Miyamoto-san: I think that when people first see the game, the graphics are the first thing you talk about. But once you play the game, you'll really come to understand why we went with this graphic style. Also, the more you play the game, the more you get sucked into the graphic style, kind of forgetting about it. When we make a game we think it is the quality of the game that determines whether or not it will have a wide appeal for a userbase. The Wind Waker is a very high quality game. We do think that it's a graphic style that will appeal to certain groups, but at the same time as soon as you start playing you're going to get sucked into the story and the gameplay. You're really going to enjoy yourself, and we don't think that is going to turn anyone off.

We actually think that as you play this game and look at the world around you, it's going to seem very realistic despite the graphics style. By using the term "realistic," I mean the qualities of the world itself. I don't mean to deny the value of the more photorealistic graphics, but the more realistic graphics get the more unrealistic things such as bumping into a wall or getting hurt might be. If not expressed properly, it will seem out of place. This time we've tried to have very realistic expression. We want to have a game where everything in the world feels like it is in its place. We think that when you play, you will see Link do something and not react in a way that's not realistic. From the point of view, The Wind Waker is very realistic in terms of expression and the whole oneness of the world.

Just play the game without thinking too much about the visuals -- it will be a lot more fun.

Q: More games are using voice acting to support dialogue, but you don't use that in Zelda games. Why?

Aonuma-san: We've obviously carried this on from the previous Zelda games, but for what we're trying to express within the game we can do that without having to use a lot of voice acting. While I can't say for certain it will always be like that with the Zelda games, the way we've done it for The Wind Waker is suitable for the world. One other thing that we've tried to do is that since people have played Zelda over the years, they have their ideas of how Link might sound. If we were to put a voice in there that might not match up with someone else's image, then there would be a backlash to that. So we've tried to avoid that.

Q: The two N64 Zeldas looked similar in visual style. Do you think the next Zelda will use this cel-shading for visual style? Also, since you're so pleased with the art style do you think you will extend it to other titles?

Miyamoto-san: With regards to Zelda, it's not so much that we want to go with the toon-shading, as it is we're really happy with the proportions of Link in the game. And the fact that we can have the artwork on the package match the artwork in the game. In the past you've seen where you'd have a Game Boy Zelda game and one for the home console where the art styles didn't match one another. And they didn't match the art style on the boxes didn't match that in the game. So we've really tried to cut back on that, so you can see the same Link across the different platforms. We think that this is a good style to do that with.

On the other hand, if say we were able to do something more along the lines of Zelda II, which was more of an action-based game, then probably the proportions of Link as we see him in The Wind Waker would not necessarily be as appropriate at that point -- we might have to reevaluate the style.

As for bringing it to other titles, we great value the creativity of our different development teams. So, we wouldn't want to try to apply what one team has done across others. Another thing that's important to us is that Nintendo always tries to do something; we try to do things the competition isn't. If we were to see a trend where cel-shading become the trend in game development then may we would change our direction towards realism.

Actually, when I first saw the cel-shaded Zelda I was very surprised and excited by it. However, I was startled by the response we got from the press when we showed it off the first time. They all said, "Oh, so is Nintendo now taking Zelda and trying to aim it only at kids?" Because, really the whole concept we had behind it was that we thought it was a very creative and new way to show off Link. All the sudden it had been interpreted as Nintendo's new strategy, and that was a shock for us.

When it comes to Nintendo strategy, it's not that we want to make games for kids. It's that we want to make them creative while appealing to a wider audience. Obviously we see games as entertainment, and what we want to do is find the best way to make the gameplay experience entertaining for everyone.

Aonuma-san:While we haven't been inspired by anyone in particular, you could say that because we've all grown up reading manga and watching anime that probably inspired us to want to create a videogame similar in style to that. To say that there was one particular one, I don't think I could say that.

Miyamoto-san: Actually, we do have some anime fans on the team, but we also have fans of particular movie directors too. We have a mixture of people that helped create this title. Even if they wanted to make a game based on someone's style, we probably wouldn't let them.

