Miyamoto: New Wii Zelda is half finished
Skyward Sword heads into the clouds.
That new Zelda Wii game we've been waiting years for? Well, according to Shigeru Miyamoto, it's only half finished - comments that undermine plans for an early 2011 release.
The latter was a target set by producer Eiji Aonuma last summer.Miyamoto now backs a non-specific 2011 release, according to Pocket-lint's interview with him.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be the first Zelda game to use Wii MotionPlus controls and, essentially, the whole of the Wii console - Twilight Princess was a GameCube game adapted for the launch of Wii five years ago.
Shigeru Miyamoto remains enthusiastic that Wii is as potent today as in 2006, however - even faced with stiff competition from new technologies Kinect and PlayStation Move.
"I don't think the Wii is something that people need to graduate from," he argues.
"Of course, I am happy that motion is fashionable now. But when we make games, we are not trying to produce trendy products.
"It needs to be an experience that's meaningful," expresses Miyamoto, "and the motion-control needs to add something. So our new Zelda game takes motion-control and adds something to the game to make you feel like you're part of the adventure."
He quips: "I think our rivals need to find what it is they have to offer that's new."
With Skyward Sword, Miyamoto is focusing on a "very dense" gameplay experience that, he hopes, will result in more play-throughs, as gamers "go back and replay the game once they finish it".
As to how long Wii has got left, Miyamoto believes there are "still a lot of games we can create for it".
Skyward Sword has been built to resemble a "painting come to life": a look and feel that Nintendo says better suits the action and combat than a more realistic art style.
But is it any good? Eurogamer armed Christian Donlan with a pen and sent him up against The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword at E3 this year. "With its swing attacks, bombs, and slingshots, the tiny slice of Skyward Sword shown today currently feels like a smart refinement - time will tell if it has enough to please those players who are after a touch of reinvention, too," he wrote.