Future of ZELDA - New HD Wii-U game out earlier than expected?

GAMING | The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is now finally here after the 6 years that passed since Twilight Princess came out for the Wii and GameCube in 2006. Most Zelda fans will probably be kept busy in Skyloft for a while onward, but for anyone who just can't get enough of our dear forest boy, Nintendo published an interview stating that a brand new Zelda game could be ready to hit the upcoming Wii successor Wii-U within "just" three years. May sound long, but compared to the usual 6-7 year gap between Zelda games of past days, this still sounds quite promising.


Here is the interesting part of the interview with Zelda developers Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi, published on Nintendo's website:

You've been making 2D Legend of Zelda games for a long time. On the basis of that experience, you attempted your first 3D Legend of Zelda this time for a home console. With the know-how that has built up over the years and expert staff members—and Aonuma-san and Miyamoto-san as well—it was the best environment for developing a 3D game, and I think you must have experienced the same thing that Miyamoto-san did back then.
Fujibayashi:	-Yes. I really was blessed.
Aonuma:	-I'm quite jealous. I can't experience that anymore.
Your struggle night and day continues but now faced with an even higher hurdle. (laughs)
Aonuma:	-I really don't know what to do! (laughs) For the next one, if we will build on the methods we established this time, we might end up getting into a rut.
Fujibayashi:	-That's difficult. I'm thinking about the next game, too, and I feel like the hurdle is really high.
Aonuma:	-But there is a lot left that we didn't do this time.
You have limited time and people, so there's bound to be something left over. But five years is a long time. (laughs) Can't you do it in three years next time?
Aonuma:	-Sorry! You're right! (laughs wryly)
Fujibayashi:	-Sorry, I'll think of something that CAN happen in three years!

If Nintendo actually manages in having a new Zelda installment ready for 2014 or 2015, it may perhaps not be an entirely new game design, however. For anyone who remembers Majora's Mask on the N64, that game came out just two years after the brilliant and highly successful Ocarina of Time. And while Majora's Mask did recycle a certain amount of content from its predecessor in terms of game design and graphical representation, it also made it possible for Nintendo to have the game finished a lot sooner than usual.

Work in progress: The upcoming Zelda game demoed
for the gaming press on the new Nintendo Wii U console

And with a new HD capable console set for release next year, it would only be wise of Nintendo to encourage their game developers to have strong line of appealing titles in the works as early as possible. If anything, they should have learned from their so far quite modest 3DS sales - a console that had virtually no interesting launch titles to speak of. Instead they followed Sony's approach with the PSP, mainly porting old PS2 titles. Or in the case of Nintendo and the 3DS; porting titles from their N64 library of games to their handheld, making it an interesting purchase only for die hard Nintendo fanboys, or younger gamers who didn't experience the Nintendo 64. Very unexpected, disappointing move coming from Nintendo, I must say.

Regarding any future Zelda games, let's just hope for the best. The worst case scenario still wouldn't be any less than a good game, as long as Nintendo themselves are in charge over their beloved franchise.
/theJo

See also

• ZELDA Skyward Sword - In Depth Gameplay Review