From the story: “We’re over-delivering value against other choices I think consumers can get.”

If you have to say your console has value, then it doesn’t have value. Xbone is like a fat girl declaring how hot she is.

(We’ll TEACH you HOW to enjoy our vision. We’ll use SHADERS and HD graphics. You’ll see.)

 

EG: Do you think people’s feelings about the GameCube version changed over time? Do you think people feel differently toward it now, compared to when it was released?

Aonuma: It was certainly a new graphical presentation – the Zelda world with its toon-shading, and also the younger, smaller Link. We heard the opinions of those Zelda fans that were somewhat critical at that time. They were saying that they didn’t want it, quite frankly.

But now with the HD power, the shading, we’re hoping to really bring a new graphical presentation to this product that, yes, when it was released some were negative about. We hope to bring those people back.

 

Link - http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-14-breaking-the-link-to-the-past-zeldas-eiji-aonuma

Bingo. It is obvious what is going on here. The question I ask now is whether there are any adults left at Nintendo.

If Wind Waker Wii-U fails, is the game going to be released again so we can ‘understand’ it? I can see Wind Waker being released on the 3DS 2 because of the OMG 3d graphics. The DLC will be new locations of where to fish the Triforce.

Anyway, my email box if full so give me some time to go through it all readers.

You already can play  Fairy Link Wind Waker in HD with bloom effects

 

Look at this:

 

 

And the most awesome thing about all this: The game still sucks a lotIt would be cool if Nintendo sold uprezzed Gamecube games digitally with a Nintendo account.

The reason for re-releasing Wind Waker is to make sure you ignorant ‘peasants’ understand what a masterpiece Wind Waker is.

I swear the Zelda team doesn’t even play Wind Waker. They probably just keep staring at the game and rotating the camera around going, “Ooohhhh, it is soooo pretty.” Wind Waker is so deeply flawed on so many levels.

Aonuma is going to be on suicide watch when his baby Wind Waker dies a second time in the market place.

Greetings Malstrom. Here is more of our favorite game dev Aonuma giving us insight into how his brain works from an interview here: http://www.zeldauniverse.net/features/30-minutes-with-eiji-aonuma-the-zelda-series-director-on-building-and-shipping-one-of-gamings-biggest-franchises/ Here’s a neat quote:

“Jason: Along that lines, though, we obviously do have a very active user base that likes to voice a lot of their opinions about the Zelda series. They may not know whether or not you guys look at what they say – which I would love to believe that you do, because we care. And I’m just wondering: what is the largest change, or the most important change, that you’ve made to the Zelda series as a whole because of feedback from fans?

Aonuma: Hmm… I think the project that reflects our reaction to fan opinion is probably Twilight Princess. The incentive for us to create that different version of the Zelda universe was certainly as a result of The Wind Waker criticism that we received. Fans were saying that it wasn’t what they were looking for, it wasn’t what they were hoping for, so that’s why we went with this different graphic presentation. So I think that’s probably the one, the biggest change that we made.

I still remember eight years ago at E3 when we ran that first video of Twilight Princess. It was received very well; there was a standing ovation! So I still remember that moment very well.”

So now we have Aonuma readily admitting people went against Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess was done as a result. He even admits the positive reaction from that decision. And yet we’re getting Wind Waker again now, in spite of that.

Of course the interviewers let this slide by, and being Zelda fans themselves I wouldn’t have expected them to take him to task. But a completely honest follow up could have been “So, if you made changes to Zelda based on the poor reaction to Wind Waker, and these changes were received positively, then why are you going back on those changes now?” I would love to see how he responds to that. Honestly, wouldn’t be surprised if he casually answered “Because Zelda is mine. I gave you what you wanted once, now it’s my turn to have what I want.”

You just can’t make this up.

Game A gets criticized. So Game B is made as a response. Game B gets praised. Result? Make more of Game A.

Either Aonuma is irrational or he wishes to make games for himself. There is no other option.

Over here, reader! There is a 30 minute interview with Aonuma. Let’s hear what he has to say!

And to think that what was originally A Link to the Past can now be created on a PC so easily by one person speaks to how far we’ve come.

And to think that if we had all these monkeys in a room typing furiously that we would eventually get the works of Shakespeare. Thanks to the Internet, we know this not to be true.

