Miyamoto:The Legend of Zelda Never Expected to be Mainstream

Miyamoto: When I was making The Legend of Zelda, it was very plain. (laughs)

Iwata: (laughs)

Miyamoto: I didn’t think that genre would be seen as something so mainstream. I really didn’t expect the response I got when I first made The Legend of Zelda. A world of swords and magic really wasn’t considered mainstream at the time.

Iwata: Was it?

Miyamoto: The Neverending Story almost got really popular around that time. It was a world started off with such a message as: “Here kid, Take this sword.” (laughs) In a word, it was plain.

Iwata: In that sense, The Legend of Zelda and Steel Diver are the same to you.

Miyamoto: I think so. But when I said they’re both plain, I only meant it in the sense that they’re not attention-grabbers. I believe they’re the same in the way that they’re both something fun. It’s just a matter of presentation to get more people interested in it. I think the original themes are relatively plain for most of the games.

This seems surprising in today’s world given how popular fantasy games and the entire genre actually has become. It’s amazing to think that one of the best selling Nintendo games ever created wasn’t even meant to sell that well, or intended to become an ongoing franchise. It’s funny how Miyamoto thought the game was plain. It makes it sound like he didn’t even like it personally – yet here we are 25 years later and it’s known as one of the Godfathers of adventure gaming.

Miyamoto is often deemed a mastermind at his profession, and it’s always neat getting insight into how even when he thinks he has a bad concept, it turns out to be brilliant in the end. Lets hope he has many more “projects” in store that he feel wont be mainstream, because last time he thought something would be huge game wise seemed to be Wii Music, and we know how well that did.

Source: GoNintendo