You might know peppy Nintendo game designer Eiji Aonuma as the man in charge of all things Zelda. You might also know that he came up underneath the tutelage of Shigeru Miyamoto, the man who created Mario. But did you know that Aonuma isn’t that good at games featuring the company’s most iconic character?
Aonuma’s been working on the Legend of Zelda franchise for 17 years. It’s not unreasonable to think he might want to do something else one day. When I asked him what Nintendo franchise he could see himself working on next, he let me know it probably wouldn’t be the one with the “It’s-a Me!” guy.
Kotaku: What Nintendo franchise would you want to tackle next?
Aonuma: It wouldn’t be Mario because I’m not any good at that type of jumping game.
Kotaku: There are different reflexes involved there. What about Pikmin? There’s some similarities there. There’s a lot of exploration and a focus on figuring out the gameworld.
Aonuma: When I look at Pikmin, I feel like it’s something that kind of comes out of a lot of the ideas for Zelda. I think that is what happened with in Mr. Miyamoto’s head. If I made a Pikmin game it might turn into a Zelda game. Zelda is the main thing I’m really interested in.
So, good news if you happen to like Aonuma’s stewardship of Link’s adventures. He wants to stick around.