And what of paper and pencil? Anyone can draw like Leonardo. Or can they?

Aonuma is so full of it. ANYONE could make a video game back in the 80s and early 90s. It is production values that made game making away from a one person activity.

I don’t think Aonuma knows much about game making at all. Even with LTTP, it is clear there is talent involved. Anyone can make a LTTP game, but not everyone has the talent to do so.

With Nintendo focusing on the hardware/software integration, they are abandoning quality and talent in their games. Their games have been so terrible since they started going hardware/software integration.

With A Link to the Past, the sense of dimension that we gave in that game was kind of faked, because we did it through applying shading and things like that, so there wasn’t actual height, it was simulated height. But now we have the ability – especially as we create more and more 3D Zelda games, we have more skill, we also have more flexibility with the hardware – to give it actual dimension.

Actual dimension? This guy is nuts. Even the 3d games use simulated dimension unless someone’s TV actually extended outward into the wall. All video games are simulated.

There is NO SUCH THING as ‘fake 3d’ or ‘real 3d’ in the context of the gamer. Even the ‘real 3d’ is just as fake as the ‘fake 3d’.

You’re using a 2 dimensional screen. Everything coming out of it will be ‘fake 3d’. Dammit. This interview has just started, and Aonuma has already pissed me off.

Jason: That’s awesome. Just on a personal note, I know from running the Zelda Universe message boards that The Wind Waker gets a lot of criticism. I personally believe that it is the most beautiful Zelda game, and it’s the reason why I’m sitting in this room. It’s my personal favorite. It got me into the series. I just wanted to tell you that I think it was a fantastic decision. It’s a great design.

Aonuma: Thank you. [laughs]

The interviewer admits that Wii U users don’t like the Wind Waker either. Instead of confronting Aonuma with this, the interviewer sides AGAINST the gamers.

I think the project that reflects our reaction to fan opinion is probably Twilight Princess. The incentive for us to create that different version of the Zelda universe was certainly as a result of The Wind Waker criticism that we received. Fans were saying that it wasn’t what they were looking for, it wasn’t what they were hoping for, so that’s why we went with this different graphic presentation. So I think that’s probably the one, the biggest change that we made.

I still remember eight years ago at E3 when we ran that first video of Twilight Princess. It was received very well; there was a standing ovation! So I still remember that moment very well.

So why not continue the art style or direction that people were excited about?

This question is not asked. The interview just goes on as if people’s excitement doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is whether or not Aonuma is excited.

I certainly have the fans in mind when I’m creating something, and I want to create something that will make them happy, but it’s my creative responsibility to also give them something they didn’t know they wanted.

‘They didn’t know they wanted’ is code language for ‘doing whatever the hell I want’. Seriously.

If I just took the opinions of fans, I’m just gathering information, I’m not creating my own ideas.

When has Aonuma ever created his own idea? Has the man ever had a creative moment in his life? He steals trains from a book he read from his son, he borrows everything in Zelda from Ocarina of Time or a prior title, or he looks for other games to copy like Skyrim. This is just code language for ‘FU players, I make Zelda games for myself and not for you.’

But even more than that I really value the emotional experience that people have, and as a creator it’s very important for me to leave an impression, and I’d like to hear what those impressions are.

But there is no emotional experience. I fall asleep playing Aonuma Zelda. The only emotional experience I get is why did I pay $50 for game where I do nothing but solve puzzles and listen to rambling from terribly designed NPCs?

So when I choose not to buy the game, then Aonuma chooses not to listen to anything because I am not having an ‘emotional experience’ by choosing to not buy the game.

See how this all works to Aonuma (and Nintendo) giving themselves license to do whatever they want?

What DOES make Nintendo not design a game for themselves? I used to think sales, but Nintendo doesn’t seem to care about poor sales anymore.

I think you probably know this one – Robin Williams. He was such a huge fan he named his daughter Zelda. So, when we did the recording for the commercial, I met him and he is in fact a huge Zelda fan, and I was very flattered and very proud.

You know Zelda is terrible when it has fans like Robin Williams. Seriously. Aonuma is out of the loop if he thinks this puts Zelda in a positive light. It doesn’t.

Take a look at this.

Why do feminists and others squeal and complain about the looks of Lara Croft or Princess Peach wearing a dress or in fantasy games that women wear skimpy chain mail armor yet say nothing about this? If there is anything that could be said of exploiting women or degrading women, wouldn’t it be this?