My Neighbor Totoro was impressive with what they did with the style. That's something I like to look at, to see something within an existing media that is creative and different. That's what we try to do with our products, to take something people have seen and try to do something new with it. It's when you're really able to do something revolutionary within media that's existed for some time that I think you're able to shock and startle people. That's usually how it is for me. Laputa was another one that impressed me.

Q: Talking about how you're always trying to revolutionize the game, how do you try to keep the game completely new and different, while keeping it as "Zelda"?

Aonuma-san: When it comes to play controls, I've been working on Zelda play controls since the Ocarina of Time. We really like that system and thought we could make use of a similar system to that, and really improve upon that in this game. We done that to not only give a new feel to the game, but to make it easier for the player to control Link on screen and get involved in the gameplay. We have the new controller this time, so we've tried to add features that will make it easier to control Link, and also ways to assist them with gameplay.

Aonuma-san: Throughout the Zelda series Koji Kondo has been responsible for the composition, and he is again responsible. And, because the story takes place 100+ years in the future, head of Ocarina of Time, they really decided to feature some of the familiar songs from that. They've implemented it in a way that they think will be appropriate, since it's set in the future from there. So, you'll hear familiar themes from the Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, perhaps. But, also, we've reworked -- I think -- some of the background music from Link to the Past as well. You'll also hear that, and I actually have very little input when it comes to the sound. I let them work on their own. So, for me it's a lot of fun to see how the sound takes shape, and how they're using the different effects in battles and such. Something else that's important to mention is that usually on a game we'll have two to three composers, but this time we actually bumped it up to five to six people. Essentially, we've more than doubled the number of people. Part of the reasoning behind that was the rushed development schedule, but also that we wanted to have very high quality sound with The Wind Waker.

Q: Can you discuss the Game Boy Advance connectivity, and talk about why you implemented it the way you did?

Aonuma-san: When we started development, Mr. Miyamoto said he knew that Zelda games had always been one-player. But this time we wanted us to allow, say, a father to interact with his son or any second player to interact. We thought this was a good way to introduce that.

Q: Regarding Ura Zelda, is there any different between the 64DD version that was in development and the GameCube version? Did it use any functionality with the 64DD? And, is it coming to the U.S.?

Miyamoto-san: Although we did develop Ura for the 64DD, it didn't use many of the special features. So it was very easy to port over to the GameCube without cutting any features. Why we did it, well that was because the 64DD was only released in Japan and it was only sold to subscribers of the RandNet system. For a long time we wanted to make it available for play and find a way to do that. It was expensive to make cartridges, so we had through about different ways. One thing we thought about was tie-ups with magazines. Once GameCube moved to disc media, though, it became much more feasible to make it available. In terms of how we've done it, we didn't want to make it limited edition. So we've tried to make it available to as many people as possible.

Aonuma-san: Having just finished the JPN version, with the English version still to go -- and all the time I've spent at the office -- it's difficult for me to even think about the possibility of that. But at the same time, whenever we do make a game there are always things we wanted to incorporate that we couldn't, or things that we wanted to do differently but didn't have time to do. And I think that's the case this time, and there are many things the staff would have liked to include that they couldn't. Given that fact, we think it's possible if not likely to see another GCN Zelda game. [Miyamoto began to clap at this point.]

Whether or not I'd be the director on that, though, I don't know. [Laughs]

Q: Can you tell us a little more about Link's eyes in The Wind Waker? How does their constant movement affect gameplay, and do you think that it's a device that made gameplay more interesting and complex? Also, a side question to that: we remember seeing that you made Link's eyes blue at one point. What changed?

Aonuma-san: With the cel-shading, once we decided to go in that direction we thought it would be important to use the technology to the most extent we could, where we could draw out the natural features of the world. We wanted to show the expressions of Link, and the eyes became very important. Gradually, as we managed to program the movement of the eyes, we began to look at different ways we could make use of that. Really, it became more of a natural process in how we could make Link feel alive, and make the player feel that Link is aware of his surroundings. It was through this natural process that we began to put in items that would attract Link's attention.

