Legend of Zelda Wii and Zelda Spirit Tracks – Eiji Aonuma Interview

Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr +

In a recent interview with the Official Nintendo Magazine, Eiji Aonuma discussed the Legend of Zelda series. In this interview is information about upcoming Legend of Zelda Wii title and the recently released Spirit Tracks game on the Nintendo DS. Here is the interview for your viewing pleasure.

ONM: How did you manage to release another Zelda adventure on DS so soon after Phantom Hourglass?

Eiji Aonuma: First of all, we have two separate teams, one working on the Wii version of Zelda and one on the DS version of Zelda, so it is not the case that now we have finished the DS game we are moving forward to the Wii version. No, we have already been working on the Wii version for some time and right now at Nintendo in Japan they are doing their very best in order to complete the product as soon as possible.

Talking about Spirit Tracks though, when we completed development of Phantom Hourglass, we decided we liked the touch screen system so much that we wanted to use the same scheme once again. Our mission was to try to launch this new DS Zelda game in a very short time period.

ONM: So even when you were working on Phantom Hourglass you were stockpiling ideas that you wanted to use in Spirit Tracks?

EA: Yes. In fact, when were developing certain aspects of Phantom Hourglass, such as the wi-fi battle mode where Link is fighting against the phantom character, I thought that kind of system would be able to be used in some additional ways, not just for the battle mode. And that’s actually what we did for Spirit Tracks.

ONM: What was the thinking behind ‘killing’ Zelda and using her spirit as a playable character?

EA: Well, it’s not exactly ‘killing’, so I would not want your readers to be too concerned by that! It is simply that her body is taken by the evil and only her spirit remains. Only Link can speak to her and, of course, one of the most important missions in the game is to get back her body as soon as possible.

Zelda, just like in Phantom Hourglass, is very co-operative and really wants to assist Link in his adventure, but how? The only way to do this without her own body is to take somebody else’s body, and it happens to be a Phantom. It is one of the most attractive features of the game.

ONM: What was Mr. Iwata’s (Nintendo President) reaction to the idea?

EA: As far as the Legend Of Zelda series is concerned, I have never consulted with Mr Iwata as to what we’d like to do in the initial concept-building stage, and we did not talk to Mr. Iwata when we started making Spirit Tracks either.

However, I am actually making a point of speaking to Mr Miyamoto. We proposed the idea of Zelda being a spirit and being able to take the body of the Phantom and Mr Miyamoto said “Okay, let’s go”. That’s where we started building from. So, when it comes to The Legend of Zelda series, Mr Iwata trusts Mr Miyamoto, and Mr Miyamoto trusts me.

ONM: Are the changes made to the gameplay in Spirit Tracks a reflection of negative feedback you had from fans after a Phantom Hourglass?

EA: Yes. There was a certain dungeon in the previous game where you have to complete a certain mission in a certain amount of time. I have to admit that I’ve had a lot of fans say that it was too tough.

So this time around we had a big change in how Link plays. As you know by now, as well as the cooperation with the Phantom, players don’t have to go back to the same dungeon again and again in order to complete one particular mission.

So that is one change in Spirit Tracks that reflects the players’ feedback.

On the other hand, when it comes to the use of trains, we have not had that kind of request from the fans. We had been considering what kinds of vehicles or means of transport would be most appropriate for Link to move around in this vast land.

The boat, of course, had been used in The Wind Waker already and Phantom Hourglass. So we really wanted to change the vehicle for this game and we thought a train would be very interesting.

You can decide your own route by changing your direction and we thought it would be a pretty refreshing feeling for long-time Zelda fans to be able to make Link move around by the means of a train.

ONM: What other forms of transport did you consider? What about the next game? Will we see a car? Or a plane?

EA: [laughs] Well, I really don’t know! My son is now eight years old and is deeply into Phantom Hourglass right now.

So Phantom Hourglass has become his first Zelda game. I told him that next time you will be able to drive a train. He was very happy. He loves Thomas The Tank Engine!

He tells me that he likes the train idea, and you would like a plane – but I really don’t have any answer to your question!

ONM: Are you happy with the finished game? Is there anything in Spirit Tracks that you’d go back and change?

EA: One of the most important missions with this game was to complete a new DS version of Zelda in a relatively short time period. To tell you the truth, with the train line aspect of the game, it is brand new for the Legend of Zelda and it ended up occupying almost half of the total development period.

In other words, it was just about one year ago when we were able to start working on anything other than the train ride aspect of this game. I am really, really glad and very proud of our staff who were able to complete the missions with such a limited amount of time and still they are able to make such high quality software… after finishing the title and playing the game myself I am very proud of it.

Having said that however, whenever we complete work on a piece of software, I almost always feel that we could have changed this, or we should have done that, or that something should be incorporated into a future game. It is always the case and this time around was no different, but now our sentiment is that we are glad it is finished and probably, in the near future, we will feel like making something new.

Zelda Wii
ONM: So with Zelda Wii on the way and your desire to make something new on DS too, could Spirit Tracks be considered the last of the ‘old style’ of Zelda games?

EA: I always have ideas for making something new on a portable videogame device. It is possible for us to use a similar or identical engine that we’ve already created, or it’s possible that we may want to create something brand new.

But the fact of the matter is that now that the DS version is finished, I have to concentrate upon making the new Wii version of Legend Of Zelda.

I just don’t know if the team who used to work on the DS version of this Legend Of Zelda game should be participating in the making of the Wii version. I don’t know. The inclusion or non-inclusion of the DS team in the Wii team may have some influence on the outcome of the game.

