Miyamoto reveals information such as how the game originated as a side story akin to Majora’s Mask and how the initial Wii Zapper prototype was constructed of rubber bands and wire.
In the latest Iwata Asks, a series of interviews hosted by Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, acclaimed game developer Shigeru Miyamoto was asked about Link’s Crossbow Training, The game, which has been out in America since November, just recently launched in Japan.
The genesis of Link’s Crossbow Training dates back as far as the development of Ocarina of Time; Miyamoto originally thought the game would work best as a first-person adventure. Apparently, Miyamoto had a vast love for the genre and thought it was going to become popular.
The game came into being as the development of Twilight Princess was coming to a close. A developer showed Miyamoto his Wii Zapper prototype, which was made out of rubber bands and wire. He apparently told the developer that, “This isn’t the time or the place to be making things like this!” as they were still deep into development of Twilight Princess. Originally, he wanted that team to make a side story similar to Majora’s Mask, but their story ideas were too epic in scope. Miyamoto eventually dropped the hammer and proposed the idea of making Link’s Crossbow Training.
As the team worked on the game, they tried to figure out a way to make it logical for Link to have a gun. In the interview, Miyamoto revealed that he proposed a Terminator-like story where Link got a gun from some space time warp from the future. Eventually, they came up with the idea of using a crossbow and the rest just flowed from there.