PsFantasy.com Forums - View Single Post - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker full interview

Harry · Mar 24th, 2003, 07:31 AM

Byron Wilkinson, Cube Magazine: In comparison with Playstation 2 and Xbox there is a relatively small level of third party support despite the quality of games. Nintendo may face an uphill struggle due to the lack of third party support, and I wondered if you could tell me your thoughts on that?

Mr Miyamoto: If you are just simply comparing the 3 hardware consoles in terms of functionality, you can make similar games and many people are now trying to introduce multiplatform games. It may be good for game users but when it comes to some kind of unique interactions with the hardware I don’t think multiplatforms games are contributing a lot. Whilst I think it is good to have many different titles for the platforms, I think that only Nintendo can provide certain experiences.
That is why its very important for the best first party titles and best hardware that Nintendo can provide

Now Nintendo is aggressively pursuing the connectivity between the Gamecube and Game Boy Advance and this year we are going to introduce the Game Boy Player so you can play Game Boy Advance games on a wide screen. In the US, we have already started selling the e-Reader system so that from the simple cards you can get important playing data onto the Gamecube or Game Boy Advance now. Nintendo is trying to construct these unique systems all the time and I’m positive that more and more third parties people are interested in these kind of unique applications and opportunities only Nintendo can create. With those interested in taking advantage of Nintendo unique opportunities, Nintendo is more positively than ever is trying to cooperate with them. I can’t give any specific examples now but we are discussing this sort of thing with EA for one and with Namco and Sega maybe even having closer ties to create unique gaming opportunities for gaming platforms.

David Jenkins, Freelance: Do you imagine the key Nintendo franchises like Mario and Zelda will continue forever or will a time come when you can’t do any more with the characters?

Mr Aonuma: Well I really do not think there will be an ending to the new ideas to be incorporated into Mario and Zelda. Talking about the Wind Waker game, we incorporated many ideas from the past game and past Zelda series but I do not think that people will think we have rehashed these from the past experience. I have been involved with previous Zelda projects from the past, Majoras Mask mainly and I think that another person taking charge of the whole idea can make Zelda a whole new product. There will be no ending to thinking of Zelda in new ways.

]Mr Miyamoto: It is not the lack of new ideas that bother me at all. The thing which concerns me is that Nintendo has so many important game franchises and we have more than anybody else. Most of the teams are occupied with the creating of sequels and that situation is kind of troublesome, but new people are growing fast and I can trust the new people to work on the latest series of past existing games. We have time to work on new challenges but I have to admit it is a danger that at a company like Nintendo that you have so many character franchises there is always a job to create the sequel.

So you know that Retro has worked on the Metroid franchise and Nintendo is working with Sega on F-Zero and with Namco on Starfox. In that sense more third party people may be involved in creating Nintendo character franchise games and now you have seen the Soul Calibur II demo which includes Link character from Nintendo. In many different ways we are cooperating with third parties now.

Martin Mathers- Games TM: Mr Miyamoto has created a lot of games over the years, such as Mario and Zelda, which are much anticipated, and everyone has always been excited, but there was much shock when Wind Waker was announced. It was the first game that could have created negative backlash, even though it was in the minority. What did you think of this?

Mr Miyamoto: Well we should not be too concerned about whatever is said and talked about a game not on the market yet. But if people’s reactions are negative after sales of Wind Waker have begun, that would concern me a lot. Before the sale of the game we have to do our best in the things we believe in. When I come to think about it, even though there may be some negative opinion, we have a good situation with Wind Waker because people are talking about it.

We have already started selling Wind Waker in Japan and you will have it soon. In terms of graphics nothing has been changed. It is identical. We have fine-tuned the game balance and controls of Wind Waker for the European and US markets. And that is the result of getting comments from users in Japan.

Chris Layton, Total Video Games: Can you please explain briefly how the different games in the Zelda series tie together and has there been more than one Link in the games?

Mr Miyamoto: That is a kind of tough question. Actually throughout the long history of Hyrule there is a Link existing and making some contribution to it. And if we are allowed to present some long papers we may be able to explain the long background!

Mr Aonuma: And talking about the Link character in the Wind Waker, the game is a kind of unprecedented challenge for us in the Zelda series. The link character is an ordinary boy not destined to fight at all but was involved in an incident and forced to be involved in a role in the long history of Hyrule. People have asked “why did you choose to have a sister for Link this time?” The reason is a good motivation for challenge in a new life and a new adventure. We thought that the sense of rescuing his little sister would be a good trigger for the ordinary boy to be involved in a new adventure. The new Link is the ordinary boy who now out of blue became involved in the adventure.

Mr Miyamoto: Having said that however, in whichever Zelda game in the past, the Link at the beginning was an ordinary boy but he was forced to fight against the evil somehow and that’s because the player was Link himself .In the legend of Zelda game, it is most important that the player can feel that Link is growing, the players are growing and they are sharpening their own abilities. It is important to at the beginning to be involved in the destiny of the character and to fight against it somehow. During that process we can describe how Link will evolve into the new being. The link at the start of each game is an ordinary person but in the Wind Waker we described, the Link is a small boy you can find anywhere.

Joe - Virgin Megastore Online: How do you feel about Link being in such a violent game as Soul Calibur?

Mr Miyamoto: Well, we do not have much concern about the Link being used in the Soul Calibur II game and Namco was very good about characterising Link in the game. We really appreciated that so we didn’t have any concern about Link being involved and the fighting character has already been established in Smash Brothers.

