Alias/Wavefront's Maya software was used to develop the fantastic graphics in Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
ALIAS|WAVEFRONT'S MAYA: THE EXCLUSIVE 3D SOFTWARE BEHIND THE LEGEND OF ZELDA LAUNCH ON NINTENDO GAMECUBE
Ninth entry in the highly acclaimed Nintendo series delivers compelling fresh adventures and sets new standards for real-time artistic expression
Toronto, Canada - December 13, 2002 - Alias|WavefrontTM, an SGI (NYSE: SGI) company, today announced that its Maya® software was the exclusive 3D software package used in the development of the highly anticipated Nintendo game, The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind WakerTM for Nintendo GameCubeTM, which begins shipping today in Japan. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is the first Nintendo® game in which the 3D graphics were created entirely with Maya.
In early previews, game reviewers around the world were astounded by the graphics quality of Zelda, the latest edition of the game from the team led by Shigeru Miyamoto, Director & General Manager, Entertainment Analysis & Development Div., the genius behind Donkey Kong® and MarioTM. Nintendo GameCube consistently strives forward in console power, which means creating more content, at new levels of quality, within production schedules and team sizes that are the same as in the days of the Nintendo® 64 console.
"We're honored that Nintendo has chosen to work with Alias|Wavefront's Maya 3D tool," said Geoff Foulds, Games Marketing Manager for Alias|Wavefront. "Nintendo ranks among the greatest game developers in the world and having Maya as its exclusive tool is a privilege. The Legend of Zelda on the Nintendo GameCube has once again created an entirely new vision of the game experience."
The Legend of Zelda and The Power of Maya
With its robust architecture, and advanced Application Programming Interface (API) and the Maya Embedded LanguageTM (MEL), Maya delivered significant boosts in productivity.
MEL, combined with the ability of Maya to run in batch mode, automated many of the repetitive tasks and significantly accelerated art production. The Maya API and MEL made it possible to deliver the functionality of the multiple tools that had been necessary in the old production pipeline. "Standardizing on Maya has a further benefit for the development teams - resources could easily be moved from one project to another - reducing bottlenecks and further accelerating production," said Foulds. "Nintendo was able to work with external sites much more easily, not only elsewhere in Japan but around the world."
