Full text of
The next day, I came across a more shocking scene. I got home earlier than usual, and in our living room was my wife, fighting a monster in one of the dungeons, and next to her, as though he was cheering her on, sat my son shaking his arms in front of him in small movements. I asked my wife what was going on, and she said, “He was playing Zelda and got to a part in the game where a bunch of monsters come out. Because he got so scared, he couldn’t make it any further. At first I was just playing to get him further along, but as we were playing, he started giving me advice, and we were having so much fun playing together. He just gets so sad when he sees that big “Game Over," so I can’t help but keep playing to make sure that that doesn’t happen." That’s how she explained it, and ever since, I’ve been getting one question after another about, “What’s going on here? Am I supposed to do this here?"
When I see the two of them getting so excited about it, I can’t help but think that I should have introduced my wife to Zelda games sooner. To that, my wife said, “Old games, if I was watching someone play, I never felt like I wanted to try it myself, but with the Wii, after seeing our son play it, I wanted to try it too." Upon hearing that, well, I knew that the fact that our now having a son also played a part in it, but that feeling that she had of seeing someone play and wanting to play herself reminded me of when I first played Mario on the Famicom. I realized that the Wii, which was reviving this feeling in the end user, was reminding us as developers of what is important to a game.
Watching my son, who refuses to leave Ordon village because he is scared of monsters and he spends every day collecting Rupees and getting excited screaming, “Hey, I found a new place," it reminds me of noticing even small details. But for now, as a followup to Twilight Princess and in hopes that many of you will try the DS Zelda, Phantom Hourglass, which will be released later this year as the latest evolution of the Zelda franchise. Please enjoy this movie as I conclude my presentation.
Transcription by Aaron Kaluszka, Staff Writer
