Aonuma: Zelda takes 3 years to make, pushed to work faster

We all know that anything good is worth waiting on. What we didn’t know was how long it takes to make a Legend of Zelda game or the pressure Aonuma and the dev team are under to get them finished.

Read all about it after the jump!

In a recent interview with Wired, Eiji Aonuma was asked about the Importance of Zelda to Nintendo when it was noted that the Zelda franchise is one of the company’s least forgotten and most updated. What he had to say gives us a couple clues into what goes on at the big “N”- and unconvers a little bit of the producer’s frustration.

Wired: We see Nintendo franchises come and go. Some aren’t updated for long periods of time. Zelda is not one of those. And yet Zelda, it’s not as if it’s a 5, 6, 7 million seller like a New Super Mario Bros.. It’s not one of the huge franchises. So what does Zelda mean to Nintendo? What is the importance of Zelda in the Nintendo world?

Aonuma: You said that Nintendo releases Zelda games regularly. We do release them regularly, but we don’t release them that often. Mario games, if you push to get it done, you can finish it in a year. Zelda games take at least three years to complete. At the same time, I’m getting pushed to release them quicker but the users are expecting bigger experiences. And those things don’t match up. So I struggle with that all the time. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do to meet both of those demands.

With the Mario series, there are two producers, Mr. Tezuka and Mr. Koizumi. With Zelda, it’s just me (the interview ends there)

It seems like that question struck a chord with Aonuma, who’s response sounded kind of like he’d been waiting on someone to ask him a question like that.

What do you think? Should the Zelda have more time to make better games? Should they push harder to get us more Zelda faster? Be sure to click the link to the full interview and leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Source: Wired