One of the few non-Japanese games announced at the Microsoft pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference was Braid. Now, we had a strong inkling that this game was coming but now it is official. And thanks to a visit from one Ghost Hands (aka Jonathan Blow, Braid's designer/programmer) we can now share as much as we know to this point.

A screenshot and links galore after the break.

First, the official release announcement. The game is slated for early 2008 to avoid the holiday release crunch.

Next, the Braid homepage. The page covers all sorts of indie development topics, not just Braid, so if you're looking specifically for the game, try the Braid Previews and Braid Development categories.

On the media front, check the Arsecast podcast preview of the game here or check out a video of a GDC demo (Google Video link, skip to 15:10) of an early build (sans "the coolest stuff") to get an idea of the game.

Braid at a basic level is just a 2D puzzle platformer where time is your friend. The game gives you unlimited undos. Make a bad jump? Just rewind. Rewound too far? Fast forward. The very essence of time is at your fingertips and not in a limited way. The gameplay and the puzzles revolve around the constant manipulation of time in order to reach your (intentionally) simple goals. Sounds good to me.

(Click for Embiggenment)

[thanks Ghost Hands!]