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+--- Thread: New Aonuma interview (/showthread.php?tid=2061)
New Aonuma interview - OB1 - 22nd July 2004
http://www.gcadvanced.com/article.php?artid=2777
Quote:Club Nintendo (CN): Good Morning, Mr. Eiji! Thanks for the interview. Before we start talking about the game, tell us: What does the Legend of Zelda, and its character Link, represent in your life?
Eiji Aonuma (EA): A lot; it is definitely very important to me. Actually, I think that I can only work on Zelda games now because everything I really want to do, I can only do and accomplish with the [Zelda] franchise. I'm really excited about working and developing games like this.
CN: What is the reason of the change of image in this new game, instead of using the style in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker?
EA: Well, in Wind Waker, the story is based on a young Link -- actually a child Link -- and we used the cel-shading technique. With this game, you will now see a new Link. A more mature and detailed Link, in terms of graphics, which makes the game look very realistic. But this doesn't mean that I don't like the style we used [in Wind Waker]. In fact, I liked it a lot.
CN: So you went back to the first Zelda that was showed at Spaceworld 2000 for GameCube?
EA: Those images that were presented at the Spaceworld show were designed by one of the guys who worked with me on Majora's Mask, Mr. Kuisumi, who was in charge of making that video for the show. What we are showing now is totally different.
CN: We know you can't disclose any details of the game, but could you give us a sneak peek at the story and gameplay elements?
EA: We are focusing more on giving the game a very realistic tone, as you could see in the video we showed [at E3], and it's heavily influenced by Ocarina of Time. As development goes on, we will be adding new details that have worked in other titles, so we can come up with a very complete game. I'm sorry I can't tell you more, but be sure that it will be sensational.
CN: We have received several emails in which our readers ask: Will Zelda and Link ever be involved [romantically]? [laughs] I'm sorry, but we had to ask.
EA: [laughs] Good question. Well, as you already know, we are now dealing with a teenage Link, and as you know, teenagers are very emotional beings, so there are definitely possibilities of seeing Link showing his feelings towards the princess. But honestly, we don't know what the future holds.
CN: What are the similarities of this game, and the N64 games?
EA: Well, in terms of story elements, you can probably imagine what the story will be like, although I can't tell you any details. In terms of graphics, they will be totally different, and -- as I told you before -- heavily influenced by Ocarina of Time, but with a unique style. You'll have to be patient and wait for the end result.
CN: Any Zelda game for the DS planned?
EA: The Zelda team is already planning Four Swords for the Nintendo DS. This game will have a lot of connectivity and feature a lot of interaction between both screens. It will be interesting.
CN: Any plans for an Online Zelda in the future?
EA: We would probably have to think what to do in terms of an online Zelda game, what could we make in an online world, and how could we make it a fresh experience. But to tell you the truth, I don't have time to think about a project like that right now. I think that the new generation of gamers is the one that's interested in this kind of game because for them it's normal to play online; but I don't know, I would really have to think of something "different" to do with Zelda.
CN: We watched the Zelda video (several times, in fact) and we could see that Link has a horse again, which looks incredible. Is the attention to detail something very important for you?
EA: Definitely, that's something that Miyamoto always focuses on, and [that] encourages us to keep making better games. I mean, you could see the scenes in the N64 versions and watch the [Zelda] video, and you can see the difference. And graphics are a good way of showing innovation in new games.
CN: Will this new Zelda game push the GameCube to its limits?
EA: Like I said, we are working hard to add a lot more details to the graphical engine. In fact, working with this realistic Zelda title is far easier than what we did with Wind Waker, which was harder to do. Believe it or not!
CN: What's your favorite Zelda game, and why?
EA: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past because it was the first Zelda game I played, and the one that got me involved with the franchise.
CN: How long have you worked with the Zelda franchise?
EA: Eight years.
CN: Is there a solid release date for the title?
EA: [laughs] People are already making preorders for it! But for the moment there isn't a release date because we will take all the time necessary to develop an excellent title, no doubt about it. And as soon as we have more news, we will let you know.
Wow great job CN. It's always nice to read interviews with Aonuma. This game will turn out fantastic.
Yes, Four Swords DS! I knew the Zelda DS game was going to be a FS title. Now let's just hope it uses wi-fi online play!
Here's my favorite quote, which I wish I had three years ago when Wind Waker was shown and you babies cried about how graphically primitive it was:
"In fact, working with this realistic Zelda title is far easier than what we did with Wind Waker, which was harder to do. Believe it or not!"
