Zelda producer, Eiji Aonuma is excited about the prospect of Zelda on the 3DS. He is not alone! Talking to ONM, Mr Aonuma says 3D technology is perfect for the series.
“I am excited. With the Nintendo 3DS, all of the new elements and the 3D technology is perfect for The Legend Of Zelda series. It’s everything from the depth that you get from riding through vistas or a more accurate sense of distance between you and the enemy you are fighting. I think it is perfect for this series. Of course we are very excited to see what it can do. Of course I look at what the development environment is like and one of the things that I want to take up further going forward is how playing in 3D effects things. Does it make you tired? Do you want to create a game where players are sitting in front of their systems for a long period of time? Obviously there are things that can be 3D but we don’t have to shoehorn it in. If it’s beneficial, of course, we’ll want to use it. So what I would like to do is to take a look at what other people are doing out there, see what the reaction is, then go back and figure out exactly what I want out of 3D.”
You can see the controls look a lot more accurate here than they did when Miyamoto was on stage during Nintendo’s presser. Apparantly that was due to wifi interference or something, but it’s good to see it works as it should do!
I’m glad to see Wii MotionPlus support too, we need more games that make use of the add-on in my opinion.
“We’ve talked about remixing Ocarina of Time for a long time, saying ’should we remake Ocarina of Time for Wii?’ And, to be honest, I said no. I didn’t want to just re-release it on a different platform — I wanted to have a specific reason to remake Ocarina of Time. I didn’t want to just make a port. And so I was waiting for something to come along that would not only help us to retell the story, but improve upon it. Making it different, more unique in its own way. Now, with 3D, we’re able to take the environments of Hyrule and add depth — giving them a more expansive feeling, a more immersive feeling. In addition to that, now that we have the 3D we can looking forward to new ways to implement 3D into the gameplay and make it fresh and new. And we also have the motion sensors that are built-in to the Nintendo 3DS. So we’re looking at quite a few ways to make the gameplay more immersive, more natural, more accessible. So again, not just a port — but a retelling of the tale using new technologies to reinvent it.”
This can’t be true can it? I sure hope it is. These screens have shown up showing Zelda: The Ocarina of Time apparently for the 3DS. This is only a rumour and has not been officially confirmed but let’s hope it’s one of Nintendo’s late surprises for the show this week.
It’s great to hear Miyamoto is still as passionate about making games now as he always has been. Let’s hope he continues for many years to come yet!
“Before the launch of the Wii hardware, we at Nintendo had already come up with the idea that the Wii is the machine that’s going to be hooked up with the television set in the living room of the household. And so then the family members become the basis for us to think about how we’d like to develop the hardware and software for Wii. And that is why I’ve made software like Wii Music, Wii Sports, Wii Fit and other assorted titles. Having said that, I’ve never lost my passion for making games which are enjoyed by the more traditional gamer. An example is the introduction of Super Mario Galaxy 2.” – Shigeru Miyamoto
Phew! We can all breathe a sigh of relief. Shigeru Miyamoto recently told GamesTM in an interview that he doesn’t have any plans to retire soon. The Nintendo legend of course is the man behind many of Nintendo’s top franchises such as Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda and he is now the head of development at Nintendo, ensuring standards remain high.
Miyamoto on retirement…
“Well, I am one of the company workers and the company has to retire me some time. So from that perspective, yes I may have to retire from Nintendo some day. But when I look around and see how aged cartoonists continue to work on their manga and how movie directors create new movies all the time, I understand that they would never retire. And by the same token, I guess I will still be making games somehow. The only question is whether the younger people will be willing to work with me at that far point in the future.”
Check out the full interview after the jump where Miyamoto talks about loads of other stuff including the Vitality Sensor, whether talk of a Wii HD frustrates him and why Nintendo stay away from violent games….
Nintendo are always playing around with new ideas and I’m glad to see Wii MotionPlus support being included in the upcoming Zelda Wii. Miyamoto is quoted below talking about how the Vitality Sensor may be incorporated into future games:
“Whenever we are going to use any new device it is possible to expand the appeal to those who are new to the videogaming world. At the same time, however, it is also fun to think of ways in which we might apply that new technology to existing forms of gameplay – just like the way we are working on the new Legend Of Zelda together with Wii Motion Plus. As you become more scared, the enemies become even tougher. So maybe you might like to ask me to incorporate the Vitality Sensor into Zelda so that as you become more scared, the enemies become even tougher.” – Shigeru Miyamoto
Wired recently snagged an interview with NOA executive, Cammie Dunaway, where she talks about where Nintendo are going forward with respect to new hardware, new games, localization and much more. Grab a coffee and have a read…
Dunaway on other motion controllers…
“We created motion control and we’ll continue to be in motion control. Consumers don’t care about technology; they care about how the game feels. We’ll continue to focus on that. We’ve got 60 million Wii Remotes out there, and 10 million MotionPlus. Consumers today are having a blast playing with the Wii Remote and Wii MotionPlus. We’re pretty darn good at creating experiences that are about more than just technology; they’re about great feel, great gameplay.”
ZeldaDungeon have compiled the metric average scores for all past Zelda games to see which of the titles were received the best from critic reviews. This list excludes “Legend of Zelda” and “Zelda II: The Adventure of Link” as there is not enough review data available because of their age.
No surprise to see the “Ocarina of Time” at the top but more surprisingy is “Spirit Tracks” scoring the lowest over all entries. As far as Zelda goes go, we thought this deserves be in the middle of the list at least, however it could be a sign that people are starting to tire of the traditional Zelda design after so many entries. If nothing else, these overall scores just go to show how good and consistant the series has been so far.
Ocarina of Time – 97.66%
Twilight Princess – 95.29% (Gamecube)
The Wind Waker – 94.47%
A Link to the Past – 93.50% (Super Nintendo)
Oracle of Ages – 91.89%
Majora’s Mask – 91.80%
Oracle of Seasons – 91.50%
Link’s Awakening – 91.23%
The Minish Cap – 90.21%
Phantom Hourglass – 88.79%
Spirit Tracks – 86.76%
