Zelda DS producer speaks

By Ellie Gibson Published 7 October, 2005

About unique control system.

Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has offered the first hints as to how the DS instalment in the popular series will make the most of the handheld's unique capabilities.

Speaking to US magazine EGM, Aonuma declined to go into details but did say: "What I can tell you is that it's going to use the touch screen for a very unique control system that people have never experienced in a Zelda game before.

"What I I think one of the important elements of the Zelda series has always been that you feel like you're in the world doing the things that Link is doing and touching the things that Link is touching," he continued.

"This time you'll be able to use the touch screen and actually touch those items and objects yourself.”

Hmm. Not a lot to go on, then, but at least we know that Zelda DS will definitely be making use of the touch screen. All we need now is some screenshots and a release date...

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (44) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • oerhoert #1 6 years ago

    Just hoping that if they're going to use the touch screen, they won't make it an on-and-off feature. They should use it in the core game design, so that I don't have to find the pen from the back of the DS in the middle of a heated battle, Spider-Man 2 style.
    Edited by 1 at 07/10/05 @ 11:44

  • hp_on_toast #2 6 years ago

    Damn, I bet they are just going to make it control like a point-and-click (Neverwinter, DS etc) PC RPG with the stylus behaving like the mouse. One of the best things about Zelda is that it features direct control of your main character!!!

  • Blerk #3 6 years ago

    What I can tell you is that it's going to use the touch screen for a very unique control system that people have never experienced in a Zelda game before.

    Why does that sentence fill me with dread? :-)

  • tengu #4 6 years ago

    I don't want to buy a DS.

  • Hog-lumps #5 6 years ago

    Why does that sentence fill me with dread? :-)

    Becuase you're afraid of change? :-)

  • Razz #6 6 years ago

    ooo.... flick your own arrows eh
    rotat your own boomerang
    manual aim the hookshoot


    Cool.

  • tengu #7 6 years ago

    "flick your own arrows
    rotat your own boomerang
    manual aim the hookshoot"

    Euphemisms?

  • volb #8 6 years ago

    Because you're afraid of change? :-)

    Speaking for myself, I am afraid of change. I would be filled with nothing but elation were it a new, unrelated IP.

    Edit: formatting
    Edited by 1 at 07/10/05 @ 12:16

  • smelly #9 6 years ago

    "GIMMICKY!"

    Nah, relying on pretty pixels is gimmicky.

    Changing how a game is controlled to be innovative is a different kettle of fish.

    Im all for this, And i have faith in him that this'll work.. cant wait! I dont own a ds, but with this, new mario, advance wars, etc etc.. i'm REALLY tempted (if my bank balance can cope).

  • smelly #10 6 years ago

    "heated battle, Spider-Man 2 style. "

    I read spiderman 2 was the worst ds game? Hardly a fiar comparision?

  • Kami #11 6 years ago

    Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Advance Wars are two extremely good reasons to have a DS.

    And to Zelda, I am dreading it but also looking forward to it as well... I don't believe that the formula needs changing, just needs to go back and see why it was so good some years ago... but then, I do like the touchscreen of the DS...

    We'll have to wait and see... but to be honest, as long as Zelda is on the box, I'm sold already...

  • oerhoert #12 6 years ago

    Not at all, Spider-Man 2 is perfectly servicable, a 5/10 for me, for pure hardcore challenge. But the attempts at using the touch screen were slapped on and not well integrated.

    As for the quality of the game: OF COURSE it will work. It's firstparty Nintendo goodness, in a game series which has always brought us consistently excellent outings.
    Edited by 1 at 07/10/05 @ 12:52

  • aabyssx #13 6 years ago

    I hope it will be a new Zelda and not an Ocarina of Time remake.

  • djchump #14 6 years ago

    Well I'm looking forward to it.
    I trust the Nintendo games designers and the Zelda team - of any of the games Nintendo release, I think they'll want to make sure the big IPs like Zelda, Mario and Metroid are real selling points for the platform ;-)

  • Owain #15 6 years ago

    If anyone can do touch screen interaction well the zelda team can, I mean think of the puzzles!!!1

    nintendo4life :p

  • Lost_in_Darkness #16 6 years ago

    Cell shaded please!

