Why do Zelda Console games take 5 years to develop.... ?

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Jon-Erich said:

1. Compared to the NES, SNES and Game Boy games, yes they are. 

2. It has nothing to do with a struggling industry. The COD games, Assassins Creed games and Madden were released yearly. Yet the resources needed to get those games out on time were planned years in advance, while other games were still in development. All pre-planning is, is preparing to work on a game, not actually working on the game itself. While I'm sure Aonuma and other Zelda team members have ideas in their heads, nobody's doing any concept art. Nobody is doing any scenario planning or dungeon designs. In Aonuma's case, he's the producer of a series that is spread accross consoles and handhelds. So it would make perfect sense for two console games with a 2-3 year cycle to be released several years apart from one another. So what exactly is he doing wrong in this aspect?

3. Read his interview again. He specifically said that he always wanted to do a game like that in 3D but previous Nintendo hardware couldn't handle it. Also, the NES couldn't handle an open world. This is why the first Zelda game was set up like a grid. What happened on one screen was all that was happening. Any other screen was non-existant as far as the hardware was concerned. In a 3D game, it would have been impossible for such a limitation to be allowed to exist. A more open world had always been the objective of the Zelda team, even when Shigeru Miyamoto was in charge of the team. Also, who cares if his ideas exist in other games? There's a difference between universal concepts and applying that concept towards one game. For example, Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to implement horseback sword fighting in Ocarina of Time but found that the N64 hardware couldn't handle it. So they put that idea on the shelf and brought it back for Twilight Princess. That's what Miyamoto and Aonuma always. They came up with ideas and if those ideas didn't work, they would wait till the hardware advanced to a point where those ideas could work. 

It should also be mentioned that when Aonuma mentions an open world experience, he isn't just talking about how nig the world itself is. He's also referring to the hands off, semi-non linear style of the older games.

Btw, did you even play Zelda on the NES?

1. The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are also pretty big and didn't need 5 years liek Skyward Sword or Zelda HD.

2. He is wasting time in pre-production and later changing a lot of mechanics during development. In past entries, pre-production was done while other games were into development, and new ideas implemented in the future games, not the ones in deep development. That guarantee better release schedules.

3. PS2 was able to handheld open world games, GameCube was able to do The Wind Waker. There's no excuse for the Zelda team.

 

And yes, I played Zelda NES. That's why Aonuma doesn't have any excuse.