Joystiq

Aonuma: New 3DS Zelda will have light and dark world

Jordan Mallory — Thu, 02 May 2013 19:45:00 EST

Nintendo's 3DS sequel to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past will, like the original, feature both light and dark worlds, according to a CNet interview with franchise veteran Eiji Aonuma. How this mechanism works has yet to be revealed - no indication of it was present during our time with the game two weeks ago.

Aonuma also referenced the Phantom Gannon encounter from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as inspiration for Link's new two-dimensional abilities, which allow him to phase into flat surfaces to solve environmental puzzles as an adorable hieroglyph. Which, of course, is not to be confused with an adorable hippogryph - no hippogryph-related announcements have been made as far as we are aware.

Aonuma: New 3DS Zelda will have light and dark world originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 May 2013 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Miyamoto interested in 3D remakes of 2D Zelda titles

Richard Mitchell — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:00:00 EST

It's probably too early to get excited, but it seems that older 2D Zelda games could be in line for giving them a 3D makeover. The news comes via Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma, who recently told GamesRadar that Shigeru Miyamoto has been "talking about" revisiting 2D Zelda games, specifically "the ones that were designed with multiple levels to the world like A Link to the Past, and taking those 2D graphics and recreating them in 3D."

In context, it sounds as if Aonuma is referring to applying 3D effects to the existing titles - perhaps akin to the 3D Classics already available for 3DS - rather than a full-blown polygonal remake. As GamesRadar points out, A Link to the Past, with its multiple tiers, would certainly lend itself to 3D effects. What it wouldn't lend itself too: Helping us save money.

Miyamoto interested in 3D remakes of 2D Zelda titles originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aonuma: New 3DS Zelda in the works, Majora's Mask a possibility

Richard Mitchell — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:35:00 EST

Speaking to Portuguese site MyGames, The Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma shed some light on the franchise's future on the 3DS. Aonuma noted that a new Zelda title is indeed in the works for Nintendo's handheld, which isn't too surprising in itself. Given the success of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the 3DS, however, it may be somewhat surprising to learn that the next Zelda will not be a remake of Majora's Mask. The title will be a new adventure, though Aonuma states it will utilize ideas from previous console iterations of the series (a boomerang, perhaps?).

He didn't rule out the possibility of Majora's Mask in the future, stating that he has even talked with Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto about bringing the bizarre sequel to 3DS. Aonuma added that Nintendo is "seriously considering" the possibility, but felt that it wouldn't be right releasing another remake directly after Ocarina of Time. Let's just hope the 3DS version isn't haunted.

Aonuma: New 3DS Zelda in the works, Majora's Mask a possibility originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rare DS signed by Nintendo vets being auctioned for Japan disaster relief

Randy Nelson — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:00:00 EST

Kept in a glass case for more than four years, an original model Nintendo DS bearing the autographs of some of Nintendo's key players (and two literal key players) is being auctioned off by its owner to raise money for the Red Cross disaster relief effort in Japan.

The red Mario Kart DS promotional system is signed by Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, along with composer Koji Kondo, Zelda series chief Eiji Aonuma, voice of Mario Charles Martinet and Martin Leung, a pianist who performs with Video Games Live and rose to fame thanks to a YouTube video of him playing the Mario theme blindfolded.

Its current owner has vowed to donate 100 percent of their profit from the auction to the Red Cross and provide proof of the donation to the winning bidder. As of this writing, there are six days left to not only get your hands on a rare gaming collectible, but do something good for your fellow man in the process. Visit redcross.org for information on donating directly to the relief effort.

Rare DS signed by Nintendo vets being auctioned for Japan disaster relief originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Existence of a secret master timeline for the Zelda universe confirmed

Griffin McElroy — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

First and foremost, that headline is the most skin-crawlingly nerdy thing we've ever committed to virtual paper, and we write about video games professionally on a daily basis. Moving on.

In an interview with Official Nintendo Magazine (as transcribed by ZeldaDungeon), Eiji Aonuma commented on the placement of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in the oft-speculated timeline of the franchise. More notable than the game's positioning was Aonuma's confirmation of an overarching Zelda timeline -- though he explained that it's a "confidential document" to which only "myself, Mr. Miyamoto and the director of the title" have access.

