Update: Since this story went up last night, several things have happened. First, and unsurprisingly given the traffic it generated, the website went down. (We've no reason to believe the sinister tale that NOA lawyers had the site shut down.) But more importantly, the interview itself has been called into question.
Word has it that after we put our story up, additional details that cast serious doubt on the interview were added to the story — details of the level that interviewees from Nintendo just don't give out, and especially to fan sites... even ones as high-profile as TSA's. When we covered the story last night, it was a believable interview, especially given the stature of the interviewer.
So what's our word? Unknown. Everything could be as TSA says, or the whole thing could be yet another one of those increasingly-unfunny April Fool gags that gaming media love to play, this time played days early — and we fell for it. If we did, we apologize, and if we find this out for sure we'll let you know. In the meantime, what we posted last night follows.
Zelda community mainstay TSA has posted (a month and a few days before he was supposed to, according to yesterday's teaser) an interview he recently had with Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma.
Several pieces of information are revealed in the interview. Perhaps most interesting is why upcoming GameCube title Twilight Princess was delayed. With recent confirmation that the title would indeed gain Revolution control when played on Nintendo's upcoming home console, some theorized that the delay was solely to add this option to the game. Not entirely so, says Aonuma:
Aonuma: ... The decision to finally go ahead with that plan was made around the time of the D.I.C.E. summit. With the original delay, we wanted to push back the game because we were having major trouble with the wolf mechanics. Many of my team members raised concerns with how unnatural the wolf moved... However, I assure you they are quite spectacular now, and you will personally get to see for yourself at E3.
Aonuma also gives some insight into the shape Zelda has taken on the Nintendo DS and the path it took that ultimately led to the recently announced Phantom Hourglass, as well as consideration of an online Zelda title and just what may have happened to Tingle RPG:
Aonuma: ... The problem was how we should bring Zelda online. The obvious answer to us was a Four Swords title. Unfortunately, we've ended that relationship with Capcom and there are no more Four Sword titles planned for the future. We also felt fans may be tired of the concept, seeing as three games in the past few years have utilized the Four Swords' style of gameplay. So we went back to the drawing board. One idea was a game featuring the four Tingle brothers. We released a screenshot to the press, and the reaction was not very good... So that idea was scratched in favor of Phantom Hourglass, although some of the elements from Tingle RPG made it in, like using the bottom touch screen for combat situations. We're still considering an online Zelda, either for DS or Revolution, but I can't speak anymore about it at this time.
Asked about series chronology, Aonuma places Princess between Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker, but notes that Princess's story is not the tale referred to in Wind Waker's opening, though he promises "the ending will tie into it". Phantom Hourglass is also stated to be a direct sequel to Wind Waker.
Aonuma covers many other interesting bits in the interview, which is definitely a recommended read in my book. Both upcoming titles — Twilight Princess for GameCube and Revolution and Phantom Hourglass for Nintendo DS — are slated for release some time this year.