Part 1
"Sounds Like an Idea That's 20 Years Old"
Iwata: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is finally finished. From what I've heard, development was quite a challenge.
Everyone: (laughs wryly)
Iwata: Partway through development, your staff was taken away by other projects so for a while this project was at a standstill. While it wasn't the smoothest game to complete, I heard from various sources internally that the game turned out really well. Even (Shigeru) Miyamoto-san whispered, "This Zelda game is good!"
Aonuma: What? Why doesn't he tell us these things directly?! (laughs)
Everyone: (laughs)
Iwata: First, let's have everyone introduce what they were in charge of, starting with Aonuma-san.
Aonuma: As usual, I was producer. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past1 was the game that got me involved with the series. We're making a sequel 22 years later, and as producer, I was in the position of waiting around excitedly to see what it would be like.1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: An action-adventure game released for the Super NES system in November 1991.
Shikata: I'm Shikata. I was director for the first time on this game. I've been involved with The Legend of Zelda series since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time2 15 years ago.2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: An action-adventure game released for the Nintendo 64 system in November 1998.
Iwata: You've worked on The Legend of Zelda for 15 years?
Shikata: For not the entire 15 years, but I was involved in most Zelda games.
Mouri: I'm Mouri, assistant director and lead programmer. This was my fourth game in the Zelda series. First, I was involved with The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures3, and then I was main programmer for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass4 and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.53. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures: An action-adventure game released for the Nintendo GameCube console in March 2004.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: A stylus controlled action-adventure game released for the Nintendo DS system in June 2007.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks: A stylus controlled action-adventure game released for the Nintendo DS system in December 2009.
Iwata: You were main programmer on the Zelda handheld games that came out in the last few years.
Mouri: That's right, I did that while getting the cooperation of all sorts of staff members.
Tominaga: I'm Tominaga. As assistant director and plan leader, I performed tasks like coordinating the planners. In the Zelda series, I worked on The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker6 my first year at the company, and after that, I was a planner for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess7 and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.8) And I helped with debugging of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, so ever since I joined the company, I've been involved with The Legend of Zelda for home consoles. This was my first time for a handheld.6. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: An action-adventure game released for the Nintendo GameCube console in December 2002.
7. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: An action-adventure game released for the Wii and Nintendo GameCube consoles in December 2006.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: An action-adventure game released for the Wii console in November 2011.
Takahashi: I'm Takahashi. As design leader, I coordinated the design.
Iwata: You were also design leader for Animal Crossing: New Leaf.9 When that was over, you jumped right into The Legend of Zelda?9. Animal Crossing: New Leaf: A communication game released for the Nintendo 3DS system in November 2012.
Takahashi: Yes. As soon as it was over. In The Legend of Zelda series, I was also a designer for Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks.
Iwata: When did the idea come up of making a new Zelda game for the Nintendo 3DS?
Aonuma: Well, as director, Shikata-san should talk about that.
Shikata: Sure. It first came up right after we finished Spirit Tracks.
Iwata: Oh, it was right after Spirit Tracks was finished? It took quite a long time then.
Shikata: Spirit Tracks came around at the end of 2009, so...
Aonuma: It's already been four years.
Shikata: When The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was over, much of the staff went to develop Sword.
Aonuma: We had to begin working on Skyward Sword immediately.
Shikata: The only ones left were Mouri-san, another programmer and I. The Nintendo 3DS wasn't out yet, but our goals was to make a Zelda game for the handheld that would follow the Nintendo DS, so for about the first year, we thought a lot about what to do.
Iwata: Just the three of you for a whole year? Wasn't that hard?
Shikata: Yeah. We anguished over it every day, wondering what we should do.
Aonuma: To add to that, it didn't mean that nothing came of it that one year. As we were testing things, that was a period when we hit upon the most distinctive feature of this game, the system of Link becoming a mural.
Shikata: That's right.
Aonuma: It took quite some time to reach that point.
Iwata: It was really difficult.
Shikata: Yeah. At first, just the three of us were steeped in it, looking around in all directions. After about half a year, just to get the project through, we decided to give a presentation to Miyamoto-san and have him say yay or nay.
Iwata: Did you have the idea then of making a sequel to A Link to the Past?
