Topic: Iwata Asks Shigeru Miyamoto About Link’s Crossbow Training

[UltimatePartyBear]

Eh, Zelda II introduced elevators and no one seems to have minded.

They had no visible means of working, so they were just magic platforms.  It's basically the reverse of Clarke's 3rd Law, i.e. any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.

[Morari]

Or just make a "living" gun, though that'd be kind of disgusting...

Death to the demoness Allegra Geller! Long live the new flesh -- long live eXistenZ!

[Ian Sane]

They already made a futuristic Zelda game, Star Fox Adventures.

Reading this sentence to myself gives me an uncontrollable urge to scream and go into convulsions.  SFA not only is a sh!tty game but is an incredibly historic sh!tty game.  It marks the end of Star Fox as a worthwhile franchise and end of Rare as a worthwhile developer.  It's a rare game where you could honestly say that if it had never existed that gaming history would have turned out better.

Anyway I was thinking a literal futuristic Zelda game, made by EAD, with characters named Link and Zelda in some place called Hyrule but in a completely different setting.  Lasers, spaceships, the whole bit.  It would be incredibly ballsy for Nintendo to do it but I think it would turn out pretty cool.  It would give them a lot of flexibility to do whatever they want without reusing the same locales again and again.

[Kairon]

Or just make a "living" gun, though that'd be kind of disgusting...

Death to the demoness Allegra Geller! Long live the new flesh -- long live eXistenZ!

QFT.

[DAaaMan64]

They already made a futuristic Zelda game, Star Fox Adventures.

Reading this sentence to myself gives me an uncontrollable urge to scream and go into convulsions.  SFA not only is a sh!tty game but is an incredibly historic sh!tty game.  It marks the end of Star Fox as a worthwhile franchise and end of Rare as a worthwhile developer.  It's a rare game where you could honestly say that if it had never existed that gaming history would have turned out better.

Anyway I was thinking a literal futuristic Zelda game, made by EAD, with characters named Link and Zelda in some place called Hyrule but in a completely different setting.  Lasers, spaceships, the whole bit.  It would be incredibly ballsy for Nintendo to do it but I think it would turn out pretty cool.  It would give them a lot of flexibility to do whatever they want without reusing the same locales again and again.

Square did it with The Spirits Within. Kinda.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

It's called Star Wars.

[Ian Sane]

Square did it with The Spirits Within. Kinda.

Actualy they pretty much did do it with Final Fantasy VI.  The previous Final Fantasy's were set in a clear fantasy setting with swords and wizards and such.  Final Fantasy VI has technology like mechs in it.  Then in Final Fantasy VII they took it even further.

Though I'm sure even mentioning Final Fantasy is going to get some people here in an uproar.

I don't really care if they do it or don't but it would be neat.  Or maybe can do a switch-theme and have a Zelda style adventure in a sci-fi setting and a Metroid style first person adventure in a fantasy setting.

[UltimatePartyBear]

Square did it with The Spirits Within. Kinda.

Actualy they pretty much did do it with Final Fantasy VI.  The previous Final Fantasy's were set in a clear fantasy setting with swords and wizards and such.  Final Fantasy VI has technology like mechs in it.  Then in Final Fantasy VII they took it even further.

They kind of started that in the first game.  The "Sky Castle" is a robot-filled space station.

I don't really care if they do it or don't but it would be neat.  Or maybe can do a switch-theme and have a Zelda style adventure in a sci-fi setting and a Metroid style first person adventure in a fantasy setting.

I'd like to see Nintendo try a sci-fi Zelda in everything but name.  Attaching the Zelda name to the project would just create too many expectations.  Applying the formula to a new franchise would allow them the freedom to be truly creative.

[KDR_11k]

I think if you toss out 90% of what makes a franchise you should go and toss the last 10% too. It just gets awkward if you try to keep things after changing that much (and there's always the temptation to add more similarities which often ends up stupid). Plus the Zelda storyline (like most if not all long-standing Nintendo franchises) is pretty lame anyway, it feels really shoehorned when a recent Zelda game tries to maintain the basic Zelda story while attempting to add depth to match modern expectations. "Evil wizard kidnaps princess and lone hero must save her" was good enough in 198sumthing but these days people expect a story that's more interesting and the whole triforce thing seems to be more of an impairment than an asset lately.

[UltimatePartyBear]

Well, it's not the story that I want them to keep.  I'd just like to see Nintendo apply their strengths in new ways.  If Miyamoto really thought giving Link a raygun would make for a fun game, but there was no way to fit that into the Zelda setting, then maybe he should replace Link with a new character who can use a raygun and who lives in a world where rayguns already exist.

Come to think of it, isn't that basically what he did to Metroid Prime?

[KDR_11k]

Well yeah but a similar premise does not necessarily result in a similar game, depending on how it plays out the game could be nothing like Metroid.

