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'''Upending the Tea Table''' is a phrase used to describe when someone, usually [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], steps in toward the end of a game's development to suddenly and radically change its direction. This often involves starting from scratch, rendering a large amount of work worthless. The phrase originates from a scene in a famous Japanese manga called "Star of the Giants", in which an angered father upends the tea table at which the family is eating, spilling dinner on the floor.{{Ref|name=GDC|[[Interview:GDC March 24th 2004|GDC, March 24th 2004]]||Eiji Aonuma}} [[Eiji Aonuma]] calls it the '''Miyamoto Test''' and sees it as a measure of how well the team is aligning to the essence of Zelda. Although it is destructive, Miyamoto always helps to clean it up and make improvements, and the team usually welcomes his wisdom.{{Ref|name=GDC}}{{Ref|[[Interview:IndustryGamers July 14th 2011|IndustryGamers, July 14th 2011]]}}


'''Upending the Tea Table''' is a phrase used to describe when someone, usually [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], steps in toward the end of a game's development to suddenly and radically change its direction. This often involves starting from scratch, rendering a large amount of work worthless. The phrase originates from a scene in a famous Japanese manga called "Star of the Giants", in which an angered father upends the tea table at which the family is eating, spilling dinner on the floor.<ref name="GDC">{{Cite|[[Interview:GDC March 24th 2004|GDC, March 24th 2004]]||Eiji Aonuma}}</ref> [[Eiji Aonuma]] calls it the '''Miyamoto Test''' and sees it as a measure of how well the team is aligning to the essence of Zelda. Although it is destructive, Miyamoto always helps to clean it up and make improvements, and the team usually welcomes his wisdom.<ref name="GDC" /><ref>{{Cite|[[Interview:IndustryGamers July 14th 2011|IndustryGamers, July 14th 2011]]}}</ref>
==Four Swords Adventures==
The phrase was first made famous in relation to ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Series)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' by Miyamoto's involvement in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures|Four Swords Adventures]]''. Toward the end of development, worried that the game's story was too complicated, Miyamoto had the team change the storyline with additional focus on the gameplay.{{Ref|[[Interview:GDC Roundtable May 17th 2004|GDC Roundtable, May 17th 2004]]|And in the end on that game, as we got closer to finishing it, of course, Mr. Miyamoto then came in and upended the tea table, and we changed the story around quite a bit at the end with Four Swords Adventures.|Eiji Aonuma}}


==Four Swords Adventures==
As another instance in ''Four Swords Adventures'', [[Rupee]]s didn't suit the role that the game required of them, so Miyamoto had them replaced with [[Force Gem]]s.{{Ref|[[Interview:Game Informer May 17th 2004|Game Informer, May 17th 2004]]|This time around, in thinking that we really wanted to make a game that has both a very strong multiplayer and single player mode, we realized that in single player mode, it didn't seem right than in the single player mode the objective is to collect money. [...] Instead of collecting money, you're collecting the essence of power and putting it into your sword. That is another example of Mr. Miyamoto upending the tea table.|[[Eiji Aonuma]]}}
[[Rupee]]s didn't suit the role that was required of them in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures|Four Swords Adventures]]'', so Miyamoto had them replaced with [[Force Gem]]s.<ref>{{Cite|[[Interview:Game Informer May 17th 2004|Game Informer, May 17th 2004]]|This time around, in thinking that we really wanted to make a game that has both a very strong multiplayer and single player mode, we realized that in single player mode, it didn't seem right than in the single player mode the objective is to collect money. [...] Instead of collecting money, you're collecting the essence of power and putting it into your sword. That is another example of Mr. Miyamoto upending the tea table.|[[Eiji Aonuma]]}}</ref>


==Twilight Princess==
==Twilight Princess==
''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]]'' was plagued by several upendings of the tea table late in development. First, there were issues translating the very beginning of the game to the [[Nintendo Wii]], since this was a new console that players wouldn't be familiar with. So, after the script had already been sent out to be localized, Miyamoto presented a plan to spend three days in [[Ordon Village]] instead of one. Later, he asked for an originally separate sub-event to be tied into the main story.<ref>{{Cite|[[Interview:Iwata Asks: Twilight Princess (Part 1)|Iwata Asks: Twilight Princess, Part 1]]}}</ref>
''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]]'' was plagued by several upendings of the tea table late in development. First, there were issues translating the very beginning of the game to the [[Nintendo Wii]], since this was a new console that players wouldn't be familiar with. So, after the script had already been sent out to be localized, Miyamoto presented a plan to spend three days in [[Ordon Village]] instead of one. Later, he asked for an originally separate sub-event to be tied into the main story.{{Ref|[[Interview:Iwata Asks: Twilight Princess (Part 1)|Iwata Asks: Twilight Princess, Part 1]]}}
 