Shikata: No, A Link to the Past wasn't on our minds at all. We didn't even have the idea of Link entering walls. We were thinking about a Zelda game with the theme of communication. When we presented it, Miyamoto-san said, "This sounds like an idea that's 20 years old." (laughs)
Iwata: From 20 years ago? (laughs) Did the air get chilly?
Shikata: No, it was cold from the start! (laughs)
Everyone: (laughs)
Mouri: As soon as we started the presentation, I could clearly see Miyamoto-san's facial expression rapidly darkening. I thought, "This is bad..." And then at the end he said, "This sounds like an idea that's 20 years old," that was the killing blow. We were down on the floor.
Iwata: What did you do once you were beaten down?
Shikata: He had ripped it apart so badly that I was distraught.
Iwata: I suppose so. (laughs)
Shikata: We decided to rethink it from the start, and one day when the three of us were having a meeting, I suddenly said, "What about having Link enter into walls?" Mouri-san and the other programmer were like "That's great!" and got into it. But even though I had brought it up, it didn't quite make sense to me.
Iwata: You weren't certain it would be fun, but you blurted it out anyways?
Shikata: Right. So I asked them what was so good about it.
Iwata: Even though it was your idea? (laughs)
Mouri: Usually, it would be the other way around! (laughs)
Iwata: It often happens that you have a great idea but can't get anyone to understand, but this time it was the other way around. (laughs)
Shikata: Yeah. The exact opposite! (laughs)
Iwata: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is finally finished. From what I've heard, development was quite a challenge.
Everyone: (laughs wryly)
Iwata: Partway through development, your staff was taken away by other projects so for a while this project was at a standstill. While it wasn't the smoothest game to complete, I heard from various sources internally that the game turned out really well. Even (Shigeru) Miyamoto-san whispered, "This Zelda game is good!"
Aonuma: What? Why doesn't he tell us these things directly?! (laughs)
Everyone: (laughs)
Iwata: First, let's have everyone introduce what they were in charge of, starting with Aonuma-san.
Aonuma: As usual, I was producer. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past1 was the game that got me involved with the series. We're making a sequel 22 years later, and as producer, I was in the position of waiting around excitedly to see what it would be like.1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: An action-adventure game released for the Super NES system in November 1991.
Shikata: I'm Shikata. I was director for the first time on this game. I've been involved with The Legend of Zelda series since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time2 15 years ago.2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: An action-adventure game released for the Nintendo 64 system in November 1998.
Iwata: You've worked on The Legend of Zelda for 15 years?
Shikata: For not the entire 15 years, but I was involved in most Zelda games.
Mouri: I'm Mouri, assistant director and lead programmer. This was my fourth game in the Zelda series. First, I was involved with The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures3, and then I was main programmer for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass4 and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.53. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures: An action-adventure game released for the Nintendo GameCube console in March 2004.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: A stylus controlled action-adventure game released for the Nintendo DS system in June 2007.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks: A stylus controlled action-adventure game released for the Nintendo DS system in December 2009.
Iwata: You were main programmer on the Zelda handheld games that came out in the last few years.
Mouri: That's right, I did that while getting the cooperation of all sorts of staff members.
Tominaga: I'm Tominaga. As assistant director and plan leader, I performed tasks like coordinating the planners. In the Zelda series, I worked on The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker6 my first year at the company, and after that, I was a planner for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess7 and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.8) And I helped with debugging of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, so ever since I joined the company, I've been involved with The Legend of Zelda for home consoles. This was my first time for a handheld.6. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: An action-adventure game released for the Nintendo GameCube console in December 2002.
7. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: An action-adventure game released for the Wii and Nintendo GameCube consoles in December 2006.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: An action-adventure game released for the Wii console in November 2011.
Takahashi: I'm Takahashi. As design leader, I coordinated the design.
Iwata: You were also design leader for Animal Crossing: New Leaf.9 When that was over, you jumped right into The Legend of Zelda?9. Animal Crossing: New Leaf: A communication game released for the Nintendo 3DS system in November 2012.
Takahashi: Yes. As soon as it was over. In The Legend of Zelda series, I was also a designer for Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks.
Iwata: When did the idea come up of making a new Zelda game for the Nintendo 3DS?
Aonuma: Well, as director, Shikata-san should talk about that.
Shikata: Sure. It first came up right after we finished Spirit Tracks.
Iwata: Oh, it was right after Spirit Tracks was finished? It took quite a long time then.
