GI: Now that you’ve finished with Twilight Princess and have your first Wii title under your belt, was there anything that you didn’t put in the game, or gesture-based controls with the Wiimote and Nunchuk in afterthought that you go, “Oh this would be cool for the next one.”

Aonuma: I knew that the Wii was capable of many more controls than we added to the Wii version of Twilight Princess. I was kind of afraid of adding too many, because I didn’t want to confuse the end user or make the game intimidating. Moving forward, though, that was a launch title so we had to keep it kind of “at the basics,” but moving forward I can definitely see us incorporating more controls into the game.

GI: I was at Koji Kondo’s speech yesterday, and I’m a huge fan of his. He showed a lot of old clips of previous Zelda games, and one was Wind Waker. Seeing that old toon-shaded link, I was like, “Oh I miss that on the console.” Are you planning on keeping the toon shaded link on portables and then the realistic Link on Wii?

Aonuma: When a player plays on a large screen, to make them feel like they’re actually a part of it I think that requires something very different from a small screen, where the player is interacting with a stylus. The big screen has to be convincing, so for that I think the realistic Link fits really well. The toon-shading style looks like a moving animation, so letting the player control that at their fingertips works out really well, too. So that might be the direction I’m going in.

GI: Talking again about Phantom Hourglass, I guess it was a year ago this time that the game was announced and we got to play it at E3, and we get to play the multiplayer aspect here. It was also announced that when the DS was first shown that there was a Four Swords Zelda game also coming to the DS. Are you think of incorporating the Four Swords concept into Phantom Hourglass as a sub-game much like when you released Link to the Past for GBA?

Aonuma: I remember talking about that game. I think there was something lost in translation. The staff of Four Swords Adventures is working on Phantom Hourglass, not that we’re creating a Four Swords Adventure game for the DS.

GI: Ahhhh. There was a Four Swords game listed on the product list when the DS was originally revealed.

Aonuma: At the time, we were thinking of creating a multiplayer Zelda game for the Nintendo DS, and right now the multiplayer is on the show floor. That is something that we’re always working on.

GI: Will there be multiple multiplayer modes for Phantom Hourglass? Like mini-games?

Aonuma: In the single-player game, the actual amount of data there is quite large. If we were to add too many multiplayer games, it would start to effect how much gameplay there is in the single player. So even within the single player, we’re having to limit the number of maps we use to the most interesting. That’s not to reduce variation but we want the players to experience each map to its fullest. So it’s actually enhancing gameplay as opposed to limiting it.

GI: Is there only one multiplayer mode?

Aonuma: Yes, but there’s also going to be a tag mode. So there will be variation.

GI: Right now its one-on-one. Will there be more than one-on-one play?

Aonuma: No. I would like everyone to battle one-on-one.

GI: Will you be able to battle over the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection?

Aonuma: Yes.

GI: How far into development is Phantom Hourglass?

Aonuma: We’re actually in the fine-tuning and polishing stages of development. When I get home, the first thing I have to do without taking any breaks at all is get into the office and see that it gets done.

GI: I know you haven’t announced a release date, but it’s safe to say the game is almost done then, right?

Aonuma: Yes, I’d like to finish it. (laughs)

GI: Will it be released in Japan first?

Aonuma: Yes.

GI: You know I play Zelda games in Japanese first.

Aonuma: Let’s battle over Wi-Fi! (laughs)

GI: That would be great! I’ll send you my friend code! (laughs) How big of an adventure is Phantom Hourglass, and how long do you think the average gamer will take to play through the game?

Aonuma: Because this game is on a handheld, the approach has been a little different than with the Wii or the GameCube. In this Zelda, there are several islands, and each kind of has its own story. It’s pretty full because of this, and we’ll explain more how this works closer to release. There are some dungeons that you’ll have to play more than once. It’s a very full, fleshed-out game.