Interview:Iwata Asks: Spirit Tracks: Difference between revisions

<b>Iwata:</b> So, even though you felt you'd done everything you could with The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask came out of it. Now, in the same way, you progressed from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass into making The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> That's right. After we made Ocarina of Time, and Miyamoto-san said, "There are still things you can do, aren't there"... I think those words came back again, inside me.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> It's just like the way an apprentice thinks, "How cruel", but then ends up doing the same thing to his apprentices. (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> It really is. (laughs) Now that I think about it, it's a rather inhumane story.<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> (Laughs)<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> But we did manage it with The Legend of Zelda:Majora's Mask. So I said, "You people can do it too!" Also, "This is a sequel, so you'll be able to make it fast, won't you."<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> He did say that (laughs).<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> Iwamoto-san, do you mean your producer urged you, "We got The Legend of Zelda:Majora's mask finished in a year, so come on, let's do this in a short time frame, too"?<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> No, he didn't go that far. (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> I didn't. (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> He didn't say it, but... He might as well have. (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> Besides, this game had a two-year development period.<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> Two years... isn't really all that much. (laughs)<br><br>

<b>All:</b> (laugh)<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> To begin with, Director Iwamoto was on the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time staff as well.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> That's true.<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> I've been involved in the The Legend of Zelda series since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but I wasn't in charge of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. So I didn't know how rough The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask really was, and when Aonuma-san said, "There are still things to do here, aren't there", it didn't really throw me for a loop.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> Since you felt you'd really done your best, then, you also felt that you could keep going.<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> Right. We thought, "What if we go at this using a different approach from the previous game?" And what we came up with was the use of Phantom.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> A strong, invincible enemy.<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> Yes. In the last game, there was a type of play where you could switch to playing as a Goron; we decided to build things around controlling the Phantom at a relatively early stage. We'd been trying to think of a method for intuitively and easily controlling a subplayer for a while at that point.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> In other words, even before you were told, "There are still things to do here, aren't there", you'd had an idea that you really wanted to try.<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> That's why, when I said, "Let's do another one!", I got such a good response. Something in each of us sort of resonated with the other.<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> No, well.... Was there something? (staring at each other)<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> You seem annoyed. (laughs)<br><br>

<b>All:</b> (laugh)<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> By the way - and I'm asking this because history does tend to repeat itself - was there an argument before this game, as there was with The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask?<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> I don't think either of us really tried to pick a fight... Did we?<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> No. (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> Only, Iwamoto-san directed The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, but it wasn't a completely original work as far as he was concerned.<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> That's true. We had The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker to start from, and we also did things like bringing the boat play over to Nintendo DS.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> I see. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass felt quite original to me, but the boat parts are similar at their base levels, and they were expressed through the application of a method you created for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> Even as he applied it, he searched like mad for things he wanted to tinker with and improve from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> I see.<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> And the results really paid off for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. So for Spirit Tracks, I think he wanted to be free to make things he'd thought of on his own... Is that about right?<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> Yes (laughs).<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> Then, among the characters who appear this time, we really focus on Princess Zelda.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> Tetra showed up in the last game, didn't she.<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> Yes, but she doesn't in this one. Back when I heard the story's rough outline, I asked, "What? Why isn't Tetra making an appearance?" And he said, "Well... I don't like Tetra all that much."<br><br>

<b>All:</b> (explosive laughter)<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> "What do you mean, you don't like her!?" "Don't cause me trouble, now. You mustn't say things like that..." That's about how the exchange went. (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> (laughs) But it wasn't that I didn't like her so much as that I was enthusiastic about characters in my own way. I was searching for something that hadn't been portrayed much, and there was Princess Zelda. At first, we hadn't settled on the subcharacter, and I discussed several things with the staff. Then we thought that, since they're adventuring together, it would be better to have it be a girl. But, you know, we couldn't have it be Tetra every time, so we started to consider introducing a new character. The thing is, though, it's "The Legend of Zelda". I thought it wouldn't be much fun if Princess Zelda didn't show up and if we brought in some unrelated princess instead, so, in the end, I asked for permission to use Princess Zelda.<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> And what was Aonuma-san's answer?<br><br>

<b>Iwamoto:</b> Um... "Whatever. Just do what you want."<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> What!? I didn't say it like that!<br><br>

<b>All:</b> (explosive laughter)<br><br>

<b>Iwata:</b> There, you see? There was an argument! (laughs)<br><br>

<b>Aonuma:</b> I said, "Why don't you try it?" Politely. Didn't I?<br><br>

 

 

<b>Aonuma:</b> Oh, quit making trouble for me... (laughs).<br><br><br><br>