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

[Miyamotoo]

Jon-Erich said:

Pavolink said:

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.

1. Wind Waker was able have a smoother development process since the Oracle games were outsourced. This meant that Nintendo was able to jump straight from Majora's Mask to Wind Waker. Also, Twilight Princess used the same engine as WInd Waker. This could have easily cut back on development time. Again, Skyward Sword didn't take 5 years to make. It took 2 years before they could start making it.

2. Do you know who else does that? Shigeru Miyamoto. Satoru Iwata also did it during the development of Earthbound. I'm sure you've heard of Shigeru Miyamoto's 'upending the tea table'?

http://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/Upending_the_Tea_Table

Given that Eiji Aonuma worked under him for many years, it would be no surprise if his methods are similar. Shinji Mikami used to take similar approaches with the Resident Evil series. Wether it's Iwata, Miyamoto, Mikami, or Aonuma, they cared more about making a good game than getting a game out on time. Besides, we still got plenty of Zleda games. Sure they weren't all 3D console Zelda games, but what would you rather have, one or two really good 3D Zelda games, or three or four medicore ones?

3. Actually, PS2 couldn't handle open world games. Ever play Shadows of the Colossus? Remember the framerate that game was running at? The PS2 almost couldn't handle it. Imagine playing an entire Zleda game at that same frame rate. Then, try to imagine what combat with multiple enemies would have been like. There's a reason why Shadow of the Colossus was almost devoid of life. It's true that GameCube could have handled such a game a little better, but not to the point where we could have gotten a decent Zelda game out of it. As for Wind Waker, most of that game was empty. Most of it was an ocean. It's not very hard to make a game like that using GameCube hardware.

But to create a huge open world game that's seamless and doesn't cut off at any point with multple terrain and many moving enemies and objects on the screen at once? PS2 or GameCube couldn't do anything like that. The Wii was basically an overclocked GameCube so that system couldn't do anything like that. Besides, if you look at the evolution of the Zelda series, it would seem like Zelda U is the direction the devleopers had been trying to take the series in since Ocarina of TIme. With OOT, the developers challenged thmeselves to have a huge 3D world instead of relying on a Super Mario 64-style hubworld. Wind Waker attempted to create a huge open world game by focusing on the ocean as the main setting. Twilight Princess tried to created a more expanded version of OOT's overworld. Skyward Sword attempted something similar to Wind Waker but with the sky instead of the Ocean. Now they have the hardware to do something they've been attempting to do for nearly 20 years. It's not anyone's fault. They just had to wait for the right hardware to come along.

Also, the reason I asked about playing the NES Zelda is because you didn't seem to get what he was saying.

I completely agree, especially with bolded part. That's why I have very high expectation for Zelda U, I think it have potential to be one of best Zelda games ever.

I like how you thinking and you are pretty good informed, what do you think about Zelda U for now and development of that game?