SEGA’s NiGHTS was one of the SEGA Saturn’s most beloved titles amongst gamers, so the news that it was finally to receive a sequel in the form of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams on the Nintendo Wii over a decade later came as fantastic news. It’ll be hitting the console soon, so ot on the PR trail is Drector of SEGA Studio US Takashi Iizuka, to chat about Journey of Dreams’ invention, online play, multiplayer and unique Wii controls.

In the chat with WiiX, Iizuka explained that he had always wanted to create a sequel to the original NiGHTS, and that it was only other projects that delayed the process:

Why did you decide to finally make a sequel for this game after ten years, and do it exclusively for Wii?

Well actually, I’ve always wanted to create the sequel to NiGHTS but during the past 10 years I’ve been primarily focused on continuing the legacy of the Sonic franchise by creating games like Sonic Adventure, Sonic Battle and Sonic Heroes. Now that the franchise is running strong, I’ve been granted the chance to create JoD and I thought the Wii being a family-oriented platform was a perfect match for NiGHTS.

Iizuka went on to explain that NiGHTS’ control methods will allow all players, no matter what their preference, to jump into the game world and start exploring with ease straight away:

Can you tell us something about the controls? Did you try to utilize the Wii’s features, or take a more traditional approach?

When I first thought about the controls for the game, what first came to mind was how exciting the variety of control configuration the Wii platform offers its players. With this in mind, I wanted to create a game that could be picked up and played no matter what controller utilized. I wanted the player to choose what he/she felt most comfortable with (remote, remote+nunchuck, traditional) and just jump right into the game. I didn’t want the players to forced to use one controller over another to play JoD.

Later on in the interview, the SEGA employee details his intentions for NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams’ online functionality, which includes global rankings and a head-to-head competitive mode:

We also know that NiGHTS’ competitive multiplayer mode can be played online. Are there any other online features?

With the sequel, I’ve tried to incorporate online features such the competitive multiplayer mode you’ve mentioned. Also, JoD will have its own World Ranking system where you can post your best times to see how you measure up on a global level. What was important for us was to create simple one-button online mechanism that let you allow you to instantly post your score. We wanted to keep the online interface and connectivity very user-friendly and easy so that anyone could use it. Also, as I just mentioned, we have created a brand new feature called “My Dream” where the player has the ability to create their own virtual habitat and populate it with captured A-Life creatures from the game. I wanted this feature to expand the playability beyond just friends so that you could share your part of JoD with anyone in the world.

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams hits North American stores on December 13, while its European release is currently penned for January 2008. What are your thoughts on the much-anticipated follow-up? Are you a long time fan or new to the world of Nightopia? Let us know in the comments section below.