Topic: Do you think we will see Link return to being left handed?

[neptunepirate]

Since the Wii U is returning to more of a traditional form of controls, do you think Link will return to being left handed?

For the people that don't know, Miyamoto stated that Link was made right handed for Skyward Sword and the Wii version of Twilight Princess, because most players would be holding the Wii remote with their right hand and he wanted the players to feel like they really were Link.

I know when Twilight Princess released back on the Wii launch, some people did not like the fact that Link was switched to being right handed. Many even skipped the Wii version of Twilight Princess and picked up the GameCube version instead. That said, this information comes from me being a heavy user of the IGN forums at the time, so I'm not sure how wide spread this feeling was.

Would anyone else like to see him return to being left handed?

[S-U-P-E-R]

Hands are only a feature to coddle casuals and they should be removed from the game

[Caterkiller]

I wonder if people will ever stop caring about something so trivial.

[Adrock]

I don't really care one way or another. At E3, Miyamoto said that some people complained about getting tired while playing Skyward Sword or not liking the motion controls so they're looking into what they can change or improver though he is a fan of the controls in Skyward Sword. I think it might be too hard to ignore both the GamePad and Pro Controller. I wouldn't be too surprised if the next Zelda included different control options.

[neptunepirate]

I wonder if people will ever stop caring about something so trivial.

I know it's not a big deal or anything. It was just something I was thinking about and thought it would make for a good discussion. I wasn't complaining or anything.

I don't really care one way or another. At E3, Miyamoto said that some people complained about getting tired while playing Skyward Sword or not liking the motion controls so they're looking into what they can change or improver though he is a fan of the controls in Skyward Sword. I think it might be too hard to ignore both the GamePad and Pro Controller. I wouldn't be too surprised if the next Zelda included different control options.

Different control options would be a great thing to add! I've always thought that every game should have the option to modify the controls to the fullest extent.

[lolmonade]

Not being knowledgeable about the game programming aspects of this, if they decided to continue with the skyward sword controls, would it be that great a challenge for them to program link to be able to hold the sword in either hand, and then when you're creating a new game, have a quick question of "Left or right handed?"?
 
I mean, they do it in Wii Sports Resort.

[Louieturkey]

Not being knowledgeable about the game programming aspects of this, if they decided to continue with the skyward sword controls, would it be that great a challenge for them to program link to be able to hold the sword in either hand, and then when you're creating a new game, have a quick question of "Left or right handed?"?
 
I mean, they do it in Wii Sports Resort.

This makes so much sense, I bet they'll never do it.  The problem I think is the programming.  With TP, they just mirrored the entire thing so it didn't involve doing much different in the programming.  With having an option, I wouldn't be surprised if both hands require completely different programming and would increase the dev time by a huge amount.
It seems like the smart thing to do though.

[ThePerm]

x=-x

thats all the programing it takes

if im in a 3d program and i want to flip something i just type a negative value and viola! Its more complicated then that for programming, but not a whole lot.

[Ian Sane]

This whole thing is so subtle that if I wasn't told that Link was left-handed I wouldn't notice that Skyward Sword was "off".  It doesn't look weird or anything to see a right-handed Link.  I didn't like the switch in Twilight Princess but a big part of that was that Nintendo just completely flip-flopped the whole world which is too significant change to just do willy-nilly.  Though the reason I got the Cube version was simple - I already owned a Cube so it seemed like a waste of money to buy a new system just to play a game I can play on a system I already own.  At launch there weren't any other Wii games that caught my interest.

It would be nice to go back to left-handed Link just as a nice attention to detail.  The fans would certainly dig it.  If Nintendo doesn't do it, I don't really care.  Aren't these all different Links anyway so why can't some be right-handed?

[Louieturkey]

It would be nice to go back to left-handed Link just as a nice attention to detail.  The fans would certainly dig it.  If Nintendo doesn't do it, I don't really care.  Aren't these all different Links anyway so why can't some be right-handed?