Shikata: Spirit Tracks came around at the end of 2009, so...
Aonuma: It's already been four years.
Shikata: When The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was over, much of the staff went to develop Sword.
Aonuma: We had to begin working on Skyward Sword immediately.
Shikata: The only ones left were Mouri-san, another programmer and I. The Nintendo 3DS wasn't out yet, but our goals was to make a Zelda game for the handheld that would follow the Nintendo DS, so for about the first year, we thought a lot about what to do.
Iwata: Just the three of you for a whole year? Wasn't that hard?
Shikata: Yeah. We anguished over it every day, wondering what we should do.
Aonuma: To add to that, it didn't mean that nothing came of it that one year. As we were testing things, that was a period when we hit upon the most distinctive feature of this game, the system of Link becoming a mural.
Shikata: That's right.
Aonuma: It took quite some time to reach that point.
Iwata: It was really difficult.
Shikata: Yeah. At first, just the three of us were steeped in it, looking around in all directions. After about half a year, just to get the project through, we decided to give a presentation to Miyamoto-san and have him say yay or nay.
Iwata: Did you have the idea then of making a sequel to A Link to the Past?
Shikata: No, A Link to the Past wasn't on our minds at all. We didn't even have the idea of Link entering walls. We were thinking about a Zelda game with the theme of communication. When we presented it, Miyamoto-san said, "This sounds like an idea that's 20 years old." (laughs)
Iwata: From 20 years ago? (laughs) Did the air get chilly?
Shikata: No, it was cold from the start! (laughs)
Everyone: (laughs)
Mouri: As soon as we started the presentation, I could clearly see Miyamoto-san's facial expression rapidly darkening. I thought, "This is bad..." And then at the end he said, "This sounds like an idea that's 20 years old," that was the killing blow. We were down on the floor.
Iwata: What did you do once you were beaten down?
Shikata: He had ripped it apart so badly that I was distraught.
Iwata: I suppose so. (laughs)
Shikata: We decided to rethink it from the start, and one day when the three of us were having a meeting, I suddenly said, "What about having Link enter into walls?" Mouri-san and the other programmer were like "That's great!" and got into it. But even though I had brought it up, it didn't quite make sense to me.
Iwata: You weren't certain it would be fun, but you blurted it out anyways?
Shikata: Right. So I asked them what was so good about it.
Iwata: Even though it was your idea? (laughs)
Mouri: Usually, it would be the other way around! (laughs)
Iwata: It often happens that you have a great idea but can't get anyone to understand, but this time it was the other way around. (laughs)
Shikata: Yeah. The exact opposite! (laughs)
Part 2
"Don't Forget Us!"
Iwata: Shikata-san came up with the idea of entering walls, but he wasn't sure what was fun about it. What happened then?
Mouri: There’s this other programmer who is usually a really mild-mannered person, but Shikata-san, who had suggested the idea, was so indecisive about it that the programmer got mad and angrily said, “I think the idea of entering walls sounds amazing, so what’s wrong with it?!”
Iwata: Even though he's mild-mannered?
Mouri: Yeah. (laughs) He got even hotter, saying, "We're at a fork in the road as to whether this project runs astray or not, so I'm not changing my mind!" and "We're making this no matter what, so tell us what to do!" Then Shikata-san was like, "Maybe the point is turning corners on the walls..." without any confidence, so I got angry too and fired back, "Then I'm making a prototype!"
Shikata: At first, they said it would take about one week.
Mouri: But my back was up, so I did it in one day and showed it to him the next morning, saying, "How's that?!"
Iwata: How was Shikata-san's reaction?
Mouri: (gesturing as if peering into a Nintendo 3DS) He was like, "Whoa! This is it!" (laughs)
Everyone: (laughs)
Iwata: I guess you were surprised to see your own idea running like that?
Shikata: Yeah. The moment I saw it, I was certain it would fly.
Iwata: It's good to have a team you can rely on.
Shikata: Yeah! (laughs) And that prototype gave rise to all kinds of ideas.
Iwata: The idea of entering walls came up, and then Link, who had been 3D, became 2D by entering walls, and he was able to go smoothly around corners. That had a lot of applications in allowing him to go places he couldn't before, creating new puzzles, and providing material for new mechanics.
Shikata: That's right.
Iwata: When you made that prototype, was it a direct top-down view like in A Link to the Past?
