ALPHA | NEWS Editorial BACK AND FORTH
With Christmas almost upon us, all of the year’s most significant games are wrapped, distributed and in the hands of consumers, meaning that the last few days of 2011 are a chance for reflection. For Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma and
composer Koji Kondo it is an opportunity not just to ponder the development of Skyward Sword, but an amazing 25 years of the series’ history. Starting from this very page, there’s a chance to listen in on their musings about staying creatively motivated and passing on the responsibility of one of Nintendo’s most significant properties. Beginning on page 34 the cast from Uncharted 3 also take some time to consider their time with a much loved series, and offer some fascinating insights into the changing role of actors in game development. Thespians also star in our four page focus on the ever complicated world of motion capture, which takes a detailed look at the tools, tech and performers at the centre of so many game development projects already underway. It’s not all about looking back however. This time of year also affords the industry an opportunity to look forward to the highlights 2012 is set to bring us. Recognising this, the issue you hold in your hands contains our annual 30 Under 30 showcase. From page 23 onwards, we shine the Develop talent spotlight on the most deserving – and frustratingly youthful – of the industry’s future. Take a look at their faces and remember their names, for they are likely to make a mark in 2012 and beyond. And then there’s our cover feature, which highlights design studio Ustwo –who recently spent £150,000 developing Whale Trail – as one to watch. They may be new to building games, but they sure know how to make a success of app development. My guess? They’ll be back.
Will Freeman
will.freeman@
intentmedia.co.uk
Making a legend
With The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword currently wowing consumers and critics, Develop caught up with the series’ longstanding producer Eiji Aonuma and composer Koji Kondo
Why does the Zelda series still resonate with the public after 25 years? Eiji Aonuma: I think it’s because Zelda doesn’t fit into any gaming genre perfectly. Really what we’ve always aimed for is not about fitting one particular game genre, but to keep providing unique experiences that people can enjoy. Of course, there are certain techniques and
certain basics that are similar throughout the series, but really what we are striving to do with each new Zelda is offer a new world for people to enjoy and to experience. Over those 25 years, while we’ve been
working on the Zelda series and creating the games, we’ve always had a wealth of ideas, and as we’ve worked there’s always been a surplus of new ideas, which I think is what has kept us going all these years.
So how do you filter those ideas so as to make sure each Zelda game meets the quality bar? Aonuma: Perhaps it is a little bit strange for me to just say good things about my staff, but it really is about the team. I have a team of superb artists, engineers, creators and everything else, and Mr Kondo and his sound team are very talented and strong. People have a lot of ideas of their own, but
we are very strict with ourselves. Working with those people, everyone is striving to make each Zelda game better than the last one, focussing on making something more and more polished. My role in this process now is to really just
create the basic grounding for these creative people to allow them to really flourish and really show their potential.
And how do you keep yourself and those staff creatively motivated and enthusiastic when the Zelda series has been around for so long? Aonuma: My staff really are driven and kept motivated by the idea of seeing the players enjoy their creations. That is what I try and make them strive for and that is why they invest part of their life over many years into these games.
06 | DECEMBER 2011 / JANUARY 2012 In my case, for me it is about Impressing Mr
Miyamoto; that’s the big one and that’s what keeps me motivated.
What new opportunities has working on Skyward Sword afforded you both professionally? How has it allowed you to further your creative visions? Koji Kondo: For me, on the music side of things, using a full orchestra for the first time in a Zelda game was really important for us. Of course there is a tradition of music that runs through the Zelda games, through Ocarina to today, and of course we’ve had big pieces of music before. But at Nintendo we decided that using a full orchestra would be perfect for Skyward Sword, where you have this big sky to fill, and a need to get across this concept of a vast sky and the game’s grandness. That gave me the huge opportunity to
work with a full orchestra on a Zelda game. Another new opportunity for me came about because of Wii MotionPlus and full motion control. It became possible for me to introduce a harp as a fully playable instrument to the game.
With regards to the music, how have you gone about capturing the feel of what defines Zelda music with this new desire to fill the game’s vast skies with a new sound? Is that challenging for you as a video games sound designer? Kondo: I’d say that is more or less a tradition of the Zelda series to always introduce new things and new challenges, and looking back that applies to the music too. Of course, it’s quite difficult for me to pinpoint what is the Zelda audio tradition and how we keep that. But it has always been our role to innovate and try new things, so that has become easy for us as audio teams.
And how have you used your previous experience making Zelda titles to make Skyward Sword a better game? Aonuma: The development of Skyward Sword, I would say, started with reflection on Twilight Princess with a view to try and fix lots of the things that we felt weren’t perfect.
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