Metroid: Other M chief Yoshio Sakamoto explains the lack of Nunchuck support, the series' lack of popularity in Japan and more...

With Metroid: Other M gearing up for its launch later this year, series veteran Yoshio Sakamoto has been whoring himself out to press to answer their burning questions on the game, and the Metroid franchise in general.

Speaking to IGN, Sakamoto first cryptically danced around the subject of the long-rumoured handheld game Metroid Dread. He did not deny the current existence of any such project, but refused to divulge anything, urging fans to "be patient a little while longer". Sakamoto did, however, say that Nintendo are "waiting and watching and reading the comments to see what people are interested in" before making any comment.

Historically, the Metroid series has tended to retain a strong following from consumers in the west, while never really taking off as hugely-successful franchise in its native Japan. Sakamoto mused over why he thought this was the case.

"In Japan, the people who are into Metroid tend to be hardcore game fans. It's not a series that's necessarily found acceptance in Japan outside of that niche. You can also say that it's the same as how science fiction is embraced in the United States compared to Japan. Science fiction seems to be a niche genre in Japan as a whole, where it seems to have found more mainstream success in the US."

On the subject of Other M (which you can read more about from our hands-on impressions here), Sakamoto explained why the game opts to use solely the Wii Remote on its own, rather than utilise the Nunchuck's analogue-stick option.

"Two reasons. The first, with the team I've been working with, we've been making the Metroid series in 2D up to this point. Even though we've been looking for a way to control Samus in 3D, we wanted to achieve the feeling that you had when Samus was in 2D. We decided that the traditional D-pad for movement plus jumping and shooting on buttons was the most appropriate control scheme for this direction. The second reason, and let me preface this by saying I don't think bad games use the nunchuk because there are a lot of great games that do, there's a certain image created with the nunchuk, it's a bit of a barrier in accessibility because it's a "different" control. The nunchuk I think is more appropriate for core audiences. At the same time, I feel that showing people a 3D game where you can control it using the remote really does stir the imagination, they'll think "How's it possible to control the character using the sideways remote in 3D?" I also think it's attractive to those who grew up playing games using this kind of control. "

Also, in a separate interview with Kotaku, Sakamoto downplayed any suggestions of a speedy return for the first-person adventure Prime sub-series, but noted that he is not involved with that line of games. Austin-based Retro Studios are responsible for developing the Metroid Prime canon.

Metroid: Other M has been given a "Q3 2010" release window for Europe.