Shikata: No. As in Spirit Tracks, the viewpoint was overhead from an angle.
Aonuma: At the time, we were thinking of it as an extension of the Nintendo DS games.
Shikata: I brought that prototype today. Iwata-san, would you try it out?
Iwata: Sure. (taking the Nintendo 3DS) Link looks like he's from Spirit Tracks.
Aonuma: Yeah. He was still Toon Link.
Shikata: And if you press the A button...
Iwata: Oh! I went into the wall! I don't think I've ever seen anything like it!
Aonuma: I saw this today for the first time in a while too, and it's surprisingly good! (laughs)
Iwata: (plays in silence) I see... You got riled up and made this in one night?
Mouri: Well, I didn't make this whole thing in one night. At that time, I only made the turning corners part.
Aonuma: With a prototype like this, you would usually go on to enter serious development based on it.
Iwata: Yeah.
Aonuma: But that wasn't to be.
Iwata: Why not?
Aonuma: The director can explain that.
Shikata: Okay. When we showed this to Miyamoto-san, he said, "Let's do it." And we were stoked, too. But before two weeks had passed, we got involved in launch titles for the Wii U.
Iwata: When was that?
Shikata: About October of 2010.
Iwata: About two years before release of Wii U.
Aonuma: They absolutely needed more people to work on the Wii U launch titles.
Iwata: So other projects took this project's core members.
Shikata: Yeah, everyone got whisked away. (laughs)
Aonuma: Basically, the team disbanded.
Shikata: So at the time I lost hope. I had hardly ever heard of a project starting, disbanding, and then starting up again later.
Iwata: You had come up with a great idea, but feared it would never see the light of day.
Shikata: Yeah. I thought that.
Aonuma: But when they left the team, they would leave parting gifts.
Iwata: Like what?
Aonuma: They put a sticker with the development code name on a Nintendo 3DS with the prototype in it-like a student giving a favorite teacher a present at a graduation ceremony-and gave it to Miyamoto-san, Tezuka-san10 and me.10. Takashi Tezuka: Executive Officer, Software Development Department, Entertainment Analysis & Development Division. He has been involved in the development of many series such as Super Mario, Yoshi and Animal Crossing. He has appeared in sessions of "Iwata Asks" over the New Super Luigi U, the original Super Mario developers for the 25th anniversary of Super Mario, the history of handheld Legend of Zelda games for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and the producers of Super Mario 3D Land, as well as in the special edition sessions of "Iwata Asks" for E3 2012 covering New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Mario Bros. 2.
Iwata: Oh...
Aonuma: They didn't say it in words, but in effect, they were saying, "When you see this, remember this project existed." (laughs)
Iwata: Like, "Don't forget us!" (laughs)
Shikata: Yeah. (laughs)
Iwata: What a sad story! (laughs)
Aonuma: I thought, "There's no way we can forget this," but at the time, I had to develop Skyward Sword.
IwataHow about you, Shikata-san and Mouri-san?
Shikata: After that, I developed Nintendo Land11 and Mouri-san developed New Super Mario Bros. U.12Incidentally, for Nintendo Land, I worked on The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest.1311. Nintendo Land: An interactive theme park game released simultaneously with the Wii U console in December 2012.
12. New Super Mario Bros. U: An action game released simultaneously with the Wii U console in December 2012.
13. The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest: One of 12 attractions included in Nintendo Land and based on Nintendo games. One player uses the Wii U GamePad like a bow and arrow while up to three other Links use Wii Remote controllers like swords to cooperate in clearing a stage by defeating monsters.
Iwata: So your background developing Zelda games since Ocarina of Time wasn't interrupted.
Shikata: Right. I threw all my enthusiasm that I had for The Legend of Zelda into Wii U.
Everyone: (laughs)
Iwata: Shikata-san came up with the idea of entering walls, but he wasn't sure what was fun about it. What happened then?
Mouri: There’s this other programmer who is usually a really mild-mannered person, but Shikata-san, who had suggested the idea, was so indecisive about it that the programmer got mad and angrily said, “I think the idea of entering walls sounds amazing, so what’s wrong with it?!”
Iwata: Even though he's mild-mannered?
Mouri: Yeah. (laughs) He got even hotter, saying, "We're at a fork in the road as to whether this project runs astray or not, so I'm not changing my mind!" and "We're making this no matter what, so tell us what to do!" Then Shikata-san was like, "Maybe the point is turning corners on the walls..." without any confidence, so I got angry too and fired back, "Then I'm making a prototype!"