Yet, there is silence. The protests are reserved only for fictional women who do not exist in the real world. It is like someone upset over a fictional woman ‘being used’ in a novel by the author because she is flirty. Why are they upset over a woman that does not exist in reality? Yet, every ‘sexist’ complaint has been directed at non-existent women.

And this is a real life woman (at least, I hope it is). No complaints. Astonishing!

So why the disconnect in the intellectual integrity? Why is VR porn good but Lara Croft bad?

Perhaps it is because Lara Croft and skimpy chain mail armor are wholesome. If there was a fantasy video game character who was nothing but a sweet housewife, she would be attacked more than the porn star in a VR video game.

This game may be playing the role of Custer’s Revenge in this crash. The question is, which game is playing the role of Death Rally?

Some people say this day would never come. What have they to say now?

Many of our readers know that the NPD’s monthly public reports focus primarily on U.S. physical retail, and headlines often say how the game industry is in decline, when in fact it’s new physical game retail in the U.S. that’s declining, not the industry as a whole. The NPDs, as you may understand, do not paint a 100 percent accurate picture of the health of the game industry today.

Pictured Above: My hero. I will trololo through the generation.

The editor of Gamasutra refuses to post NPD numbers. The editor probably thinks the above is reason, but it is not. Let’s take a look at this.

1) Instead of posting NPD numbers and adding a notation saying, “This doesn’t include industry digital sales which have been growing,” the decision to not post anything is editorializing sales numbers.

2)  If NPD showed stagnancy or growth, Gamasutra would likely have posted them. You can’t just post numbers when you feel like posting them or you remove all journalistic integrity. There is nothing opinionated about sales numbers including physical ones.

3) NPD retail numbers matter because they are known, and they can display trends. Just because digital numbers are unknown does not disqualify the physical numbers as the editor reasons below.

But the way that publishers and digital distributors like Steam lock down their sales data, it’s hard to imagine anyone making accurate estimations of sales by title, or even overall digital sales.

4) People are saying, “The industry is not in decline because the numbers are missing digital sales,” and then saying, “We cannot know the number of digital sales.” Then how do you know if the industry is not declining as you expostulate?

5) Digital sales are still largely in the minority. If it weren’t, then why was there a huge backlash against the Xbone?

6) Hardware is still 100% physical. Hardware sales point out the software sales. If you say, “We can’t know the volume of Steam sales,” I say you can. Look at the hardware. PC hardware has been heavily declining and PC parts areas of stores like Best Buy are having their floor space replaced by tablets and smartphones. If Steam is growing, it certainly isn’t in the United States with new users.

There is much we can learn from NPD data. Instead of reporting the numbers and letting people interpret it the best they can, Gamasutra has declared us too stupid to have the numbers because we might arrive at the wrong interpretation which is that the Game Industry is crashing.

Of course, Gamasutra has no data to report that says the Game Industry isn’t crashing. The editor doesn’t like how the NPD numbers leads to an interpretation he or she doesn’t like.

“We know the Game Industry isn’t crashing…” Do we now? Does the editor of Gamasutra realize it would be radical and phenomenal to suggest that the Game Industry ISN’T DECLINING. Do you know why?

IT IS BECAUSE EVERY INDUSTRY IS DECLINING.

What industry in the United States is actually doing well? Can someone name me one that isn’t oil or state? The housing market isn’t doing well. Clothing market isn’t doing well. People living on food stamps has skyrocketed. If the Game Industry was doing well, NAY! Let’s say ‘OK’, then that would be extraordinary for the Game Industry to defy the macroeconomic trends of the nation and the entire globe.

Or is it more probable that the Game Industry is following the trends of other industries and is in a decline?

The problem isn’t the interpretation of the Game Industry in decline. The problem is that Gamasutra doesn’t wish to report data that allows us to make any interpretations at all!

This is the best E3 video I’ve seen. Watch it and laugh.

Let us say you are an innocent reader, and you ask, “What does the Xbone do?” You go to Xbone’s website and click on ‘What the Xbone does’.

You have to scroll to the bottom of the page to discover that it does play video games.

Could stories like this ever have been written in 2006 or 2007? How far they have fallen.

BTW, here is a game that explains how women think. It is scarier than any zombie game.