==Phantom Hourglass==
For ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass|Phantom Hourglass]]'', Aonuma was able to see things from Miyamoto's perspective and upend the tea tables much earlier in the development so Miyamoto didn't have to upend them later.{{Ref|[[Interview:Nintendo Dream August 30th 2007|Nintendo Dream, August 30th 2007]]}}


==Spirit Tracks==
==Spirit Tracks==
[[Eiji Aonuma]] upended the tea table halfway through the development of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks|Spirit Tracks]]''. The team had spent the previous year striving to create a world where the player could lay train tracks anywhere he or she pleases. Several problems such as balancing freedom with story progression were bogging down development, so Aonuma decided to abandon the idea of complete freedom in favor of the pre-defined routes that appear in the published game.<ref>{{Cite|[[Interview:Iwata Asks: Spirit Tracks|Iwata Asks: Spirit Tracks]]}}</ref>
Eiji Aonuma upended the tea table halfway through the development of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks|Spirit Tracks]]''. The team had spent the previous year striving to create a world where the player could lay train tracks anywhere he or she pleases. Several problems such as balancing freedom with story progression were bogging down development, so Aonuma decided to abandon the idea of complete freedom in favor of the pre-defined routes that appear in the published game.{{Ref|[[Interview:Iwata Asks: Spirit Tracks|Iwata Asks: Spirit Tracks]]}}
 
==References==
<references />


==Ocarina of Time 3D==
[[Mahito Yokota]], in charge of sound for ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D|Ocarina of Time 3D]]'', had redone about half of the songs in a more "up-to-date" style before [[Koji Kondo]] told him that the soundtrack should remain faithful to the original.{{Ref|[[Interview:Iwata Asks: Ocarina of Time 3D (Sound)|Iwata Asks: Ocarina of Time 3D (Sound)]]}}


Interview:GDC Roundtable May 17th 2004
==Hyrule Warriors==
In an example with Four Swords Adventures, I was the producer on that game, so I didn't actually put the story for that game together—that would be put together by the director of the game. And in the end on that game, as we got closer to finishing it, of course, Mr. Miyamoto then came in and upended the tea table, and we changed the story around quite a bit at the end with Four Swords Adventures. And what Mr. Miyamoto pointed out in the case of that game was that the storyline shouldn't be something complicated that confuses the player. It should really be kind of a guideline that helps ease the player through the gameplay process and helps them understand what it is that they're doing. So that was one example of how the gameplay was there first, and the storyline changed all the way up until the very end.
Originally, [[Yosuke Hayashi]], one of the developers for ''[[Hyrule Warriors]]'', planned for it to be closer to a ''Zelda'' game than a ''[[Wikipedia:Dynasty Warriors|Dynasty Warriors]]'' game, adding elements of ''Dynasty Warriors'' onto the ''Zelda'' franchise. This included having [[boss]] battles in [[dungeon]]s and having certain characters in the game. However, Miyamoto upended the tea table and said that his proposal would not be the case, as what they are doing here is grafting ''Zelda'' onto the ''Dynasty Warriors'' experience. This was a reversal to what Hayashi proposed, and ''Hyrule Warriors'' ended up being based on Miyamoto's decision.{{Ref|[[Interview:Nintendo Life September 5th 2014|Nintendo Life, September 5th 2014]]||Eiji Aonuma}}


Interview:Nintendo Power June 2005
{{References}}
At last year's Game Developers Conference, where I spoke about the challenges of Zelda development, I jokingly explained the "Miyamoto Test" in terms of "upending the tea table," a classic pop-culture reference in Japan in which an old-fashioned father overturns the family dinner table when he's upset. I said that Mr. Miyamoto will do that during the final stages of game production, but it's not chaotic, since he then kindly helps the team get on the right track and "picks up his own plate." Mr. Miyamoto has chided me a little for talking about it in those terms, since now everyone at Nintendo tries to plan for his tea-table upsets! But seriously, neither of us thinks that it is the producer's job to overturn his team's work. However, I face more and more situation where I need to judge staff ideas as good or bad, and to decide whether to do them or not, and I'm developing a strong intuition about making the right decision. But how to communicate that decision – that's so important. I'm still working on that talent. Mr. Miyamoto is a great communicator, and I could never hope to be as skilled.

