Zelda series 'cannot go back to button controls'

The future of the Zelda series will stick to motion controls, the Zelda producer has revealed.

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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword wowed critics, including our own Billy Berghammer. However, one of the few marks against it were the motion controls. "Though Nintendo has made great strides in motion tech with the WiiMotion Plus, there were a few times where a required gesture wasn’t accurately tracked," our review noted. "This caused me to make a much more pronounced motion towards the screen, which delivered the desired results despite being slightly more awkward."

While the execution may not have been perfect, it appears Nintendo thinks Skyward Sword represents the future of the series. Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has gone on record saying that motion is the future for the franchise.

"I honestly think we cannot go back to button controls now," Aonuma told the Official Nintendo Magazine UK. "So I think that these controls will be used in future Zelda titles, too."

Motion controls helped push the direction of Skyward Sword. "One of the main things we've wanted to do with Wii MotionPlus and the motion control in this game was not just to have you battle enemies, but to have each battle itself be a puzzle you had to solve," Aonuma said before the game's release.

The next Zelda game will appear on Wii U. This year's E3 tech demo showed off Wii U's graphical capabilities, but didn't showcase how a Zelda game would be controlled on Nintendo's next generation console.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 12, 2011 10:00 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Zelda series 'cannot go back to button controls'.

    The future of the Zelda series will stick to motion controls, the Zelda producer has revealed.

    • reply
      December 12, 2011 10:04 AM

      ... Then what the fuck are they going to do on the Wii U?

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        December 12, 2011 10:05 AM

        [deleted]

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          December 12, 2011 10:09 AM

          The touchpad doesn't have the capability built into it that the Wiimote+ does though? Bah, I'm sure it will still be entertaining somehow, they just frustrate me.

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          December 12, 2011 10:25 AM

          the WiiU can use existing Wii controllers you know...

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        December 12, 2011 10:34 AM

        probably just an inventory screen or a map or notes or something

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          December 12, 2011 10:36 AM

          It's got a whole classic controller built into it, they should really use it to show off their tech instead of forcing the current style on the player base. Some really cool stuff is possible but idk if they'll be the ones to actually implement it.

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      December 12, 2011 10:05 AM

      Well, was a good series while it lasted, I suppose.

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        December 12, 2011 10:06 AM

        The first game released on the wii (Twilight Princess?) was fantastic. I've not played any since that, but the controls in that were awesome

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          December 12, 2011 10:06 AM

          Also you got to turn into a dog

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            December 12, 2011 10:16 AM

            haha, I was at my brother's house the other day, and I guess he was at that point. I asked him what game it was, he told me, I was like "what."

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            December 12, 2011 10:19 AM

            this is why my wife stopped playing it. she liked playing it when you played as link but playing as a dog does not belong in a zelda game according to her.

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            December 12, 2011 10:32 AM

            Not a dog. Don't cheapen him. He was a badass fucking wolf.

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              December 12, 2011 6:55 PM

              Have you seen the kind of people that like wolves? Dog is better.

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            December 12, 2011 3:50 PM

            awww yea

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          December 12, 2011 10:12 AM

          Skyward Sword has even better controls.

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            December 12, 2011 10:40 AM

            [deleted]

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              December 12, 2011 10:43 AM

              The entire combat system in Skyward Sword is built around the motion controls, as opposed to the waggle simulating a button press in Twilight Princess, so it's certainly not "tacked on" any more.

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              December 12, 2011 12:05 PM

              You really need to. Tacked on they most definitely aren't. They are integral to the gameplay and things like the combat could not have been done sensibly with buttons. Even just flipping over a spider by gently putting your sword under it and lifting up feels awesome.

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          December 12, 2011 10:20 AM

          Nowhere near as good as Wind Waker, or any other controller-only Zelda.

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            December 12, 2011 12:10 PM

            ^ I agree with this. I just meant it was good while it lasted FOR ME, though. The motion controls feel very gimmicky to me. It was an unneeded addition to an already solid game. I just don't want to play a whole 15-20 hour game waving my arms around like a tard.

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        December 12, 2011 10:20 AM

        Sounds like you haven't played Skyward Sword.

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      December 12, 2011 10:08 AM

      The Wii U is going to use the WiiMote for these type of controls, correct? So then the controls on the Wii U are going to be just as clumsy as the on the Wii...

