Two of Nintendo’s flagship franchises The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario have been around for over 25 years. Although both series were born in the 1980s and have seen releases on all of Nintendo’s major consoles, Super Mario trumps The Legend of Zelda in terms of the number of titles developed. The reason for this is, according to The Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aounuma, Zelda games require a longer development time. Plus, while the Super Mario series has two producers – Takashi Tezuka and Yoshiaki Koizumi – Aonuma is The Legend of Zelda’s sole producer.
We see Nintendo franchises come and go. Some aren’t updated for long periods of time. Zelda is not one of those. And yet Zelda, it’s not as if it’s a 5, 6, 7 million seller like a New Super Mario Bros.. It’s not one of the huge franchises. So what does Zelda mean to Nintendo? What is the importance of Zelda in the Nintendo world?
Aonuma: You said that Nintendo releases Zelda games regularly. We do release them regularly, but we don’t release them that often. Mario games, if you push to get it done, you can finish it in a year. Zelda games take at least three years to complete. At the same time, I’m getting pushed to release them quicker but the users are expecting bigger experiences. And those things don’t match up. So I struggle with that all the time. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do to meet both of those demands.
With the Mario series, there are two producers, Mr. Tezuka and Mr. Koizumi. With Zelda, it’s just me.
Good things come to those who wait.
also, First
First
Ahh let’s the trolling begin! :P
At least we got Zelda for Nintendo 3DS soon.
I’m still so hyped for A Link Between Worlds.
They’ve promised a surprise in the opening minutes of the game and they still haven’t described how the dark world is going to be incorporated or how it will be changed.
There’s so many unknowns and it’s only making me more excited for it.
first
FIRST!
Uhh Hello! Furst!
First
Indeed. I’d rather fewer games that are bigger and better. I suppose that as a compromise they are just making remakes to satisfy the upper management who want games super fast, but they don’t take a whole lot of time and energy so it doesn’t take away from the main stuff.
How about a smaller experience at a fair price. It could be released quicker. After release downloadable content as time permits.
OMG those games were made with one producer, me imprese
Pika Pi Pikachu Pi Pika
(He takes his time to create his games and that’s a good thing)
You are so damn cute ۹⌤_⌤۹
Pika
(Thanks)
Pikachu Pika
(Hahaha ^this^)
i find him/her annoying, but hey, thats just me.
Aonuma, your genius knows no bounds. Don’t try to rush a Zelda game.
They need to give him help! Just one dude? What would happene if he calls in sick? Or dies?(God bless him)
better be like this, I enjoy Mario games but I don’t really see Zelda games becoming so much “milked” in a good way because we all know that mario is being out for so many years and still have their unique features, but zelda is in another “features” level. Not despising mario games but taking a great value with zelda ones.
Don’t worry about us, take all the time you need!
He can take as long as he needs, it must deliver.
Yeah. I feel for him. I don’t want Zelda to get milked like a prize cow how Mario has been milked. And what about Metroid?!
I’ve got to believe it’s somewhere in between Zelda and Mario… Much more towards the Zelda side.
I need me some Metroid man, I’m crashing hard. Retro better make my fix after their done with Donkey Kong.
I would think that retro is almost done with DK and they’ll start on Metroid… or maybe Star Fox? 💋
I think Retro should make something new after Donkey Kong. They don’t need to be a “Metroid company.” They’re called Retro, and they’ve made three Metroids already. I say they need to either resurrect a dead series (Could be Star Fox, although older NES games would also work), or make a new ip, as they were trying before Miyamoto shut down their projects for Metroid Prime.
I would like another Metroid, although maybe someone else should work on it.
Well considering that Metroid games have been less frequent than Zelda games, yeah it’s definitely much more towards the Zelda side. In fact, probably beyond it.
I actually think less Zelda is better, in a good way.
It does make it more precious and people can’t complain the franchise is being milked. 💋
I’m starting to think Mario needs a break after 3D World of about, oh, I don’t know, two years before the next major release? Oh and that next game should be the Galaxy successor we were all expecting and wanted.
1.Mario on a hiatus for 2 years? I’m sorry but you’re tripping balls.
