We've been following ToeJam and Earl creator Greg Johnson a lot recently. The last bit of news we heard was that Mr. Johnson was going to try and get ToeJam and Earl into Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing. Now it sounds like their appearance would have to be relegated to DLC.

"TJ&E will not be included ... and the option for including them as downloadable content is still open. Sega said they're not ready to talk about that yet because they haven't started making any definite plans, but they promised to give me a shout when they get there – so hopefully we'll be able to work something out."

Even more interesting is the fact that Johnson pitched ToeJam and Earl 4 to publishers, but none bit. The game would be a multiplayer DS title, which was pretty much a remake of the first title but with some new bells and whistles.

"After the Xbox game released in 2002, I tried really hard to get a new TJ&E game off the ground – right up until about two years ago. I was really hoping to do a multiplayer DS version – but didn't have any luck getting interest from any publisher – I approached pretty much all of them. Right now my studio is pretty busy with other stuff, but I plan to get back to seeing if I can't make TJ&E games in the future. The only gameplay feature that TJ&E DS pulls from game II and game III is rhythm matching. As players move through the levels of the game they come to locations where they are given a safe interlude, and an opportunity to copy rhythms by tapping on the screen in time to a funky beat. This allows players to earn extra presents and extra life. Funky music has always been a big part of the TJ&E experience. The music is all done in very old-school Funk style ... Bring on the Funk! It's really motivating to see how much the game meant to fans. I don't want to let them down ... and if you know any private investors with a pile of money that want to fund some game development, do send 'em my way."