Shigeru Miyamoto has explained that Nintendo is currently trying to find the right balance with the next Zelda game on Wii U. Miyamoto says that while the series ultimately appeals to the hardcore gamer, Nintendo is looking at new and different ways to make it more appealing to a wider audience.
“With the last game, Skyward Sword, that was a game where you had motion control to use your weapons and a lot of different items, and I thought that was a lot of fun.”
“But there were some people who weren’t able to do that or didn’t like it as much and stopped playing partway through it.”
“We’re seeing how the way that tastes are broadening in video games and you have some people who prefer more casual experiences, and you have some people who prefer sort of those more in-depth experiences. Obviously, as a company that’s been making games for a very long time, we tend to be more on the deeper, longer game side of things.
“But really what we continue to ask ourselves as we have over the years is, ‘What is the most important element of Zelda if we were to try to make a Zelda game that a lot of people can play?’”
(not a reply)
I hope so. I dont want to hear people bitching.
Who cares zelda is fucking trash. Skyrim beat them twice at awards u know why cuz they dont take 3 yrs to make a shitty game that has a major game ending bug smh cheaping ur products comes at a cost= quality smh u suck shitendo
5 years, nice try though, you’ll get us next time.
Also everyone after me, please ignore him, I don’t want to have to scroll down for a year to see what ACTUAL people want to say.
I’d rather this site just have options to deal with ignorant fantards like him.
Yeah, this should use a comment system with ‘Like’ and ‘Dislike’ buttons.
Lol the bug was immediately brought to Nintendo’s attention and they acted upon it, skyrim is littered with bugs (at least pc) and from what I heard in the few months of ps3 release the game was unplayable, skyrim is a good game but it was half finished and lacked the charm oblivion had, it did not deserve goty because of this (the bug fest mainly)
Really? Zelda has far more variety of gameplay in just any one game.
really asshole? why would you even click on this if you dont like zelda? why cuz you probobly have no life and have to pretend to be a big shot on the internet. so just shut the fuck up and get a life.
Just give us the Zelda all of us true fans really want and I’d be really happy if it’s done by Retro. None of this casual Zelda BS, if Nintendo wants a casual to be able to play then just add difficulty levels but don’t sacrifice other parts of the game. We’ve waited too long for a system powerful enough to give us the experience the Wii U could give us in a deep Zelda title
+1
no motion, just a Regular old zelda game. I’m tired of these tired gimicks.
I think the ideal thing would be to have the option to toggle motion control on or off, same with maybe choosing difficulty levels.
That would be a stupendous idea, but the coding that would take to make a zelda game to have both options would be a lot of work, but your right, that would be an awesome option.
Zelda catering to both hmm so it will have hd ocarina remake dungeons.storyplot and concept with help assit,easy challange and waggle feast lol awsum
I’m looking forward to this. I want to see what becomes of it.
I see this as bad news. Let zelda be what it is: for the hardcore. My parents and grandparents don’t need to play Zelda. Just focus on what the hardcore gamers wnat from it.
They have Mario and so much more for the more casual players. Not all games have to appeal to everyone IMO
So i am not looking forward to where this statement leads!
I know what you mean, but in the end Miyamoto-sama will always make the right decision when it comes to his franchises. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.
The best decision is to have difficulty levels. I don’t want Zelda to become a mere casual game. It needs challenges
1+
Sikr, Shopto are taking pre-orders for both white and black Wii Us at £280, in case you’re interested http://www.shopto.net/WII%20U/VIDEO%20GAMES/WIIUHW01-Nintendo%20Wii%20U%20Console%20White.html
I’ll look forward to the next Zelda series for the U. Even if it’s developed by Retro Studios and powered by Unreal or Frostbite, I’m still buying it!
Hmmm worried when they add the comment about it will also appeal to casual… I swear if Nintendo f*cks up this game to appeal to their focused group (Casuals as of Wii and now Wii U… just take a look at the once again causal driven press conference). I am fully done with them.
I am not a causal gamer and i will be damn if I am force to be one with the gaming company I loved since a I very small. Get your act together Nintendo our just f*ck off for life.
1+ Sadly…
Zelda with an open world like elder scrolls. Also that concept art that was Zelda mixed with fallout looked awesome! Though they have already done a kind of post apocalyptic Zelda, link to the past (one of the best games ever, would love to see it remade in full 3d on WiiU)
you could argue that twilight princess riffed on concepts from link to the past. it was dark in a similar way to link to the past, that’s for sure. and then majora’s mask was just… in its own category.
