Ocarina of Time 3D discusses hint movies, save system debate
This information comes from the latest Iwata Asks…
Iwata: What else was designed specifically for the Nintendo 3DS system?
Shimizu: I’ve always wondered if many people were really able to play the Nintendo 64 version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time all the way through to the end. For example, a lot of people may have got stuck on the Water Temple and played no further.
Aonuma: Gah! Stop talking about it! (laughs)
Everyone: (laughs)
Shimizu: For that reason, I wanted to put in a help function like in the New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Super Mario Galaxy 2 games, and we ended up putting in Hint Movies.
Iwata: Helping players who get stuck was a goal from the start.
Shimizu: Yes. We give solid hints so beginners can play to the end. And as something specifically for the Nintendo 3DS system, the Navi System kicks in every 60 minutes. Every 60 minutes, the fairy Navi asks if you want to take a break.
But Aonuma-san and I battled, or rather debated, this. Until now in the Legend of Zelda games, if you made a mistake saving, you couldn’t take it back, so the games have tended to discourage saving.
Aonuma: Rather, the default was set to “Don’t save” even if you chose save.
Shimizu: I asked Aonuma-san if that was really necessary anymore. I didn’t get an e-mail reply for a long time, and then after about half a day had passed, I got a reply saying it might be all right. Then I suggested to Grezzo that we make “Save” the default.
Aonuma: I think Ishii-san questioned that as well.
Ishii: Yeah. But I just now learned the background. I had made games in which you have to be careful about saving before, so I made sure to check on that.
Iwata: If you can save by repeatedly punching buttons, you may end up doing something you can’t take back.
Ishii: Right. A game’s save data is the player’s time and memories, so it isn’t something that should be easy to overwrite or erase. I was aware that saving is something you must treat with care.
Shimizu: But the Nintendo 3DS system is a portable device you carry around, so for a long time I discussed with Aonuma-san what would be the greater tragedy, losing game time because the battery ran out and you hadn’t saved or saving by accident.
Aonuma: These days, everyone is busy, so they usually play video games by stringing together little bits of time. I thought players today would be sadder if they lost game progress they had played but hadn’t saved. And we adopt a system whereby saving via repeatedly punching buttons isn’t possible, so there’s no fear of making a mistake in saving that way.
Moriya: Then all kinds of ideas came up—like a system for leading players to hints when they get stuck—and it quickly shaped up nicely.
