Interview:Iwata Asks: Link's Crossbow Training: Difference between revisions

{{IncInterview}}

 

{{Interview|2008-05-08

|source = [http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/crossbow/0/0] [http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/iwata/iwata_asks_links_crossbow_training_16784_16869.html]

{{Interview/A|Miyamoto|Where's the producer, Mr. Aonuma? And there is one more producer behind Link's Crossbow Training besides Mr. Aonuma.}}

{{Interview/A|Miyamoto|I think it is more comfortable, more natural. We are creatures of habit. We don't look at our feet when we're walking around, and we're always trying desperately to take in the scenery while we're living our lives. So, even in these games I want people to be able to get really into the 3D geography, so it feels like you're really there, since I think it's a really natural thing to be able to look around while you're walking. At first when we were developing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I even proposed using a first-person perspective.}}

I thought that the FPS system would be the best way of enabling players to take in the vast terrain of the Hyrule Field. Besides, by not having the player's character on the screen, we can spend more time and machine power on creating enemies and the environments.}}

{{Interview/A|Miyamoto|Well, although I had originally planned to make a game with a first-person perspective, the idea of having a child Link in the game was born, and then it became necessary for the hero to be seen on the screen.}}

{{Interview/A|Miyamoto|Well, once we finished the Ocarina of Time, we decided to make Majora's Mask as a kind of side story.}}

{{Interview/A|Iwata|Oh right, I remember that. When I first heard of the idea for Link's Crossbow Training it really reminded me of Majora's Mask. I remember thinking that it was aiming to make use of the game world and game system of Twilight Princess in a different setting.}}

<b>Iwata:</b> Definitely, if you think you're going to keep getting better at the game, you're going to want to keep playing it.<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> There are lots of reasons for playing video games; because you want to get to the next level, or because you want to see what the next boss you have to fight looks like. I'm told all the time that these kinds of "rewards" really matter to people. But I don't think that's necessarily true. What I'm always saying, not only regarding Link's Crossbow Training, but in general too, is that it's the process that must be fun for people if they're going to really enjoy the game.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> So you mean if the "journey" is fun, then the ending, or the result, really doesn't matter?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Yeah. The fact is, the journey is really the reward. And there are times when game creators use well-made "rewards" as the excuse. For example, if someone invents an ending that they're really proud of, that they just think is fantastic, then they might end up settling for a less-than-splendid journey. But that's a definite case of getting your priorities mixed up. So with Link's Crossbow Training, I really saw it as my responsibility to make sure that the creators didn't get too caught up with the reward, and focus instead on making the journey itself the fun part. I even told them not to make any bosses.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> No bosses? Really?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> I really wanted them to put all their energy into making the journey fun rather than making these fabulous bosses. Even so, at the end we had one boss - I finally gave in because they kept bugging me to let them make three bosses. (laughs) As there was only one boss, they could concentrate their time and energy working only on it, instead of on three bosses.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> So, basically, I get the impression that the key message you want to relay here with the current project is that it's not the destination, but the journey that really matters.<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Yeah, that's a phrase that I've adhered to recently, so I really tried to make use of it. (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> So, in order to make the journey through the game fun, what specifically did you do?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Well, basically the goal was to get people to use the software with the Wii Zapper and think, 'wow, the Wii Zapper is really easy and fun to use'. So, simply aiming and shooting at a target is fine, but we have also included a number of tricks within demo screens. That way, every time you play you figure out something new about the game, and then you want to keep playing. And whether or not you can get high scores depends on how you get to grips with some of the hidden challenges involved.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> Because you can't get a high score by just shooting haphazardly, right?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Yeah, you really have to think about how you can keep raising your score.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> That aspect of the game sounds like quintessential Zelda.<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> And the staff always wanted to make something more than just another shooting game, so they were really into making something unique. For example, when a path splits and you can choose your route, they might put certain objects...<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> Well, let's not spoil the surprise for the people who haven't played it yet! (laughs) Ok, now let's move on to the topic of the Wii Zapper.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> So, I heard during the Iwata Asks Interview for Mario Kart Wii that when you were finishing up with it you once said, 'I like to make products with large packaging on occasion'.<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Yup, I've gone ahead and made another product with large packaging! The 3rd in the large box series.(laughs) (Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii, which both have large packaging, had already been released in Japan at the time of this interview)<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> (laughs) The Wii Zapper was originally unveiled in 2006 at E3. At the exhibition, we had the Wii Zapper displayed in a glass case, and I remember the way that people ate up the exhibit, practically boring holes through the glass with their eyes, and it really made an impression on me.<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Though we had made a proposal for a new product called the Wii Zapper, more than a year passed and Nintendo still hadn't released any new compatible software, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption became operable with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> The whole concept behind the development of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was to be able to hold the Wii Remote and Nunchuk in each hand and use them separately and freely. Furthermore, since the Nunchuk was created to work as a motion-sensing controller in its own right for that game, it didn't automatically seem to fit with the creation of the Wii Zapper, right?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> At the same time, the software makers started to propose ideas for gun attachments to us. Some of them even suggested making limited editions of the gun holder, and they provided us with very elaborate examples.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> So there was the possibility that a few different styles of gun holder would be released?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> They could probably fill a living room just with all the different gun holders they've proposed to us.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> And you've also got the Wii Balance Board and the Wii Wheel...<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Yeah, your living room must be completely covered with game accessories, huh? (laughs) So, we really understood the necessity of making one standardized gun holder. I thought, if you've got the Wii Zapper, you should be able to use it with FPS style games released by other software developers as well.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> So that FPS games can be more easily developed? By the way, what was the inspiration for the creation of the Wii Zapper?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Well, initially we just made the frame from wires and attached the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to it with rubber bands. It was a really simple prototype. <br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> That sounds very much like a science project in grade school! (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> When we were in the middle of developing the Wii version of Twilight Princess, one of my staff came up to me and showed me some similar sort of wire and rubber band construction he'd made, and I said to him, 'this isn't the time or the place to be making things like this!' (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> And it was when everyone was busy completing the Twilight Princess development. (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> But when I held the thing in my hands, I saw that it really felt pretty comfortable to hold. So, I talked with hardware people, and we got started on the formal project development.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> And you made a lot of prototypes for this one too, right?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Right, and among them were some really cool ones, like one that used an extra battery to vibrate the gun when you hit a target. But we decided against it because we really didn't want customers to have to buy the extra batteries. That's one of the reasons developing this product took so long.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> At the final stage of the development, I requested that it would be able to enclose the Nunchuk cable. I really found it annoying when it got tangled.<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> That became a really clean design, didn't it? And detaching the Wii Remote also became really easy.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> By the way, where did the name for the Wii Zapper come from?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Well, when the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) first came out in the US, the gun controller was called the 'Zapper'. We thought that the word 'Zapper' had a broader meaning than the word 'gun', and even for me, the word 'Zapper' was something I felt more familiar with. Furthermore, in the same way that we were using it to refer to the crossbow in this new game, we also wanted to be able to use it with other variations of shooting games in the future, so we went with 'Zapper'. Also, we wanted it to be a name that could be used and understood worldwide, so we adopted a really traditional Sci-Fi design.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> You also made it white.<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Well, because this is another Wii product, we want people to feel like it is a part of their living space that should be on display.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> But, even though the original idea for the Wii Zapper came from a Zelda staff member, was there any hesitation on your part about the idea to develop the Wii Zapper in conjunction with Link? Link does not use guns in the first place, does he?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Yes, that was a bit of a problem initially (smiles). But it didn't really seem right to make the Wii Zapper for use with Animal Crossing...<br><br>

