The latest Iwata Asks reveals how Nintendo wanted the game to be harder, and more...

Nintendo's occasional Iwata Asks feature sees the company's president visit various developers and asking them about the experience of making games for the most revered institution in the industry. Recently, Iwata-san spoke to the folks at Treasure - the critically-acclaimed developer who's been finishing off Sin & Punishment 2.

One of the first pieces of info that emerged from the encounter was the development of the original N64 title was somewhat rocky. We can only assume work on the sequel was significantly smoother, as we are promised a western release early next year. It was also revealed that one the original artists - Suzuki Yasushi - had left Treasure, but that the developer had managed to lure him back into the sequel in order to retain the feel of the original.

The game itself if said to run at a locked 60 frames-per-second. Apparently, Treasure were confident that they could reach this goal after realising that Super Mario Galaxy achieved 60fps.

Most interestingly, the interview alluded to Nintendo's initial reaction to the game's difficulty. Treasure had originally expected the publisher to order the game to toned down after it was designed for use with the Gamecube controller. In fact, Nintendo's feedback team had decided that the game was too easy for players using IR-aiming on the Wii Remote. Treasure had to tweak the game to give a hefty challenge with both controller inputs. Sections of the game will be beneficial to each method, meaning no-one is going to get through the game on an easy ride.

We're looking more and more forward to Sin & Punishment 2. The game is due to release early next year.