14 DAY TRIAL // The older games, the good ones that we fell in love with, will always have that impact on us when, for one reason or another, we are reminded of them. And when these memories come back to life, there is no greater urge than to play them again, seeking that old, familiar feeling. But there are few cases when we still have a working copy of the title and a working console for it to run on, so the best thing we hope for is either a flea market where we can find both the game and the antique platform for it, or a remake of the original. But remakes are a dangerous business, and at least one developer would rather think a hundred times before releasing a remake of one of its classic hits. Eiji Aonuma, the producer of the Zelda series, is one of those developers that thinks a remake is usually a bad idea. "Whenever we have to think about the remake," he said while talking to IGN, "we have to also think about the background, especially what kind of situation, what kind of period and time that previous game was played in, because, be it Ocarina of Time or any other games, whenever they say they want to have a remake on whichever platform, they have some emotional attachment from playing that game at that particular time or environment."
As Aonuma sees it, each game is closely tied, emotionally, to the context in which it was played that first time. "We cannot afford to destroy that kind of emotional attachment," he said. Another reason why remakes are usually not given much attention at Nintendo is technology and the progress that it makes. All sorts of technological breakthroughs have been made since the old days, so developers seek new ideas to accommodate these new inventions, like all the DS games that are mostly just a way to show off the touchscreen, or the Wii ones made to make the Wii Remote stand out.
A perfect example is the upcoming Legend of Zelda on the Wii, and the way the game interprets the Wiimote's handling. "It has become very natural," Aonuma shared. "I mean, the movement of your arms are precisely reflected in the gameplay whereby Link is wielding his sword just as you shake the Wii Motion Plus remote." Still, if the planets align and a quality game can be made, he won't turn away from making a good one.
"So that's the current situation and that's the reason why we are not very aggressive in exploring the possibility of remaking the past Zelda series," he explained. "If I can think how to do it, or if any inspiration comes to me, without destroying the emotional attachment people have to the past game, and I can make some great innovation or renovation on the remake, then I might be able to think about it further."