http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3140040&did=1





[page 1]

___________________________________________
      Heading to Japan to see the game (Page 1 of 8)
      by Mark MacDonald  05.03.2005

"Covering a game on the scale of the new The Legend of Zelda is no easy 
task, especially when that task includes flying to Japan, conducting 
multiple interviews, and trying to cram all that information into one 
feature for Electronic Gaming Monthly. So to make sure we didn't leave out 
anything, we present this companion feature online -- including the 
behind-the-scenes story of our trip to Nintendo in Japan, an extra portion 
of the Eiji Aonuma interview we didn't have room for in the magazine, and a 
rare interview with Nintendo music legend Koji Kondo. Oh, and there are a 
couple of extra exclusive screenshots as well.

Check out the June issue of EGM, on newsstands as of today, for our hands-on 
report and main interview with Aonuma, and read on for everything we 
couldn't fit in print.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------






Our trip begins, as all good trips do, at the power strip the night before 
my flight. (If you're already rolling your eyes, you'll want to just skip 
ahead five pics or so to where we arrive at Nintendo -- I won't be offended, 
I promise.) Anyway, the flight from San Francisco to Osaka is 380 hours 
long, I can't sleep on planes, and my Doctor refuses to prescribe me any 
good drugs, so this is what I'm left with. All my travel needs are charging 
off six sockets: the Mac laptop (don't ask), old-ass iPod, shiny new PSP, 
cell phone, Nintendo DS, and digital camera (not pictured -- duh).




Well this one obviously didn't turn out. Digital photos of a bright screen 
in a dark plane are a bad idea, as I now know. What you should be seeing 
here is a real-time in-air map: The blur on the left is Japan, the blur on 
the right is America, and that blur in the middle is the plane. Suffice to 
say it's a long, long flight, and you really begin to appreciate those few 
extra inches in United's Economy Plus on an international flight. Tom, the 
Nintendo PR rep escorting me, is nice enough to stop by just long enough to 
laugh at my seat. He reeks of expensive scotch and the exotic oils and 
perfumes he's no doubt being massaged with up in Business class. Did I 
mention it is a long flight?

The plane lands and after a short train ride from Osaka we're there: Kyoto, 
Japan's ancient capital (it's now Tokyo) and home of Nintendo. Our hotel is 
actually built into Kyoto station in the center of town, a stone's throw 
from the world-famous Kyoto Tower! (Actually, it's not that famous, probably 
because it's not that tall. Or interesting. Or impressive, really, in any 
sense of the word.) But it looked like the sort of thing you're supposed to 
take a picture of, so I did. I haven't slept in over 24 hours by this point, 
but I'm excited to have finally arrived, so we stash our luggage and head to 
dinner.





Skip to 6 AM the next morning. I've only slept about five hours but that's 
all jetlag is going to allow me today. (I find out later Tom has been up 
since about 3:30). I go over the two-inch thick stack of old Aonuma 
interviews I'd printed out for research, and sift through my questions one 
more time, trying to order them in a logical manner that will no doubt be 
tossed out the window in the course of an actual, flowing conversation. I 
also test the different picture modes on my camera (as you can see here) to 
try and find if there are any worthwhile effects. There are not.





We take a cab over in the morning rain and I see it: Nintendo HQ! The holy 
land. The cradle of modern gaming civilization. If you could travel back in 
time and tell my 13 year-old self I would be here, my little head would 
explode. Then, of course, I would never be here. TIME PARADOX. Anyway, I am 
here, and there is Nintendo HQ, and it's...it's...white. So...very...white. 
I'd been told to expect a fairly nondescript office building, and wasn't 
expecting a gingerbread house with lollipop trees and pokemon frolicking in 
the grass or anything but...well, let's just say it felt a bit odd.

We check in at the gate house and -- aha! This is Nintendo. Little pikachus 
all around, some pikmin in the back, and a friendly guard who will take us 
on a whirlwind, song-filled tour of this wonderland of imagination! Well, at 
least he put his hat on and saluted for the photo, which was pretty cool. We 
hand over the business cards and are directed to the main building without 
so much as a glance down at them. Apparently, they've been expecting two 
white guys."

_______________________________________________



7 more pages starting here:

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3140040