      I don't have any problems with motion controls, as long as they work at least as well as the traditional controls. They currently don't.

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      December 12, 2011 10:20 AM

      which would be fine if every zelda game isn't a tech demo and "find me 25 of these items" fetch quests.

      Fucking bush league...very disappointed in skyward sword here...

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        December 12, 2011 10:24 AM

        Did you... actually play Skyward Sword?

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        December 12, 2011 10:36 AM

        Hahahaha...yeah Nintendo just wanted to show off it's "no-texturing" tech.

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      December 12, 2011 10:29 AM

      There's always Darksiders

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        December 12, 2011 10:34 AM

        It'll be interesting to compare the two on the Wii U.

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        December 12, 2011 12:10 PM

        I'm not really seeing the Zelda similarities with Darksiders. It's closer to Devil May Cry with tools than it is with the Zelda series or even better, it's pretty much the same as the 3D Castlevania games that were on the PS2.

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          December 12, 2011 12:13 PM

          I don't think I understand how they're dissimilar, actually. They're both hack-n-slash action styled RPGs with heavy use of tools. The only difference I see is the artistic styling, really.

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            December 12, 2011 12:15 PM

            Zelda's more of a puzzle game with combat elements.
            Darksiders was more of a combat game with items.

            The similarities between the two seemed to be surface-only. In Darksiders, the tools might give you access to a new area, but using them never felt integral to progression -- something that's a cornerstone of Zelda's design.

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              December 12, 2011 12:18 PM

              I see, I'll take that explanation. Thank you.

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                December 12, 2011 12:21 PM

                TBH, that's also why the motion controls in Skyward Sword work so well -- they turned Zelda's combat from a button-mash to more of a puzzle, making it more consistent with the feel of the overall game.

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            December 12, 2011 12:16 PM

            Zelda isn't really hack and slash. It's not combo and juggle based like Darksiders is. I never felt like I was playing a mature Zelda. Felt more like I was playing an extended Devil May Cry game.

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              December 12, 2011 12:20 PM

              yeah the nice thing about zelda's combat system is that it can be played and enjoyed by almost anyone

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              December 12, 2011 12:20 PM

              It always felt pretty hack-n-slashy to me, but I see your point about the combo system. The point about Zelda being more puzzle based is true, as well. I feel like the few puzzles that Darksiders did have were harder than most Zelda puzzles, but that certainly doesn't make up for the quantity.

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          December 12, 2011 12:17 PM

          I'm also not really a fan of the Darksiders setting.

          Not that the Zelda setting these days is much better, but there IS a middle ground between sunshine and flowers and grimdark.

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          December 12, 2011 12:24 PM

          Yeah I don't really get those comparisons, it's much more similar to Metroid or something along those lines. Not Zelda.

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          December 12, 2011 12:56 PM

          [deleted]

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      December 12, 2011 10:33 AM

      Can't they just do both... It's really not that hard.

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        December 12, 2011 11:30 AM

        Actually, it would be. Twilight Princess was not made for motion controls; they were tacked on to the Wii version. But Nintendo designed Skyward Sword from the ground up (lol) for motion controls. Creating a traditional controller-based version would require lots of retooling.

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          December 12, 2011 12:28 PM

          Actually I don't think it would be all that difficult. I like Skyward Sword's combat controls, but motions could be largely mapped to an analog stick with little loss - motion from top right to bottom left would be a diagonal slice, pushing in the stick would work for stab, etc.

          The bird/flying controls quite frankly suck (or at the very least I somehow broke them in the initial race and got stuck in the bottom clouds for a long while) and would probably be improved by a switch to a more traditional method.

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      December 12, 2011 10:40 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 12, 2011 10:58 AM

      I take this with a grain of salt. I remember an interview in EGM around 2002 or so where Miyamoto and a few other big names at Nintendo stated that gamer should get used to the Gamecube controller layout, because it was going to be the industry standard in 10 years.

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      December 12, 2011 11:09 AM

      I don't find Skyward's controls egregious or intrusive to my experience. You can sit down and play just fine. Why wouldn't you?

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        December 12, 2011 12:43 PM

        Really? I found rolling grenades and flying that bird awkward while sitting down. My wrist doesn't bend like that...