Latest revision as of 01:48, September 7, 2014

Upending the Tea Table is a phrase used to describe when someone, usually Shigeru Miyamoto, steps in toward the end of a game's development to suddenly and radically change its direction. This often involves starting from scratch, rendering a large amount of work worthless. The phrase originates from a scene in a famous Japanese manga called "Star of the Giants", in which an angered father upends the tea table at which the family is eating, spilling dinner on the floor.[1] Eiji Aonuma calls it the Miyamoto Test and sees it as a measure of how well the team is aligning to the essence of Zelda. Although it is destructive, Miyamoto always helps to clean it up and make improvements, and the team usually welcomes his wisdom.[1][2]

Four Swords Adventures

The phrase was first made famous in relation to The Legend of Zelda by Miyamoto's involvement in Four Swords Adventures. Toward the end of development, worried that the game's story was too complicated, Miyamoto had the team change the storyline with additional focus on the gameplay.[3]

As another instance in Four Swords Adventures, Rupees didn't suit the role that the game required of them, so Miyamoto had them replaced with Force Gems.[4]

Twilight Princess

Twilight Princess was plagued by several upendings of the tea table late in development. First, there were issues translating the very beginning of the game to the Nintendo Wii, since this was a new console that players wouldn't be familiar with. So, after the script had already been sent out to be localized, Miyamoto presented a plan to spend three days in Ordon Village instead of one. Later, he asked for an originally separate sub-event to be tied into the main story.[5]

Phantom Hourglass

For Phantom Hourglass, Aonuma was able to see things from Miyamoto's perspective and upend the tea tables much earlier in the development so Miyamoto didn't have to upend them later.[6]

Spirit Tracks

Eiji Aonuma upended the tea table halfway through the development of Spirit Tracks. The team had spent the previous year striving to create a world where the player could lay train tracks anywhere he or she pleases. Several problems such as balancing freedom with story progression were bogging down development, so Aonuma decided to abandon the idea of complete freedom in favor of the pre-defined routes that appear in the published game.[7]

Ocarina of Time 3D

Mahito Yokota, in charge of sound for Ocarina of Time 3D, had redone about half of the songs in a more "up-to-date" style before Koji Kondo told him that the soundtrack should remain faithful to the original.[8]

Hyrule Warriors

Originally, Yosuke Hayashi, one of the developers for Hyrule Warriors, planned for it to be closer to a Zelda game than a Dynasty Warriors game, adding elements of Dynasty Warriors onto the Zelda franchise. This included having boss battles in dungeons and having certain characters in the game. However, Miyamoto upended the tea table and said that his proposal would not be the case, as what they are doing here is grafting Zelda onto the Dynasty Warriors experience. This was a reversal to what Hayashi proposed, and Hyrule Warriors ended up being based on Miyamoto's decision.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.1 1.2 Eiji Aonuma, GDC, March 24th 2004
  2. ↑ IndustryGamers, July 14th 2011
  3. ↑ "And in the end on that game, as we got closer to finishing it, of course, Mr. Miyamoto then came in and upended the tea table, and we changed the story around quite a bit at the end with Four Swords Adventures." — Eiji Aonuma, GDC Roundtable, May 17th 2004
  4. ↑ "This time around, in thinking that we really wanted to make a game that has both a very strong multiplayer and single player mode, we realized that in single player mode, it didn't seem right than in the single player mode the objective is to collect money. [...] Instead of collecting money, you're collecting the essence of power and putting it into your sword. That is another example of Mr. Miyamoto upending the tea table." — Eiji Aonuma, Game Informer, May 17th 2004
  5. ↑ Iwata Asks: Twilight Princess, Part 1
  6. ↑ Nintendo Dream, August 30th 2007
  7. ↑ Iwata Asks: Spirit Tracks
  8. ↑ Iwata Asks: Ocarina of Time 3D (Sound)
  9. ↑ Eiji Aonuma, Nintendo Life, September 5th 2014
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