What Could the Zelda Franchise Do with Better Hardware?

[Volvagia]

Everyone knows about the newer Nintendo console and its supposed incredible capabilities. My big question is what does this mean for the zelda franchise? Bigger overworlds? Better NPC AI? Improved graphics? what do you all hope Nintendo could do with xbox-like power?

 

[Unlucky Monkey]

It's like Iwata said some time ago. The new hardware only make things harder for the developers. An High Definition console has high claims. You have to feature a lot of eyecandy. Like stunnding cutscenes and a superior overworld. The Zelda games are already looking great. And it took Nintendo about 3 or 4 years to create a new big Zelda. On the new console, this will be a big challenge for Aonuma and his team. A few years ago, Hideo Kojima stated following after he finished Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: "It was a torture".

Developing on a high definition Platform won't be easy and is a risky mission. What do you like? Graphics over gameplay or gameplay over graphics? SquareEnix choose the wrong option for Final Fantasy XIII. The game was nice because of all the great cutscenes and the fight system, but it was also dull when it comes to gameplay and innovations. Nintendo has to do both aspects properly for a new Zelda game. And I think, it will be hard to handle this. Iwatas fears are entitled. Nintendo will be a complete newcomer for developing on a High Definition system. So I will have my doubts until I see some promising material of a new Zelda game for the upcoming platform.

 

[SinkingBadges]

There would sure be risks with more advanced hardware. Development costs, the HD consumer's demand for eyecandy, development time, etc. And yeah, Kojima had quite a ton of work because of MGS 4. Though, if Nintendo puts the time, effort, manpower, and money behind it, we might get quite an interesting product. That also depends how easy their next console will be to develop for, because, you know, some make it easier than others (hence, why the ps3 took about a year to get certain developers on board for it, due to technology, it's an overwhelmingly expensive console to develop for).