Aonuma revealed that Skyward Sword comes before Ocarina of Time in said timeline, but wouldn't comment on whether it's the first game in the chronological series. He explained, "for us to add titles to the series, we have to have a way of putting the titles before or after each other," hence the secrecy. That makes sense -- as long as they're all comfortable with the swirling, black morass of insanity that's surfaced due to their reticence.

Existence of a secret master timeline for the Zelda universe confirmed originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aonuma hopes to show 'playable' build of new Zelda at E3

David Hinkle — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:20:00 EST

The latest carrot to be dangled before the teeming mass of The Legend of Zelda fans comes from a recent interview in Famitsu magazine, via Andriasang. There, director Eiji Aonuma says he hopes that Nintendo will be able to "show something playable" at E3. What? That's, like, four years ahead of schedule! We jest, but it's not like Nintendo really needs to rush anything. It's The Legend of Zelda. You want it, even if it's supposed to be different this time around.

Aonuma wouldn't provide much in terms of how far along the game has come, other than talking up the MotionPlus support and stating the team has "progressed in development since last year" and that the "core areas have come into clear view." We take that to mean the team has finished rendering Hyrule Field.

Aonuma hopes to show 'playable' build of new Zelda at E3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo's Aonuma pitched Link's Crossbow Training 2

Ben Gilbert — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST

Aside from efforts like The Conduit and Call of Duty: World at War, Nintendo's Wii hasn't exactly enjoyed a glut of capable FPS titles. According to a recent interview with games[TM] (via NowGamer), Zelda director Eiji Aonuma recognizes this -- and sees great potential for fixing that problem in Link's Crossbow Training, the pack-in minigame included with the Wii Zapper. "To tell you the truth, I actually wanted to create Link's Crossbow Training 2 ... I thought that we should do something more and better in the field of the first-person shooter." Wait, haven't we heard this before?

Unfortunately for Aonuma, the execs above him at Nintendo didn't think much of the idea, nixing it in favor of a completely new entry in the Zelda series. "I was thinking that maybe we could intensify the multiplayer mode ... [but] a lot of people inside Nintendo insisted that I should work on a new Legend of Zelda title." We're sorry about that, Mr. Aonuma! And to the Nintendo executives who killed a sequel to Link's Crossbow Training, we'd like to personally thank you.

Nintendo's Aonuma pitched Link's Crossbow Training 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Director says next console Zelda will start with scale, go from there

Mike Schramm — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:15:00 EST

Legend of Zelda series director Eiji Aonuma says in the latest Edge magazine that the scale of the upcoming Wii release is what's foremost in his team's mind during development. Twilight Princess, he says, was the first Zelda game where they went for a more realistic feel in terms of size and scope of the world, and yet he feels that they weren't quite able to adapt all of their gameplay ideas to that larger space. As opposed to the DS-based Spirit Tracks, which Aonuma says started out in a much more traditional place, and thus was a little easier to "realize."

Aonuma says his team is starting out with a larger, grander world in the new Wii Zelda, and from there hopes to fill it up with all sorts of Zelda-esque game ideas. He and the team may not have been able to do everything they wanted with the adult Link-sized Hyrule the first time around (not that it wasn't well-received anyway), but they're planning to give it another hookshot in the next game.

Director says next console Zelda will start with scale, go from there originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo's Aonuma: Majora's Mask the result of Miyamoto challenge

Ben Gilbert — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST

[Image credit: Rich Lem]

Eiji Aonuma has spent a lot of time developing Legend of Zelda games. In fact, he's been in a managerial role on the franchise ever since the series' arguably most popular installment, The Ocarina of Time. So when Mario creator (and his boss) Shigeru Miyamoto asked Aonuma and his team to develop an "Ura Zelda" (a flipped version of Ocarina of Time -- what would eventually become the Master Quest), Aonuma protested. Miyamoto's compromise, though, instead turned out to be a much greater challenge -- produce a sequel to OoT within one year.

