Namco Bandai Publishing Games from Yuji Naka's Prope Studio

Conspiracy theories begin now!

2010-02-03 22:24 / Anoop Gantayat / 1 Comment

From the mobile version.

The first games to emerge from Prope, a studio formed by Sonic the Hedgehog key man Yuji Naka, were Let's Catch and Let's Play, both Wii titles, and both published by Sega.

Things got a bit less exciting (yes, less exciting than a game of digital catch) afterwards as the studio made a push into mobile platforms. Following a series of iPhone apps based around Let's Tap, the company created the original Ivy the Kiwi? for Windows Mobile platforms.

And now comes something entirely unexpected. Prope is coming back to home gaming on both Wii and DS. This time, however, Sega won't be serving as publisher.

This week's Famitsu reveals Wii and DS versions of Ivy the Kiwi?. Set for release on April 22, they will be published by Namco Bandai Games.

Famitsu has just a small box on the games, so details are lacking. However, the basic goal of the game, drawing lines to guide the Kiwi character to a goal, appears to carry over from the mobile version. Both the DS and Wii title will offer four player competitive racing.

Given the title's mobile origins, one might think that the Wii and DS versions would target Nintendo's WiiWare and DSiWare download services. But they're both actually full retail releases, to be priced at ¥3,990 each.