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Interviews
The next interview was
taken from the Nintendo's official web site
Nintendo Power's Jason Leung
Interviews the Master
November 13, 1998
November 13, 1998, San Francisco--Though
his birthday arrives the following Monday, and today marks the
final day of his grueling, week-long promotional tour, The Legend
of Zelda's creator Shigeru Miyamoto seems barely ready to stop
talking about what is already being hailed as the "game
of the century." When we finally corner him in a one-on-one
interview to ask him questions written by our readers, he graciously
offers his answers while gazing fixedly at the monitor displaying
his game. Mr. Miyamoto has just spent the past week being grilled
by reporters on his much anticipated and heralded game, The Legend
of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (as well as the past three years developing
the N64 epic), but he is as excited by Zelda as any anxious gamer
who is counting the days until the adventure's November 23rd
release. "If there's one thing I hope this game will teach
other games, it's that games shouldn't be delayed," quips
Mr. Miyamoto. But through all his jokes and modesty, we soon
learn just how much Zelda's legendary creator has to teach.
Nintendo Power: Where did you get the idea
to make Link travel from childhood to adulthood in Ocarina of
Time?
Miyamoto: The basic concept of the Zelda
series remains the same in this game, in that you have to carefully
and constantly plot out what you have to do. We wanted to make
a virtual, three-dimensional world that would be a very dynamic
place where Link could "live." The story was more of
a supplemental element we incorporated into the latter part of
the design. We really wanted to describe Link's development of
abilities as he grows from a child to an adult, so we used motion
capture technology. We thought game players would want to play
as an adult Link, even though in the previous games, with the
exception of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Link was always
a child. For those who were accustomed to the earlier games,
we accommodated them with the inclusion of a young Link. The
concept of young and old Link matched other Zelda games, since
they usually had some sort of parallel world for Link to travel
between. The parallel world in this case just happens to be a
time shift--going back and forth between times. I thought that
worked well with the overall theme of the Zelda games.
NP: When and where do you usually come
up with your ideas?
Miyamoto: Often, I come up with new ideas
when I am watching the test program of a game running on the
monitor. Then, we'll discuss the problems we are facing in programming
the game and how to improve it. Apart from that, I come up with
ideas when I'm relaxing after a day of intense game development.
Sometimes ideas will come to me when I am heading home from work
or when I am taking a bath. But I come up with ideas only after
I've devoted myself to a day of hard work. If we've been relaxing
all throughout the day, we hardly ever come up with any new ideas.
NP: Ocarina of Time is very cinematic.
Which films influenced you?
Miyamoto: Many people may say that this
game is like a movie, but it's different. We have taken advantage
of some of the specific methods used in movie production, but
the game is not like a movie. It's more like an experiment in
developing a new form of interactive media. In doing so, we sometimes
made use of moviemaking methods. With filmmaking, you take several
different scenes and later edit them so you can view them as
one sequence. In Zelda, things are happening in real time as
the camera changes angles and shots. This game is not like a
movie, but rather, the camera is becoming the stage performer.
I can tell you that those who developed the camera work in the
game love movies, so they adapted the camera work from movies.
No one who worked on the game, including me, has had any experience
in making movies. I personally don't dislike movies--I like them
a lot.
NP: Who are some of your favorite movie
directors?
Miyamoto: I think movies work when they
are very well organized, like Raiders of the Lost Ark by Steven
Spielberg. I like a lot of Alfred Hitchcock's work, because you
can see the theme of the movie very clearly. I think for creating
movies, novels, games and other works of entertainment, the theme
has to be clearly understood by the audience. I also like Tim
Burton and John Waters. In John Waters' works, for example, you
can see how the comedy and quirks are being developed throughout
his films.
NP: What are your plans for the N64 Memory
Expansion Pak?
Miyamoto: It would have been more convenient
to have used the Memory Expansion Pak for Zelda, but it wasn't
ready. Ocarina of Time was originally designed with the N64 Disk
Drive in mind, and in the future, we'd like to make use of some
of those unrealized ideas intended for the N64 DD.
NP: What codes and secrets can we expect
to find in Ocarina of Time?
Miyamoto: Because Zelda is an adventure
game, you have to find many things, and many of them may be hard
to find. In the game's Fishing Pond, something might happen if
you're playing there for a long time or are trying to do many
things there. You can also find spiders called Gold Skulltulas.
There are 100 that you can collect, and you might find this creature
more often at night. Or you may want to search for them where
you would normally find bugs and insects. (Slyly) Sometimes,
if you have a Deku Stick and you find some butterflies flying
about, you can make them follow you and something special could
happen. . .
