Topic: Miyamoto Discusses Zelda in Japan, Making Halo

[WindyMan]

Why is Twilight Princess not doing as well as it could be in Japan?  And is Shiggy capable of making a Halo kind of game?
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=13406

 Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto talked with game writer Geoff Keighley for Entertainment Weekly and discussed some interesting topics, mostly about the social issues impacting Japan.  Keighley did ask Mr. Miyamoto questions about games as well, there were some interesting answers.    

"I could make Halo," Miyamoto answered when being asked about how American young people have different attitudes about games and if Nintendo has lost touch with that.  "It's not that I couldn't design that game. It's just that I choose not to."    

The other big topic of the interview was why The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is not doing as well in Japan as it is in other parts of the world.  Miyamoto explained that people who are buying the Wii in the country aren't necessarily the same people who would be interested in playing a long, epic adventure.  Those that do may be having a harder time finding a Wii due to the demand-created shortages.    

The entire interview can be found here.  You should probably read it, because it answers another hard-hitting question: Is Miyamoto fat?

[Ceric]

You know I thought he only had 2 daughters.  I didn't know he had a son...

[Suntop]

In the interview he's asked this..

You've had great success in your ability to predict what players will find fun to play. Have there been games that you thought would be fun but didn't turn out that way?

'Yes, that has definitely happened. In the past we've worked with some outside development houses on titles like F-Zero and Starfox — and let me just say that we were disappointed with the results."

I really hope this doesn't mean they are not going to be making another F_zero game for the Wii, I loved that game. I didn't think it had done all that bad here in the US.  

[Ceric]

I think he meant the original.

[IceCold]

Yeah - he wasn't talking about F-Zero GX.

[Spak-Spang]

Really, the original F-Zero is one of my favorite in the series.  Though my personal all time favorite is F-Zero 64.

I bet he meant one of the F-Zero Gameboy Advanced games...probably the one based on the television series.

[Ian Sane]

I liked it when he was asked about what social concerns affect him.  Other people are all concerned with stuff like war, poverty, disease, the environment, human rights, etc. and he talks about kids not giving up seats for the elderly and people avoiding taxes.  DAMN FOOL KIDS ON MY LAWN!!  I'm imagining some new Miyamoto game called Bureaucrat where you go around stopping jaywalkers and giving parking tickets.  THE WORLD IS IN THE SAD SHAPE IT IS BECAUSE OF PEOPLE PARKING IN FRONT OF HYDRANTS DAMMIT!!

I figure when talking about F-Zero and Starfox Miyamoto may mean the deals with Sega and Namco (outside development houses).  I thought F-Zero GX turned out great but the game was hard so maybe in Japan it didn't go over as well.  I thought the whole idea of was kind of a waste anyway so if Miyamoto is turned off of something like that it's probably for the best.

Zelda being unpopular in Japan doesn't sound good.  I don't want Miyamoto to change it around for Brain Age fans who won't appreciate it anyway.  

[GoldenPhoenix]

Zelda does need to be revamped, not necessarily drastically changed but the gameplay needs to be freshened up. Yeah I think they can still have the nostalgia things like Ganon, some of the enemies etc, but the game itself needs to be something that will help, once again, to redefine the action/RPG genre. As much as a LOVED TP I think it should be the swan song for the current Zelda formula, now they need something fresh and exciting, like they have chose to do with Mario Galaxy (I do not mean have Zelda in space, but something that is exciting and new).

In regards to his Halo comment. Couldn't a bunch of lab monkeys design Halo if they wanted to?  

[Spak-Spang]

I think I really liked the Halo answer.  

It just was a casual offhand remark:  Yeah I could make that but it doesn't interest me.

In a way, it is a slap in the face to Halo.  Everyone looks at that game as this brilliant perfectly executed game...but in reality its just a well crafted first person shooter.  Miyamoto isn't even interested in those types of games, his interests lay else where.

And he could have answered it differently...and he has worked closely on creating American styled games.

I believe he gave Rare input on Goldeneye, he helped craft Metroid Prime and Geist, and I am willing to bet he has his hand in Battalion Wars Wii as well.

 

[that Baby guy]

Well, he has to be talking about Star Fox Assualt or Stor Fox Command, right?  Or was he talking about Star Fox Adventures?  Those are the only Star Fox titles that outside development houses worked on in that series, right?

I think with F-Zero, he was talking about the Falcon GP ones, or whatever they were called.

Come to think of it, Miyamoto wouldn't bash Namco or Sega's game development teams in a public interview, since Nintendo has too many open developments with both of them.

[Ian Sane]

"Zelda does need to be revamped, not necessarily drastically changed but the gameplay needs to be freshened up."

