http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/12/interview-metroid-other-m-producer-yoshio-sakamoto/

I'll just run up the choicier bits:

What, if anything, has the team learned from Prime?

I've been working on 2D Metroid games all the way up until now, so when we had a chance to see the Prime games, which suddenly take the series to the 3D space, we realized people found it to have a really good visual impact, and they really did want that kind of enhanced visual experience. And so, I have to say I'm certainly influenced by people's desires in that direction.

There are some points in Other M that are going to feel a bit like the Prime series in terms of the visual experience they offer. But what we're really trying to do is bring the ease of play you found in the 2D series forward. But certainly Prime was a very cool series and we've taken some notes there.

This is the first Metroid game that really has a robust story, outside of scanning in Metroid Prime. Why such an emphasis on storyline in this game, especially with the collaboration of Team Ninja, which is better known for action than story?

The main reason for the story emphasis, as I noted earlier, is that one of our big goals here is to educate the audience about the Metroid universe -- and Samus in particular. So you need to get into quite a bit of detailed storyline to be able to do that.
And of course, this game does have a deep, long storyline. But we wanted to put a lot of effort into the action sequences as well.

One of the reasons for having this game be mostly two-dimensional is because people are more comfortable with 2D play overall across the entire audience; you don't have the same distractions when you want to give them story sequences, as well. So, you can give those story elements a lot more impact, and that's really where the design emphasis came from.

Last year there was a "Metroidvania" game called Shadow Complex for Xbox Live Arcade that was very popular. Many people saw it as a surrogate for a new 2D Metroid game. Have you had a chance to play it, and, if so, what do you think about it?

I haven't had a chance to play it, but I have seen movies of it and think they certainly do share a lot of similar features.
There certainly were some Metroid staff members that early on told me that there was a similar game out there, but once I started to look at it ,I realized there were similarities, but this is not really something we created. It's not quite an equal in our eyes. But the idea of having 3D visuals with a 2D play-style is certainly very attractive. And if people really want some more 2D Metroid, then I would love to suggest that they play Other M.

His reaction to the Shadow Complex question was expected. Nintendo developers are usually insulated like that. But from this interview i get a sense that they are trying to reboot Metroid to a certain degree, restoring simpler gameplay mechanics, but also trying to make the story more self-explanatory

As i commented in the joystiq article, though, the hurdle that he'll have to surmount is the collective power of gamers' imaginations. Throughout the years we've filled in the blanks in Metroid's story with our own ideas, so to make this satisfying they're going to have to make a really dynamite story, to make it as good or better than what we've imagined it to be.

The answer to the Metroid Dread comment is basically a "yes". He should have said "I can't comment on rumours".

No! This is exactly the comment I feared, after reading Malstrom (who I completely agree with on Other M matters). He's intertwined 'Other M demand' with '2D Metroid demand', and if Other M flops the Nintendo accountants will then assume there's no market for 2D Metroid! But the exact opposite is true - Other M is not 2D Metroid at all, it is cinematic, hardcore, narrative-focused and quite linear. But people who enjoyed 2D Metroids don't see Samus and her story as the reason to play, and the narrative/graphics has never been the main attraction. 'Metroidvania' gameplay has, and polished level design has.

I'm (effectively) boycotting Other M so a non-Sakamoto 2D Metroid will appear (i.e. not Fusion. Sakamoto's influence on Super Metroid was less).

I'll agree with this, except the assumption that the game is going to be highly linear.

I would be willing to make a bet that the game is no more linear than Corruption was, Corruption being the closest game to Other M in terms of incorporating a strong plot in-game.

@Soleron

Where does the "quite linear" part come from?