Author Topic: New Zelda Info from Aonuma (Read 9331 times)

Jonnyboy117 · « **on:** June 24, 2005, 01:27:02 PM »

The director comments on voice acting in Twilight Princess and Zelda DS controls.

A recently published article from Wired News, based on interviews at E3 last month, includes some new information on upcoming Zelda titles, including the mysterious DS incarnation of the series.

Eiji Aonuma, who is the director of Twilight Princess for GameCube and is directly handling the next handheld Zelda, spoke with Wired's Chris Kohler about the games. Aonuma mentions that he doesn't think voiced dialogue is a good fit for the Zelda series, but...

"That said, I've always felt that if we can use voice in a way that's new and unique, it could be very positive for the Zelda series. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do that in time for the E3 demo, but we do have some ideas that we're thinking about."

Several previous Zelda games have used short voice samples for various grunts and shouts, but the story has always been told through text. It seems that Aonuma may have some ideas that will change that tradition, but it doesn't look like Zelda will be going the way of Final Fantasy X any time soon.

E3 2005 brought the surprising revelation that Aonuma is working on an internally developed Zelda game for DS that is not part of the Four Swords spin-off series, as had been widely expected. However, no other information about Zelda DS was announced. In Wired's article, Aonuma does say that the game will be "primarily controlled with the system's touch screen and stylus pen."

For more comments from Aonuma and other prominent Japanese developers, check out Wired's article at the link above.

Famicom · « **Reply #1 on:** June 24, 2005, 01:51:04 PM »

And somewhere I think Matt may have had an accident in his underpants.

Shecky · « **Reply #2 on:** June 24, 2005, 02:11:16 PM »

And if he gets his voice acting, he'll be the first to complain that it's bad.... "I can't believe they botched voice acting, that's not how I expected <character> to sound!" .... well no kidding....

Shecky · « **Reply #3 on:** June 24, 2005, 02:25:56 PM »

On Zelda DS....

Please, *please* buck the trend of trying to shoehorn every effin game to use the mic and touch pad.
"primarily controlled with the system's touch screen and stylus pen." makes it sound like you'll still have to use the buttons as well. Another forsaken thought by developers... swapping between face buttons and stylus.

Ian Sane · « **Reply #4 on:** June 24, 2005, 02:28:39 PM »

I'm a little concerned about the stylus thing. I'm hoping it's a natural fit for the game instead of the "MUST USE TEH TOUCHSCREEN" routine. I want a REAL Zelda game, not some gimmicky touching game with Zelda characters thrown in.

Plus I'm not too keen on Nintendo making Zelda spinoffs, if that's what Zelda DS is. Four Swords Adventures was amazing. It's one of my favourite Cube games. But it didn't feel much like a Zelda game. Plus I initially loved the Mario spinoffs back in like 1992 but now I'm really sick of them. I'm bored of Mario because he's been so milked and overexposed. I don't want to become bored of Zelda. The release of a Zelda game should be an event. If it becomes routine it will lose its magic.

I'm glad he doesn't think voice acted dialogue in Zelda is a good idea.

Bill Aurion · « **Reply #5 on:** June 24, 2005, 02:38:44 PM »

"Plus I'm not too keen on Nintendo making Zelda spinoffs, if that's what Zelda DS is."

That's a mighty big IF there...The fact that EAD is taking the game back in-house should lessen your worries somewhat...And it's Zelda, for crying out loud, so it'll be more than satisfactory...

Please, *please* buck the trend of trying to shoehorn every effin game to use the mic and touch pad.

Like Mario Kart and New Super Mario Brothers are? Oh wait...

"primarily controlled with the system's touch screen and stylus pen." makes it sound like you'll still have to use the buttons as well.