I find the gameplay to be the freshest part or at least it's a style of gameplay that's timeless.  Zelda is getting stale because of Nintendo's bizarre insistence to tell virtually the same story every time with the same characters and the same setting.  Link's Awakening really isn't that different from A Link to the Past but at the time it didn't feel like a rehash because it didn't take place in Hyrule and didn't have Zelda or Ganon.  Yeah you were still going through dungeons and getting items and using that item to defeat the boss and access more of the overworld but it was an unfamiliar overworld which made it more interesting.

Twilight Princess was just too damn similar to Oracina of Time.  The areas were the same.  When encountering a new area I was rarely wowed because I had more or less seen it before.  The areas that did wow me were stuff like the big bridge over Lake Hylia because that was new for a Zelda game.  Wind Waker actually had the right idea by having an overworld that was so different.  The problem was just in the execution; the flooded world was boring.  I think Nintendo thought that the fact that it wasn't Hyrule was the problem and thus stayed too close to the OoT blueprint for the next game.  Changing things up a bit isn't bad, just changing things into something lame is.  One thing I love about Majora's Mask is that I'm not put in the same scenario as before.  It still played like Zelda but I was in a new area with new objectives.

I don't think we need to revamp Zelda's whole gameplay, they just need to remember that there was a time where the "expected" Zelda content was still being defined.  Gorons didn't exist for the first 11 years of Zelda.  If they could introduce them in OoT and have the fans immediately accept them why can't they use different races in a new Zelda?  A lot of IPs that form series reach a point where they stop defining the formula and start following it.  Well why do that?

One thing I would like would be to expand beyond Hyrule.  Start me off in a familiar Hyrule area and then have me leave Hyrule and explore different countries entirely.  Maybe ditch the multiple Links pattern and just start using one Link and have him in a new adventure each game.  So he's in new lands fighting new villians.  That way there's no need to retell the story every generation.  They should still acknowledge the different Links as different Links and not pretend it's the same guy throughout the whole series but just pick one Link and start following him for a while.

[mantidor]

Well after his comment about gardening everyone expected a gardening game, and it end up being Pikmin, so I'm intrigued about this "give the elderly your seat" idea, then again Nintendogs was straightforward after his experience raising his dog...

[vudu]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
One thing I would like would be to expand beyond Hyrule.  Start me off in a familiar Hyrule area and then have me leave Hyrule and explore different countries entirely.

Link should go on vacation to a tropical island.  Unfortunately for him, once he reaches the island, he finds it covered in gloop.  He is immediately captured by the locals and eventually learns that someone who looks just like him has caused all the mess.  Link is then forced to don a Zora-made water pack and clean up the mess on the island.  His travels will lead him through eight dungeons where he will acquire eight nozzles for the water pack.  These nozzles will grant him special functions such as allowing him aim the canon and fire damage-causing water shots at high speeds at specifically targeted points, shoot out the water and then have it come back to him (stunning any enemies it hits and bringing back any items it touches) and shooting out water streams which then instantly freeze when they hit a specific surface so Link can quickly travel across them before they unfreeze.  At the end of the game we learn that the person who framed Link is in fact Ganon's son.

[IceCold]

Brilliant!

I'd buy it

[Spak-Spang]

I always wanted a Zelda game to not just center around the hero's journey but the entire battle and wars going on around it.  Have an idea of something grander happening in the background of the story.

The problem is almost every Zelda story puts you in pre-crisis or post crisis.  Where a definitive mission is required for you to overcome evil.

I would love the idea of a pre-emptive story.  A wise King of Hyrule sees the signs of evil creeping into his kingdom, so he seeks out and finds a "hero" a young Link.  And he is sent on a mission for a partner to find the Master Sword and the equipment of a hero.

While that is going on, you literally see the battles tear across hyrule and destroy the townies and castle.  You can choose to help fight in these battles or not...and sometimes you are called into story arcs for defending villages, strong holds and what not.

As you grow in power, you become closer and closer to the Hero the King desired you to be.

However, mid game you are struck down, and your dying breath you realize your partner was the true destined hero and barer of the triforce of courage.  And the final paths of the journey are his alone.

It is basically infusing Zelda with a grander story...sorta like Zelda meets Tolkien.  

[ShyGuy]

The next Zelda game needs to be a steampunk setting with Ganondorf as the protagonist.

[decoyman]

Spak, I'm with you 100% on this "middle of a war" sort of scenario. I think it'd be awesome for Link to team up with a band of elite warriors (the adventurers in the tavern in TP?) and lead them in to save a group of besieged Knights at Hyrule Castle. Then later on, there's some sort of LOTR-scale epic sweeping battle of the Knights vs. Ganon's monsters. They're at like a stand-off, and then Link (on Epona of course) gives the rallying cry, and the whole lot of them charge down the field at the horde of evil, before everything just goes crazy. Link is spin attacking and fighting 4-5 baddies at once, every so often helping out a knight who's over-matched.