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I’ve never considered the Zelda franchise as being ‘hardcore’ so this is all fine as I still love to play Zelda games, like I love to play Mario and Kirby games. Basically all of Nintendos first-party franchises are ‘casual’ friendly, easy to play and easy to complete. It is the fun and unique experience that I have when playing Nintendos first-party games that have me preferring Nintendo over any other video game company.
This is all why third-party support is so crucial for Nintendo. In order to truly reach the full spectrum of gamers out there, Nintendo has to secure appropriate third-party developments which cater to the audience which they themselves usually tend not to. I get the impression from Nintendo that when they consider this, they think of the wider audience as “fun for the WHOLE family” or “it includes game + mode after you beat it”. Relationships need to made with Ubisoft, Capcom and Square Enix to ensure that their biggest games are made for the WiiU and not handed minor, less significant titles instead. It is still way too early to start making judgements on how the WiiU will be handled, but all I will say right now is that if games like GTAV and RE6 are not made available on WiiU within 6 months of general release then we have a problem… Nintendo will forever to deemed the company for ‘casuals’, and the occasional teen recluse in the family.
Zelda is 100% hardcore ( and not hardcore as in blood and gore -.-“) Try getting any casual gamer to play a link to the past till the end. Even wind waker is too hard for the casual players enentho the zelda franchise has allot of handholding.
Please don’t make this more casual Nintendo!!
Sounds like Zelda fans are in for a rough time.
Oh just make new IPs that focus on the casual market and stop with the one size fits all mentality…It might work , yes, but it’s more likely to just disappoint everyone. It’d be too hardcore for casual gamers and to casual for hardcore gamers.
They said skyward sword was so easy a 5 year old could play….
Well that settles it: Nintendo is dead-set on ruining my childhood. Thanks, guys.
Q_Q
Forget the casual, Zelda should be hardcore. I want to be challanged and I don’t want everything in it to be family friendly.
Stop trying to get new fans and please the ones you got. Could you imagine if the gears of war people said, ‘we are gonna appeal to casual gamers’. Jheeeze Nintendo your all over place recently.
If you make Zelda for a casual market I will disown you Nintendo!…
Hakuna matata, Tommy. I’m sure Miyamoto will create a Zelda experience for the core gamers. Rumor has it that Retro Studios may develop the Zelda title while Shigeru himself produces it. And there’s another rumor that 2 guys who used to work with Naughty Dog and Vigil Games to work with Retro on a Zelda title.
Let Mario take care of the casuals. I like my Zelda hardcore.
Ungh! Okay I have few if any problems with Nintendo but THIS is one of them. Some games just aren’t meant to be a fence hopper! Zelda is not meant for Casual Gamers, it’s a hardcore action adventure game it always has been; focus on that focus on your target audience for Zelda, make it relevant to those people who want to buy it. You have other franchises designed for that but Nintendo seems intent on not focusing on the fact that they have this.
Nintendo needs to identify where it’s 1st party games stand on the Casual-Core-O-Meter, having a strong 3rd Party support would be great and all but they’ll get confused as to what the console is if Nintendo doesn’t outright identify that they make both casual and core games and instead try and straddle the fence where the games could be either and often confuse people into thinking they’re neither.
Mario – Casual
Zelda – Core
Metroid – Core
Mario Kart – Casual
Xenoblade – Core
It’s that simple really. You identify that your company, and thereby your console, makes games for both markets and the third party developers will follow suit.
Magi Cookie for you!
I’m a former hardcore gamer turned casual, checking in on the E3 coverage, so I think I can speak on behalf of my fellow casualties. I don’t really think making Zelda more appealing to casual fans will increase our numbers playing them. There’s such a deep story and history behind that franchise that can’t be relayed to casual fans in infrequent sessions over the course of a month. Story-driven games needs that depth, and eliminating that to appeal to the non-core market will alienate those core players.
In order to have their cake and eat it too on this topic, there’s a simple solution: create a new IP. By generating a new franchise to accommodate this gap in the casual player, large-scale adventure genre/nitch they are looking to fill, Nintendo can come up with any story and go into as much or as little depth as necessary. They could craft the game without previous boundaries interrupting, generating a new feel or style without alienating the core Zelda fans. The game could even be a clone of Zelda. Even better, feature another Hylian (non-Link) as the main character. Casual fans can get the Zelda experience in a occasional, comfortable setting while hardcore fans would play it to learn more about the lore of Hyrule and play the game in a completely different fashion than the casual fans.