2.They’ve milked Galaxy enough.
I meant the main platforming games, and I didn’t mean Galaxy 3. I’m talking about a game that pushes the bar like Galaxy did after Sunshine. But at this point I would’ve preferred Galaxy 3 over 3D World any day.
not me, galaxy was already feeling milked. 2 3d marios the same in a row. fuck a 3rd one that series would have been ruined.
So you like 3D World?
I do
much better than a Galaxy 3…
I expect them to return the franchise towards a Sunshine approach.
3D Mario games actually have an overall longer development cycle than Zelda does, so I don’t know what you`re talking about here? There’s been 4 3D Mario games for home console in 17 years, and 5 Zeldas. There’s going to be 5 after this year in basically 18 years since 3D World is coming out in December, which means it took almost 4 years between Galaxy 2 and Mario 3D world for another home console version.
I’m talking both 3D and 2D, and both console and handheld.
I want to see Nintendo go the ENTIRE next system whether its the next handheld or next console WITHOUT A SINGLE MARIO GAME. Mario Kart and Mario Party get a pass. But nothing else. Mario has become nothing but “Easy Money” Leave Mario alone for 3 years and bring Kirby, Starfox, F-Zero, Metroid up to the level Mario is at (profit wise).
No, I want to see a 3D Mario on the Wii U that exceeds the Galaxy games. But, I just hope they take a couple of years to make it
But I do want them to focus on their other franchises, too
Things I am frustrated with Nintendo at the moment:
> Reggie claiming that Wii U is emulating what PS2 did, leaving out details such as an already strong third-party support userbase and being the cheapest DVD player on the market at the time. As far as I know, Wii U has none of these.
>Iwata not convinced that the ESRB, PEGI, etc. aren’t going far enough with their jobs, hence his stance on region locking.
> Iwata claiming that Wii U “Is not underpowered” when we have yet to see proof of this. I want to see something that can compete graphically with the Xbone and PS4. I haven’t seen it yet nor has anyone else.
>Nintendo promising “an open-world 3d Mario game” showing at E3. What did we get? Super Mario 3D World and not something along the lines of Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy like we all thought was gonna happen.
>Nintendo promising us “A game that everyone was wanting” by Retro Studios. Of all the games, it had to be yet another Donkey Kong. People were so hyped for a AAA game. We get a DK platformer.
>Releasing their console a year too late, hence the huge software drought they created for themselves, thus turning away a lot of people.
>Nintendo failing to modernize their IP collection. All there is is Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon. Anything else?
>This might be nitpicking, but there is no ‘unified’ account system between handheld and console. That would be nice.
>VC games costing way too much. Eight dollars for a SNES game? There are games for the iPad that cost less than that and aren’t at all total trash.
Iwata: Please understand…
Well, to be fair I don’t think it was Nintendo who said the Mario game would be open world, just internet rumors.
Ah. If that’s true, then my apologies.
They said it was a 3D action game, not an open world game
I 100% agree with you! Thay was practicly in my words, i really love nintendo and have atl east 200+ of the games but what your saying bangs the nail on the head.
*at least. and come to think of it i have 300 Nintendo games give or take.
Heck yeah! At least some people have the same feelings as I do about Nintendo right now. There’s just so much Nintendo can do. It’s not too late!
To be fair, Pokemon is only milked on the handheld and considering the 3DS’s lineup it’s pretty much the first time that franchise hasn’t been milked on a handheld since creation…at least not yet. Plus it has Fire Emblem, Kid Icarus, Luigi’s Mansion, and then some. Actually, the third party exclusives on the system are what I’ve mainly been going for (though FE:Awakening is pretty much hypnotizing me, I can’t stop lol). But yeah, it’s also got some Mario milked. At least the Zelda games don’t come out annually, except for the old remakes, but those are just fanservice games anyhow so I don’t really count those
It frustrates me that they are glorifying the 3DS with software while Wii U has been suffering more as of late.
It’s gonna get games, but they released it a year too early
my body is ready…. for no good games. please understand. INTRODUCING THE CLOWN DUO!!!!!!!!
