The Reinvention of Zelda

Gamespot reports on a lecture at GDC on Thursday, with commentary from Nintendo's manager of software development Eiji Aonuma. Aonuma went through the very long process involved in bringing Twilight Princess to the American audience. Realistic graphics were chosen for the US playerbase, but many other decisions came about via unorthodox thinking and the intervention of a higher power. "It was around this stage that Aonuma was talking to Nintendo senior managing director Shigeru Miyamoto, who told him something along the lines of, 'It's as though the Revolution (later renamed the Wii) was designed just for Zelda! Why don't you try making a Zelda for the Revolution?' In the end, believes Aonuma, the kind of direct control offered by the Wii Remote was exactly what was needed to breathe life into the game."

Re:I might give it a try...

[Anonymous Coward]

There are role playing aspects to Zelda, but they come in the form of new items. and many are used to solve puzzles (and much more)

You said you likes the older zeldas, why should this be any different?

Interesting... but..

[Anonymous Coward]

I smell bullshit as the wii port was a last minute decision.
Twilight princess for the GC is great without the wii-mote.

What makes Zelda such a great series in the first place, despite the basic retelling of the same story over and over again (with some variations) the gameplay is somehow fundamentally changed in each game, the dungeons become more complex, the environment becomes bigger and more complex, and the characters are unforgettable. Charismatic dialogs and every notable character you come across has a personality of their own in the games.

Then there's the magic tough they put into the series that keeps it fresh. Nintendo has done what many companies wish they could do.

Only series that has been worn out in nintendo's line of first party series is starfox, but hey, how much further can you go with what was originally a tech demo?

Inaccurate wiimote or just dumbed down control?

[Anonymous Coward]

I hoped to see more complex combat in TP (as in requiring skill, not more token special moves), particularly with the wiimote's potential. Unfortunately, the wiimote's introduction really only means waving it around in time rather than pressing buttons in time, which isn't much better than button mashing. I'm not sure if this is the result of the wiimote/sensor not being accurate enough for real swordplay, or if the developers decided to keep it simple for the lowest common denominator (or maybe it seemed too difficult). Whatever the case, TP is a very good game, but still a little gimmicky and tired.

Great game, spotty controls

[WapoStyle]

I have enjoyed my time with Twilight Princess so far, I'm just past the "intro" dungeons. (First three) The more I play it, the more it seems like Ocarina of Time with a different story. Perhaps that's not too bad of a thing, that game is fondly remembered for good reason.

My experience with the Wii Remote control system in Zelda is not a very good one. The big problem is the motion detection on the nunchuck attachment. Pushing it forward to do a shield block is an exercise in frustration as it never seems to work. I'll often end up shaking it violently for a few seconds before Link will perform a spin attack. This issue only crops up in Zelda, I never have an issue with motion sensing in Wii Sports.

The only work around I've come across is exploiting line of site with the remote. I discovered the nunchuck is a lot more responsive if you drop the remote down by your side, out of line of sight of the when doing nunchuck movements.