In Haunt, Parappa the Rapper developer Nana-OnSha's upcoming Xbox Live Arcade game, players will use Kinect to direct a main NPC voiced by Tim Schafer around a spooky, and somewhat goofy, haunted house -- that much we knew. And in a recent interview with Gamasutra, executive producer Masaya Matsuura and producer Dewi Tanner revealed how the main character came to be voiced by the Double Fine head and well-known goofy gentleman.

"He's very, very interesting for it," Masaya said when asked about Schafer's participation. Apparently the main character's voice had already been recorded, but after hearing Schafer's speech at a GDC "Choice Awards" ceremony, the Nana-OnSha folks reconsidered. "We talked about 'maybe something is missed,' still," Matsuura said. "And one day you told me about how Tim would be a good voiceover actor," he added to Tanner.

Tanner said that Tim's time was understandably constrained, being the head of another game studio and all, but the team "managed to squeeze him in nonetheless ... a couple of afternoons and we were pretty much done." Tanner also pointed out that Haunt isn't exactly a serious endeavor, and Schafer's "passé humor" was perfect for the role. The game is still absent a solid launch date, but it's probably safe to say it's gonna miss its previously scheduled 2011 release window. Tanner teased in the interview that, "We're just winding up the game right now; things are looking clean right now, so it should be a smooth submission." So, uh, soon-ish!

Update: This piece originally listed Tim Schafer as the main character in Haunt, rather than the main NPC. It also listed Masaya Matsuura as the creative lead, rather than executive producer. Our apologies!

[Image credit: 'skwathill']