I said this below as well, but I think that’s a brilliant idea to start a side-series for novice players. Miyamoto has said for a while now that any game can be someone’s first, and with said spinoff those people could have that game without diluting the experience for long-time players.
Too, the existence of that beginner’s game could make it possible for the accompanying core entry to start with Link already being an experienced adventurer, rather than starting at his beginning like every other game. He can just be in the central area instantly ready to travel wherever the player wants to take him. That would certainly send a strong message.
No.
Fuck the casual gamer.
I love how people are saying “ZOMG ZELDA WILL BE RUIND FOREVAHH!” When they forget that this is NINTENDO they are talking about, their in house projects always strike a balance between casual & core. People seem to forget this & go ahead & say it’s “ruined”. Plus, we haven’t even seen the game, so there is really no reason for people to complain.
So are you saying Ocarina, Majoras Mask, A Link to the apas, Zelda I and Zelda II are as casual as Skyward Sword? Skyward Sword Held your hand through the game, now imagen Zelda getting even easier… this is why most of us bitch, one by one Nintendo is ruining its franchises.
I never said they were casual, I said they struck a balance, as in starts of easy, but gets more challenging (mostly the early Zelda games pre-ocarina of time). Skyward Sword may be more linear than previous installments, but it didn’t “hold your hand all the way through” The Dungeons & Puzzles were clever & well designed. And yeah Nintendo ruins it’s franchises alright *holds up Donkey Kong Country Returns* dude we can do this all day, we can do this ALL DAY!
If Nintendo would have showed a trailer that was as pretty as last years tech demo, no one would have thought Wii U failed as bad as it did at E3. Plus, there are no killer apps at launch.
here we go again, Nintendo give up on hardcore, Can you save Zelda from casual crap?
If you are unable to experience hardcore games, then Zelda is not right for you.
I Want Minish cap Remake for Wii U, that was my favorite zelda game
I had lots of fun with Skyward Sword, so I believe the new one for the Wii-U will appeal to everyone.
what the fuck are they doing. they should be trying to make zelda for true zelda fans NOT casual players who don’t give a damn about gaming.
NO NINTENDO! Do NOT bring Zelda into your “let’s make a game everyone can play!” ideas! Well, to tell the truth…if Nintendo can manage to make a game like Twilight Princess or Majora’s Mask (creepy and dark, just how I like it) that doesn’t have all the handholding and innocent (as in ALWAYS happy) people, then I’ll be happy. Please, Nintendo! Leave Zelda to the hardcore!
P.S. I hate to say it, but I want a game that IS dark: like the people aren’t so happy because they feel something wrong. (Obviously, my favorite games are Twilight Princess and Majora’s Mask because of this.)
I so agree with you! tired of cell shaded crap!
While we’re on the topic of the casual audience, here’s how Nintendo can improve their showing for next year’s main E3 conference:
Run with the idea of peripheral events (Pre-E3 Nintendo Direct, Developer Roundtable, 3DS Software Showcase) and do a separate presentation of all their casual content for the year. This way. those who want to see that content could watch that event, and those who want absolutely nothing to do with it don’t have to sit through things like Wii Fit U and Just Dance 4. Instead, they can watch the main E3 conference which would be composed entirely of bridge and core games.
Back on this topic, Nintendo definitely has to understand where the line is when it comes to widespread appeal. The balance of easy-to-play and hard-to-master is a good dynamic that has served countless games well over the years, but once someone has become proficient in that game they must be given greater, fresher challenges going forward. Rather than merely re-establishing what’s been set, games like Super Mario Galaxy 2 develop further ideas and play with the expectations of experienced players to an enjoyable end. The same happened with Pac-Man Championship Edition & DX: Everyone can play Pac-Man, and both games offer a refreshing take on it giving long-time players a new challenge.
While Skyward Sword needed a good amount of introduction given the new control scheme, now that it’s been established Nintendo needs to move ahead with it rather than be so focused on teaching novices the basics. I actually like Nick’s idea of setting up a side-series for casual players who might be interested in playing the main Zelda series, making it penetrable but not at the cost of what core consumers are looking for. Too, the existence of that beginner’s game could make it possible for the accompanying core entry to start with Link already being an experienced adventurer, rather than starting at his beginning like every other game. It would certainly send a strong message.