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          December 12, 2011 1:18 PM

          Yeah, rolling grenades and a couple of other movements make me have to sit up a little. Outside of that I have no problem with it. It took me a while to figure out that I don't need to point at the screen anymore.

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      December 12, 2011 11:10 AM

      I just bought a wireless sensor bar and a bluetooth adapter now that they are getting close to getting WiiMotionPlus working with Dolphin. I have the Wii out in the living room but would rather hook up my PC out there and play Skyward Sword in Hidef.

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        December 12, 2011 2:32 PM

        It doesn't use the sensor bar.

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          December 12, 2011 2:40 PM

          It most certainly does for aiming.

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            December 12, 2011 3:08 PM

            Does it? It appeared to use gyroscopic control even for the pointer to me; you can "center" the wiimote on the screen even if you point somewhere completely away from it, so I think it's all gyroscopic and just uses the "center" function to set a way to set a neutral tilt as screen center.

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              December 12, 2011 3:34 PM

              It is used for calibrating the WiiMotion+ so it knows which way is forward.

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                December 12, 2011 5:33 PM

                That's what I'm saying, though - I think even the cursor is actually motion based in Zelda. I know full well how normal Wii games work, but the cursor in Zelda feels different, and the way the calibration works leads me to think it's not using the sensor bar.

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            December 13, 2011 10:13 AM

            It uses the gyroscope for EVERYTHING. Go try it.

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      December 12, 2011 12:30 PM

      I want an overhead zelda game that I don't have to blow into.

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        December 12, 2011 12:37 PM

        There's talk about them remaking LoZ: ALttP for the 3DS...

        Also, there was 4-swords for the GC.

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      December 12, 2011 1:32 PM

      The only control complaint was the sky diving controllers. Landing on the nest at the top of the town's tower for that rattle was a pain in the ass. Took me more than a few tries to nail it.

      Finally got it after i researched that you needed to tilt the controller slightly upwards before jumping and that allows you to correctly slow dive forward.

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      December 12, 2011 1:52 PM

      I think it's dumb of them to declare that with any certainty but if true it wouldn't bother me. I'm loving the Skyward Sword controls.

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      December 12, 2011 3:07 PM

      This headline is 5 slots away from "Tony Hawk series going back to button controls". The difference is that Tony Hawk: Ride and Shred were panned, and Skyward Sword was praised.

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      December 12, 2011 3:56 PM

      Then I can not play another Zelda. Simple.

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        December 12, 2011 4:11 PM

        Have you played Skyward Sword? I'm enjoying the controls alot. The need to time enemies and attack based on swinging left, right or straight on is adding difficulty and strategy to the game that I don't think it's ever had before. I'm imagining the same game except you simply hit A to swing the sword and I really don't think I'd enjoy it as much as the deeper system they've created with this game.

        People asked for a Zelda with some new stuff and I really think if they'd give the controls a chance they'd realize the controls are a big part of why this game isn't exactly like so many other Zelda's.

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          December 12, 2011 4:26 PM

          I can't. I can't grasp both controllers in order to make the motion controls work.

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            December 12, 2011 4:33 PM

            Oh yeah I forgot about your issues. That's a bummer :( But I really doubt any claims Nintendo make about the future of any franchise mean anything. No one can predict what will happen, including Nintendo.

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      December 12, 2011 4:18 PM

      This is what happens when Shigeru Miayamoto steps down =/

      R.I.P. Nitnendo

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      December 13, 2011 5:56 AM

      Motion controls are a straight upgrade for the series. Not surprising.

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      December 13, 2011 1:34 PM

      I refuse to play Zelda with Motion Controls. I never will. I'm willing to bet many people agree.

      Nintendo's ignorance and arrogance never ceases to amaze.

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        December 14, 2011 6:49 AM

        "ignorance and arrogance never ceases to amaze."

        Do you not detect the irony in this? Have you even played this game? Speaking of ignorance...

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      December 14, 2011 6:21 PM

      I'm still butt hurt that the stock wii controls werent as good as the motion plus. They sure marketed the damn thing to have awesome motion controls, but what we got was a piece of shit and a year later "here! buy more shit to make the motion not worthless!"

      Of course no one adopted it so even then it was worthless until nintendo decided to make a good game that used it. fuck nintendo. I'm not buying another controller, even with a discount bundled with the game.

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