REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda™ video game series goes into high gear with the June 19 launch of The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D game. Available exclusively for the portable Nintendo 3DS™ system, the new game introduces a fully re-mastered version of one of the most acclaimed installments in Nintendo’s fan-favorite The Legend of Zelda game series. Combining adventurous game play and classic story elements with enhanced graphics and previously unavailable challenges, this new edition also highlights the deep, engaging experiences made possible by Nintendo 3DS with intuitive hand-held motion controls and the ability to play in 3D without the need for special glasses.
Experienced fans and newcomers alike will have plenty to discover in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D as they guide the heroic Link™ on an adventure through Hyrule, where they will encounter vividly enhanced characters and environments. The new touch-screen interface makes it simple to navigate menus and switch between items, while new motion controls allow players to swiftly and accurately aim their weapons when targeting in first-person view. After completing the main game, players will also have access to the additional Master Quest that provides even more challenges with redesigned dungeons, more challenging enemies and environments that are experienced in reverse.

A look at the Greek pre-order bonuses for Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

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Thanks to Dimitris P for the tip!

Nintendo on Ocarina of Time’s opening scene

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This information comes from the latest Iwata Asks…

Iwata: Among the real-time demos, the opening scene is particularly striking. How did you make that?

Kawagoe: Today, you can use a CG tool to move the camera, but back then we couldn’t do that because of how the game was constructed, so we asked to make the system to enable Nintendo 64 console to move the camera and we used that.

Iwata: First there was the music by (Koji) Kondo-san, and you made the images to match that?

Kawagoe: No, the music came later. The landforms of Hyrule Field weren’t originally made for cut scenes, so even if you think, “I want to film a scene like this…”

Iwata: The right place for it might not exist in the game.

Miyamoto’s Zelda idea that took thirteen years to realize

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Thanks to the 1:1 functionality of Wii MotionPlus, players will be able to raise Link’s sword in the air for a charge attack in Zelda: Skyward Sword. Did you know that Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to implement the idea was thought of thirteen years ago?

As was stated in the latest Iwata Asks, Shigeru Miyamoto was looking to include sword raising in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. But it wasn’t until Skyward Sword that he was able to accomplish his goal.

Aonuma: That’s right. Apart from the horse, ever since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Miyamoto-san has said that he wants Link to raise his sword over his head.

Osawa: He said that to me, too. We couldn’t do it on the Nintendo 64 system.

Iwata: But you can raise the sword in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, right?

Aonuma: Yes. It uses the Wii MotionPlus technology, so we’ve finally done it.

Iwata: After 13 years, you’ve fulfilled another wish.

Aonuma: So to Miyamoto-san, all the games in The Legend of Zelda series are connected.

Source

Nintendo explains Epona’s history, name, more – horse idea popped up during Super Mario 64 development

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This information comes from the latest Iwata Asks…

Iwata: So Young Link was going to show up. Riding Epona is also a distinct characteristic of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. How did the idea for a horse come up?
Osawa: It just arose all of a sudden.
Koizuma: No, I don’t think it was sudden. Actually, we’d been talking about a horse even during the development for Super Mario 64.
Osawa: Oh, I didn’t know that.
Koizuma: But it didn’t happen for Super Mario 64. I was certain we would do it for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, so I got ready. By the way, Epona was a girl.

Nintendo’s trick to cut down on work for Adult/Young Link, N64DD difficulties

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This information comes from the latest Iwata Asks…

Iwata: Partway through development, one and a half years before release, you had to do modeling and motions not just for Adult Link but for Young Link, too. Koizumi-san, how did you solve that?
Koizuma: We solved it with a simple trick. We realized that by applying a scale of a certain value to Adult Link’s model, we could double-up use of all the same things.
Iwata: You realized that you could use the motions of Adult Link for Young Link, too.
Koizuma: Yes. We could solve it technologically, so I said, “We can make Young Link,” and gave it my approval.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time originally left out Young Link

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Those who play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time start off as Young Link. Later, switching between the boy and Adult Link becomes a crucial gameplay element. But things weren’t always planned that way.

According to the latest Iwata Asks, the developers originally planned on just including Adult Link. Their thinking was that it was a natural decision since the one focus of the title was sword-fighting. Eventually, however, Shigeru Miyamoto requested that Young Link be added.

Iwata: For example, was the division into Young Link and Adult Link something you were thinking about from the start?
Osawa: No, at first there was always Adult Link.
Iwata: Only Adult Link showed up?
Osawa: Yes. At first, we were just going to have him in an adult form. If you think about the chanbara element, that only made sense. With a child form, the sword would be small and his reach too short, so he would be at a terrible disadvantage, especially against large enemies.
Iwata: And it wasn’t like you could just make the enemies small.

Nintendo comments on Navi’s origins, overcoming N64 limitations

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In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Navi is central to the game not just for story reasons, but also because she offers advice and takes part in Z-targeting during battle. Originally, a triangular marker would appear above an enemy’s head to indicate what you were targeting, but Nintendo swapped the symbol out with Navi to make it a bit more special.

Satoru Iwata, Yoshiaki Koizumi, and Toru Osawa discussed the origins of Navi on the latest Iwata Asks, even noting that the fairy idea helped to tackle hardware limitations with the N64.

Read on for more.

Nintendo discuss how Z-targeting came to be

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This information comes from the latest Iwata Asks..

Koizumi: Yeah. (laughs) Thanks to him, we were able to show Link the whole time, but it got really hard in ways that would have been extremely easy in first-person, like how to handle the camera and battles.
Iwata: You tied your own noose. Koizumi: Yeah. In order to solve those problems, we had to create a bunch of new devices, one of which was Z-targeting.
Iwata: How did Z-targeting come about? Osawa: In Super Mario 64, for example, when you tried to read a sign, sometimes you would just go around it in circles.
Iwata: The axes wouldn’t match up.
Osawa: Right. We wondered what we could do about that, and when Koizumi-san joined the team, I said, “Since we’re going to include chanbara-style action, let’s go to Toei Kyoto Studio Park!”
Iwata: Huh? Going to Toei Kyoto Studio Park…because you were including chanbara-style action?

Nintendo elaborates on first-person perspective idea for Zelda: Ocarina of Time

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A few years ago, Nintendo revealed that they considered making The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time with a first-person perspective. The latest issue of Iwata Asks, featuring members of the original development team, have elaborated on the idea. Satoru Iwata, Yoshiaki Koizumi, and director Toru Osawa took part in the interview:

Koizumi: First, I talked with Miyamoto-san about how we should make The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo 64 system, and he asked, “How about making it so that Link will not show up?”
Iwata: Huh?! Miyamoto-san said that?!
Koizumi: Yeah. He wanted to make it a first-person game. Iwata: Oh, he wanted to make an FPS (first-person shooter).
Koizumi: Right. In the beginning, he had the image that you are at first walking around in first-person, and when an enemy appeared, the screen would switch, Link would appear, and the battle would unfold from a side perspective.