[DAaaMan64]

all this mention of reagan has me soo hot right now

[mantidor]

NO STEAMPUNK ZELDA. THAT IS A TERRIBLE IDEA.  STEAMPUNK IS THE NEW EMO.

YOU TAKE THAT BACK, IT WOULD BE AWESOME!

Besides, I always thought the very first anachronism was obviously bombs.

[Kairon]

It doesn't need to be steampunk, just medieval-level mechanics. Davinci sort of stuff.

[Ian Sane]

Come to think of it, isn't that basically what he did to Metroid Prime?

Nah, Metroid has always had one big difference.  Metroid games are like Zelda games where the entire world is one big dungeon.  I like both series for similar reasons but Zelda having NPCs and villages and sidequests and such makes for a big difference in the atmosphere.  Some parts in Zelda feel safe.  Metroid never feels safe.

But if Nintendo wants to make a third person adventure game with Zelda-style gameplay in a setting where Zelda doesn't fit that would be great.  They did do that on the NES with Star Tropics.  I don't really think they would ever do it though.  These days Nintendo really does think in a franchise first mentality.  If they design a game and feel they can associate it with one of their franchises they will.  So if they design something that plays like Zelda they're going to make it a Zelda game.  Or they would make it an F-Zero spinoff or a third person 3D Metroid game.  They probably would be very relunctant to make The Adventures of Some Unfamiliar Character.  Future Zelda is probably the best option for something like that in terms of how creative the world would be.  Captain Falcon Adventures for example would probably play well but would just re-use the characters from F-Zero X and GX.  Future Zelda allows Nintendo to put a familiar name on the game but not be restricted by the fan expectations for the franchise.  Aside from Link, Zelda, Hyrule and the Triforce and likely Ganon they could do whatever they want.

[Bill Aurion]

Besides, I always thought the very first anachronism was obviously bombs.

Gunpowder has been around for at least 2000 years... =)

[DAaaMan64]

JUST THINK OF ALL THE BLOOM EFFECTS THEY COULD USE

[LuigiHann]

I do find it weird that the Zelda games, despite supposedly taking place hundreds of years apart, all seem to be stuck in the same era. I liked that Twilight Princess at least took a couple small steps toward an almost Victorian look.

[EasyCure]

They already made a futuristic Zelda game, Star Fox Adventures.

Reading this sentence to myself gives me an uncontrollable urge to scream and go into convulsions.  SFA not only is a sh!tty game but is an incredibly historic sh!tty game.  It marks the end of Star Fox as a worthwhile franchise and end of Rare as a worthwhile developer.  It's a rare game where you could honestly say that if it had never existed that gaming history would have turned out better.

Anyway I was thinking a literal futuristic Zelda game, made by EAD, with characters named Link and Zelda in some place called Hyrule but in a completely different setting.  Lasers, spaceships, the whole bit.  It would be incredibly ballsy for Nintendo to do it but I think it would turn out pretty cool.  It would give them a lot of flexibility to do whatever they want without reusing the same locales again and again.

Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Future

Actually i thought the Twilight Palace/Temple looked pretty sci-fi-ish. The Glowing markings all over the place was a big contrast from the other visuals in the game.

[animecyberrat]

the more we talk about this the more I want it and the less likely Nintendo will do it so stop now please.


On SFA, to each his own I suppose. Being one who LOVED the game, also really liked Zelda II BTW, but I was mostly kidding in my post.


To be serious though I think it would be awesome of Nintendo did update Zelda into a futuristic setting like Ian is talking about, it would really get fans in an uproar thought and force them to go back and do a "safe" Zelda again latter on. Maybe that is what Miyamoto meant when he said TW will be the last "conventional Zelda"?


Edit: Fixed spelling mistake, damn I don't know how I missed that.

[Shift Key]

Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Future

More like Legend of Zelda: Back to the Future

NOW WITH HOVERBOARDS

[EasyCure]

Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Future

More like Legend of Zelda: Back to the Future

NOW WITH HOVERBOARDS

SPINNING HOVERBOARDS!?!?!?

I"M THERE!

[Ian Sane]

I do find it weird that the Zelda games, despite supposedly taking place hundreds of years apart, all seem to be stuck in the same era.

In the past technology didn't advance as quickly as it does today.  The Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted over 3000 years and yet it all seems to be in same era.  I'm sure some Egyptologist will say otherwise but to the average Joe it sure looks like it is, at least as much as Zelda does.

Ditto with Biblical times.  The Bible takes place over thousands of years but it all appears to be in the same era.

[Kairon]

It's not just that. Zelda is supposed to be a timeless epic. It isn't a historical document, it's a legend, and a legend is basically the same basic concepts of good and evil everytime. That's why Zelda can never have a complex modern storyline because the fairy-tale-like clarity of the legend will be lost in the process.

... I guess that could take place in the future, but it wouldn't take place in a complex future, but a future that mirrored the moral and physical simplicity of Hyrule.

[KDR_11k]

Nintendo isn't selling a legend, they're selling a videogame.