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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Why Zelda Titles Aren’t Released As Frequently As Mario Games


Two of Nintendo’s flagship franchises The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario have been around for over 25 years. Although both series were born in the 1980s and have seen releases on all of Nintendo’s major consoles, Super Mario trumps The Legend of Zelda in terms of the number of titles developed. The reason for this is, according to The Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aounuma, Zelda games require a longer development time. Plus, while the Super Mario series has two producers – Takashi Tezuka and Yoshiaki Koizumi – Aonuma is The Legend of Zelda’s sole producer.

We see Nintendo franchises come and go. Some aren’t updated for long periods of time. Zelda is not one of those. And yet Zelda, it’s not as if it’s a 5, 6, 7 million seller like a New Super Mario Bros.. It’s not one of the huge franchises. So what does Zelda mean to Nintendo? What is the importance of Zelda in the Nintendo world?

Aonuma: You said that Nintendo releases Zelda games regularly. We do release them regularly, but we don’t release them that often. Mario games, if you push to get it done, you can finish it in a year. Zelda games take at least three years to complete. At the same time, I’m getting pushed to release them quicker but the users are expecting bigger experiences. And those things don’t match up. So I struggle with that all the time. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do to meet both of those demands.

With the Mario series, there are two producers, Mr. Tezuka and Mr. Koizumi. With Zelda, it’s just me.




'Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll.'
-Shigeru Miyamoto

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This checks out. Zelda and whatever Monolith does are basically all of Nintendo's presence in the hardcore or young adult markets. The demands on these teams is notably higher than on other Nintendo projects.



Well, if Mario was just 3D Mario, then the frequency of both franchises would be the same. But Mario has a lot of different series, unlike LoZ.



Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward = best game ever made.

I prefer that Zelda games dont come out so fast, so i dont get a less than satisfactory game.



They are harder to develop I guess



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I think Rol would like to have a word or two with this guy



Vaio - "Bury me at Milanello"      R.I.P AC Milan

In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird.
Now the world is weird  and people take Prozac  to make it normal.

If laughing is the best medicine and marijuana makes you laugh

Is marijuana the best medicine?

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

“If any creator has not played Mario, then they’re probably not a good creator. That’s something I can say with 100 percent confidence. Mario is, for game creators, the development bible.

vaio said:
I think Rol would like to have a word or two with this guy

why?




'Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll.'
-Shigeru Miyamoto

Zelda games shouldn't take as long as they do to develop. Skyward Sword took way to long, and was IMO a very very shitty product. Deadlines might be just what the Zelda team needs.




anthony64641 said:

vaio said:
I think Rol would like to have a word or two with this guy

why?

I don´t quite have the magic with words as Rol has so I think for sake of entertainment it´s best to let him find this thread and have his say.



Vaio - "Bury me at Milanello"      R.I.P AC Milan

In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird.
Now the world is weird  and people take Prozac  to make it normal.

If laughing is the best medicine and marijuana makes you laugh

Is marijuana the best medicine?

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

“If any creator has not played Mario, then they’re probably not a good creator. That’s something I can say with 100 percent confidence. Mario is, for game creators, the development bible.