"We were supposed to make its sequel in a year ... at first, we had absolutely no idea what sort of thing we were supposed to make, and we just kept expanding our plans," Aonuma told Nintendo prez Satoru Iwata during a recent Iwata Asks column."in the beginning, it was all trial and error ... ultimately, we adopted the 'three-day system,' and made it so that, if you couldn't clear the game inside of three days, the world was destroyed." Aonuma claims this concept was what allowed Majora's Mask to be created and released just 18 months after OoT came out. He also adds that lessons he learned from the development of Majora's Mask -- from having to remember a sequence of events in order to proceed, to "deep, compact play" -- helped to shape the development of the most recent Zelda release, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

We'd like to say that Aonuma will have a break from the series after serving as producer on Spirit Tracks, but he's the man in charge of the upcoming LoZ game for the Wii. We're sorry, Mr. Aonuma! Keep on truckin'!

[Via Gamasutra]

Nintendo's Aonuma: Majora's Mask the result of Miyamoto challenge originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zelda producer teases surprises for next title at E3 2010

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:29:00 EST

Our absolute favorite thing about the Zelda series is how much it saves us on strategy guides. See, you can pretty much follow the walkthrough for Link to the Past to beat every installment in the franchise released thereafter. (Get the sword! Get the shield! Beat the Forest Temple! Get the power bracelet! Beat the Fire Temple!) However, in a recent interview with Official Nintendo Magazine, series producer Eiji Aonuma revealed that we can expect some big changes from the franchise's next iteration -- changes which he hopes will be revealed during next year's E3 showcase.

Aonuma explained that, in order to try and keep the series fresh, he and Shigeru Miyamoto "have been trying something new in terms of the structure of the Wii version of the new Zelda game this time." You know what that means. They're going to put the Fire Temple before the Forest Temple. We're kidding, of course -- that's just crazy talk.

Zelda producer teases surprises for next title at E3 2010 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zelda director won't quit until he surpasses Ocarina of Time

Griffin McElroy — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Action

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time turned 10 years old last Friday. Remarkably, even after a decade of technological advances and narrative achievements in gaming, it remains atop Gamerankings' list as the highest rated game of all time. However, if Eiji Aonuma (director of Ocarina and every subsequent Zelda title) has his way, the Hylian N64 classic will be dethroned in his lifetime.

In a recent interview with Nintendo Power, Aonuma expressed his lofty career goals -- he plans to stick with the Zelda series until he creates a title that surpasses Ocarina of Time. This is fantastic news, as Aonuma's continued involvement with the series is likely the only reason we've yet to see a spin-off title featuring a gun-toting Dark Link.

Zelda director won't quit until he surpasses Ocarina of Time originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aonuma can't quit Zelda until he beats Ocarina of Time

Chris Greenhough — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:28:00 EST

Filed under: Interviews

As co-director of a game that many consider the greatest of all time, you'd think Eiji Aonuma would be content to put his feet up and soak up the praise. It's what we would do, but that's probably why we'll never create anything as awe-inspiring as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Speaking to Nintendo Power about his past work on most of the Zeldas since Ocarina of Time, Aonuma insists that he can't stop making the games, because he's yet to beat what he achieved with Ocarina. "I'm happy that a title I worked on some time ago remains highly praised to this day," he says, "but that also shows how none of the subsequent games in the series have surpassed it."

He adds that this alone may be what motivates him to make more Zelda and keep putting more happy in our heads. A revealing insight into the perfectionist mindset of a top game designer!

Gallery: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Aonuma can't quit Zelda until he beats Ocarina of Time originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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3D Link to the Past 'interests' Aonuma

Chris Greenhough — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:15:00 EST

Filed under: Interviews

OK, show of hands, please: who fancies a 3D remake of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past? If your arm just shot up, know this: you're far from alone. Series director Eiji Aonuma wants it, as well. Or at least, he's "very interested" in adding an extra dimension to what is ~~arguably~~ ~~probably~~ unquestionably the greatest Zelda game ever conceived.

Aonuma, who most recently acted as director on the DS's splendiferous Phantom Hourglass, revealed his wish in the latest issue of the Official Nintendo Magazine (the UK edition), stating that "The first Zelda game that I played and felt potential in was Link to the Past. I'm actually very interested in what it would be like if we remade that title as a 3D game."

Now, we confess that's a loooong way from us actually getting a 3D Link to the Past, but the mere fact that Aonuma has even considered this makes our legs go all wobbly. If you've never played the game, and therefore can't comprehend that reaction, then we suggest you stop reading, head over to the Virtual Console now, and commence downloading. For $8, it's a quite obscene bargain.

3D Link to the Past 'interests' Aonuma originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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