While we're at it, let's get Zelda (as Sheik? or as magic-user) involved. I see Link and Zelda/Sheik, back to back, fighting off wave after wave of enemies until suddenly, the swarm of baddies parts and that giant fiery ball-and-chain guy comes trudging up. Link and Zelda glance at each other – Zelda winks and Link gives a crooked smile, and they both charge at the guy, Zelda firing off some sort of ice magic and Link just... well, being Link and shooting arrows and throwing boomerangs and all the typical stuff.

I don't care if it's a rip-off of LOTR, how cool would all that be? I'm freaking out just thinking about it.  

[UncleBob]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
I liked it when he was asked about what social concerns affect him.  Other people are all concerned with stuff like war, poverty, disease, the environment, human rights, etc. and he talks about kids not giving up seats for the elderly and people avoiding taxes.  DAMN FOOL KIDS ON MY LAWN!!  I'm imagining some new Miyamoto game called Bureaucrat where you go around stopping jaywalkers and giving parking tickets.  THE WORLD IS IN THE SAD SHAPE IT IS BECAUSE OF PEOPLE PARKING IN FRONT OF HYDRANTS DAMMIT!!

I think he's partially right.  Perhaps if people were nicer about the little things, we'd be nicer about the big things.

Quote
Originally posted by: Spak-Spang
I think I really liked the Halo answer.  

It just was a casual offhand remark:  Yeah I could make that but it doesn't interest me.

I wasn't pleased with his Halo answer.  It sounds like something a kid would say "I could do that!" "Then do it!" "Naw, I don't want to."
It'd be like me saying that I could bag Lisa Loeb, if I wanted to.

[Bill Aurion]

Quote
Originally posted by: decoyman
I don't care if it's a rip-off of LOTR, how cool would all that be? I'm freaking out just thinking about it.

You know, we had the darker setting in TP, so I would rather back they go back to the semi-dark, more magical atmosphere that Wind Waker had...

[that Baby guy]

Well, I agree with the most part, I mean, we've definitely seen a lot from Zelda, but it's been about the same each time, when referring to the game's storyline.

However, looking at the environments, the play control, and everything in that aspect, we've actually had large variations.  There's been Volcano areas, island galores, Young Link, old Link, alternate universes, Link on a horse, Link as a wolf, the stealth parts in the Four Swords Adventures, great four player game play, if you had four GBA's.  Now, I'm even having trouble seeing what sort of environment they could put Link into without crossing into something they've done.

However, like other people have said, the scenario can be changed drastically.  Time and time again, we've scene an unknown nobody, our Link, rise, gain the materials, and then defeat a great enemy, usually Ganon.  What if we put a very, very young Link on the run.  Ganondorf reincarnated, knows the legend, and seeks out any lad named Link, and he finds him, and sends minion after minion to get him.  I don't know, that's just a quick brainstorm, but really, anything to change the formula is great, as the environment is already pretty dynamic.

[Kairon]

So exciting to think of a new Zelda!!!

But yeah... I don't think it would need anything drastic, but something to give a new twist on it. Something to refresh it like a new take on Triforce lore, or some new small gameplay thing like how OoT had masks (a clever, if short-lived, re-imagining of the red-lock-red-key-card concept). It doesn't need to be anything as drastic as changing the thing into God of War (GOOD GOD PLEASE NOOOO!!!!), but just a little tweak to gives us a new perspective on timeless gameplay.

Also, better puzzles.

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[NWR_pap64]

Am I the only one that thinks the "OH NOES Twilight Princess has bombed in Japan!" thing to be nonsense?

Its true that the sales are not as impressive as in the US and Europe, but half a million copies ain't bad either. Combine that with the phenomenal worldwide sales and Twilight Princess is more than a hit!

I mean, Fire Emblem and Wario Ware sold much less, yet I don't see anyone waiving the doomsday stick.

On the subject of changing the Zelda formula I agree. While I enjoyed TP I could see what was coming our way in terms of gameplay. It is in dire need of an update.

Nintendo should also hype the game more. I mean, they hyped the hell out of Wii Sports, Wii Play and even Wario Ware and Excite Truck, yet I saw nothing for TP. For the next Zelda game they should make it an event. Make the game more than just another Zelda game, this generation's Zelda.  

[that Baby guy]

Fire Emblem and Wario Ware cost less and take less time than Zelda does, so if they have lower sales, higher profits can still be made.

[18 Days]

Flop princess has only sold a million combined between GCN and Wii right? Yeah confirmed flop, Zelda series is over guys.

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: thatguy
Fire Emblem and Wario Ware cost less and take less time than Zelda does, so if they have lower sales, higher profits can still be made.

That may be true, but in Fire Emblem's case the series is considered to be one of the most popular and beloved franchises in Japan. It is also a gamer's game, yet it sold like 100,000 in a month. Its even more apparent when you compare it to the sales of the other FE games in Japan. In fact, it hasn't even cracked the Wii's best sellers list.

So I find that no one has found that very surprising. I mean, if there's one game that paints the doomsday theory better is FE Wii.