D-pad and L (or R if you are left-handed) button...I really don't want to hear worries about a control system with no information about it, because we have no idea what it'll be like...Again I'll say, it's FREAKING ZELDA!

stevey · « **Reply #6 on:** June 24, 2005, 03:28:35 PM »

"that he doesn't think voiced dialogue is a good fit for the Zelda series, but... "

Yes, that is really good news. If any of you seen the crapy cd-i zelda vid you too know why there sould never be much vo in zelda. *uh link hitting on zelda still give me chills a night*

mantidor · « **Reply #7 on:** June 24, 2005, 04:19:02 PM »

Maybe they'll make something like the Sims and their weird speech, a Zelda with its own hyrulian language seems an awesome idea if its executed correctly, but again Aunoma said they wanted to do somehting unique, so maybe thats not it, I wouldnt be surprised if thats what they are planning though.

nickmitch · « **Reply #8 on:** June 24, 2005, 04:30:53 PM »

Well Link saying "Come on!" in WW worked out well. I personally thought that that would be what he would sound like. . .well kinda, but I still liked it.
Having the secondary characters use giggles and grunts in their speech might be what he meant by implementing voice acting. There also might be a voice for the narration in the begining.

Bloodworth · « **Reply #9 on:** June 24, 2005, 04:50:32 PM »

I think the idea of Hylian with subtitles would actually be a cool compromise and something different as Aonuma said. They already have the written language, and if they have the sounds mapped out it could be pretty cool.

TMW · « **Reply #10 on:** June 24, 2005, 04:51:36 PM »

That would be rather awesome, actually...have the story told in a "Story book" format, with a narrator reading the bits between chapters...

Would make for an interesting twist on the series, to say the least.

Jonnyboy117 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 24, 2005, 05:19:29 PM »

Considering that Aonuma and Miyamoto were concerned about whether the game could be orchestrated and stay within budget, I doubt they're going to surprise us with full voice acting...in Hylian or otherwise. But I can definitely see them voicing special cut-scenes with a narrator, maybe something like the world creation cinema in Ocarina of Time.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #12 on:** June 24, 2005, 05:57:30 PM »

Or backwards gibberish a la Viewtiful Joe.

KirbySStar · « **Reply #13 on:** June 24, 2005, 06:05:17 PM »

I'd be very happy if we got Hylian in the same way they did the made-up language in Klonoa 2. If they do it like they did in Star Fox Adventures Dinosaur Planet then I'll go on a killing spree.

"Ahn kralon doah tikla Dinosaur Planet anapara soo patoo."

*shudders*

Lokno · « **Reply #14 on:** June 24, 2005, 07:40:16 PM »

I agree with him that full-out voice acting doesn't belong in Zelda. Text-based character speech is more like book dialogue, and not movie dialogue. It should be something you can read at your own pace, without having to feel like you need to listen to a voice-over. People sometimes think all games want to be interactive movies, when this is just not the case. A movie is always fast-paced, always actionful, whereas a book can go on forever about nothing at all. Furthermore with a book, if you don't like the slow parts, you can skip to the more interesting parts, just like in a game. If you try to flip through text in games that have voice acting, it gets cut off, and that's sloppy; if it can't match the players pace, it doesn't deserve to be there.

And I've got to say, I love this guy. Everything he says is golden. Twilight Princess is going to be amazing, because all these little justified details add up.

thepoga · « **Reply #15 on:** June 24, 2005, 07:57:39 PM »

A great idea for the voice recognition: inventory.

Record what you want to say for something to take out, like bow, and it will set it to a button. It would take away a lot of the hassle of switching in between items. Of course you would be able to do it regularly, and this is an optional way, but I think it would be used a lot. I remember the annoying part of Wind Waker was when sailing, you'd have to take out that stupid sail, the wind waker, the rope thingy, and the bombs a lot. So there's a lot of switching between the items. It kind of broke the tempo sometimes. So if a button like Y was mapped as the item button, you could set it to that quickly.

Another thing I was thinking was that maybe this is the "true" sequel (or sidestory) to Wind Waker like Majora's Mask was to OOT. I would love to be able to change wind directions quickly with the stylus. Ooh I just thought of how great it would be to just say Wind Waker into the DS and have it pull it out instead of going to the menu. And then you would use the stylus to quickly do the motions. And on the boat it would be great if you could change the wind direction on the fly.

Shecky · « **Reply #16 on:** June 24, 2005, 08:16:42 PM »

Quote
Please, *please* buck the trend of trying to shoehorn every effin game to use the mic and touch pad.

Like Mario Kart and New Super Mario Brothers are? Oh wait...

