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|interviewee = [[Eiji Aonuma]] | |interviewee = [[Eiji Aonuma]] | ||
|interviewer = 1UP | |interviewer = 1UP | ||
|description = | |description = 1UP asks Aonuma some personal questions and about the Zelda series. | ||
|source = | |source = [http://www.1up.com/features/zelda-interview] | ||
}} | }} | ||
It used to be that when one spoke of the creative force behind Zelda only one name would come up: Shigeru Miyamoto. Which made sense -- Miyamoto was, after all, the series creator and the man who oversaw every installment since its inception. But in recent years, as Miyamoto's position within Nintendo rose and his responsibilities increased, a new face of Zelda was introduced: Eiji Aonuma. Having been at Nintendo since 1998, Aonuma worked under Miyamoto for quite some time, and with Zelda: Ocarina of Time he was given his first job helping direct a Zelda game. Since Ocarina, Aonuma has been the director of the entire Zelda franchise, including Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, and The Twilight Princess. With his latest Zelda, The Phantom Hourglass, now in stores and getting rave reviews, we took some time to sit down with Aonuma to talk about his life and the series he so loves. | It used to be that when one spoke of the creative force behind Zelda only one name would come up: [[Shigeru Miyamoto]]. Which made sense -- Miyamoto was, after all, the series creator and the man who oversaw every installment since its inception. But in recent years, as Miyamoto's position within Nintendo rose and his responsibilities increased, a new face of Zelda was introduced: Eiji Aonuma. Having been at Nintendo since 1998, Aonuma worked under Miyamoto for quite some time, and with [[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Zelda: Ocarina of Time]] he was given his first job helping direct a Zelda game. Since Ocarina, Aonuma has been the director of the entire [[The Legend of Zelda (Series)|Zelda franchise]], including [[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|Majora's Mask]], [[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Wind Waker]], and [[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Twilight Princess]]. With his latest Zelda, [[The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass|The Phantom Hourglass]], now in stores and getting rave reviews, we took some time to sit down with Aonuma to talk about his life and the series he so loves. | ||
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{{Interview/Q|1UP|With the Twilight Princess, the tone was very dark though. Was that because the market dictated that Nintendo should explore darker themed games?}} | {{Interview/Q|1UP|With the Twilight Princess, the tone was very dark though. Was that because the market dictated that Nintendo should explore darker themed games?}} | ||
{{Interview/A|Aonuma|It's not as though I made it intentionally dark. My goal was simply to make a realistic looking Zelda, and because the story of twilight -- the whole idea of twilight -- was featured so prominently, the overall look of the game became much darker. But it wasn't because of market trends or whatever.}} | {{Interview/A|Aonuma|It's not as though I made it intentionally dark. My goal was simply to make a realistic looking Zelda, and because the story of twilight -- the whole idea of [[Twilight|twilight]] -- was featured so prominently, the overall look of the game became much darker. But it wasn't because of market trends or whatever.}} | ||
{{Interview/Q|1UP|How do you balance the issue of meeting the steady expectations of the fans while still driving the Zelda series forward creatively? For example, how do you balance what the fans want (more of the same) yet simultaneously come up with some new and fresh ideas (such as the gameplay of Phantom Hourglass). Do you follow what the fans want or what you feel they should have?}} | {{Interview/Q|1UP|How do you balance the issue of meeting the steady expectations of the fans while still driving the Zelda series forward creatively? For example, how do you balance what the fans want (more of the same) yet simultaneously come up with some new and fresh ideas (such as the gameplay of Phantom Hourglass). Do you follow what the fans want or what you feel they should have?}} | ||
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{{Interview/A|Aonuma|With Zelda games it all starts with me and Miyamoto. We have some brainstorming sessions and Miyamoto will say, "Why don't we try something like this?" From there, I'll go to the team and we'll talk about things and really go back and fourth on the ideas. Then I go back to Miyamoto and we discuss what we can and can't do.}} | {{Interview/A|Aonuma|With Zelda games it all starts with me and Miyamoto. We have some brainstorming sessions and Miyamoto will say, "Why don't we try something like this?" From there, I'll go to the team and we'll talk about things and really go back and fourth on the ideas. Then I go back to Miyamoto and we discuss what we can and can't do.}} | ||
{{Interview/Q|1UP|The character Link, he obviously doesn't talk much, and whenever he does it's only through text and without voice. It seems very much that Link is a simple vessel for the player to identify with instead of a real personality; it's more that the player creates the character in his mind. Can you give us some insight into this? Why is Link such an interesting character to you?}} | {{Interview/Q|1UP|The character [[Link]], he obviously doesn't talk much, and whenever he does it's only through text and without voice. It seems very much that Link is a simple vessel for the player to identify with instead of a real personality; it's more that the player creates the character in his mind. Can you give us some insight into this? Why is Link such an interesting character to you?}} | ||
{{Interview/A|Aonuma|When a player is playing a Zelda game, my desire is for the player to truly become Link -- that's why we named him Link, so the player is linked to the game and to the experience. Of course, the player can always change Link's name to their own name to further that notion should they want. But if we did give him a voice, that would go against the whole notion of Link being you, because Link's voice should really be your voice.}} | {{Interview/A|Aonuma|When a player is playing a Zelda game, my desire is for the player to truly become Link -- that's why we named him Link, so the player is linked to the game and to the experience. Of course, the player can always change Link's name to their own name to further that notion should they want. But if we did give him a voice, that would go against the whole notion of Link being you, because Link's voice should really be your voice.}} | ||
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{{Interview/Q|1UP|You play percussion in a band, right? Can you tell us about that?}} | {{Interview/Q|1UP|You play percussion in a band, right? Can you tell us about that?}} | ||
{{Interview/A|Aonuma|Yeah, in a Nintendo brass band called The Wind Wakers. It started out as me and five friends at Nintendo, but then it expanded to over 40 people. The band's actually been around for about 12 years. I'm the leader and I play Latin percussion.}} | {{Interview/A|Aonuma|Yeah, in a Nintendo brass band called [[The Wind Wakers]]. It started out as me and five friends at Nintendo, but then it expanded to over 40 people. The band's actually been around for about 12 years. I'm the leader and I play Latin percussion.}} | ||
{{Interview/Q|1UP|Miyamoto once said that Nintendo makes very special games because you're based in Kyoto -- that it gives the games a special sense or atmosphere. Do you agree with that?}} | {{Interview/Q|1UP|Miyamoto once said that Nintendo makes very special games because you're based in Kyoto -- that it gives the games a special sense or atmosphere. Do you agree with that?}} | ||
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{{Interview/Q|1UP|You've seen how games have changed and how hardware has changed over the years. Where do you think we'll be 15 years from now?}} | {{Interview/Q|1UP|You've seen how games have changed and how hardware has changed over the years. Where do you think we'll be 15 years from now?}} | ||
{{Interview/A|Aonuma|I just spoke about this with Miyamoto actually. Miyamoto said that if I knew that, I wouldn't have to work anymore. That being said, there are so many possibilities, and so many things that I want to work on with Miyamoto and Nintendo President Satoru Iwata in the next years. I'm really excited about the future.}} | {{Interview/A|Aonuma|I just spoke about this with Miyamoto actually. Miyamoto said that if I knew that, I wouldn't have to work anymore. That being said, there are so many possibilities, and so many things that I want to work on with Miyamoto and Nintendo President [[Satoru Iwata]] in the next years. I'm really excited about the future.}} | ||
{{Cat|Interviews with Eiji Aonuma}} | {{Cat|Interviews with Eiji Aonuma}} | ||