E3 2007: Aonuma and Miyamoto on Next Wii Zelda

Some ideas are being thrown around, but don't expect a sequel anytime soon.
by Matt Casamassina

July 12, 2007 - The launch of Twilight Princess with the Wii was a first for Nintendo, which has never delivered a Zelda game so early in the life cycle of a new console. So does that mean fans may not be treated to another Zelda project, this time developed exclusively for Wii? Well, at the very least, it looks like it's going to be awhile, Speaking with IGN Wii, Twilight Princess director Eiji Aonuma and Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto collectively indicated that while some ideas are being tossed around for a new Wii Zelda project, nothing is very far along, or set in stone.

Asked if Twilight Princess would be Wii's last Zelda, Aonuma said, "I can't say, but I guess for now, maybe, yeah [laughs]. Not to say that it's going to be the final game. There's still a lot of potential with the Wii so there's still a possibility that there could be another Zelda for it. We do have some ideas in the works, but I can't say for sure because none of them have been approved and we're still very much in the planning process, so I hope you look forward to whatever comes out."

While Twilight Princess performed under expectations in Japan, the newly released DS title, Phantom Hourglass, is selling very well, and Nintendo is taking notice of gamers' reactions. "The Phantom Hourglass has been released in Japan and reception has been very, very positive," said Aonuma. "We've actually been able to receive feedback from the users and we'll definitely take all of those comments into consideration when creating the next Zelda, whether it be for Wii or DS."

Shigeru Miyamoto elaborated on the likelihood of another Wii Zelda. "It's really hard to say because we've never had a Zelda that's appeared so early in the life cycle of the system, so it's definitely possible that there would be another Zelda on Wii," he said. "Of course, the challenge is that typically a Zelda game is something that takes three years to develop, so we'll just have to wait and see."

Zelda saisi kyllä palata sille samalle tasolle, kuin missä se on joskus ollut, eli huipulle. PH on paska, TP korkeintaan ihan hyvä, ja tuo uusin on varmaan joku minipelikokoelma sotkettuna Zeldan teemalla. Wind Waker oli kyllä mulkun loistava ja ainoa oikeasti hyvä Zelda vuosiin, mutta siinäkin muutamia käsittämättömiä vikoja, kuten aarrejahti lopussa, jonka vuoksi monet eivät koskaan läpäisseet peliä.

TP oli viimeinen Zelda Wiille

PH hyvä kannettavaksi Zeldaksi?

Korkkaappa Minish Cap ja Link's Awakening.

The first bit of information concerns the visual style of the game. Many Zelda fans are hoping for a darker, Twilight Princes-like Zelda on the Wii U, but it looks like Nintendo is sticking to most recent Zelda art style, found in Skyward Sword. “Nintendo is sticking to the core values of Zelda, while trying to appeal to a wide range of gamers, casual and hardcore”, our source told us, adding, “They feel they’ve found the sweet spot with Skyward Sword, and they’re continuing this approach with the Wii U Zelda game”.

The new Wii U Zelda will feature “about the same amount of dungeons as previous Zelda games, but these will be vastly bigger in scope and will be totally different from each other. Some dungeons are so big they’re broken up in 3 parts and will literally take hours to complete”

One of the dungeons is said to be an entire forest. “The first test dungeon they made was a giant forest running on early and buggy Wii U hardware — the dungeon was bigger than the Hyrule field in Ocarina, and the whole thing is one dungeon. You use the gamepad to navigate, avoid traps, follow clues etc. It’s dark, lush, with a ton of trees, foliage, some which you have to cut your way through. Its scope and details are unlike anything you’ve seen in a Zelda game”. He added that the Wii U Zelda game is so big, it wouldn’t be possible without the 25 GB Blu-ray based storage that the console uses.

Minusta se tekniikkademon grafiikka oli aika hirvittävää. Tämä art style käytettiin muutenkin jo TP:ssä, että jos he realistisen Zeldan tekevät niin toivoisin kokonaan eri näköisen Linkin tai edes muutoksia vaatetukseen (vähän niin kuin SS:ssä ne housut).