Aonuma elaborates, "If you play Ocarina of Time now, you realize that the game is not very good. There are moments in which it doesn't move as fast as it should, the graphics are not as good as they should have been, there are confusing parts... Now any Zelda game is technically superior. Everything goes much faster, much better. But in order to surpass Ocarina of Time what we need is to contribute a big change as experienced back then."
Regarding the titles that have been released since Ocarina of Time, Aonuma said, "I believe that with each successive Zelda game we have surpassed all of these mistakes seen in Ocarina of Time. With each Zelda game I have tried adding elements that couldn't have been done at the time. It's like I've been trying to remake Ocarina of Time all these years. If you ask me if there will be a remake of Ocarina of Time I will tell you that I thought I was working on one all these years! But it must be that I haven't done a good enough job, I haven't reached the level I was hoping to achieve".
In order to gain a better understanding of Aonuma's comments and their context, NWR Staff Writer Pedro Hernandez translated the interview's key parts from Spanish to English. His translation and commentary are below.
On Creating Control Schemes
"La experiencia con Spirit Tracks, tratando de mejorar un control que nos decían que era perfecto, nos ha servido para aprender a estrujarnos el coco", reconocía Aonuma, ergo en una línea similar,"con el juego de Wii queremos hacer lo mismo, exprimir al máximo las posibilidades que ofrece el control. Queremos conseguir la mejor forma de que el jugador controle el juego".
Translation: With our experience with Spirit Tracks, trying to make a control scheme that was considered perfect even better, has helped us learned to truly brainstorm and work our minds. With the Wii game we want to do the same thing, squeeze to the fullest the possibilities the control scheme has to offer. We want to achieve the best control scheme for the player.
Summary: Aonuma is saying that with each version they work hard to create a unique control scheme that fits the experience well, doing a lot of brainstorming sessions when trying to create a scheme that is better than a previous one.
On Graphics Realism vs. Control Realism
"Si en DS se eligió un estilo visual adecuado a la pantalla, y como en tantas ocasiones ha definido Aonuma, se ligó esencialmente a la jugabilidad y al control, es de asumir que el televisor del salón y el Wii MotionPlus obligatorio inviten a una experiencia mucho más atenta a las actuaciones de Link, así que "en Wii la cámara es una cámara mucho más real, los gráficos también son más realistas y el control, por lo tanto, deberá ser mucho más realista".
Translation: If the DS was given an adequate visual style for its screens, as stated by Aonuma before, it was essentially mixed with the gameplay and control, so it's safe to assume that the living room TV and Wii MotionPlus invites players to an experience that pays more attention to Link's movements, so according to Aonuma, "On the Wii the camera is much more real, so are the graphics. So the controls must be real as well."
Summary: This is talking about how Aonuma creates experiences that are appropriate for each version of Zelda, and states that since the graphics and camera of the Wii version will much more realistic than in previous versions, the controls must be realistic as well.
On the Importance of Realism in Zelda Wii
"A este respecto, Shigeru Miyamoto aseguró en el último Preguntas y Respuestas sobre los resultados de la compañía que "el nuevo Zelda para Wii irá mucho más allá [en el desafío y el valor auténtico de la serie] (...) Uno de los atractivos primordiales de Zelda es su unicidad. Por descontado estamos preparando gráficos asombrosos para los usuarios y su expectación ante una aventura de rol de tal envergadura", algo que no quita, de nuevo, la incidencia en "lo que es muy importante, el sentimiento realista, auténtico que los jugadores han venido experimentando; la sensación de haber estado en una aventura, de haber explorado territorios desconocidos, de haber resuelto el rompecabezas mediante prueba y error, ¡de haberse visto crecer a través de varias vivencias!" Unas palabras que casi parecen acordadas con el tutor actual de la serie, más aún cuando "el padre" reconoce que "un sentimiento personal de creatividad se está haciendo grande entre nosotros. Hemos reunido al equipo más ingenioso para Zelda DS, y queremos ser lo más creativos posible con Zelda Wii"."
Translation: In this respect, Shigeru Miyamoto assured in a recent Q&A session that "the new Zelda for Wii will go beyond [the challenge and authentic value of the series]. Therefore, we are working on amazing graphics in order to meet the player's expectations and create a high quality adventure game", which doesn't take away the fact that "its very important to achieve a level of realism that players have been experiencing for a while: feeling that they have truly gone on an adventure, that they have explored unknown territories, to have solved puzzles via trial and error, to have grown as players thanks to the experience". "A personal feeling of creativity is growing between us. We have gathered a great team for Zelda DS, and we hope to be as creative as possible for Zelda Wii".
Summary: Miyamoto re-affirms that Zelda Wii will be very different, affirming that it's the realistic feel of the series that gives it its appeal, as recently reported by NWR.
On the Mistakes Made in Ocarina of Time
"creo que con los sucesivos juegos de Zelda he ido subsanando todos esos errores y deficiencias que veía en Ocarina of Time. En cada Zelda he intentado ir añadiendo cosas que en su momento no pude hacer. En realidad es como si hubiese estado haciendo un remake a lo largo de estos años", por lo tanto, concluía humildemente, "si me preguntas si va ha haber un remake de Zelda, te contesto que creía que había estado haciéndolo todo este tiempo... pero debe ser que no lo he hecho demasiado bien, no he llegado al nivel que se esperaba."
Translation: "I believe that with each successive Zelda game we have surpassed all of these mistakes seen in Ocarina of Time. With each Zelda game I have tried adding elements that couldn't have been done at the time. It's like I've been trying to remake Ocarina of Time all these years. If you ask me if there will be a remake of OoT I will tell you that I thought I was working on one all these years! But it must be that I haven't done a good enough job, I haven't reached the level I was hoping to achieve".
Summary: Aonuma states that there WERE mistakes in Ocarina of Time. He is saying that with every new Zelda game, he has strived to add elements that couldn't have existed in OoT due to time and hardware limitations.
On the Technical Evolution of the Zelda Franchise
"Si ahora juegas a Ocarina of Time, te das cuenta de que no es un juego tan, tan bueno. Hay momentos en los que no se mueve tan rápido como debería, los gráficos no son tan bonitos como deberían, hay partes algo confusas... Ahora cualquier Zelda es técnicamente superior. Todo va mucho más rápido, mucho mejor...",y pese a ello, Nintendo sabe cuál fue su mayor logro, y lo más difícil de mejorar tantos años después: "pero para superar aquel Zelda Ocarina of Time, lo que se necesita es aportar un cambio equiparable al que se vivió en aquel momento".
Translation: "If you play Ocarina of Time now, you realize that the game is not very good. There are moments in which it doesn't move as fast as it should, the graphics are not as good as they should have been, there are confusing parts... Now any Zelda game is technically superior. Everything goes much faster, much better. But in order to surpass Ocarina of Time what we need is to contribute a big change as experienced back then."
Summary: This is the origin of the "Ocarina of Time is not that good" comment. Aonuma states that as the Zelda games continue through time, they have become more and more technologically sound. In order to surpass the greatness of Ocarina of Time, a big change is needed similar to the change that occurred with Ocarina of Time.
On Working with Shigeru Miyamoto
"nuestras formas de ver las cosas se están empezando a parecer muchísimo, aunque me queda muchísimo para llegar a su nivel", confesaba entre risas después de un halago sincero: "Miyamoto es directamente un genio, su talento es innato, y yo todo lo que sé hacer lo he tenido que ir aprendiendo muy poquito a poco. Y me ha costado mucho, no tengo ningún talento natural". Cual niño que enseña su tarea a su seño favorita, "desde siempre, el momento en el que tengo que enseñarle mi trabajo para que me dé su opinión es un momento muy especial para mí".
Translation: Our ways of seeing things are beginning to feel similar, though there's still a lot to do before I reach his level. Miyamoto is a genius, his talent is unmatched, and everything I know I have learned little by little. And it has cost me a lot to accept that I don't have any natural talent. Since always, the moment in which I have to show my work to Miyamoto so he gives me his opinion is always a special moment for me.
Summary: Aonuma clearly has much respect for Miyamoto, and always looks forward to hearing Miyamoto's opinion on his work.
The next entry in the Zelda series, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, launches Dec. 7 in North America.
@MegaByte - Actually it's all the FMV that required disc space, not the textures.Okay, it was FMV that made it require FOUR discs, but there's no way the textures from that game could have fit on even the largest N64 cart.
Misleading title for the lose.
Misleading title for the lose.
How is it misleading? It's a direct quote from Aonuma. Misleading would be "Aonuma Says Ocarina of Time Sucks".
