Aonuma says it’s somewhat of a problem that Zelda games take so long to make, wants to get them out faster
It’s almost unbelievable to think that we’re getting the first, true Zelda game made for Wii in 2011. By the time the game launches, it’ll be around five years since the Wii launched around the world. Skyward Sword will finally be released this year, but it arrives as fans are starting to move on to Wii U.
The fact that it takes so long for console Zelda titles to be released is something that Eiji Aonuma finds to be “a personal challenge”. The Zelda producer would like to launch games quicker and achieving this goal is something that he looks into.
“I can’t really speak to Mario, obviously – it’s not my forte. But with regards to Zelda, the development process is typically around 3 years and that’s a pretty big timeline obviously. So you’ve got a timeline for a given Zelda game and you’ve also got a timeline for new hardware. So obviously when those two timelines can line up neatly, then, yes we’d love to have something out and available at launch. There have been times when we’ve realized how important that is. For example, when Twilight Princess was being developed, we started on the GameCube and it turned out the game was going to complete itself more or lese around the time of the Wii launch and I thought, ‘Well, it would be a real waste not to have that available for new players with that functionality in the forefront.’ So we did make a Wii version of the game as well as the GameCube version.
“But in general, the timeline for new hardware is actually shorter than the timeline for a new Zelda game. And because of that, when they don’t line up correctly – and that’s often the case – it’s extremely hard to coordinate getting that title out as a day one title. But when possible, of course it’s something that we understand is great and we like to do it. And, naturally, I realize that it is in some ways a problem that Zelda games take as long as they do. I would like to get them out faster. That’s something that I consider a personal challenge and it’s something that I look into.
Zelda games have definitely been known for their long development periods. However, if Aonuma hopes to release them quicker, hopefully quality won’t be sacrificed.
