'The Legend Of Zelda' developers discuss their inspiration and the driving force of the Nintendo Entertainment System
With “The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild” coming out in a few months and the 30th anniversary of the franchise to celebrate, the Nintendo developers sat down together to discuss the inspiration that powered “Legend Of Zelda” in the first place. They also touched on why the NES was so important in the 1980’s and how it pushed the company forward.
In the interview, which was published by Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto recalled how “Indiana Jones” began to gain a following 30 years ago, and that he simply wanted to bring that sense of adventure to a video game. He also discussed how RPGs were growing in popularity and that players would discuss their personal developments. “With a world of swords and sorcery as my theme, I decided to make an adventure game based on treasure-hunting,” he said. “And that was the beginning of ‘The Legend of Zelda.’”
Miyamoto, together with Koji Kendo and Takashi Tezuka, also discussed what a rush it was to create the opening song for “Legend Of Zelda,” which is now classic to the franchise. The three had originally planned to reuse an old piece, Ravel’s “Bolero.” But due to copyright laws, they could not use it. However, the release of the first game was coming and could no longer be delayed. What resulted was an all nighter from Kendo that Miyamoto described as “the perfect song to play when you set out on an adventure.”
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The three also touched on the importance of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, which helped bring Nintendo to the forefront of the console market and introduced "Legend Of Zelda" to the world outside of Japan. “I've been in the design world since my student days, so I'm extremely aware of how important it is in competition to put forth the best possible performance within certain conditions,” Miyamoto said. “In that sense, the NES was competitive hardware.”
Watch the official trailer of "Legend Of Zelda; Breath Of The Wild"
