A portion of a ZeldaDungeon interview with Nintendo's Dan Owsen...
ZD: I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but you’re sort of a celebrity in the Zelda Community. Interviews you did 10-15 years ago are still quoted to try to prove the validity of various timeline theories.
Dan Owsen: You know, at one point we had drafted a timeline and wanted to make it available online. We showed it to the guys in Japan and they basically told us that it would be best if we didn’t post it. They do have a timeline that has continuity between the games but they wanted to keep it open for how each player views the chronology of the series. There are a lot of connections between the games, but they do have a timeline that has continuity. It’s up to the player to place all the pieces together.
ZD: So there seems to be a disconnect between you guys (Nintendo of America) and the developers in Japan.
Dan Owsen: I wouldn’t call it a disconnect. Just that the developers feel that posting a full narrative would take away from the players’ imagination. Part of what makes the series so special is the legend that spans across the series and they wanted to preserve that in the players’ vision. It’s also why they have never given Link a voice. The story is told as if the player is Link. Giving him a voice would eliminate that attachment.
ZD: I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but you’re sort of a celebrity in the Zelda Community. Interviews you did 10-15 years ago are still quoted to try to prove the validity of various timeline theories.
Dan Owsen: You know, at one point we had drafted a timeline and wanted to make it available online. We showed it to the guys in Japan and they basically told us that it would be best if we didn’t post it. They do have a timeline that has continuity between the games but they wanted to keep it open for how each player views the chronology of the series. There are a lot of connections between the games, but they do have a timeline that has continuity. It’s up to the player to place all the pieces together.
ZD: So there seems to be a disconnect between you guys (Nintendo of America) and the developers in Japan.
Dan Owsen: I wouldn’t call it a disconnect. Just that the developers feel that posting a full narrative would take away from the players’ imagination. Part of what makes the series so special is the legend that spans across the series and they wanted to preserve that in the players’ vision. It’s also why they have never given Link a voice. The story is told as if the player is Link. Giving him a voice would eliminate that attachment.
No comments:
Post a Comment