Miyamoto-san: When we decided to use the eyes in this way, we considered changing Link's eye color throughout the game. There were points in the game where we programmed it so that were he was fighting his eyes were bright red, and there were some different opinions on that. One of them obviously was that you only see the color of his eyes if you have the camera on him from the front. But, even for those who could notice it we think it felt a little strange. So, ultimately we decided not to do that. When we originally released some of those pictures where Link has a different eye color, I received a lot of mail commenting on the eye color, and what we should or shouldn't make it. It was interesting, but in the end after much experimentation we decided to go with the eye color we have now, which is kind of a predominantly black that graduates into a greenish haze. So, if you're very attentive and look at screenshots we've released over the past year, you may notice some different eye colors, but we didn't really think anyone was paying that much attention. [Laughs.]

Q: Like in the movies, it seems you emphasize things like fighting with music. What kind of challenges did you face and how successful do you think you were?

Aonuma-san: Actually, I don't think we tried to adopt any methods used in movies. More for the battle music we carried it over from how it was used in Ocarina of Time, and it was more of a matter that if you went into battle that it would be strange if the music didn't change. We were just trying to enhance the mood, not so much make it feel like the movies.

Miyamoto-san: With the sound this time around, we actually tried to do something less cinematic. We wanted to make the music much more interactive with the gameplay. You'll find a very natural flow of music in the battles; when you hit enemies new instruments are added. Apart from that, we found that we can use particular instruments to draw out particular emotions. I really wanted them to try to create music that the player might get up and dance to -- something to that great of an extent. When you first get in the sailboat, you should really feel more emotion. If you really pay attention and listen, you'll hear many different instruments. I think we even sampled an Irish Harp at one point. It was really to make it interactive and draw the player into the experience.

Q: There's a concert being held after E3 2003. Will you be playing there Mr. Miyamoto?

Miyamoto-san: [Laughs and shakes his head.] No, unfortunately my fingers haven't been used to play the banjo lately.

Aonuma-san: Actually, in testing we obviously have someone who is the fastest. This time around the fastest tester was able to clear the game in 10 hours. That's after a lot of gameplay, and knowing everything backwards and forwars, start to finish. 10 hours is not a time that anyone playing the game for the first time could expect to finish the game in. Really, I think a good example would be to explain that with Ocarina of Time the fastest clear time was about six hours. We think from that point, this game is very large. Probably around 40 hours of play time.

Miyamoto-san: I would actually kind of like it if we could get off this subject of game size. There are a lot of people out there who don't have a whole lot of time to play games. Of course, there are certainly others who will refuse to buy a game if it is not a certain number of hours. If you're worried about it being short like some of the other games we've had in the past, you don't have to worry. I think as you play the game, you'll get the feeling this is done in three acts, almost like a play. That is a realization I saw playing the game, not as a producer. I thought, "Oh, I cleared part one. Now part two. Oh, here's the finally." That is also a neat feature to the game.

In terms of events you need to clear to finish that, there are a lot of events you can do at any point during the game; a lot of stuff you don't need to do to complete the game. I think it's unique and interesting in that sense.

Q: Was there any discussion of ever retiring Zelda, are you perhaps getting tired of doing it year after year?

Miyamoto-san: One thing that I still believe is that within Nintendo I don't think we've achieved a point where we have all the development resources we would like to have. A lot of times that's why you see us using second-parties and third-parties on our franchises. We haven't ever talked about retiring franchises, but really what we like to do is to bring in more ideas, more creative things. Kind of like we did with Pikmin and bring in new characters.

Q: On the subject that there are several acts in The Wind Waker, does Link age over the course of them?

Miyamoto-san: We actually hadn't decided how we would talk about the story today. In our eyes, we think he matures in the game, but as to whether or not he grows old, we want you to play the game and find out for yourselves.

Q: Final question: now that Zelda -- what will no doubt be one of GameCube's biggest releases ever -- is completed, do you think you'll have anything this big again for GameCube? Do you have other products with this high production going on in the background?

Miyamoto-san: When it comes to big titles, I realize we haven't talked a lot about this in the U.S. or overseas, but of course we have a lot of big titles coming for the GameCube. I think you can expect some big announcements coming from us in the future.