Miyamoto and Aonuma on Zelda

Q: We're sure you're tired of talking about the game's visuals, but do you think the new cartoon-like look will attract a new audience to the game? And, conversely, do you think older gamers may be turned off?

Miyamoto-san:

I think that when people first see the game, the graphics are the first thing you talk about. But once you play the game, you'll really come to understand why we went with this graphic style. Also, the more you play the game, the more you get sucked into the graphic style, kind of forgetting about it. When we make a game we think it is the quality of the game that determines whether or not it will have a wide appeal for a userbase. The Wind Waker is a very high quality game. We do think that it's a graphic style that will appeal to certain groups, but at the same time as soon as you start playing you're going to get sucked into the story and the gameplay. You're really going to enjoy yourself, and we don't think that is going to turn anyone off.

We actually think that as you play this game and look at the world around you, it's going to seem very realistic despite the graphics style. By using the term "realistic," I mean the qualities of the world itself. I don't mean to deny the value of the more photorealistic graphics, but the more realistic graphics get the more unrealistic things such as bumping into a wall or getting hurt might be. If not expressed properly, it will seem out of place. This time we've tried to have very realistic expression. We want to have a game where everything in the world feels like it is in its place. We think that when you play, you will see Link do something and not react in a way that's not realistic. From the point of view, The Wind Waker is very realistic in terms of expression and the whole oneness of the world.

Just play the game without thinking too much about the visuals -- it will be a lot more fun.

Q: More games are using voice acting to support dialogue, but you don't use that in Zelda games. Why?

Aonuma-san:

We've obviously carried this on from the previous Zelda games, but for what we're trying to express within the game we can do that without having to use a lot of voice acting. While I can't say for certain it will always be like that with the Zelda games, the way we've done it for The Wind Waker is suitable for the world. One other thing that we've tried to do is that since people have played Zelda over the years, they have their ideas of how Link might sound. If we were to put a voice in there that might not match up with someone else's image, then there would be a backlash to that. So we've tried to avoid that.

Q: The two N64 Zeldas looked similar in visual style. Do you think the next Zelda will use this cel-shading for visual style? Also, since you're so pleased with the art style do you think you will extend it to other titles?

Miyamoto-san:

With regards to Zelda, it's not so much that we want to go with the toon-shading, as it is we're really happy with the proportions of Link in the game. And the fact that we can have the artwork on the package match the artwork in the game. In the past you've seen where you'd have a Game Boy Zelda game and one for the home console where the art styles didn't match one another. And they didn't match the art style on the boxes didn't match that in the game. So we've really tried to cut back on that, so you can see the same Link across the different platforms. We think that this is a good style to do that with.

On the other hand, if say we were able to do something more along the lines of Zelda II, which was more of an action-based game, then probably the proportions of Link as we see him in The Wind Waker would not necessarily be as appropriate at that point -- we might have to reevaluate the style.

As for bringing it to other titles, we great value the creativity of our different development teams. So, we wouldn't want to try to apply what one team has done across others. Another thing that's important to us is that Nintendo always tries to do something; we try to do things the competition isn't. If we were to see a trend where cel-shading become the trend in game development then may we would change our direction towards realism.

Actually, when I first saw the cel-shaded Zelda I was very surprised and excited by it. However, I was startled by the response we got from the press when we showed it off the first time. They all said, "Oh, so is Nintendo now taking Zelda and trying to aim it only at kids?" Because, really the whole concept we had behind it was that we thought it was a very creative and new way to show off Link. All the sudden it had been interpreted as Nintendo's new strategy, and that was a shock for us.

When it comes to Nintendo strategy, it's not that we want to make games for kids. It's that we want to make them creative while appealing to a wider audience. Obviously we see games as entertainment, and what we want to do is find the best way to make the gameplay experience entertaining for everyone.