The largest one that was actually made, probably not, even though Resident Evil 2 was pretty impressively managed on a 64MB cartridge. The actual size of a cartridge was limited to what a company was willing to spend.@MegaByte - Actually it's all the FMV that required disc space, not the textures.Okay, it was FMV that made it require FOUR discs, but there's no way the textures from that game could have fit on even the largest N64 cart.
Though I think the issue would be more with the system itself. It has a small limit on the number of pixels which a single texture can contain, and I believe the PlayStation has a larger limit. This is why Nintendo 64 games are labeled as "blurry" because usually textures are heavily stretched onto large objects. Clever programmers used multiple textures to create larger textures in order for games to look more smooth. I still prefer the look over the PlayStation's pixelization.
The largest one that was actually made, probably not, even though Resident Evil 2 was pretty impressively managed on a 64MB cartridge. The actual size of a cartridge was limited to what a company was willing to spend.And the consumer who isn't going to pay a huge premium. ROMs are way more expensive than CD-ROM. And probably physical cartridge space to jam those chips in.
It has a small limit on the number of pixels which a single texture can contain, and I believe the PlayStation has a larger limit. This is why Nintendo 64 games are labeled as "blurry" because usually textures are heavily stretched onto large objects. Clever programmers used multiple textures to create larger textures in order for games to look more smooth. I still prefer the look over the PlayStation's pixelization.You're right; the N64 did have a small texture cache. But the blurriness was also because the N64 had interpolation and the PlayStation (and annoying, the DS) didn't.
Sure, if people played Twilight Princess before Ocarina of Time, they probably wouldn't like it as much. But I'll bet they'd still play through the game, because it is entirely playable today.
I don't agree that nothing can equal the 2d-3d change -- you even point out yourself how similar in feel the 2d and 3d games are, and I think there are many changes that could dramatically alter that while still retaining other elements of the Zelda formula.Well, I meant that more from a design standpoint. All they had to do was take their 2D game concepts and move them to 3D. Games like Super Mario 64, Zelda OoT, Metroid Prime, etc. are all like this. Finding something unique and interesting without any major change in hardware is going to be very difficult, and I just can't imagine anything having that same "wow" factor as Ocarina of Time did, at least for me.
This big change will probably be something like Link having wings throughout the entire game.Ironic that those same riot freaks caused Twilight Princess to look and play the way it did.
I'm not expecting anything drastic...I feel like Zelda is Nintendo's Dragon Quest now. God forbid the formula is changed or the faithful will end up rioting.
Ironic that those same riot freaks caused Twilight Princess to look and play the way it did.
Ironic that those same riot freaks caused Twilight Princess to look and play the way it did.
This is why Aonuma's recent comments make me very excited. Back when Twilight Princess was in development, all he did was praise Ocarina of Time and talked about how Twilight Princess would be just like it in order to please the Ocarina fanboys who hated Majora's Mask and Wind Waker. But now he's actually criticizing parts of the game and he sounds kind of annoyed with the Ocarina fanboys, it looks like Aonuma really wants to do something different with the series.
Not to mention the long development cycle makes it obvious something big is going to happen. The development of this new Wii Zelda started sometime around the end of 2006/early 2007. The earliest this new game could come out is the end of 2010 which means this game will have around 4 year development lifespan at least. In comparison, Ocarina of Time started development sometime in 1995 and came out at the end of 1998. Majora's Mask started development at the end of 1998 and first came out May 2000 in Japan. Wind Waker started development around the end of 2000/early 2001 and first came out December 2002 in Japan. Twilight Princess started development early 2004 and came out at the end of 2006.
So yeah, if the new game was going to be like the other 3d Zelda's it would have come out by now. The fact that the game is in development for so long show that Nintendo is quite serious about doing something different this time.
@MegaByte - Actually it's all the FMV that required disc space, not the textures.Okay, it was FMV that made it require FOUR discs, but there's no way the textures from that game could have fit on even the largest N64 cart.
None of it's random. Gotta find clues, as with any Zelda made after Mario Kart 64.Exploration is made easier in Majora's Mask by using the Reverse Song of Time.
I will second that. Playing the game on a flat screen makes the game look hilariously bad, and the awful translation is just the topping on the cake.None of it's random. Gotta find clues, as with any Zelda made after Mario Kart 64.Exploration is made easier in Majora's Mask by using the Reverse Song of Time.