That is very true.  Why does it matter if he's left handed if it isn't the same guy?

[ThePerm]

It would be nice to go back to left-handed Link just as a nice attention to detail.  The fans would certainly dig it.  If Nintendo doesn't do it, I don't really care.  Aren't these all different Links anyway so why can't some be right-handed?

That is very true.  Why does it matter if he's left handed if it isn't the same guy?

yeah, i was going to bring up that point, but then i forgot. At least some of us have our **** together.

[Chozo Ghost]

This depends on if the next Zelda uses the wiimote or not. We already know that the Wii U is still using Wiimote in ADDITION to the new tablet thing, so wiimotes haven't really gone away. They're still there, so if the next Zelda retains the sword swinging waggle control we all know and love then Link will probably continue to be right-handed.

However, it is possible the next Zelda will be tablet controlled only, and if that's the case one would hope Link will go back to being left handed. but who knows? Sometimes change happens and it becomes permanent, whether we want it to or not.

[ThomasO]

Motion controls seem like they're going to be the norm for future Zelda games.


http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/33313/aonuma-future-zelda-games-will-use-skyward-sword-controls/

[Luigi Dude]

Motion controls seem like they're going to be the norm for future Zelda games.


http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/33313/aonuma-future-zelda-games-will-use-skyward-sword-controls/

This interview is from December 2011 less then a month after Skyward Sword was released.  Miyamoto's comments about rethinking motion controls are much more recent after Nintendo was able to more accurately look over fan reaction to them.  Zelda is one of Nintendo's top series and they want it to sell the most it can.  If they feel motion controls are a problem to a significantly enough part of the Zelda audience they'll get ride of them.  Just like how with Majora's Mask enough people complained about the time system which is why nothing like it has been in a Zelda ever since.

[Ian Sane]

Zelda might have motion controls or maybe with the tablet they'll go with shitty Phantom Hourglass controls!  Oh God, I don't really like the waggle **** but I'll take that well before any DS Zelda nonsense!

Skyward Sword's controls were passable for the most part but I often got my ass kicked by enemies that required me to use a very specific sword strike against them.  I would know exactly what I had to do, tried to do it, and then swore very loudly as Link would NOT do what I asked him to and would get his ass kicked by the enemy's counter-attack.  If I know what to do, try to do it and the damn game MISINTERPRETS my gesture and does some overhead slash when I clearly did a poke, that's ****.  The second you encounter that crap in testing you go back to the drawing board.

Nintendo shoves motion control down our throats because it's supposedly more intuitive for non-gamers BUT is there anything more frustrating than losing because the game misinterpreted your instructions?  Does Nintendo ever take that into account?  Do casuals enjoy falling to their death in Mario because they didn't quite hold still enough during a game and the damn controller thought they meant to do a spin at the wrong time?

[Adrock]

Zelda might have motion controls or maybe with the tablet they'll go with shitty Phantom Hourglass controls!  Oh God, I don't really like the waggle **** but I'll take that well before any DS Zelda nonsense!

Skyward Sword's controls were passable for the most part but I often got my ass kicked by enemies that required me to use a very specific sword strike against them.  I would know exactly what I had to do, tried to do it, and then swore very loudly as Link would NOT do what I asked him to and would get his ass kicked by the enemy's counter-attack.  If I know what to do, try to do it and the damn game MISINTERPRETS my gesture and does some overhead slash when I clearly did a poke, that's ****.  The second you encounter that crap in testing you go back to the drawing board.

Nintendo shoves motion control down our throats because it's supposedly more intuitive for non-gamers BUT is there anything more frustrating than losing because the game misinterpreted your instructions?  Does Nintendo ever take that into account?  Do casuals enjoy falling to their death in Mario because they didn't quite hold still enough during a game and the damn controller thought they meant to do a spin at the wrong time?

[Luigi Dude]

Nintendo shoves motion control down our throats because it's supposedly more intuitive for non-gamers BUT is there anything more frustrating than losing because the game misinterpreted your instructions?  Does Nintendo ever take that into account?  Do casuals enjoy falling to their death in Mario because they didn't quite hold still enough during a game and the damn controller thought they meant to do a spin at the wrong time?

