Aonuma: Wind Waker is special, coincides with birth of his son

One of the interesting aspects about gaming is hearing about how the games are personally significant to the developers due to emotional ties or connections they have with them. One such example, as revealed in a recent interview is WIRED, is that The Wind Waker is particularly special to series developer Eiji Aonuma as it was developed just as his son was being born, which can be subtly seen through the dialogue of one character in the game. Hit the jump to find out more!

When Aonuma was asked by WIRED for confirmation as to whether The Wind Waker was his favourite game or not, he denied that the game is his favourite at risk of excluding other games, but he had this to say about it:

Wired: I believe Wind Waker is your favorite Zelda game, right?

Aonuma: I wouldn’t say that it’s my favorite because it makes it sound like I don’t like the other ones! (laughs) Each one is special to me. I would say that Wind Waker is particularly special because I worked on that just as my son was being born. So it’s the first game I created as a father. For example, the King of Red Lions, I created that, and he has a very paternal, very fatherly-sounding voice, so that I think comes across a little bit. So it was a new life milestone, the timing of that particular project, so it’s certainly special to me and I’ll always remember that. As I’m working on the game again, some of those feelings are coming back. So there’s a special kind of love for that game. But all of the titles remind me of different points in my life, so they’re all very special to me.

This titbit from Aonuma not only gives a rarely-seen look into his own personal life, but also greater depth into the character of the King of Red Lions. The idea of the parallels between the relationships of Link and the King of Red Lions and Aonuma and his son is no doubt an interesting one to ponder when playing through The Wind Waker, as the character himself was most likely moulded to be a sort of guardian and protector of Link, much like a father. Of course, it is also nice to hear that all Zelda titles are significant to Aonuma, due to them serving as markers to different points in his life.

But what do you think? Did you yourself pick up on the fatherly attitude of the King of Red Lions in the game? What do you think Aonuma’s favourite Zelda title is, if not The Wind Waker? Tell us in the comments below!

Source: WIRED