M4G: There have been many DDR titles over the years, including releases on the arcade, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, and now even the Wii. Having worked with all of these consoles, how would you say they compare with creating Hottest Party for the Wii, given its mainstream appeal? Yuichi Asami: Well, there are a lot of genres covered in each DDR title. The main difference between them is trying to pick the appropriate music for that console’s target audience.

I would say that all the music, regardless of the platform, needs to be catchy, but when developing Hottest Party for the Wii, for example, I wanted the music to be pop-oriented to appeal to the casual gamer. I wanted to open the window to those who may have been interested in the franchise in the past, but thought it was only for hardcore gamers, or perhaps thought it was too difficult. I wanted it to be a game where anyone could pick it up and jump in.