Mar 24th, 2003, 07:31 AM	#2
Harry Administrator Joined: Jan 2002 Location: Here Posts: 1,222	Byron Wilkinson, Cube Magazine: In comparison with Playstation 2 and Xbox there is a relatively small level of third party support despite the quality of games. Nintendo may face an uphill struggle due to the lack of third party support, and I wondered if you could tell me your thoughts on that? Mr Miyamoto: If you are just simply comparing the 3 hardware consoles in terms of functionality, you can make similar games and many people are now trying to introduce multiplatform games. It may be good for game users but when it comes to some kind of unique interactions with the hardware I don’t think multiplatforms games are contributing a lot. Whilst I think it is good to have many different titles for the platforms, I think that only Nintendo can provide certain experiences. That is why its very important for the best first party titles and best hardware that Nintendo can provide Now Nintendo is aggressively pursuing the connectivity between the Gamecube and Game Boy Advance and this year we are going to introduce the Game Boy Player so you can play Game Boy Advance games on a wide screen. In the US, we have already started selling the e-Reader system so that from the simple cards you can get important playing data onto the Gamecube or Game Boy Advance now. Nintendo is trying to construct these unique systems all the time and I’m positive that more and more third parties people are interested in these kind of unique applications and opportunities only Nintendo can create. With those interested in taking advantage of Nintendo unique opportunities, Nintendo is more positively than ever is trying to cooperate with them. I can’t give any specific examples now but we are discussing this sort of thing with EA for one and with Namco and Sega maybe even having closer ties to create unique gaming opportunities for gaming platforms. David Jenkins, Freelance: Do you imagine the key Nintendo franchises like Mario and Zelda will continue forever or will a time come when you can’t do any more with the characters? Mr Aonuma: Well I really do not think there will be an ending to the new ideas to be incorporated into Mario and Zelda. Talking about the Wind Waker game, we incorporated many ideas from the past game and past Zelda series but I do not think that people will think we have rehashed these from the past experience. I have been involved with previous Zelda projects from the past, Majoras Mask mainly and I think that another person taking charge of the whole idea can make Zelda a whole new product. There will be no ending to thinking of Zelda in new ways. ]Mr Miyamoto: It is not the lack of new ideas that bother me at all. The thing which concerns me is that Nintendo has so many important game franchises and we have more than anybody else. Most of the teams are occupied with the creating of sequels and that situation is kind of troublesome, but new people are growing fast and I can trust the new people to work on the latest series of past existing games. We have time to work on new challenges but I have to admit it is a danger that at a company like Nintendo that you have so many character franchises there is always a job to create the sequel. So you know that Retro has worked on the Metroid franchise and Nintendo is working with Sega on F-Zero and with Namco on Starfox. In that sense more third party people may be involved in creating Nintendo character franchise games and now you have seen the Soul Calibur II demo which includes Link character from Nintendo. In many different ways we are cooperating with third parties now. Martin Mathers- Games TM: Mr Miyamoto has created a lot of games over the years, such as Mario and Zelda, which are much anticipated, and everyone has always been excited, but there was much shock when Wind Waker was announced. It was the first game that could have created negative backlash, even though it was in the minority. What did you think of this? Mr Miyamoto: Well we should not be too concerned about whatever is said and talked about a game not on the market yet. But if people’s reactions are negative after sales of Wind Waker have begun, that would concern me a lot. Before the sale of the game we have to do our best in the things we believe in. When I come to think about it, even though there may be some negative opinion, we have a good situation with Wind Waker because people are talking about it. We have already started selling Wind Waker in Japan and you will have it soon. In terms of graphics nothing has been changed. It is identical. We have fine-tuned the game balance and controls of Wind Waker for the European and US markets. And that is the result of getting comments from users in Japan. Chris Layton, Total Video Games: Can you please explain briefly how the different games in the Zelda series tie together and has there been more than one Link in the games? Mr Miyamoto: That is a kind of tough question. Actually throughout the long history of Hyrule there is a Link existing and making some contribution to it. And if we are allowed to present some long papers we may be able to explain the long background! Mr Aonuma: And talking about the Link character in the Wind Waker, the game is a kind of unprecedented challenge for us in the Zelda series. The link character is an ordinary boy not destined to fight at all but was involved in an incident and forced to be involved in a role in the long history of Hyrule. People have asked “why did you choose to have a sister for Link this time?” The reason is a good motivation for challenge in a new life and a new adventure. We thought that the sense of rescuing his little sister would be a good trigger for the ordinary boy to be involved in a new adventure. The new Link is the ordinary boy who now out of blue became involved in the adventure. Mr Miyamoto: Having said that however, in whichever Zelda game in the past, the Link at the beginning was an ordinary boy but he was forced to fight against the evil somehow and that’s because the player was Link himself .In the legend of Zelda game, it is most important that the player can feel that Link is growing, the players are growing and they are sharpening their own abilities. It is important to at the beginning to be involved in the destiny of the character and to fight against it somehow. During that process we can describe how Link will evolve into the new being. The link at the start of each game is an ordinary person but in the Wind Waker we described, the Link is a small boy you can find anywhere. Joe - Virgin Megastore Online: How do you feel about Link being in such a violent game as Soul Calibur? Mr Miyamoto: Well, we do not have much concern about the Link being used in the Soul Calibur II game and Namco was very good about characterising Link in the game. We really appreciated that so we didn’t have any concern about Link being involved and the fighting character has already been established in Smash Brothers.