Contact has a visual style that is immediately striking. The game's top screen is portrayed in minimal solid-color pixel art reminiscent of the SNES classic Earthbound (part of the Mother series in Japan), which many presume to have been an influence on Contact not just visually but in tone as well. That screen is home to the Professor, whose spaceship has crash landed on an unfamiliar planet. From within his ruined ship, he entreats the player to help him in his plight. Strongly contrasting that style are the gorgeous and subtle illustrations on the bottom screen, which are more detailed and have almost a watercolor quality. That screen depicts the planet itself and the character, Terry, who effective serves as the game's player protagonist. Oddly enough, however, the player does not actually embody either the Professor or Terry. Rather, the player manipulates Terry in order to try and help the Professor. Even more oddly, the Professor seems to be well aware that this is all part of a video game, whereas Terry is not.

Small but well-loved publisher Atlus is bringing Contact to North American audiences next month. In an attempt to find out some more about the game, I tried to get some answers from Atlus' project lead Tomm Hulett. I'm not really sure I succeeded. Regardless, here are Hulett's responses, given in his own inimitable style.

Shack: Contact has a unique control method. Can you give an overview of that?

Tomm Hulett: First, I want you to find the nearest mirror. I'd suggest looking in a bathroom or maybe a compact if you're one of the ladies. You might try your car too, but if you're reading this in your car, well... don't tell anyone.

Anyway, so find a mirror. Now, look at that mirror. You see the person staring back at you? Looks a little familiar? Maybe a few more pounds than you remember? Right, okay--that's the person you control in Contact. They can peel off these decals, which engage special attacks. His or her other abilities include guiding Terry, this kid, through an adventure and initiating his special attacks. There's also an old man named the Professor, along with his space dog, Mochi.

Shack: How does the game flow, in terms of general gameplay and control?

Tomm Hulett: Well, by interacting with the Touch Screen, that character we talked about earlier will interact with the Touch Screen. This makes Terry move from place to place, or attack, or search, etc etc. You can also do this with the Control Pad and buttons, it's really up to you. The Professor will find the approximate location of a Power Cell, and then Terry will have to go and track it down. Along the way, hostile creatures may get in the way--so you have to help Terry attack them by outfitting him with the best gear for the job. Different costumes will determine what skills he can use.

Shack: The back of the box promises, among other things, that Contact does not rely on "the same battles you've been fighting since the 16-bit era." In fact, one of the main bullet points for Contact is that it is a rather unique entry in the Japanese RPG genre, one which frequently takes criticism for infrequently evolving. How does the battle system work, and what are some other ways Contact breaks the norm?

Tomm Hulett: The back of the box wasn't supposed to be leaked, yet I see it all over the internet! What the heck happened there? Nobody posts the back of other boxes, but somehow Contact is fair game? Anyway... Once you tell Terry it's okay to fight things, he goes into battle mode. Then he attacks on his own until you tell him to stop. You can also initiate special attacks or decal attacks, etc etc. This is kind of like the system people have grown used to in MMORPGs.

Shack: Presumably, Shigesato Itoi's Mother series had some influence on Contact. The visual cues are immediately apparent, but are there any other meaningful connections in terms of overall aesthetics or atmosphere?

Tomm Hulett: I assure you that Shigesato Itoi's mom had nothing to do with Contact's development. I don't see her name in the credits, anyway. However, Itoi's friend Haruki Murakami did write a number of novels I was reading over the course of Contact's localization. This came in handy since the game itself has kind of a Japanese post-modernism vibe going on. Also, a lot of people have pointed out that the Professor's lab on the Top Screen resembles Super NES cult-classic, EarthBound. It certainly looks like it was drawn on for inspiration, but the games aren't connected in any way, though they do deal with similar themes.

Shack: What inspired the usage of such a striking contrast between the nostalgic pixel art of the top screen and the beautifully rendered scenes of the bottom screen?

Tomm Hulett: Well, each screen displays something different, so it makes sense they wouldn't look the same. The top screen is the Professor's lab, and he comes from a far off land that very much resembles our 16-bit video games. The bottom screen charts Terry's progress from island to island on a far-off planet, so lush environs are naturally going to show up there. Really, both screens are showing scenes of the same graphical intensity--it's just that the Professor's lab happens to look one way, and the world looks another.

Shack: With those different styles as well as the professor character's tendency to break the fourth wall, is there any kind of tongue-in-cheek commentary of video game conventions going on here?

Tomm Hulett: I'm sure you can tell from my answers so far that Contact is a very serious game with little room for humor of any kind.

Shack: Could you clarify how exactly the online-enabled "WiFisland" feature works?

Tomm Hulett: Imagine a world where your friends had numbers. Think less THX 1138 and more Animal Crossing. Now, let's say when you find out your friend's number, you're able to "Contact" them. So then you contact these people, and someone moves to scenic WiFisland... and this new resident NPC just happens to resemble your friend (the one with the number). So clearly the more numbers you know, the more people will live on WiFisland, and the more items they will give you. Oh, sometimes people on WiFisland give you items.

Shack: Obviously, the Nintendo DS' dual screens are a big part of Contact, and wi-fi connectivity plays a role. Do any other DS hardware features come into use?

Tomm Hulett: You may also need to use the microphone, though the Professor might get angry at me if I revealed exact details.

Shack: Contact seemed to receive positive reviews in Japan, but it didn't exactly light up the sales charts. Some suspect this is because of its close proximity to Mother 3, which may have overshadowed any similar games. What are your thoughts on the game's performance, and what is Atlus doing to ensure Contact gets its fair shake in North America?

Tomm Hulett: We started by making sure that Mother 3 will NEVER be released here, thus eliminating any competition. We also made really awesome packaging and manual decisions so that players will be enticed, and then satisfied by their purchase. We also used Atlus USA's secret blend of localization and spices to ensure the game totally rocked. Then I did a number of really strange interviews to get people in the right mindset to enjoy the game. It totally worked. (DISCLAIMER: Atlus USA did not actually do anything to Mother 3. Tomm Hulett hopes that it does, in fact, get released on these shores. You can start showing your support by preordering Contact at your local retailer. Really.)

Shack: Does the professor at one point really encourage the player to hit something's weak point for massive damage?

Tomm Hulett: All I know is he encouraged me to switch auto insurance, and I saved over $200!

Shack: Thanks for your time.