Bill... I mean _trend_ as in what seems to be a pattern in current games...

Quote
"primarily controlled with the system's touch screen and stylus pen." makes it sound like you'll still have to use the buttons as well.

D-pad and L (or R if you are left-handed) button...I really don't want to hear worries about a control system with no information about it, because we have no idea what it'll be like...Again I'll say, it's FREAKING ZELDA!

You took that out of context. That's meant to be paired with the last sentence of my post... the point being that I have concern for another trend of using controls that mix use of buttons/stylus for the same hand during play. (ala Castlevania, as one example) Not as heavy a trend.... but existent. I'm directing my concern at these trends and not Zelda in particular.

Savior · « **Reply #17 on:** June 24, 2005, 08:16:50 PM »

Quote
see them voicing special cut-scenes with a narrator

My guess as well. Though i still think Voice Acting can work. Ala Fable for instance, Voice for the NPCs.

The Touch Screen thing sounds odd. Maybe it means ala Mario 64 DS?

Shecky · « **Reply #18 on:** June 24, 2005, 08:31:31 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Savior
The Touch Screen thing sounds odd. Maybe it means ala Mario 64 DS?

Actually it could be a port of OoT or MM, or it could be a new game running off that engine. That would mean 3D movement giving way to Mario 64 type of controls.

I remember the annoying part of Wind Waker was when sailing, you'd have to take out that stupid sail, the wind waker, the rope thingy, and the bombs a lot. So there's a lot of switching between the items. It kind of broke the tempo sometimes. So if a button like Y was mapped as the item button, you could set it to that quickly.

WW *may* have benefited from an "on boat/off boat" configuration for items, but then again your taking away part of what may be considered fun for those types of games.

thepoga · « **Reply #19 on:** June 24, 2005, 09:50:13 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Shecky

WW *may* have benefited from an "on boat/off boat" configuration for items, but then again your taking away part of what may be considered fun for those types of games.

I'm not talking about different configurations. I'm talking about easy switching between items so you wouldn't have to go to the menu screen to take out that one item for that one small purpose. But it would all be optional

Mario · « **Reply #20 on:** June 24, 2005, 10:14:00 PM »

Quote
Aonuma does say that the game will be "primarily controlled with the system's touch screen and stylus pen."

YES! Great news! My favourite DS games are ones that I can relax and play, by putting the DS down on a desk or something and only having to use the touch screen, it's the most comfortable way to play. I like games that either ONLY use the touch screen or ONLY use buttons. Comfort is very important, I can't play Metroid Hunters for more than 15 minutes. =P

Shin Gallon · « **Reply #21 on:** June 25, 2005, 01:10:52 AM »

I really hope they don't try to do full voice acting for a Zelda game...beyond ruining the charm of the games, it'd turn into "listening to dubbed anime" levels of pain for me, especially if they did Japanese voice then dubbed it for the US version...I'd have to either import it or play it with the TV muted like I did with Final Fantasy X.

nemo_83 · « **Reply #22 on:** June 25, 2005, 03:27:15 AM »

I doubt we will get any more voice acting in the new Zelda other than maybe Zelda, Gannon, and Link. Hopefully the REV Zelda will feature full voice acting. I don't like getting stuck in conversations in games no matter if they are done with text or voice acting. I want to be able to walk past a character and hear what they have to say without going into a conversation with them. I don't want the gameplay to be interupted so much by talking. I want more talking, but I want to be able to talk to characters in passing without stopping.

It would be awesome if we could talk to the characters in the game through the microphone, but I doubt the DS could handle that. If they did that with the REV Zelda though it could work so that what you say is turned into the character's voice in the game.

Bill Aurion · « **Reply #23 on:** June 25, 2005, 05:45:46 AM »

Seems you didn't read how Aonuma feels about voice-acting...As long as he and Miyamoto are there, don't even think about the possibility of voice-acting...

Jonnyboy117 · « **Reply #24 on:** June 25, 2005, 07:16:15 AM »

In regards to all the item switching, it seems they have taken it to heart finally. Twilight Princess uses a new inventory system that makes switching items much faster.

News:

Author Topic: New Zelda Info from Aonuma (Read 9331 times)