AAAA M-OM IS ON RAILS

IGN: You also mentioned that Metroid Other M was originally to be an on-rails design. How far into the design did that change to what we're playing now?

 

Sakamoto: I want to clarify, I've seen lots of news stories out there that misinterpreted what I said about the on-rails part and may have gotten the wrong idea. What I meant, in the original concept, Samus could move back and forth but only on a fixed path, not that it was automatic movement forward constantly like in rail shooters...

 

IGN: Oh, I knew what you meant when you said it. I pictured in my mind something similar to, say, Klonoa, where you're on a fixed path and the 3D environment moves around you…

 

Sakamoto: Ah, yes, Klonoa! Right. You got it. (laughs) I wanted to stick with the D-pad control scheme, and it was Team Ninja that found an interesting way to manage D-pad only movement in a 3D environment, and we were able to move away from that early design concept. This happened very early on, a very early stage in development.

 

SOURCE ~ http://wii.ign.com/articles/107/1078226p2.html