Aonuma on why Nintendo hasn’t experimented with the one-year dev cycle with Zelda again like Majora’s Mask
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 20 Comments
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask was developed in just one year. Since then, we’ve never seen a Zelda game made in such a short timespan.
Speaking with IGN, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma talked about why we haven’t seen another Zelda game like Majora’s Mask, and why Nintendo hasn’t tried the one-year development cycle again.
Aonuma stated:
“It’s interesting, because there’s definitely this way that we talk about that sort of thing in development circles here in Japan. It’s often presented as a challenge to the developers themselves to accomplish something like that, because it can be very difficult to do. Since I’ve been in the role of producer, though, it’s not something that’s been presented to me as a challenge to take on very often. Sometimes I think about issuing it as a challenge to developers that I’m working with.
“When I think about the kinds of games that you’re describing, where you took the engine and you took some of the original assets and made a new game from that, you know, the kind of creation flow that we had for Majora’s Mask wasn’t limited just to those ideas. We also had to think about how we wanted to change the world, to take something kind of familiar and then warp it. I definitely like that sort of a challenge. I think it’s really fun to think about how you would take that sort of a game in a different direction. For me, in order to properly consider doing that again in the future, I think you really need a compelling topic or a theme with which to start.”
Aonuma ended his comments by stating that hitting the three day cycle of gameplay allowed the team to come up with different game experiences, starting from a concentrated bit of source material. This led to the creation of Majora’s Mask.
More: Eiji Aonuma, interview, The Legend of Zelda, top
Aonuma on how Nintendo makes Zelda dungeons, Majora’s Mask’s melancholy tone, Anju and Kafei quest
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 5 Comments
Kotaku has gone live with a new interview featuring commentary from Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma. Aonuma touched on how Zelda dungeons are made, and shared more on The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.
Find a breakdown of the interview below. Also be sure to check out Kotaku’s full feature here.
Original Zelda: Majora’s Mask dev team was made up of 40 people
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 3 Comments
The original team behind The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask was rather small. Series producer Eiji Aonuma, speaking with Kotaku, revealed that just 40 people worked on the game. He didn’t say how that number compares to Ocarina of Time, but Aonuma did mention that it’s much smaller than the teams Nintendo has on Zelda games these days.
Zelda on Wii U has “as large of a world as can be realized”, Eiji Aonuma says
Posted on 9 years ago by Dennis Gagliardotto(@LyonHart_) in Interviews, News, Wii U | 23 Comments
Recently speaking with Gamereactor Magazine, Eiji Aonuma delved a bit into the sheer mass of the newest installment of Zelda currently in development for Wii U:
A huge, seamlessly unfolding world is something that can’t be achieved if the hardware isn’t advanced enough. Ever since we made the very first generation of Legend of Zelda games though, we’ve had as large a world as can be realised with the hardware, so you could say it was inevitable that we’ve now done the same with the new Wii U title.
When I first showed off the new Zelda game on the Wii U, it seemed everyone was very excited and started proclaiming that a Zelda game had at last become open world! Zelda games have always allowed you to roam and explore a huge world.
What’s changed now is that the hardware has progressed to the point that you can now explore this vast world seamlessly; the underpinning of the game hasn’t changed.
Continuing with the interview, Aonuma also talks a little bit about the implementation of the Wii U Gamepad:
Recently, I’ve taken to relying on the map on my smart phone when I’m out walking in a place I’m not familiar with. A map isn’t something you keep tucked away in your bag, it’s by holding it in your hand and being able to constantly check it as you move forward step by step that gives you that sense of adventure.
You can read the rest of the interview in the new issue of Gamereactor Magazine, which is out today.
Zelda on Wii U is expected to come out sometime in 2015.
More: Eiji Aonuma, Legend of Zelda Wii U
Aonuma on Majora’s Mask, returning to time manipulation in the future, amiibo, remakes, retirement
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments
GameSpot has gone live with a new Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D-centric interview featuring series producer Eiji Aonuma. Aonuma shared some insight into the game, and touched on several other topics as well including returning to time manipulation in the future, amiibo, remakes, and retirement.
Look below for some excerpts from the interview. The full thing can be found here.
Majora’s Mask producer Eiji Aonuma on how “remakes kind of hurt”
Posted on 9 years ago by Dennis Gagliardotto(@LyonHart_) in 3DS, News | 22 Comments
In a recent interview with IGN’s Jose Otero, famed Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma had a few things to say on the process of recreating one of Nintendo 64’s greatest gems for the Nintendo 3DS.
T?o put it as bluntly as I possibly can, remakes kind of hurt. You’ re looking at all the decisions you were making and sometimes you’re saying to yourself, ‘I can’t believe I was thinking about it like that,’ or, ‘Why did I think it was okay to make the user do that in that situation?’
This is something that Mr. Miyamoto made a point of telling me at one time. He said, ‘?you need to look back and learn more from the work you’ve already done, before you go on to making something new.?’ I have to say, that can be a really uncomfortable experience, but I also feel like I learned so much. I’m actually really grateful that I had the opportunity to do something like that at work.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D releases for Nintendo 3DS on February 13th in US and Europe, along with the New Nintendo 3DS.
More: 3DS, Eiji Aonuma, Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda
Sixth Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D play video with Aonuma
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos | 0 comments
Fifth Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D play video with Aonuma
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos | 0 comments
Fourth Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D play video with Aonuma
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos | 5 Comments
Aonuma reflects on Majora’s Mask’s short dev time, was originally worried about fans accepting the game
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment
Majora’s Mask might be one of the most interesting games in the Zelda series. Not only is the title darker and different from other entries, but development itself was also atypical.
Eiji Aonuma reflected on the original release of Majora’s Mask in a recent issue of GamesMaster. In his chat with the magazine, he discussed the game’s short development cycle, and how “innovation truly comes when you have to work under some kind of big pressure.”
Below are his words in full:
