TGS Exclusive: Yuji Naka's Prope Making a Sonic-Like Action Game

Famed Sonic the Hedgehog creator and programmer Yuji Naka's new studio, Prope, has finally announced its first two titles, Let’s Tap! and Let’s Catch! -- but it seems the studio has something more complex in the works. "At Prope," Naka told Gamasutra, "we’re actually planning on making a game like Sonic right now. We want to keep trying to make various kinds of games." When asked for clarification, specifically whether Prope is actively making a character-based action title, Naka replied, "Yes, that’s what we’re making now." Let’s Tap!, which was playable on the TGS expo floor, is a rhythm title where players jostle the Wii remote in time to on-screen events -- disturbing the surface it's on rather than actually shaking it -- and has an extremely simple interface and concept. So while it's not focusing exclusively on simple games, Prope, which is now a studio of 40 people, has touted Let’s Tap! on its official website as a "game even a penguin could play." A longer interview with Yuji Naka will be available on Gamasutra at a later date, covering the origins of the Let’s Tap! project, Naka’s reasons for leaving Sega, and Japan’s fascination with penguins.