In a recent interview, Shigeru Miyamoto was quoted as saying,
"The rumors about a more realistic style of graphics on the internet
are incorrect. The version that will be playable at E3 will be
practically identical to the version we first showed you at Space
World 2001. However, I have made some adjustments to Link's eyes."
"I find the discussions on the internet very interesting," he
continued. "You've actually started experiencing the game - talking
about videogames is also part of the gameplay these days. I won't
show any more of this game, because you can only truly understand
it once you play it. At E3, everyone will be able to play it,
and gamers will be able to decide for themselves if they do or
don't like it. I see it this way: if the game is interesting,
you might start to value the graphics as well."
*Thanks to Hyrule.com.ar for this news.
Now, simple logic and basic math indicates that if 75% of the
Zelda fans detest the new look with all their collective hearts,
and 25% of the Zelda fans think the “Cel-da” look is brilliant,
then, in order to sell the maximum discs, Miyamoto should take
the higher percentage (e.g. the people who want the realistic
look back) and perhaps modify the game slightly, hmm? The Game
Cube sales, while they aren’t doing too badly, are behind their
competition. Maybe the needed boost could come from a Zelda game
reinstated to its former glory. After all, the point of creating
video games is to have them be popular and make a lot of money.
Who wants their game to be a failure?
I’m not saying all cartoons are bad. Traditional cartoons, such
as The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show, have delighted children for
years, and likely will for years to come. But there’s a time and
place for everything, and the cartoon style is inappropriate for
what this relatively more mature series has to offer. Characters
running off a cliff and not falling until they look down, doors
bulging around grotesquely fat characters and then squeezing back
into shape, jaws dropping to the floor; all these effects, while
humorous on Saturday morning cartoons, are simply not funny where
The Legend of Zelda is concerned.
The
Legend of Zelda was one of the few series aimed at an older audience
by Nintendo out of numerous other characters, such as Kirby, Mario,
and the gang. Now Zelda looks as though it is being robbed of
its purpose by a bunch of aliens from the planet Kiddy.
Shigeru Miyamoto is an intelligent man. His previous Zelda titles
prove this. But perhaps Miyamoto has simply run out of ideas.
With over sixty games to his credit, it’s understandable. There
are only so many ways one guy can rescue a princess. In my opinion,
I believe Shigeru Miyamoto had a bad idea, but is too stubborn
to change his mind, even though he may be having second thoughts.
This
is only a theory. Maybe Shigeru Miyamoto wants to do something
his way and has stuck in earplugs so he can’t hear what outraged
fans such as myself are saying. Maybe he’s just lost touch with
the real world. Maybe he’s crossed that fine line between sheer
brilliance and insanity. Maybe invaders from Venus have abducted
his brain and are holding Miyamoto hostage, replacing him with
one of their own! Nobody knows. All I know is that this game is
not The Legend of Zelda. It doesn’t have the same spirit or soul
that the previous games have had, capturing the hearts – and not
just limited attention spans – of gamers.
To me, gameplay means something different for each and every player,
and to me, gameplay is not just fighting the enemies. It’s the
story, the characters, their lives, and the drama that make me
want to buy and then run home and play the game. I buy my games
on these points, and these points only, not on the difficulty
of the bosses. What kind of story could a title possibly have
that looks less realistic than a twisted dream? Could the characters
seem like real people if they’re two-dimensional objects, resembling
a four-year-old’s beginning doodles? Would these people have actual
lives? I would laugh until I cried to see what sort of “drama”
Miyamoto would come up with for this monstrosity.
And,
the worst part is, the only deviation from a normal Zelda adventure
this game is taking is graphics. Graphics, or “eye candy” (quote
on quote), can and do change the whole texture of a game. Why
bother with childish graphics when more people would be happy
with realism?
This
is simply my humble opinion, but I know there’s something wrong
when a sensible man like Shigeru Miyamoto strays from the successful
path he was walking on. Nobody minded when he experimented with
Super Mario. It’s never been the most realistic of games, anyway.
But The Legend of Zelda is different. It won’t remain so, if this
game is released looking as it is now. Then we’ll just have another
video game, not the change Zelda makes in the slew of child-like
games. And that’s just plain scary.
~Vyctori
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