  • Repsode #17 6 years ago

    More late news from EG, heard this ages ago.

  • Mr_Whacker #18 6 years ago

    Why is everyone so scared of change? They are trying to dop something new which is commendable. And if its shit they won't do it again. Why is that so bad? As much as I love Zelda games, I can't be arsed with OoT remakes for ever.

  • Psi #19 6 years ago

    ooooo ahhhhh weeeee gooooooo

    k, gonna go buy a ds now

  • djchump #20 6 years ago

    Disc - "But still, this is a game shaped to suit the platform instead of a game spawned from the platform."

    disc - how do you know this? I was under the impression it was a new Zelda game from scratch, designed and made for the DS... unlike Mario64 DS which WAS a game shaped (and badly IMHO) to suit the platform.

  • Ranger101 #21 6 years ago

    Monkey Island style point and click.

  • smelly #22 6 years ago

    New is bettter than regurgitating the same old same old with no new ideas.

    Everyone moans about mario being used to death, at least they try something different with each new one rather than relying on same old same old.. smae with zelda.

    Compare this to (say) sonic (or to show im not just picking on one company) halo or erm.. (what francises does the ps2 have which i can highlihgt at this point?).

  • Lost_in_Darkness #23 6 years ago

    What do you mean No?

    This is the DS we're talking about, only by using cell shading can they give this game justice, with standard 3d it'll look like ass. Compare the difference between the DS' cell shaded games and the ones that are just normal 3d, cell shading looks immensely better. Look at Viewtiful Joe for instance, that looks damn good; even as good as the GC ones.

  • Xerx3s #24 6 years ago

    "Becuase you're afraid of change? :-)" -And why is that? Because most changes are usually for the worse *CO-aoe3-UGH*.

  • oerhoert #25 6 years ago

    Lost in Darkness: It doesn't have to be cel shaded, technically speaking, just to use common sense when it comes to texturing. Super Mario 64 isn't cel shaded, it's just fitting. Textures can be used in a good way on the DS, but you have to make things specifically for it, not just downsizing console-made stuff.

  • smelly #26 6 years ago

    Cel shading is actually a gfx intensive technique.. dunno if ds could cope.

    what was wrong with how OOT and MM looked? I played them recently on my cube, and not once did i think "gawd, that looks guff"

  • caligari #27 6 years ago

    No really, OOT now looks so "guff" that I had to turn it off, especially after playing the beautiful Wind Waker.

    OOT is what the Zelda world would look like if it was made from sea sick Lego gods.

  • tiddles #28 6 years ago

    More late news from EG, heard this ages ago.

    What do you want, a medal?

  • oerhoert #29 6 years ago

    The processing needed to use some flavour of cel shading is highly reliant on the algorithm used. So no, it doesn't necessarily need to be very intensive. Some people would even consider flat shading to be a variant of cel shading, and that's about as cheap 3D as you get.

  • GuiltySpark #30 6 years ago

    isnt tony hawk sk8land (or whatever) cel shaded?

  • #31 6 years ago

    OOT now looks so "guff" that I had to turn it off, especially after playing the beautiful Wind Waker.

    Have to agree with the man here.

    Ocarina looks shite with horrible fogging, useless draw distance and muddy textures.

  • paralipsis #32 6 years ago

    I like the touchscreen on the DS, and I think in the right circumstances it can realling enhance a game, but I am not too happy about using it as the core control mechanism for a zelda game. If it were used for puzzle solving or cetain specific items that would be great.

    One of the problems that arises is that using a stylus is alot like writing, and therefore handedness comes into play. This calls into question what buttons are used if you are holding a stylus.

  • abigsmurf #33 6 years ago

    pleeeease give this game a full single player game. I know they said there would be four swords type multiplayer but it's rare to get four people with DS's together and I like games I can play when I feel like it (ie on the bog)

  • ProfessorLesser #34 6 years ago

    Disc, I don't know where you get your anaolgy from, but it's about the worst I've ever heard.

