FamiConnichiwa, everyone! I'm Akinori Sao, a writer in Kyoto.
This is my fourth interview with video game developers to commemorate the release of the NES Classic Edition system. The topic this time is The Legend of Zelda, which has now been out for 30 years.
The Legend of Zelda was a title released simultaneously with the Family Computer Disk System in Japan. Now, fans are focusing their attention on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the upcoming game in the series, which is scheduled for release on both the Wii U and Nintendo Switch systems. This time, I'll be talking with Miyamoto-san, Tezuka-san and Kondo-san about how the series originated.
The birth of the Second Quest, which is available for play after finishing the main game, is discussed in detail in the bonus sections of the Iwata Asks article covering The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.
And now for Miyamoto-san, Tezuka-san and Kondo-san…
Congratulations on 30 years of The Legend of Zelda.
Everyone: Thank you.
Miyamoto: I feel like people say this every year! (laughs wryly)
Last year was the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. (laughs) To jump right in, why did you decide to make The Legend of Zelda, which came out 30 years ago for the Family Computer Disk System?
Miyamoto: The Indiana Jones movies were out around that time.
Adventure films were popular in the Eighties.
Miyamoto: Right, I wanted to bring that sense of adventure to a video game. And people playing computer RPGs back then were bragging about how strong their swordsmen had become and were calling each other at night to exchange information. When I noticed that, I thought it was an interesting milieu.
Since it was so absorbing, you wanted to make something similar yourself.
Miyamoto: Yes. So with a world of swords and sorcery as my theme, I decided to make an adventure game based on treasure-hunting, and that was the beginning of The Legend of Zelda.