Interview on Zelda at Gamespot w/Miyamoto (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Kleist]

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories...901013,00.html

Mr. Miyamoto admitted to being surprised at the reaction to the new look for the game, as he felt the style was interesting and never really expected people to assume the series was changing its focus to target children.

Because only in America do "cute" graphics automatically mean a kid game

 

[Morgan Jolley]

First of all, this should probably be in software.

Second, it's interesting to see that Miyamoto said that the main idea of the Legend of Zelda series is that every game has a good guy named Link (who represents good) and a guy named Ganon (who represents evil) fighting eachother, and that each game could be considered unrelated to the other. So the Link/Ganon from each game is not necessarily the same from another. Which is why this game (Wind Waker) takes place 100 years after OoT.

 

[James T]

I could have sworn I read somewhere that they said Wind Walker is suppose to be the first Zelda story. But if nothing is connected, then it won't matter. It still would be nice if there was some conenction. For some reason I feel like I'm watching a bad episode of Sliders.

To be honest I don't like the new design. When I saw the videos of what they had before...I was impressed enough to buy a gamecube just for that game. Although pretty and detailed, it just doesn't seem fit for a Zelda game. Why throw away what many already called Game of the Year for something he was working on the side?

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

I've never thought of the Zelda games as parts of a continuous saga. In fact, I would think it was outright silly to try to link all these games together somehow, since it would really limit the developers in what they could do concept-wise.

Rather, I see each game as a re-telling of the same story. I particularly see this with The Legend of Zelda (the original game), A Link to the Past, and Ocarina of Time. Each of those games revolved around Link, Zelda, Ganon, and the Triforce. In the original game, the story wasn't all that involved, nor did it play out as you progressed through the game. A Link to the Past had all of these same elements, but the higher power of the Super NES allowed them to integrate the story more into the game so that they could include plot twists and surprises. Fast-forward to Ocarina of Time and you'll find a game that is truly cinematic in every regard. It's still the same basic story, but now they've fleshed it out with a deeper story and many beautiful cut-scenes.

So, talk all you want about an official "Zelda Timeline" because it doesn't exist, as far as I'm concerned.

Concerning the new look of The Wind Waker... Well, what can I say that hasn't been argued in a hundred discussions before this one? You either like the cel-shading, or you don't. I hope that some people will see this game in motion and realize that it does look insanely beautiful, then forget about this controversy. Of course, if you hate the way the characters are designed or just the fact that the whole thing is cel-shaded to begin with, there's not much you can do about it. I guess I hope that you can enjoy the gameplay anyway.

I guess I'm just happy to see some developers using the power of these new gaming consoles to add a little variety to the look of their games, rather than trying to make everything realistic.

 

[CameronS]

Although pretty and detailed, it just doesn't seem fit for a Zelda game.

I always thought The Wind Waker's appearance had more in common with The original game, A Link to the Past, and the recent Game Boy additions rather than OOT and Majora's Mask. Meaning that TWW goes back to the roots of what Zelda games once were, and it is OOT and Majora that stray from the norm.

Just another way to look at it.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I guess I'm just happy to see some developers using the power of these new gaming consoles to add a little variety to the look of their games, rather than trying to make everything realistic

In an interview a while ago, Miyamoto said he wanted parents to walk into a room, see their kids watching cartoons, and then realize there kids were playing this game. So his intent was to make this game look like a cartoon but play out like a game. Just a little tidbit if you didn't know.

 

[Chris Bardon]

Actually, there is an order to some of the games at least. In the manuals for the original Zelda, it talks about how Zelda and Link are decendants of the original Zelda and link of legend. The adventure of Link is a sequel to the original Zelda (so the same Zelda and Link), since it involves the one triforce that was not present in the first game (courage I believe). In a Link to the Past however, we see the "original" Zelda, Link, and Ganondorf.

I think that as soon as they moved to OoT, the whole idea of a "continuity" kind of got dropped, and they decided to just make a new Zelda game that had similar story elements, but didn't really fit in to the timelone or anything.

But the first three fit at least...