    And surely you can see that your argument is 100% opinionated, and therefore not really worth arguing? If you think new graphics make the game different, then fine. Some people won't. You can't just say your way is the right way. I know which camp I'm in.

  • Nikanoru #35 6 years ago

    Haha, great how people are now knocking a game based purely on a vague hint towards what kind of ideas the developer has.

    You fucking retards. Jesus.

  • Burton2000 #36 6 years ago

    i have to admit cel shading on the ds luks prity sweet tony hawks sk8 land graphics are very good and so is viewtiful joes.

  • Kami #37 6 years ago

    @ those dissing OoT:

    GET A ****ING GRIP! Bloody graphics whores.

    We're talking about a game which is nearly eight years old. Bad fogging? Problematic draw distance? Angular models? Can't we argue MOST games of that period and slightly after had exactly the same problems?

    Get past the graphics, and you'll find the same old brilliant gameplay which won us all over, and continues to make it to most one of the most memorable games ever created. If you can't get past the graphical end to see the beauty underneath... well, retro gaming is definitely not for you. You'd probably be much happier with "EA Graphic Showcase 20XX"...

  • Kami #38 6 years ago

    Sorry, that was out of line. Just still manage to be shocked by the way some people can still be superficial enough to only see the graphics...

  • ProfessorLesser #39 6 years ago

    Kami, have you... been somewhere?

    Only, it's just recently that I've started to see you around here frequently again. Maybe it's just me.

  • SirScratchalot #40 6 years ago

    I´m intrigued but afraid, then again all the Zeldas have been VERY different from one another. Nothing new here then.

  • Nikanoru #41 6 years ago

    Actually, Kami, OoT's graphics were awesome. Locations like Lake Hylia, the water temple, the forest temple, the waterfall near the Gerudo's hideout, the sunset while walking up the Death Mountain trail....hell, they all looked good.....at times it made me just drop the gameplay for a bit and just cruise around sightseeing, taking in the scenery, admiring stuff in first person mode...


    People who say OoT looks bad are either little kids, fucking retards, trolls, or the kind of sad nerds who jerk off to numbers (I know a few of these myself. Ugh). You know who you are.

  • smelly #42 6 years ago

    I aggree.. OOT and MM still look good to me.

    And more importantly.. PLAY good.

    But it seems that nowadays people are more interested in pretty pixels than fun games which look reasonably good. Beats me why all these graphic whores dont just all rush out and buy myst games and jack off over how good they look.

  • Toonster #43 6 years ago

    All I'm hoping that Zelda DS will be in 3D. That would absolutely kick ass to have something like OoT on a handheld.

    EDIT: not like a OoT remake, heavens no. Just that the graphical capabilities are similar.
    Edited by 1 at 10/10/05 @ 03:23

  • Nikanoru #44 6 years ago

    Well that's the thing, Smelly. I AM a graphics whore, I admire what artists do with the hardware at their disposition. Legend of Mana ranks among my favourite games because of its graphics, even if the game itself isn't that special. I have bought games purely for their graphics. I will buy Okami when it comes out, simply based on its screenshots.

    But then there are dumbfucks like Mo, who will judge graphics simply based on the meaningless numbers and the graphic card effects mentioned in the feature list. If a game has beautiful artwork, yet lacks reflection light mapping, they will brand it as "ugly." When they see the well-implemented atmospheric fog on Hyrule field (which you can look across all the fucking way from one end to the other btw) they will talk about "horrible fogging" because they really know jack shit about anything. On the other hand, when a game has characters that look like blow up dolls with sausages for arms because the 3D modelers are incompetent fucks, but it pushes a trillion polygons a second at 1600x1200 with all the special effects in the book, these types will love it.

    My point is that "graphics whores" isn't a good term to describe these people, because obviously they couldn't tell a game with good visuals if it came up and fucked them in the eyesockets. "Tech spec tards" or something similar would be more appropriate.