Interview:Iwata Asks: Ocarina of Time 3D (Original Development Staff - Part 1)

Iwata Asks: Ocarina of Time 3D (Original Development Staff - Part 1)

Interviewee	Osawa, Koizumi, Kawagoe, Aonuma, Iwawaki,
Interviewer	Satoru Iwata
Source	[1]

The Game that Changed Destinies

Iwata: Thank you for joining me today.

Everyone: We’re glad to be here.

Iwata: Today, I have gathered the core development staff for the Nintendo 64 game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which was first released (in Japan) in November of 1998. Please introduce yourselves, telling us what you did back then.

Osawa: Okay. I’m Osawa from the Special-Planning & Development Department. When development of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time began, they called me in to the Entertainment Analysis & Development Division (EAD) and put me to work. This project had a lot of directors, but I was the oldest, so I was a sort of general director.

Iwata: About how many directors were there?

Osawa: Five altogether. I listened to each director’s opinion and coordinated them, saying, “Alright, alright, I get it. This is what we’ll do.” I also worked on the story and script.

Koizumi: I’m Koizumi from the Tokyo Software Development Department. Recently, I’ve been making the Super Mario Galaxy series and Flipnote Studio in Tokyo, but when I try to remember when I was in Kyoto and making 3D action games one after the other - from Super Mario 64 to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - I was working on so many different things that I can’t really remember what I did. About how many directors were there?

Iwata: You were involved in so many things that you can’t sum them up.

Koizumi: Right. I was involved with environment construction for 3D games, camera design, making the player-character Link, making items, and a little with event-related matters.

Kawagoe: I’m Kawagoe from the Software Development & Design Department. I was originally in charge of camera programming for Super Mario 64, so they brought me in to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time project so I could make use of that know-how.

Iwata: At the time, you were in charge of camera programming?

Kawagoe: Yes. But SRD, which Iwawaki-san belongs to, was in charge of camera programming for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, so I participated as an advisor. However, Osawa-san’s script was starting to become huge, so lots of cut scenes were necessary.

Iwata: At first, you were an advisor, but suddenly you were in deep.

Kawagoe: Yes. I became involved in the development of a tool for making the cut scenes, and before I knew it, I was working on storyboards and in charge of the movie parts.

Iwata: Currently, you mainly lend your support whenever the need for a cut scene arises somewhere in-house and a request goes to you at the movie production group. Could we say that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was the game that started your involvement in such work?

Kawagoe: Yes. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was the first time I clearly operated as a member of movie production.

Iwata: So Osawa-san’s huge script changed your destiny.

Kawagoe: That’s exactly right! (laughs)

Osawa: Oh, really?

Kawagoe: Yeah! (laughs)

Iwata: Looking back, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a project that determined the future work of a lot of people.

Osawa: That’s right. Several people were like that.

Aonuma: Yep, yep. (laughs)

Iwata: Aonuma-san, you’re a prime example of someone whose fate the game determined. (laughs)

Aonuma: Uh-huh. That’s very true! (laughs)

Iwata: Would you please introduce yourself?

Aonuma: I’m Aonuma from EAD. I am producer of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which is still under development for the Wii console, but the first game in the series that I worked on was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64 system.

Iwata: Today, your name is always mentioned in the same breath as The Legend of Zelda, but before then, you did a variety of work.

Aonuma: Yes.

Iwata: About the time you had just joined the company, we worked together.

Aonuma: That’s right! (laughs) Unfortunately, though, the game we made together never made it out into the world. I spent a lot of time developing games with external companies. But I really wanted to develop inside Nintendo. I pestered Miyamoto-san about it and he said, “We don’t have enough people for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, so come on in for a spell.” Of those of us here today, I joined the project last.

Iwata: You didn’t participate early on in development?

Aonuma: No. When I joined, the script was somewhat established, and they were rapidly turning out the content. I designed a total of six early and mid-stage dungeons, most of the enemy characters, and enemy and boss battles.

Kawagoe: You also drew storyboards.

Aonuma: Oh, that’s right. Back then, anyone who could draw storyboards was drawing them.

Osawa: Me, too! (laughs)

Iwata: The boundaries between different jobs were vague back then. Most of the time, if you noticed something that needed to be done, you did it yourself.

Aonuma: That’s right. I doubt many of the staff who were involved with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - not just those of us here today - could say clearly where their work began and where it ended.

Kawagoe: For today’s “Iwata Asks,” I pulled out some old materials and was reminded, “I even drew up specs like this!” (laughs)

Iwata: You were surprised at yourself. (laughs)

Kawagoe: Yeah! (laughs) I was surprised at the breadth of tasks I was involved in.

Iwata: Iwawaki-san, if you would, please?

Iwawaki: I’m Iwawaki in charge of main programming at SRD. Like Aonuma-san, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was my first game in the series.

Iwata: What were you working on until then?

Iwawaki: I had been working on the Super Mario Bros. series for quite a while. I had worked for some time with Koizumi-san on Super Mario 64, so that’s how I came to work on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Aonuma: For a long time, all we did was cause you trouble with the most impossible demands.

Iwawaki: No, not at all! (laughs)

Aonuma: You played an important role in realising all the ideas we came up with. That must have been hard.

Iwawaki: No...

Iwata: You made irrational demands?

Iwawaki: Well, you might say that. (laughs)

Iwata: So not just the boss specs, but most of the demands that Aonuma-san came up with were irrational.

Aonuma: They were! (laughs)

Koizumi: No, I had been working with Iwawaki-san all the way from Super Mario 64 to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, so when it comes to irrational demands, I don’t lose to Aonuma-san! (laughs)

Everyone: (laughs)

The Legend of Zelda with Chanbara-style Action

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“Let’s Go to Toei Kyoto Studio Park!”

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Where the Name “Navi” Came From

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What We Couldn’t Do with Ocarina of Time

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Finding the Right Spot for the Opening Sequence

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“Now That’s The Legend of Zelda!”

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Thirteen Years Later

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