ONM: So what can you tell us about the new Zelda game on the Wii? How far into development is it?

EA: As Mr Miyamoto has already confirmed elsewhere, we are going to use MotionPlus. With the help of MotionPlus technology, we have already completed certain aspects of the Wii version of the software, namely that Link is already reproducing almost perfectly what you do with the Remote and MotionPlus. Our team has already got a very solid response from that aspect of the software.

We have set our minds on fulfilling our mission of making a brand new Legend of Zelda this time. Like I said, we’ve just completed the DS version of the Legend of Zelda so I really have to focus on making the Wii version when I get back to Japan.

I don’t have any clear cut ideas of what we are going to do on DS after that!

ONM: What about the structure of the game? Do you think that will change significantly as well?

EA: Actually that is something I used to talk about with Mr Miyamoto. He and I agree that if we were simply following the same structure again and again, we might not be able to offer a fresh surprise to long-time Zelda fans.

So we have been trying something new when it comes to the structure of the Wii version of the Legend of Zelda this time. I am really hopeful that people will be surprised with the changes that we are trying to implement for the Wii version of Zelda.

Although you may be under the impression that we are still only in the early stages of development, in fact we are well into the making of the game.

What I just told you about MotionPlus is interesting. The fact of the matter is that Wii MotionPlus was actually not conceived at the beginning of the development of this new Wii version of the game. We thought about the possibility of integrating the Wii MotionPlus technology into the Legend of Zelda idea so we then had to start experimenting. Now we have come to the stage where a very convenient result has been realised. In the end, Wii MotionPlus will be something really great for improving the playability of the game.

Simultaneously, our team has been working on making the building blocks regarding the action – the scenarios, dungeon-making, and so on. We are well under way and we are not in the early stages of development. As soon as
I go back to Japan I am really keen on brushing up the existing elements of the game and bringing our plan to fruition. I hope that we can show you something at the E3 show and it is something that we are hopeful will be surprising.

ONM: And what about the look of the game? Will it be in the style of Twilight Princess, Wind Waker or could it be something new?

EA: At the moment I cannot say. Our way of making videogames is that first of all we confirm what new play experience we want people to enjoy.

So in Spirit Tracks, as you know, after Phantom Hourglass we considered what to do next and in the end we used the same cel shading approach. And that is for an obvious reason – players have to play games on the DS and it has two small screens. For such a small screen we need to think about how we handle small objects, lighting effects and what kind of person or character we want.

With three dimensional videogames, or those that you might call more realistic, you have to have the appropriate proportions between all the objects and enemies. Human beings must be depicted naturally as we are. That would be rather strange on a small screen if you wanted to identify what a small object is or put in characters’ actions, for example.

So that’s why we always use what we call ‘deformation’ in the DS games. Cel shading is much more preferable than the more realistic look we have for the home console games. For DS, first we decided to use the touch screen controls and top screen angle. We thought that was best, and we also thought cel shading was a must.

So, as I said, we need to determine exactly what play style would be best for the next Wii version of Zelda. The fact of the matter is that we are currently approaching it from a variety of different ways and it is possible that we will come up with something new. So right now, I am sorry, nothing complete has been decided and there is nothing I can share with you regarding the graphical style of the new Legend of Zelda for Wii.

ONM: Our site was rife with speculation over the character in the Zelda Wii artwork that Mr. Miyamoto revealed at E3 – could you tell us who this character is?

EA: I’m afraid that you will just have to wait until we can further elaborate on this and many other things. But what I can tell you is that, yes, I have read some of the speculation on the internet, and some of it is right! But that is all I can say at the moment…

ONM: What games are you playing at the moment?

EA: Most recently we have been playing Monster Hunter Tri from Capcom. Especially in Japan, the game is a big hit. For the last six months we have been playing the game because we really want to know what aspects of the game have pleased Japanese audiences. As long as there are some games we really want to play I make a point of playing them. I always want to know what aspect of a successful game most appeals to the audience. It’s part of my job!

A day in the life Of Eiji Aonuma
The Zelda mastermind explains what a typical day is like at Nintendo HQ
“As soon as I come to my office I start checking my emails from the Japanese companies as well as from NCL (Nintendo HQ) and overseas companies. Then I start chatting with the directors on my right and left hand – my desk is situated between the DS director and the Wii director. I start talking with them about the progress made in the last day and then we decide a priority order of what we as a team need to do in the next 24 hours or so. If there are any versions of the software ready by the morning I start checking those.

“In the afternoon, I check emails and there are a number of meetings waiting for me. It is not just limited to the meetings to discuss the Zelda software, but more often I attend other meetings to decide the general course of direction for the Nintendo company. Also we talk about the Entertainment Analysis and Development department because I am one of the managers right now.

“During lunch, recently I have been spending my time with other game directors playing local connection battles in Spirit Tracks. I have been partnering with the director of the DS version to fight against the director of the Wii version and yes, recently we have been winning!”

Share.

About Author

Noah Glaser is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati where he majored in Information Technology with a minor in awesome. Noah has worked in web marketing for over 5 years and has built a reputation that has followed him both professionally and independently. He is the founder and lead content contributor for The Hidden Triforce.In the 5th grade he bought Link’s Awakening for his brother as a Christmas gift. Since stealing it back, he has been hooked to the Zelda series and has never looked back. In his spare time you can find Noah frolicking with his Porygon and Kiwi Birds. He dislikes chocolate, cheese, and bacon.