Wasn't there an interview where it's revealed that whole reason Midna exists is because Nintendo thought it woud be silly to have Zelda riding around on wolf Link's back?

Khuutra has a point, building your story around the gameplay makes a whole lot of sense. Decrying a game designer for building story around the gameplay is like berating an author for building his story around good writing techniques, or a playwright for limiting himself to a single stage.

Zelda was never about storyline. How complex was Zelda I's story?

I loved Zelda I, liked Zelda 3 less because they added more story and more running about doing nothing before you get the freedom to roam, and it's been downhill in my eyes since then through Twilight Princess. The franchise now belongs to an entirely different group of gamers than went it began - the epic story fanatics.

Bring back Zelda I's constant action; no exposition.

I just beat the 4th dungeon in Sprirt Tracks. I say no. Like the above said. I think that the story and the gamplay go hand in hand. Zelda dies for a reason. I'm guessing though that they make the gamplay first than the story

At least Nintendos own story as a corporation is amazing.

I think they sacraficed story because in non cinematic games storyline is less important. In addition to this stories are subjective so including less story means you can encompass a wider audience. Gameplay is more a universal property of games and its the metric which their games stand or fall on.

For example you may not like Uncharted 2's storyline and therefore you're less likely to enjoy the game because it makes up a significant part of the overall experience. Not only that but the top of the sales charts is where they want to be and there are very few story based games which make it to the top league there.

He speaks the truth.

Fire Emblem saga is well known for its great stories and gameplay.

And though I think of Miyamoto as a genious, he is human and sometimes can be (very) wrong. I think understimating story in his games brings as a tragic comsequence that his games, which could appeal to a broader or new publics, they just don't.

That's something that Sony's PSX line up didn't understimate. It was not just about games that were more violent and therefore aproached a wider audience. It was about a more integral experience.

I don't think that qualifies as sacrificing the story. It is there and apparently it's at the same level with other story-based Zeldas.
Killing Zelda (the character) isn't a problem in the context of the story of the series, since nearly every game has new Link and Zelda anyway.

Spoiler Alert! Now i cant play this game...

@Signalstar: What's the spoiler? It has been only in, umm, every Spirit Tracks trailer.

It's not that the stories are bad, it's that the gameplay is so good we don't pay enough attention to story.