Interview:Edge E3 2004

[1]

EDGE: What was the thinking behind using an adult Link this time? Eiji Aonuma: We always think about how we are going to express Link. So in Ocarina Of Time we tried to express him as both a child and as an adult; in Majora's Mask, Link was a child; and we changed the style of art in Wind Waker, using toon-shading, and we expressed him as a child again. But this time we thought about it and something we hadn't done yet with the property was to express Link as an adult, so we tried to focus on that. We want to challenge that.

EDGE: What was your reaction to those who disliked Wind Waker's cel shading? Eiji Aonuma: The toon-shading graphics are very particular and I expected some likes and dislikes. Of course, it appeals to some people and others may not like it. But it was perfect for expressing Link as a child - and the gameplay was easy to control - so that's why we chose that style. But for people who actually played the game, I think they were satisfied because it was perfect style [sic] for Link in that game. For this new game of course I thought about some opinion that was given on Wind Waker, but it's not really the reason why we changed the style.

EDGE: Can you explain why we're seeing a new Zelda game at E3, and not a new Mario? It seems that Zelda has more importance than Mario for Nintendo right now. Eiji Aonuma: [Laughs] I feel that both franchises are very important for Nintendo, and I hope that the gameplay of the Mario franchise can be widened, too. But my main focus is the Zelda series. For Mario, Mr Miyamoto is going to be more involved in the future and we may be able to see more of Mario later.

EDGE: The video we saw at the press conference showed lots of combat. Is the Zelda series becoming more violent? Eiji Aonuma: When we started working on this project a lot of people thought, well, we're making this Link an adult, and we want to see a very cool Link, so the combat works well with that image of Link - how he throws his sword and puts it away; it looks very cool. But in Zelda games we always think about other elements, and there may be some funny, comical parts to it. It's possible that you'll see a wide variety of elements.

EDGE: The video also focused on horseriding. Will this be a big part of the game? Eiji Aonuma: One of the things about the horseriding is that it's really Mr Miyamoto's favourite. He always wanted to do that; he wanted to do that in Ocarina Of Time but it didn't happen. But this time I remembered that he mentioned it during Ocarina Of Time, so I suggested using this element in the new game. And Mr Miyamoto wanted to see Link fight on horseback, so I added that.

EDGE: Does Mr Miyamoto ever have ideas to which you have to say 'no'? Eiji Aonuma: [Laughs] Of course, I have a lot of communication with Mr Miyamoto and sometimes I can't tell if he is kidding, but sometimes he mentions things so many times that I think maybe he really wants to do it. So sometimes it works that way.

EDGE: Games are obviously taking longer to develop nowadays. What are your thoughts on that? Eiji Aonuma: I'm not really dissatisfied with the long process, but the graphics have improved and the technology allows us to pay more attention to details. It's good and bad. When we make mistakes we have to go back to the designer and the programmer and we have to fix it and it takes a long time. We always think about speeding up the process: how can we make it more efficient? With the new Zelda we're utilising the Wind Waker engine so we saved some time there. We're always thinking about re-utilising the materials we already have.

EDGE: In the video we saw Link pushing blocks and other familiar elements. What new gameplay will you be introducing? Eiji Aonuma: We're always working on new ideas, of course. But you see with the block, players already know that they'll be able to push it, but they may get a different result this time. So we're thinking about surprising players this time.