New Aonuma interview - A Black Falcon - 22nd July 2004
Yeah, good interview.
Quote:CN: Any plans for an Online Zelda in the future?
EA: We would probably have to think what to do in terms of an online Zelda game, what could we make in an online world, and how could we make it a fresh experience. But to tell you the truth, I don't have time to think about a project like that right now. I think that the new generation of gamers is the one that's interested in this kind of game because for them it's normal to play online; but I don't know, I would really have to think of something "different" to do with Zelda.
... he didn't say something like "online is teh EVILLLL11l"??? :)
Quote:EA: Definitely, that's something that Miyamoto always focuses on, and [that] encourages us to keep making better games. I mean, you could see the scenes in the N64 versions and watch the [Zelda] video, and you can see the difference. And graphics are a good way of showing innovation in new games.
Seems to me that this is proof of the idea I had that some of the stuff in that video looked exactly like OoT done in better graphics.
New Aonuma interview - Dark Jaguar - 22nd July 2004
I already have an awesome online idea for Zelda. Someone else better not get creative until I kidnap Miyamoto and force him to let me make it!
Eh, no matter, if it comes to it I'll just strip the whole idea of liscensed characters :D.
New Aonuma interview - Great Rumbler - 23rd July 2004
A Zelda MMORPG. And remember it was my idea so I get credit for that.
New Aonuma interview - Dark Jaguar - 23rd July 2004
No it wasn't you bastard sword! Get out of my head! GET OUT OF MY... wait, RPG? Heh, never mind :D.
New Aonuma interview - A Black Falcon - 23rd July 2004
MMORPGs... I finally tried a little of one in the Ryzom beta, and I was left quite unimpressed. If that's standard MMORPG, leave me with Guild Wars.
Of course the abysmal framerates, unplayably bad lag, game design issues, confusing cities, and near-total lack of help or explanations of what most anything does didn't help either...
New Aonuma interview - Great Rumbler - 23rd July 2004
You could always play .Hack, the Massivle-Multiplayer-OFFline-Role-Playing-Game.
New Aonuma interview - Dark Jaguar - 23rd July 2004
Here's the thing about those types of games. They tend to eat up your time in a LOT of boring things, namely getting XP. Sure, there are plenty of fun things to do I suppose, but when there is such a SHARP difficulty curve, you MUST level up, and when you need so much XP to level up, and the only way to level up at any good rate is taking on creatures just slightly stronger than you (requiring a party, which will cut into the XP), and then when you die, you LOSE XP, well, it's fairly easy to get frustrated beyond belief.
However, there is a VERY obvious reason why they would eat up your time with such boring things. Money. There is a monthly fee involved after all, and it would be silly to think that ALL that money goes to server costs. SOME of it certainly goes into the programmer's hands. So, they keep you paying the fee by dragging out your play time as much as possible. When it is truly warrented, in the form of a LOT of varied quests and special events, there's no problem. However, the tactic of just making us spend most of our time levelling up is NOT what I call good. That's why I'm interested in games like City of Heroes and World of Warcraft.
You see, they seem to be, in their own ways, dealing with these issues. Both apparently allow much faster levelling up than normal. Both also don't punish you for dying by taking levels. Warcraft allows you to get some sort of XP boost when you haven't played in a while, so you can catch up with the people who somehow find the time to go into the game 24/7 without having to do what they do. However, it still suggests there is a lot of XP gathering to do. COH however seems to just make the XP requirements low enough that you can easily level up, by yourself, several levels in just a few hours. More than that, you can actually team up with your friends even if they are REALLY low level and have a GOOD party out of it thanks to the sidekick system. Now, I don't know if the sidekick manages to gain XP for their "true" level (as in, their XP is gained with the amount gained from enemies being determined by the sidekick level and the amount needed determined by true level), but it REALLY seems like the best way to go. From the experience I've had lately playing around with a few of these things, there's NOTHING more aggrivating than getting your friends to play, and finding out a week later that due to one or the other playing more or less often, you are suddenly so different in levels that you can't accomplish anything as a team except watch the weaker guy die over and over again, and level down (and the term "level down" should NOT exist, thank you MMORPGs for creating that lovely "feature" for us!). Also, City of Villians is supposed to finally add a whole lot of extra things to do so that MMORPG (that's really not a good acro...) will be as "full" as the rest.