Which means it’ll suck. You can’t cater to both casual and hardcore like Nintendo wants to because both ends will suffer. Casual gamers will find the game inaccessible and hardcore gamers will find it way too easy. Give us difficulty levels, mess with monster spawning and lower hearts drop-rate, make ruppees scarce, bosses a real fucking challenge and the final boss not a total pushover compared to everything else.
You know what? Give us Twilight Princess remade with all of the above. It had the most involved, deepest storyline in a Zelda game to date, but suffered from empty overworld and easy enemy syndrome.
I was just thinking last night about a new Zelda game and which style I like best. I mean I absolutely loved Skyward Sword because it mixed the humor and cartoony-ness of Wind Waker with the seriousness of Twilight Princess. But then I got to thinking about how awesome Twilight Princess looked with it’s dark elements and interesting alternative universe plot. So I thought maybe they should make another hardcore serious game like Twilight Princess. The problem with that is they would have to take out the humor of Wind Waker which I do not like because I enjoyed seeing the merchant Beetle again in Skyward Sword. I came to the conclusion that young link should have the humor and cartoony side of Zelda while the adult Link should have the more dark and serious tone. Was there ever a game to pull this mixture off perfectly? Yes and the answer to that is Ocarina of Time. So my hope is that for the Wii U, Nintendo makes a game like Ocarina of Time where you start off young and immature but play into a mature and serious game later on. It’s kind of like growing up with Link. My advice is not to sacrifice motion controls but make them optional so the casual gamers can get a feel for what they like best and not be intimidated immediately by a dark and serious Zelda game (that will come later on in the game). This is just my opinion what do you guy’s think?
Thank you! Some one who understands that a game the partly resembles OoT is what we want.
No. No no no no no no no no no no. Screw the casual market. Zelda should offer a 100% hardcore gaming experience. I hated the hand holding in Skyward Sword and I’m afraid to see where this would go.
Please Mr.Miyamoto, bring back a game that resembles Ocarina of Time. “Ocarina of Time. One of the most revolutionary and best games released by Nintendo” We really want it back. Just copying and pasting the old game into 3D isn’t what we were hoping for <\3 PLEASE make a game that /at least/ has child link. Than maybe the adult-child switch. AND then, even the Ocarina, but use these ideas in a fresh new way <3
If you want a game for hardcore gamers and beginners, couldn’t you just make the “hard” option that every one enjoys?
“Miyamoto says that while the series ultimately appeals to the hardcore gamer, Nintendo is looking at new and different ways to make it more appealing to a wider audience.”
Lol, what?
Zelda already has a huge casual appeal. I know people who only play Zelda (this includes guys and girls) and no other games (they might try some if you tell them that it’s like Zelda).
*shrugs*
As for the people complaining about this, get over yourselves. I’m sure a majority of the people who actually call themselves “hardcore” actually suck at games (this is true for two people I know, and they’re the only ones who refer to themselves as “hardcore gamers”).
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Im probably like the 100th person to say this but I honestly think that if they go with casual it wouldnt be as good and Nintendo could possible lose alot of fans for that, I like hardcore Zelda games (twilight princess and Ocarins of time since there the only Zelda games i’ve ever played, I played TP first then OOC) Now I gues I can understand if there trying to get an even amount of casual and hardcore but according to what other people have said Skyward sword must have been to easy, and I think I can believe that with just looking at the game it looks a tad bit…strange, since im not used to low graphic Zelda games I never played Skyward sword because it looked so odd, I couldnt get attached to the characters because im used to a more detailed Zelda game, and yes I know that gameplay is suppose to matter more than graphics but I can’t play a game that looks bad, there needs to be an even amount of each just like TP and OOC, they have the best gameplay AND graphics which is why i’m happy about this new Zelda game because it’s suppose to have a dark artstyle like TP/OOC, so at least thats something to look forward to. (:
i think nintendo should just make 2 zelda games, 1 which is REALLY F**KING HARDCORE like we all want, and 1 more for the softer people, with motion control and all that
Perhaps they should make a game like they did with Zelda OOT. They can have a
“masterquest” version along with the normal game. This would provide a more challenging experience for those of us who want it while also giving an easy, casual game for those new to Zelda or those who just are not Hardcore Gamers.
Miyamoto, don’t make Zelda more casual. Zelda SwS had very simple dungeon and puzzles…
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