NP: What's your favorite weapon in the
game?
Miyamoto: The hookshot. The hookshot was
an older weapon I really wanted to incorporate into the game.
And though it's not a weapon, the ocarina is another item I like
a lot.
NP: Who's your favorite new character in
the game?
Miyamoto: (Looking to the ceiling as he
grapples for an answer) Sheik. . .(laughing) the cows. . .I like
the Deku Scrubs. Sometimes they attack you. Sometimes they talk
to you. Sometimes they sell things to you. And if you're wearing
one of the different masks you can get in the game, the Deku
Scrubs will react to your appearance depending on the disguise
you're wearing. I like them because you can't tell if they're
an enemy or an ally. I wanted to put more characters like them
in the game, but the Deku Scrubs ended up being the only ones
we included.
NP: What's your favorite area of the game?
Miyamoto: I like the Spirit Temple. I've
never been to Egypt, but I think the elements in that temple
are like the relics you could find in Egypt. Though it's not
a dungeon, I like the Gerudo Fortress, because you have to play
a sort of hide-and-seek game with the guards to avoid getting
caught. It's a unique area because it doesn't have the ordinary
attack-style of game play.
NP: Where do all the Zelda games fall into
place when arranged chronologically by their stories?
Miyamoto: Ocarina of Time is the first
story, then the original Legend of Zelda, then Zelda II: The
Adventure of Link, and finally A Link to the Past. It's not very
clear where Link's Awakening fits in--it could be anytime after
Ocarina of Time.
NP: How would you like to see Ocarina of
Time influence other games?
Miyamoto: I wouldn't want others to imitate
the size or volume of the game. I hope that they'll concentrate
on improving the quality of the games. We haven't done anything
special in Ocarina of Time, we've just made use of the N64 technology.
As long as you have proper knowledge of the N64's technology,
you shouldn't have to concern yourself with making a game of
this caliber in terms of sheer size and volume.
NP: How do you feel about this game being
hailed as the "game of the century?"
Miyamoto: I don't know. This century is
the only century I know. I'm sure I'll be living in the next
century, so I hope I can make something else like this.
NP: Will you be making other games using
the Zelda engine?
Miyamoto: We were using the Super Mario
64 engine for Zelda, but we had to make so many modifications
to it that it's a different engine now. What we have now is a
very good engine, and I think we can use it for future games
if we can come up with a very good concept. It took three or
so years to make Zelda, and about half the time was spent on
making the engine. We definitely want to make use of this engine
again.
NP: How about Super Mario 64 2?
Miyamoto: Well, for over a year now at
my desk, a prototype program of Luigi and Mario has been running
on my monitor. We've been thinking about the game, and it may
be something that could work on a completely new game system.
NP: What can you tell us about the upcoming
all-star fighting game featuring Nintendo characters?
Miyamoto: It may sound like a bloody game
if you label it as a fighting game. It's not bloody at all. Instead,
it's an enjoyable "hitting" game like sumo in Japan,
in which you have to force your opponent out of a ring, or cage
in this case. There will probably be more than ten characters
including some secret characters who've appeared in older Nintendo
games. I think we'll be calling the game "Nintendo All-Star
Battle Royal Smash Bros." or something like that. I think
we are going to launch it early next year.
NP: Who are some of the characters?
Miyamoto: Of course, Mario, Luigi, Bowser
and Donkey Kong will be in it. Samus from Metroid and some of
Nintendo's secondary characters like Pikachu from Pokémon
appear.
NP: Is Link in the game?
Miyamoto: Yes, he'll be swinging his sword
in the game. Captain Falcon from F-Zero will also be in the game.
NP: Rumors have been circulating on the
Internet about a Ninja Mario or Naked Mario being in Super Mario
64. Do they exist?
NP: What's your favorite video game?
NP: What would you recommend to people
who want to follow in your footsteps to become a game designer?
Miyamoto: I myself wanted to be a cartoonist
at first, so I was reading a lot of cartoons. I was imitating
some others' works and made up my own stories at first. If you
want to become a game artist, it's good if you play games and
make up your own ideas. Regardless of the subject, you have to
come up with something on your own, whether you're drawing pictures
or cartoons or making toys. Just try to surprise people. What's
important is that you make something up on your own and show
it to somebody else so they can critique your work. Even if you
get harsh criticism, don't give up. Just keep at it.
If you're a subscriber to Nintendo Power,
be sure to check out the January Volume 116 Bonus Issue for more
of our interview, including Mr. Miyamoto's reflections on the
upcoming games of 1999.
www.nintendo.com
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