Once again, some developers choose to use motion controls and some haven't.  Miyamoto is a huge fan which is why they've been in Mario and Zelda with no other options, but most of Nintendo's other developers have given people other options.  IS made Fire Emblem for the Wii to allow for Gamecube and Classic Controller support.  Sakurai allowed people to have Gamecube and Classic Controller support for Brawl.  Hideki Konno allowed for Gamecube support in Mario Kart Wii.  Punch-Out allows for NES style controls and even Sin and Punishment which is better with motion control aiming, allowed for Classic Controller support.  There's also Xenoblade and The Last Story where Nintendo even encouraged people to play them with the Classic Controller.

Oh and there's Rhythm Heaven which Iwata himself is responsible for having traditional controls.

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/rhythmheavenfever/0/0

Iwata:

Compared with a game like Wii Sports, this series requires an overwhelming amount of input from the player per time of gameplay. I actually never thought of the Wii Remote controller as something you absolutely have to swing. Then you guys came to me and hesitantly said button input alone would work best, and I said "wouldn't just buttons be perfectly fine?
     

So as you can see, Nintendo hasn't been forcing motion controls down anyones throat.  The use of motion controls has been up to each developer and the people in charge of each.  Most of the games with heavy use of motion controls that don't give other control options are games Miyamoto had a big role in but everything else has either had light use of motion controls or even allows for Gamecube/Classic Controller support.

[Ian Sane]

Well saying "don't worry, only Miyamoto will force motion controls" doesn't exactly make me feel better.  We're talking Zelda here and I really don't like motion controls in Zelda.  That's all nice and good that other games give me the option but I want ZELDA to give it to me.

[the asylum]

I'm not sure what's more shocking. Link intentionally being left handed, or that people actually care.

Leave the Star Wars nerds to bicker over such pointless things like who shot first. We're better than that, right?

[Adrock]

I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, but I would argue that Greedo shooting first is not pointless. It changes Han Solo's character arc.

Link being left-handed doesn't really change anything. What's more of an issue from a characterization perspective is that Nintendo is so unwilling to make Link a full-fledged character despite giving him emotions that aren't necessarily the player's. I don't know about other people, but that actually takes me out of the game.

[Kairon]

Link being "left-handed" is a strange thing to get caught up over since by official timelines they're all different characters really. And also because in the first Zelda he demonstrated a good amount of ambidexterity.

That said, I still want him to be left-handed.

[Chozo Ghost]

I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, but I would argue that Greedo shooting first is not pointless. It changes Han Solo's character arc.

But even that is pointless.

[Adrock]

I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, but I would argue that Greedo shooting first is not pointless. It changes Han Solo's character arc.

But even that is pointless.

Wow... You just said the character arc of a major character is pointless. You don't know anything about storytelling at all, do you? Then again, you are the same person who said Miyamoto should make a Mario movie where all he does is run around so no one should be listening to you when it comes to storytelling and characterization. Go watch some explosions and the guys who walk away from them cooly.

[Chozo Ghost]

No, I meant its pointless because Star Wars is pointless because its just entertainment. The only point in caring about that stuff is if you are a huge fan and obsessed with it. That also applies to video games and a lot of other stuff. It only matters to hardcore fans, but to anyone else they don't really pay any attention to details like that or care.

[Adrock]

Everything with a story is meant to be entertaining. If I'm spending time with it, I appreciate and expect things like characterization to matter to the creator otherwise the work suffers. If you mean from like a philosophical point of view, I guess entertainment doesn't really matter. I don't know why you would even bring that up. Frankly, I have no idea what you're talking about. How can you make such an overreaching statement like "It only matters to hardcore fans, but to anyone else they don't really pay any attention to details like that or care" and ever possibly prove that to be true? Maybe it doesn't matter to you, but it sure as hell matters to me every single time.