one! The US office also got copies of the Let's Tap soundtrack and Tap Runner figurines.

Neither office has decided how it will give away the amazing swag yet, but we will let you know when they do. Right after we enter.

In other Let's Tap news, the European release, like the Japanese release, will include two big boxes -- as a "Limited Edition." We've contacted Sega of America about the stateside packaging. We need boxes!

While North America is still waiting for its first chance to lay fingers upon Yuji Naka's idiosyncratic brainchild, Let's Tap, a recent ESRB rating is hinting at the American release of Prope's second "Let's" project -- a WiiWare title by the name of Let's Catch. We'll give you one guess as to what the core gameplay mechanic involves.

If you thought the gameplay in Let's Tap was bizarre, brace yourselves -- according to the ESRB description, Let's Catch features short sessions of "outdoor catch," where players participate in conversations with their computer-controlled partner. These conversations can apparently take a turn towards the topic of romance, with NPC's matter-of-factly stating things like, "I've decided to never think about chasing a married man again." Thanks, but we think we'll leave the computerized relationship chatter in more capable hands fins.

[Via Sega Nerds]

While the concept was intriguing, what really drew our continued attention to Prope's Let's Tap was the promise of a free cardboard box the music. The super-bouncy, catchy soundtrack, most notably the theme song, makes us extremely happy that Prope decided to include a Taiko no Tatsujin-like music game among the lineup of minigames.

When Sega announced a North American release, we feared that it would record new music or license popular tunes for the Rhythm Tap mode -- even if we didn't think Sega would drop that kind of money, we maintained a low-level dread regarding the possibility. Luckily, Sega confirmed via its blog that Let's Tap will stay "true to the Japanese feel of the game" and include all of the Japanese tracks! That includes "Kung Fu Disco," which just happens to be embedded after the break.

Good call, Sega. It's good for us, and good for your budget.

You may have noticed -- but probably not -- that Sega's Project Ringo teaser site was updated earlier this week, coinciding with the February 24 date revealed earlier this month. What do we get for nearly two weeks of waiting in breath-filled non-anticipation? Not much. All we get is another ambiguous flash animation with equations, apples, and the silhouette of an unknown character (which seems a bit Sonic Team-esque to us).

The animation ends with the hilariously translated question, "What's mean 247?" and notes that the next tidbit will be revealed on March 12. What is Project Ringo? We speculated that it might be a new game from Yuji Naka's Prope studio or perhaps an iPhone game. Whatever it is, we have a couple of weeks to ponder or, as the case may be, remain completely uninterested.

Check out the teaser video after the break.

After the miraculous announcement of Sega's plan to localize Let's Tap (a game so weird we kind of didn't expect it to make it to stores at all, much less worldwide), we're not too surprised to see Prope's other Wii project, the much more conventional, lower-risk Let's Catch for WiiWare, on its way out of Japan. But we are pleased to see it happening.

Let's Catch is exactly what one would infer from the title: a game about playing catch, with multiple single-player modes (including a ... story mode?) and multiplayer. It's a concept so weird (or weirdly mundane) that we find it fascinating! Australia's OFLC ratings board has rated the game, suggesting that it will be released there soon -- and thus, probably worldwide.

Let's Tap is certainly unique. As the world's first "controller-less" game it has already set itself apart from the myriad other minigame collections found on the Wii. As the first game from Yuji Naka's (Sonic series, Nights) new development company, Prope, Let's Tap will form expectations of the studio's future output. Based on what we saw, that means unique, experimental, yet ultimately shallow minigame collections.

Like we say, Let's Tap is "controller-less." That's not strictly true, however. You'll still need up to four wiimotes, depending on how many players are involved. The wiimotes are placed upside down on cardboard boxes, two of which are bundled with the game -- you're expected to provide the other two yourself. We're assuming you probably have quite a few empty tissue boxes lying around, so that should be no problem. Tapping on the box is the extent of the game's required input.

Sadly, the controls aren't perfect. Tapping works fine, there are no qualms there, but double tapping can take some time to get used to. That's all you'll be doing, even when navigating the menus. Single taps move through the menu options and double tap selects. It's quite frustrating to move through the twenty-odd options on screen, only to have the game register your double tap as a single, meaning you have to navigate through the entire screen again. Of course, you can always pick up the wiimote and point at the screen, but that sort of defeats the point, doesn't it?