Bongos Included in Majora’s Mask Because They are Aonuma’s Favorite Instrument to Play

As it turns out, Eiji Aonuma has a pretty fun time working at Nintendo. Speaking in an interview with Game Informer, Eiji Aonuma talked about something he and many other employees do together at Nintendo for fun. Surprisingly enough, what they like to do is get together and play music in a band. The band itself has grown to around 70 members strong and they do three in-office performances a year. That being said, Eiji Aonuma himself prefers percussion…in particular, playing the bongos. This was his inspiration for having Goron Link play the Bongos in Majora’s Mask:

GI: What are your non-video game hobbies?

Aonuma: I guess my hobby outside of video games would probably be playing music. It’s something I have always had an interest in and I had the opportunity at Nintendo to start up a band with people I work with. We began with just a few members, but now we are up to 70-something people. We hold these really large concerts inside the company about three times a year and we also have the occasional opportunity for outside performances, as well. I really enjoy this because it has a very different feeling from developing video games. It’s something you work up to – performing – and you only really get one chance at it, so you have to make sure you get that right. It has a slightly different feel from video game development in that sense, so I find it very stimulating to have that kind of pressure.

GI: What instrument do you play?

Aonuma: I really tend to focus on percussion. I enjoy the drums in particular. I like playing the bongos. You might notice the Goron in Majora’s Mask plays a sort of bongo-like instrument. I put that in there just because that is something I personally enjoy. It really feels good to pound out a rhythm, but I’m really not a musician at heart considering don’t read music. I’m not someone who is playing a long song or a particularly complicated instrument. Rather, I’m just sticking with what I consider to be the easy fun stuff like the rhythm section in this case.

This hits close to home for me, as a grew up playing percussion myself. Bongos weren’t my favorite part, though they rank rather highly. Instead, I loved playing full set, especially in pep band in High School. Of course, as a percussionist you tend to have a wide range of talents, from playing the Piano to ringing the Triangle. Oh, and never forget: more cow bell!

Do you like developers including instruments into games based on their own preferences?

Source: Game Informer