Eiji Aonuma Still Excited To Collaborate With Shigeru Miyamoto After Many Years

I wonder what working with Miyamoto would even be like?

It's great that he gets to be at a job where he can really make something that he enjoys. I'd like to get to that point someday.

He doesn't realize that he is almost as valued as Miyamoto

I love this man so much

When I think of Zelda, Aonuma pops up in my mind, this guy is a legend of his own.
When I think of Nintendo, it's miyamotos face that pops up, to me he Miyamoto is the face of Nintendo.

Thing is, you say who wouldn't be, but it's definitely not a given that he would feel that way after so long. That's the thing though. Nintendo seems to be able to hold onto staff very well.

Eiji Aonuma...boy, can that man pull off the beard-mustache combo. Sure, he's got Zelda and all that, but let's be real, here: the real legend is that sweet facial hair.

I'd rather work with Aonuma than Miyamoto. Aonuma seems less uptight and rigid.

Aonuma deserves to be held in the same high regard. A true videogame legend.

Aonuma has one of the most successful track records in history.

Mr. Aonuma used to design dungeons himself? Does anybody know which dungeons he has designed?

They’re both legends. I’m glad he’s still doing what he loves.

@Philo especially considering that you don’t usually see a lot of Japanese fellas donning facial hair

@Kalmaro From what I've heard there's 2 different sides to working with Miyamoto. One side is his very restrictive side. He either wants things done a certain way, or if he doesn't see the potential of an idea he will shut it down. One example of this is how he refused to have Super Smash Brothers made, until like the 3rd to 4th time Sakura and Iwata showed him the progress on it. And then you have his generous side. This is when he will just let you work on a project with all the creative freedom you like. Even though his word still takes top priority, he won't try to derail your creative process, and will only look for ways to improve it. One example of this is with Ubisoft's Mario and Rabbids game. Where all Miyamoto gave as guidelines was to not make a platformer, make a different kind of game. So working with Miyamoto can be fun, but it can also be tedious. It's a 50/50 chance with him.

Because he's never going to say 'I really hate working with Miyamoto'.

It must be awesome, to be around that legend, and Aonuma has become a legend himself. Keep up the good work!

@patbacknitro18 Which is part of the creative process. Chucking ideas that don't work, going back over and over again to make your vision come to life, letting your mind go through all kinds of possibilities, experimenting, trial-and-error, constant editing. It stands true for gamemakers, authors, musicians, artists and sculptors. You need both creativity and discipline to make it the best that you can.

@Tempestryke I never said that was a bad thing. I just said that in some circumstances "HE" won't interfere with your creative process. That's not an argument on whether its for better or worse, but just that the generous side of Miyamoto gives you much more freedom. Again like with the Mario and Rabbids developer.

@ALinkttPresent water temple - ocarina of time

@CarpeDiem Anyone who doesn't believe that he's stubborn just look at some of his more recent solo projects. Star Fox Zero being the leading example of a game that doesn't need some weird second screen motion controls...not matter how much he thought it did.

@Tempestryke But...Miyamoto can be overly strict in the worst ways. Yes he still makes great games, but he helped kill any success Star Fox Zero could have had thanks to that control scheme impounding upon the game following 64 too much. Not to mention his idiotic ideas on Super Mario Sticker Star really made people dislike that game.

To say he is faultless is a little naive. Not completely, but still.

@FlameRunnerFast Try reading what I wrote. Nowhere did the word faultless ever leave my lips. I simply said you needed both creativity and discipline for any artistic endeavour.

@patbacknitro18 I never said you did. I was simply commenting on artistic pursuits in general.

When greatness meets greatness!

😅 I think Aonuma found the word “collaboration” funny, as from his perspective Miyamoto is not an even peer he’s riffing ideas with, but a boss he must get his ideas approved from.

@RobotReptile haha I think you just hit the nail on the head! Thank the stars for both these guys but I bet Miyamoto can be a bear. He’s had many good ideas, some pretty bad. Yes folks this guys a human. Poke his dimple cheeks for good measure.

@FlameRunnerFast You get downvoted for this, but the man ruined my favourite 2 series, paper mario and starfox, (that he arguably helpt build, but still.)

I don't like how the man is held as this end-all genius. They call it flipping the tea table when he uproots your complete idea. And making those drastic changes isn't always for the better!

@LUIGITORNADO SF0 wasn't Miyamoto's call on dual screen and motion controls. Recall Iwata tasked him explicitly with coming up with games that utilize the GamePad fully to show the value of the WiiU, pretty much a direct response to investor pressure, and at large, 3rd party and consumer pressure as well. Miyamoto couldn't just do controls even if that's what he really wanted because his assigned job was "do SOMETHING with everything on the GamePad." He was constrained by business priorities. Of course he'll say he's super excited about it, that's his job. He was also the first to pretty much speak in a past-tense about the WiiU's failure while the rest of Nintendo was still pretending it was the future....kind of telling.

That said, Miyamoto is "stubborn" to work with from all we've heard in that way that a genius artist is always fixated on their own solution to an idea. I imagine he can be very difficult at times to work with if you have your own idea and he doesn't like it. Such as him not wanting the whole Rosalina story in Galaxy and Koizumi doing it behind his back. (I like Koizumi...though he's kind of like Miyamoto himself which is why it works.... )