It was actually Retro Studios that said ” a game everybody wants US to make”…
Not Nintendo…
Also, I believe Retro chose DK themselves. So that’s them.
Personally, I’m looking forward to it. DKC was so amazing back in the day. DKCR was surprisingly good also, save for shake to roll. I feel that won’t be mandatory again.
I’m sure DKCR:TP will be THE sidescroller platformer when it gets here. This is Donkey Kong Country people. I do really, really wanna see them space games on the Wii U. You know, those three…
Yes, indeed they did…
Me too actually, I haven’t played the first one so I’m thinking about buying it for the 3DS since my Wii’s disc reader got broken recently…
However I do not believe that this series is a game that everybody wanted them to make…
I’ sure many wants them to do a new Metroid game which is absolutely fine by me but as a developer I’m sure they want to try new things and new franchises…
I would gladly see them try their own approach when it comes to Starfox or F-Zero…
Or why not Ice Climbers considering we haven’t had a game about them in 30 years soon…
Even Retro never said that. It was just a troll/joke/hope somewhere, and it spread like wildfire and was wildly misinterpreted.
Agree about wanting a linked account between 3DS and Wii U.
Wii U underpowered? Monolith Softs X game!!! Have you not seen it? THAT COMPETES WITH XBOX ONE AND PS4.
Wii U didnt come a year early. Nintendo didnt plan on 3rd partys (EA) stabbing them in the back leaving them high and dry. Plus they underestimated how hard going HD is. But on the plus side Indie Devs have been dominating on the Wii U immense Indie support. Plus Miiverse is awesome. Also all the bugs/glitches and features will be up and running at 100% by the launch of PS4 and Xbox One. Xbox One and PS4 will have launch issues.
1. Despite playing DVDs, the PS2 didn’t start selling until the price was cut to $150. Reggie’s claim would have been better if he brought up the PS1 as well.
2. I can understand what Iwata’s saying with the rating companies (just go to Xbox Live and play MW3), but I fail to see how it relates to region lock.
3. I think X, Mario Kart 8, and Smash Bros. look as good as the other E3 games, if not better.
4. As Mike S. said, Nintendo never promised an open-world Mario game, and while I’m at it, I really don’t see that working well. In my opinion, that would be a lot better for Zelda or Metroid. Mario doesn’t need to be 100% linear, but I don’t see open-world working.
Please forgive me for shoving my opinion into that one.
5. The “something everybody wants” was not actually said by either Nintendo or Retro. Somebody started it, moat likely to troll, or possibly just hoping, and it spread like wildfire.
6. I assume a year too early. I agree there, but they still will have a lead of at least 4 million for November, when the Xbox One and PS4 will have to compete with eachother at higher price points, and both will likely have similar game droughts.
7. I don’t understand this part. They are working on other games besides those three, you know. It just takes time. First we got Mario, Pikmin, Wario, Wii (series), and Donkey Kong. Next we’ll likely get Zelda (confirmed), Metroid, Fire Emblem (crossover with SMT first, then regular game), Yoshi (confirmed), and Kirby. The list goes on. Don’t even bother trying this argument with the 3DS. By the end of the year, every major (and some minor) Nintendo franchise except Kirby and Metroid will be on it (and the Wii series for obvious reasons).
8. I agree there, but at least breaking isn’t a problem, as Nintendo will fix the system, and if they can’t get you the games back they’ll give you a points card so you can buy them back. They do need this account system, though. No nitpicking there.
9. I think 8 dollars for a SNES game is fine. They have more content than a lot of ios games, and they did cost more when the SNES came out. Furthermore, almost all ios games are filled with microtransactions, so in the end they end up costing more.
Sorry. Some of these complaints are valid, but some are wrong (mainly the open world one and Retro one). Still, no gaming company is perfect, and that includes Nintendo. I di agree with most of these, even though I attempted to counter them.
I also forgot to mention what Dragonsilths said. Nintendo tried to leave some months open for third-parties, but they didn’t expect to be “stabbed in the back.” Sales have nothing to do with it, as the PS4 and Xbox One have sold an amazing total of 0 consoles. It doesn’t help that for the multiplatforms, Ubisoft and WB are giving the SONY versions special treatment, meaning less incentive to get the Wii U version (Rayman, Assassin’s Creed, Arkham Origins).