Shikata: At first, they said it would take about one week.
Mouri: But my back was up, so I did it in one day and showed it to him the next morning, saying, "How's that?!"
Iwata: How was Shikata-san's reaction?
Mouri: (gesturing as if peering into a Nintendo 3DS) He was like, "Whoa! This is it!" (laughs)
Everyone: (laughs)
Iwata: I guess you were surprised to see your own idea running like that?
Shikata: Yeah. The moment I saw it, I was certain it would fly.
Iwata: It's good to have a team you can rely on.
Shikata: Yeah! (laughs) And that prototype gave rise to all kinds of ideas.
Iwata: The idea of entering walls came up, and then Link, who had been 3D, became 2D by entering walls, and he was able to go smoothly around corners. That had a lot of applications in allowing him to go places he couldn't before, creating new puzzles, and providing material for new mechanics.
Shikata: That's right.
Iwata: When you made that prototype, was it a direct top-down view like in A Link to the Past?
Shikata: No. As in Spirit Tracks, the viewpoint was overhead from an angle.
Aonuma: At the time, we were thinking of it as an extension of the Nintendo DS games.
Shikata: I brought that prototype today. Iwata-san, would you try it out?
Iwata: Sure. (taking the Nintendo 3DS) Link looks like he's from Spirit Tracks.
Aonuma: Yeah. He was still Toon Link.
Shikata: And if you press the A button...
Iwata: Oh! I went into the wall! I don't think I've ever seen anything like it!
Aonuma: I saw this today for the first time in a while too, and it's surprisingly good! (laughs)
Iwata: (plays in silence) I see... You got riled up and made this in one night?
Mouri: Well, I didn't make this whole thing in one night. At that time, I only made the turning corners part.
Aonuma: With a prototype like this, you would usually go on to enter serious development based on it.
Iwata: Yeah.
Aonuma: But that wasn't to be.
Iwata: Why not?
Aonuma: The director can explain that.
Shikata: Okay. When we showed this to Miyamoto-san, he said, "Let's do it." And we were stoked, too. But before two weeks had passed, we got involved in launch titles for the Wii U.
Iwata: When was that?
Shikata: About October of 2010.
Iwata: About two years before release of Wii U.
Aonuma: They absolutely needed more people to work on the Wii U launch titles.
Iwata: So other projects took this project's core members.
Shikata: Yeah, everyone got whisked away. (laughs)
Aonuma: Basically, the team disbanded.
Shikata: So at the time I lost hope. I had hardly ever heard of a project starting, disbanding, and then starting up again later.
Iwata: You had come up with a great idea, but feared it would never see the light of day.
Shikata: Yeah. I thought that.
Aonuma: But when they left the team, they would leave parting gifts.
Iwata: Like what?
Aonuma: They put a sticker with the development code name on a Nintendo 3DS with the prototype in it-like a student giving a favorite teacher a present at a graduation ceremony-and gave it to Miyamoto-san, Tezuka-san10 and me.10. Takashi Tezuka: Executive Officer, Software Development Department, Entertainment Analysis & Development Division. He has been involved in the development of many series such as Super Mario, Yoshi and Animal Crossing. He has appeared in sessions of "Iwata Asks" over the New Super Luigi U, the original Super Mario developers for the 25th anniversary of Super Mario, the history of handheld Legend of Zelda games for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and the producers of Super Mario 3D Land, as well as in the special edition sessions of "Iwata Asks" for E3 2012 covering New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Mario Bros. 2.
Iwata: Oh...
Aonuma: They didn't say it in words, but in effect, they were saying, "When you see this, remember this project existed." (laughs)
Iwata: Like, "Don't forget us!" (laughs)
Shikata: Yeah. (laughs)
Iwata: What a sad story! (laughs)
Aonuma: I thought, "There's no way we can forget this," but at the time, I had to develop Skyward Sword.
IwataHow about you, Shikata-san and Mouri-san?
Shikata: After that, I developed Nintendo Land11 and Mouri-san developed New Super Mario Bros. U.12Incidentally, for Nintendo Land, I worked on The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest.1311. Nintendo Land: An interactive theme park game released simultaneously with the Wii U console in December 2012.
