PixlBit

The first section of this interview discusses the beginnings of Phantom Hourglass, and how that title and its successor compare to Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.

Once again, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata sits down with some of the developers over at Nintendo to discuss a brand new topic. On the itinerary for this month is the soon-to-be-released, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

For part one of the interview, Iwata guides the group towards a discussion about Spirt Tracks' predecessor, Phantom Hourglass. The two interviewees speaking with Iwata are Aonuma and Iwamoto, from Nintendo EAD.

When discussing the development of Phantom Hourglass, Aonuma explained that he was directly involved with both the development of Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass at the same time. However, he admits that he "couldn't keep a very close eye on things right from the beginning," until Twilight Princess was completed.

Once finished, Aonuma went to the department developing Phantom Hourglass, whose "development was already pretty far along." According to Aonuma, this factor worked to his advantage, or as Iwata commented, allowed him "to spot the places where [he] could put in a little more work and really improve things."

The extra pair of eyes wound up extending the development period by three extra months, which greatly improved the quality of the game, according to Aonuma. However, even though he and the rest of the development team were pleased with the final product, there were certain aspects they still wanted to implement, which lead to the creation of Spirit Tracks.

After Phantom Hourglass, the decision to create a sequel was based on the way the story had progressed, which Aonuma compares to the progression of Ocarina of Time into Majoras Mask

At the point of creating Ocarina of Time, Miyamoto wanted to do more with the story. Since they "already made 3D models," Miyamoto proposed, "By changing the situation, couldn't we make new ways to play, a new story?" This idea is now known as the Master Quest (originally Ura Zelda).

Aonuma was not interested in developing this flip-side version of Ocarina of Time, however. As a compromise, Miyamoto told him that "if [he and his team] could make a new The Legend of Zelda game in one year, then it wouldn't have to be a 'flip-side.'"

At first, according to Aonuma, the developers were quite overwhelmed with the task of developing a brand new Zelda in only one year. After Miyamoto suggested the three-day formula, they "saw the full substance of a The Legend of Zelda game we could make in one year."

According to Aonuma, the concept of players having to remember where certain objects were located is similar to that of Spirit Tracks. Iwamoto states, "You're traveling by train, and if you're careful to remember where things are, they come in handy later." Aonuma does point out that, similar to Phantom Hourglass, the DSi will once again allow players to take notes as reminders, an important factor in the game.

Stay tuned for Part two of Iwata Asks, as PixlBit gives you a detailed summary into each section of the interview.