Basically, there are two things about MMORGPs that annoy me, as things stand right now. One, tediousness. Way too much time spent on the most annoying aspects of any RPG (ah yes, I ALSO don't like having to run for my life from super strong monsters placed right next to the monsters I have to fight anyway for decent XP), and this also goes for other things like money gathering (though some really do make it easy to get money, just not from monsters, ever), and special leveling ups, like "crafting" in one where to be better at crafting in a certain class, you have to do really pathetic crafts over and over again, loosing the items involved in the craft, possibly many times, in the process. That's not fun, it's annoying. Another bit of tediousness is travelling. Now, a lot have these complicated quests to speed up travelling, and later REALLY complicated quests to actually get to go whereever you want in a flash, but considering the sheer size of these worlds (which they HAVE to be I understand), I would think they would give you SOMETHING aside from running on foot for HOURS on end to get from one place to another from the START.
Second, dull quests. Now, some of these quests are really pretty fun, but for the most part you are kinda doing the same thing over and over. Essentially, there are 3 basic quest types I've seen so far. One, go somewhere and get something. Two, go somewhere and kill something. Three, town quests, these are the most fun actually. Now, one and two are standard fare actually for ALL RPGs, but they keep it interesting. In the ones I've played so far, it really IS just walking up to an interactible point, using the interact command, and running ALL the way back. No special events, normally no special boss encounters, no puzzles or interesting brainy bits, just run over there, click, run all the way back. Monsters are the same. I have fought THREE bosses in all the games I've played so far. Normally, on a monster hunt, it's not even a special rare monster. I've been told to "kill this type of monster until they drop these special items" I don't know HOW many times. Generally, it's done like that because since it's a persistant world, they want something anyone can do at any time. Gee, doesn't THAT make me feel special, to see 40 other people running around killing these creatures for the same item, occasionally one will run up to me and ask me if I have it, once RUDELY demanding I fork it over because, and I paraphrase "I died like 5 times here, the LEAST you could do is just give me that thing!", as though they were dying for my sake or something... Now, sometimes you get the special boss monster quests. These are fun because wow, you finally get to do something that makes you feel legendary. Too bad you don't get to do it in front of a crowd. You have to get an instanced dungeon... (gee, I could have done this in Neverwinter...), which is seperated from the World. Sure, there's the party you take with you, and it IS fun generally, but I wanted Massive...
Now, then there are those town quests. Here you interact with people. Some of them will send you on the same quests, in fact in two of the MMO~ that's all they did. In one though, they really made these quests all unique. Good thing too. I was passing out fliers, cooking meals, going shopping for people... um... wait that's not that legendary... well, I did have to rescue a kid and escort this diplomat. My point is that things were actually pretty unique, and thus kept my interest in what would otherwise have been a dull season...
So, actually I think I'll be liking City of Heroes with the City of Villians expansion the most from what I've read of that game. If I really get into this phenomenon, that's the one for me. Otherwise, it's just too... dull... I want the level of interaction and lack of boring nothingness I expect from a single player RPG.
New Aonuma interview - EdenMaster - 23rd July 2004
New Aonuma interview - Dark Jaguar - 23rd July 2004
No, he IS in the dark world, because he is VERY alive in LTTP which happens long AFTER Wind Waker. Besides, the Master Sword in the head didn't seem to make him think not good :D, he just laughed it off before turning to stone. I mean, that's not what stabbing someone in the head normally does, so to state that's proof he's dead is kinda silly. Also, considering that LTTP shows him CLEARLY alive, but in that horribly mutated pig form at the end of OOT.
New Aonuma interview - EdenMaster - 23rd July 2004
Yeah, and generally if you get sliced from a sword you get cut in half. Video games take a lot of creative license, and you need to separate yourself from such real-world restrictions as that to enjoy a game, otherwise you'll spend the whole time nitpicking.
Allright I'm confused...The seven sages in OoT sealed Ganondorf away, then I thought the next game in the series was LttP, in which Ganon breaks the seal and escapes. Then we go to WW, when Ganondorf escapes from the Dark World (because you can't keep a good Gerudo down). I could be wrong, and chances are I am, but this is how I thought the storyline went (for these particular games anyhow)
The entire Zelda storyline is so confusing...
New Aonuma interview - A Black Falcon - 24th July 2004
EM, WW is before LttP, not after. After OoT and before LttP. :)
Online RPGs... I think I figured out part of why I don't care much for Diablo 2's multiplay. It isn't really a team game. You don't work together, usually. It's just a few people who happen to be in the game at the same time. What's the point? Just play single player, it's not too different...