On the other hand, the whole reason that this project began was due to the ideas of the Zelda staff, so it really was thanks to them that it went smoothly most of the way.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> Yeah, a FPS Mario game doesn't seem to fit either! (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> So we figured that Link was the logical choice. Then we argued that it would've been kind of strange for us to give Link a gun, so I proposed a sort of Terminator style story about a time warp from the future, but...<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> Terminator!?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Yeah, they vetoed that idea immediately (laughs). You remember the Hidden Village in Twilight Princess? Well, I personally love that spaghetti western-like setting, and we re-created the scene because we wanted people to be able to find joy in FPS games. I also thought that if you were able to use the Wii Zapper with it, it would be even more fun. So we finally decided to give Link a crossbow, but the problem then became what to do about rapid-fire capabilities (smiling). Shooting a gun in machine gun style rapid-fire is really satisfying, but having a crossbow that was able to shoot rapid-fire seemed a little unrealistic. But in the end we kind of decided, well, it's really just for fun, so whatever, and we gave it rapid-fire capabilities. (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> This is my final question. What sort of people do you hope to reach with the Wii Zapper?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> We hope those who have purchased Wii in order to play Wii Sports try out the Wii Zapper and think, 'wow, this is a really refreshing new way to experience games'. <br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> And maybe also the fact that you want people to get the sensation that they're at a carnival?<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Yeah, but you don't win any goldfish. (laughs) These are the kind of games that have people looking-on saying, "let me try." If they really have fun with this, I hope they will also try out more authentic types of FPS games introduced by third party publishers. Well, shall we develop the next Zelda game with Link holding a Wii Zapper, and not a sword (laughs)? It would be easier for us developers as we do not have to let Link change weapons all the time.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> Mr. Miyamoto, you're getting rid of Link's sword?!<br><br>

<b>Miyamoto:</b> Well, that could be a problem, couldn't it? (laughs)