12. New Super Mario Bros. U: An action game released simultaneously with the Wii U console in December 2012.
13. The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest: One of 12 attractions included in Nintendo Land and based on Nintendo games. One player uses the Wii U GamePad like a bow and arrow while up to three other Links use Wii Remote controllers like swords to cooperate in clearing a stage by defeating monsters.
Iwata: So your background developing Zelda games since Ocarina of Time wasn't interrupted.
Shikata: Right. I threw all my enthusiasm that I had for The Legend of Zelda into Wii U.
Everyone: (laughs)
Part 4
Iwata: What merits arose from the choice to use 60fps? Aside from stable stereoscopic 3D, smooth sword swings and a shining screen, that is. (laughs)
Aonuma: (laughs) For example, you use the bottom touchscreen to change an item, and you set the items by dragging and dropping.
Aonuma: (laughs) For example, you use the bottom touchscreen to change an item, and you set the items by dragging and dropping.
Part 5
Aonuma: But when you go up a floor this time, the lower levels overlap underneath. There's a mechanism you hit with the Hammer to jump, and when you launch up, it automatically switches to the upper floor. When I saw that, I thought, "This is it!"
Iwata: You realized you had discovered the true value of stereoscopic 3D.
Aonuma: That's right.
Tominaga: And the towers in A Link to the Past only consisted of interior floors, but in this game, we made use of the ability to enter walls so that you can go to the tower's exterior.
Iwata: You realized you had discovered the true value of stereoscopic 3D.
Aonuma: That's right.
Tominaga: And the towers in A Link to the Past only consisted of interior floors, but in this game, we made use of the ability to enter walls so that you can go to the tower's exterior.
Iwata: About the time you increased in number, Takahashi-san joined as a designer, right?
Takahashi: Yes. I joined soon after Animal Crossing: New Leaf finished.
Iwata: Why did you make Link look like that when he enters walls?
Takahashi: Yes. I joined soon after Animal Crossing: New Leaf finished.
Iwata: Why did you make Link look like that when he enters walls?
Shikata: But then we needed a story for why Link becomes a picture. We decided to have a strange artist enemy appear who draws incomprehensible pictures to satisfy himself.
Part 7
Iwata: What can players do with StreetPass?
Mouri: You can battle against people you pass. If you win, you get gobs of rupees, so you can buy expensive items, or upgrade your items, so I hope people will pass lots of people.
Shikata: I hope people who have never played The Legend of Zelda will play it. As mentioned before, you can play multiple dungeons in parallel, and if you get stuck somewhere, there's always another approach ready for you to try, so if you don't give up, anyone can make it all the way to the end. And you can use the Play Coins21 you get for walking around with your Nintendo 3DS to hear hints, so I really hope beginners will enjoy it.
Mouri: You can battle against people you pass. If you win, you get gobs of rupees, so you can buy expensive items, or upgrade your items, so I hope people will pass lots of people.
Shikata: I hope people who have never played The Legend of Zelda will play it. As mentioned before, you can play multiple dungeons in parallel, and if you get stuck somewhere, there's always another approach ready for you to try, so if you don't give up, anyone can make it all the way to the end. And you can use the Play Coins21 you get for walking around with your Nintendo 3DS to hear hints, so I really hope beginners will enjoy it.
Iwata: Yes?
Shikata: There are quite a lot of minigames.
Aonuma: Like the baseball game! (laughs)
Iwata: Baseball? In a Zelda game? (laughs)
Aonuma: That's right! (laughs) Like in a batting center, Link holds a bat and hits. It has nothing to do with the main game! (laughs)
Iwata: (laughs)
Shikata: Another one is a minigame with cuccos. It's easy at first, but the difficulty gradually increases. I couldn't clear the highest level. I don't think anyone on the staff did. I suppose after release only a few people in the world will...
Shikata: There are quite a lot of minigames.
Aonuma: Like the baseball game! (laughs)
Iwata: Baseball? In a Zelda game? (laughs)
Aonuma: That's right! (laughs) Like in a batting center, Link holds a bat and hits. It has nothing to do with the main game! (laughs)
Iwata: (laughs)
Shikata: Another one is a minigame with cuccos. It's easy at first, but the difficulty gradually increases. I couldn't clear the highest level. I don't think anyone on the staff did. I suppose after release only a few people in the world will...
Everyone: Thank you.