Good online RPGs definitely should have a fun single player game, but they also should have a good team game. Diablo 2 doesn't really. Guild Wars, for instance, has a quite good one... that's the whole game, really, actually -- instanced zones... that's probably the biggest reason it isn't really a MMORPG. The only areas where people can come and go at will are the non-combat areas like towns and the meetingrooms in front of missions and stuff. All the combat areas are instanced, either for just you or for you and a party (PvP or PvE).
Normal MMORPGs definitely have a lot of things in them that chew up time. You have to level, and can't fall behind your friends, and all the rest... definitely problems in most of these games. WoW? It does a few things differently, sure, but at heart it definitely looks like a MMORPG. But in any game with levelling problems like that can't be totally avoided. It's certainly true in Diablo 2... I guess I have to mention Guild Wars again. What they are trying to do is make it so you don't have to do that. Levelling is de-emphasized, as is getting better loot... sure, you can get it and get many more abilities. But you can only ever have eight at a time and better armor and weapons and stuff gets stronger in a category but also becomes more specialized so that it has weaknesses as well. And at a certain point you stop getting more hitpoints... to make it so that people don't have to play too long before they're competent against anyone as long as they can use their abilities well.
Quests in MMORPGs, DJ? Yeah, they do often kind of stink, don't they... I know the quests in Ryzom were idiotic. Kill monsters, craft or forage things, collect items from monsters, look for certain monster types and kill them... I didn't bother with them and I don't think many others did either. I know WoW is trying to be a lot better in this category but you'll still have to do a lot of quests of questionable difficulty and interest to keep getting XP. Oh well, it's the way of the genre...
Still, the few times that Ryzom actually was running at a playable framerate it was entertaining. Not good enough to be worth paying much for, but not awful... if they could fix the lag and performance it'd be better. But that game has a lot of issues they have to work through. :)
New Aonuma interview - EdenMaster - 24th July 2004
A Black Falcon Wrote:EM, WW is before LttP, not after. After OoT and before LttP. :)
Okay, that makes more sense than what DJ said. Ganondorf is a Gerudo, correct? The sole Gerudo born to the tribe in a hundred years, right? So then you'd think that he was born in the OoT Hyrule, then sealed off. Then he emerges in the WW world where he returns again as Ganondorf, and then returns in LttP as Ganon.
Uugh! So confusing!
*explodes*
New Aonuma interview - Dark Jaguar - 24th July 2004
Um, that IS what I said! I tried making it CLEAR that WW, as we all know, is AFTER OOT, and LTTP is AFTER WW.
And he's not the sole Gerudo, he's the sole MALE Gerudo. But, he's not really a Gerudo any more... He gave up that form long ago and is now in a pig demon body.
New Aonuma interview - Great Rumbler - 24th July 2004
Quote:Uugh! So confusing!
*explodes*
You could do like I do and just not think about it.
New Aonuma interview - EdenMaster - 24th July 2004
Dark Jaguar Wrote:Um, that IS what I said! I tried making it CLEAR that WW, as we all know, is AFTER OOT, and LTTP is AFTER WW.
And he's not the sole Gerudo, he's the sole MALE Gerudo. But, he's not really a Gerudo any more... He gave up that form long ago and is now in a pig demon body.
See? It's so confusing that even when you say it clearly I can't comprehend it. I've got it now, though I think.
I meant the sole male Gerudo. Certainly leaves some speculation on how the tribe survives for the rest of that time...Headed to Hyrule Market in the shadows, perhaps?
New Aonuma interview - Dark Jaguar - 24th July 2004
Actually, if you had bothered spending hours finding and talking to EVERY single gossip stone in the game using the mask of truth, you'd find your theory is dead on :D.
And I quote: "I hear the Gerudo occasionally head to Hyrule Castle Town to look for boyfriends." So yes, they DO keep their race around via getting males from OTHER races. No wonder they aren't around by the time of WW :D.
New Aonuma interview - A Black Falcon - 24th July 2004
Then they'd be around, but only as people merged with the rest of the Hyrulean population... :)
New Aonuma interview - Dark Jaguar - 24th July 2004
Pretty much yeah, but that basically just means they are all but extinct, existing only as extra genes in the hylians and humans.
New Aonuma interview - A Black Falcon - 24th July 2004
Unless they bring them back, that is. Remember, they design the games first and then think about how the stories fit together later, if at all... :)
Oh, DJ, how about my MMORPG post up there?