On and off, there’s talk among the Nintendo and Zelda communities on the subject of whether or not Nintendo should listen to their fans more when developing games. Of course, the vast, vast majority of us are completely aware that Nintendo is closer to their products and obviously has a better understanding of the way in which they function, but at the same time, many would argue that Nintendo would do well to more often remove themselves from their product and see what the people they’re marketing it to really want. For better or for worse, however, Aonuma says fans already do have an expanded influence on titles in the Zelda series.
“I think with the Zelda series there are things in the games I’m trying to express, but there are also things the fans are expecting. The fans are expecting so much, but at the same time, like with Hyrule Historia, they are also more involved now.” — Eiji Aonuma
Look past the jump to see more of what he had to say.