Iwata: Actually, if you look closely at the world of The Wind Waker, it has its own sense of reality thats takes advantage of its anime-themed world. Its so inventive with a lot of bright ideas packed in that you think Wow! So much detail! But I suppose I notice those things as president of Nintendo because I try to see its charms! (laughs)
Aonuma: Well, theres a clear split with those who are reluctant even to try it.
Iwata: But I think that has changed recently.
Aonuma: Theres a Zelda cycle.
Iwata: Yes. Bill Trinen-san at Nintendo of Americawho always plays a big role in preparing the overseas versions of The Legend of Zelda gamesalways talks about the Zelda cycle.
Aonuma: Basically, as time progresses, negative opinions about The Legend of Zelda turn into positive ones. At first, I wasnt sure about that, but seeing the response to The Wind Waker HD, I think it may be right.
Iwata: And it isnt restricted to The Wind Waker. Every time a new Zelda title comes out, theres no shortage of negative opinions, but a year or two later, people are revising their opinions, and its reputation goes up.
Aonuma: The response of fans in North America was like that for The Wind Waker. When we first announced the original version in 2001, the majority of voices we heard were against it. However, the responses for the Nintendo Direct we aired in January were incredibly favorable. Also at the Nintendo Experience event at Best Buy which was held at the same time as this years E3, a lot of people lined up in front of the single demo station for The Wind Waker HD in each store, saying they really wanted to play it. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and Mario Kart 8.
Iwata: This might jinx things, but we werent able to expand the reach of the Nintendo GameCube hardware to the fullest, so even if people thought it looked good, a lot of them didnt buy the hardware and decided to wait it out.
Aonuma: The other thing I could say is that we upended a lot of things with The Wind Waker, and we continued to do so beyond that as well. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess had serious and photorealistic looks, and then The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword had a painting like look with its half cel-shaded animation. It keeps changing with each new release.
Iwata: To that point, I think a part of the reason that the sentiment for The Wind Waker is increasing is that people have now seen both Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, and have realized that The Wind Waker did have its own appeal.
Aonuma: I suppose so.