Aonuma shouldn’t be pushed unless he needs to be.
TL;DR
They actually require thought and time to make.
No matter how much you like the “New” series, you can’t deny they’re lazily made. If you do deny it, you’re deluded.
I just think they just need to focus on the 3D Mario games. These take a couple of years to make, and they always turn out to be fantastic. You can tell they actually work hard on them (especially the Galaxy games)
Pikachu Pika Pi Pika
(How come they never hired another producer to help Aonuma)
Better not have cell shaded graphics, as good as windwaker and ss were I want a different style.
I would like realistic graphics like we had with Twilight Princess. 💋
Yes, realistic graphics would be much appreciated. If there is one game that could show off the supposedly powerful system the wiiU is it would be Zelda.
Metroid would be better at showing off the full power, same with F-Zero. And lets not forget X…BEST GAME OF THE 8TH GENERATION PERIOD.
The next Zelda better be the Tech demo version or Imma trip balls!
I love Zelda! :D 💋
If he can’t make a big awesome Legend of Zelda game in three years, then I don’t know what his problem is, three years is plenty of time to make a AAA huge awesome super LOZ game. And maybe they should take a break to make a new Star Tropics or Earthbound game.
Give Earthbound up already. The creators of Earthbound have said 3 was the last and they wont make a new one and they wont allow anyone else to make a new one. Earthbound is FINISHED.
I also want a new Metroid goshdarnit!
Me too, but not like Other M, that was disappointing to me.
I really don’t understand why they can’t make a Mario game like Sunshine and fix the difficulty problems that Sunshine had and make it better. Super Mario Sunshine is sometimes my favorite Mario game and sometime my least favorite, if the took out the least favorite parts, it would be perfect.
I just want a 3D Mario game that can completely blow me away like the Galaxy games
his job is probably harder than you think. the LOZ fanbase is one of the worst. hurry, i want this, WW sucks, oh wait WW is awesome. fuck shaded graphics, what timeless aging, how great that is. MM sucks, oh wait its now one of the best games ever. could go on with this all day, the list keeps going on.
You’re always crying dude, don’t you tire?
its facts.
He’s actually telling the truth. The Zelda fanbase is pretty bad
Never listen to fans , it will probably end up like the worst thing ever , except in some situations :)
Well, this is true, but I think it has a reason to be like this: these games (WW, MM), like good music, books and wine, have grown better with time. This should be considered as ultimate success.
Lets not forget Zelda’s have a history of getting delayed like a year lol.
that’s good. zelda won’t be considered a milked franchise like mario.
I just hope that Wii u Zelda is dark like Majora mask, lots of exploring and interesting sidequests like on MM and big overworld would be so killer. I dont like how some Nintendo franchises come and go though, im happy that Zelda is on every N console but man i just want my Star Fox fix, you know what i am sayin ?
Hire more staff then, dummy.
Only douchebags use the term “AAA”.
I just don’t understand what does the term “AAA” stand for ???
Just make something fresh and new , and for god sake make the boss battles a little bit tough , it’s called “boss” battles for a reason , I don’t want a boss that is easier than a Normal minion -_- .
Lots of respect for you dude, you hit the nail. While i finded some boss battles hard on ss thanks to motion controls, overall they are so fuckin easy. They are basically hit the eye, hit the tail, shoot arrow there etc. I want also that combat system would be more deep, i think they should take inspiration for that from games like Mgr or bayonetta. The combat in Zelda games havent evolved that much from Oot and they should really take that further too, its too easy.
So why exactly isnt Miyamoto helping with the development of Zelda?
im guessing because of Pikmin 3, but still, i thought Zelda was his baby as well.
I glad Aonuma understands that the Zelda franchise is not a game that needs to be milked so much, like Call of Duty.
Aonuma can talk some crap. Zelda games are progressivly shorter and less complex and he does absolutely fuck all to heed the demands of the fans, he does what he wants and that generally means giving his team an easy life and not being too ambitious.
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