Support NeoGAF

[Calamari41]

The Zelda series is definitely in good hands at this point. It's time to let Aonuma loose to create something of his own.

 

[ghibli99]

Man, I can't imagine what it'd be like to create something and then have someone like Miyamoto play it for the first time. Elation and terror all at once. LOL So glad it went well. It could have gone really badly, like that Hayao Miyazaki clip where he comments on AI animation... that look on the team's face. So brutal.

 

[Fireblend]

He already made the best Zelda games (OoA/OoS) so he's more than worthy to the throne to me.

And that is an objective, 100% true and irrefutable fact that everyone has to come to terms with.

 

[MrSaturn99]

He directed one of the worst Zeldas (Skyward Sword) and then somehow went on to make one of the best (Breath of The Wild).

So long as he steps away from the philosophies of the Wii era, I'm cool with him.

 

[Peltz]

He's yet to make a bad game and there's a clear progression from TMC to SS to BotW.

People don't like SS, but it's clear that the goal with that game was to put more *stuff* in the open world rather than having all the interesting content in dungeons. BotW is absolutely the product of that, only now all the areas are connected.

Yep I agree with you there... They're connected, larger and more beautiful. Plus more open and with more freedom to engage with the *stuff* in multiple ways.

But how things are spaced out in general very much resembles certain layouts that were previously enclosed in Skyward Sword.

He directed one of the worst Zeldas (Skyward Sword) and then somehow went on to make one of the best (Breath of The Wild).

So long as he steps away from the philosophies of the Wii era, I'm cool with him.

I don't know man... Skyward Sword felt amazing to me at the time. I didn't realize people hated it until I started reading NeoGAF.

 

[Gartooth]

His GameBoy games were decent, but Skyward Sword was a huge misstep that made me really question the quality of future Zeldas. That game made a few improvements (breakable Shield, crafting, stamina) and a huge amount of mistakes though that paved the way for Breath of the Wild. It was such a huge improvement that it restored my love for LoZ. If he becomes the next Aonuma then he earned it.

 

[CoconutTank]

“When we first presented this to Mr. Miyamoto, he spent about an hour just climbing trees,” Fujibayashi said. “We left little treats like rupees on the trees, but we also left other things in other places we thought he might go. But he just kept climbing trees. Up and down. And so we got to the point where we go, ‘Do you want to look at other stuff?’ But he just kept on going. Once [he] got out of the Shrine of Resurrection, he spent an hour just within a 25-50 meter radius outside of that cave just climbing trees.”

Lmfao. "Mr. Miyamoto please....do something else..."

This is mostly what I did when I came out of the shrine of ressurection as well. I've already watched other streamers play botw a bit before I got around to playing it myself, but I wanted to climb all the trees that I came across. Not just for apples and eggs and twigs (and what else might be up in those trees too?), but to get a nice view of the surrounding as well, in case the vantage point helped me.

I actually spent a good 10 mins at the start climbing trees, too. The animation was fun and not all trees were the same to climb ontop. Some had items ontop too and offer easy viewing heights at the start. And taking your bow out ontop of the tree felt really cool.

Agreed :3

 

[The Lamonster]

Yeah, he's a total badass because of this. BotW is one of the greatest video games of all time.

 

[MiamiWesker]

If he wants to do away with dungeons then never touch a zelda game again. If he wants dungeons to return in the next one he is fine in my book.

 

[MrSaturn99]

I don't know man... Skyward Sword felt amazing to me at the time. I didn't realize people hated it until I started reading NeoGAF.

Actually, I felt the same way about about The Wind Waker: thought everyone loved it until I read the online reception (granted, one of the forums I used to frequent --the official Nintendo Nsider forums-- was batshit insane especially when it came to TWW, but still!).

Anyway, I recently did a 100% replay of Skyeard Sword and still didn't care for it. BOTW's take on "density" is far more in line with what I enjoy from Zelda, so, y'know, different strokes for different folks.

I really do wonder how divisive this game is going to be in the long run. Most of us are still in that post-launch catharsis, but with how much of this game there is to digest, I think this'll be the most interesting case yet. Personally, I think it falls juuuuuust short of MM/APT TO perfection but...man. Man, it's up there.

 

[Beartruck]

The director of this game worked on the Oracle games? No wonder this is my favorite Zelda game since Oracle of Seasons.

 

[Cerium]

The director of this game worked on the Oracle games? No wonder this is my favorite Zelda game since Oracle of Seasons.

They were his second directoral project after Magical Tetris Challenge.

 

[Schopenhauerian]

The OP highlights a very interesting point about Fujibayashi's role on Breath of the Wild (I posted an excerpt from the Kotaku interview myself, in a previous thread), but from reading through the replies in the rest of the thread, I'm inclined to say that in general, we should probably be more cautious when interpreting the rather sparse evidence available to us about the development process for any given game, in particular when attributing blame and credit for various game elements, or drawing broad conclusions about the merit/ability of one or another of Nintendo’s employees.

It’s all well and good up to a certain point, but once we get to the point of harsh denunciations of one or another developer, in general we’ve probably gone a bit too far, since it’s quite clearly a very complicated process:

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/twilight_princess/0/4

Iwata: ...Now, a year down the line, it's actually a surprise that it's such a solidly put-together game. In fact, until I came to interview all of the developers, I had imagined that a game of the quality and size of Zelda would be produced with strict orders being handed down from above. Without that, I thought that a project of this scale wouldn't come together. But listening to everyone, it seemed that contrary to what I had thought, everyone came up with their own individual ideas for the game. It seems that somehow everyone had their own conception of what the essence of Zelda was, even if this wasn't expressed in words. Using that nebulous idea as a sort of filter, it is the final fusing together of these individual ideas that gives the game its final form. That's one thing to do with twenty or thirty people, but when you're talking about a huge project with over seventy people, it's incredible to think that this process worked. Aonuma-san, what do you think?

Aonuma: ...In that sense, it is possible to give the staff the freedom to get on with developing the game. Needless to say, that doesn't mean I simply left everything to them. Our role is to let the young staff on each of the Zelda projects come up with their own ideas, without being overly influenced by previous Zelda titles, then take those ideas and make them work successfully within the context of the game. But at the end, the more experienced developers have to tighten the screws, so to speak, so all the elements in the game fit together. Without experience, it's extremely difficult to gauge things like how far to let the staff work freely on their own ideas, or how to put the game together in a way that will appeal to the user. It's quite easy to keep coming up with ideas, and expanding the size of the game. It's another thing to decide how best to connect those ideas. As Miyamoto-san often says, that is the part you really need to develop "a feel" for… So, for instance early on in the development process, when young developers encounter Miyamoto-san's input from the outside, a lot of them probably think things like: "Do we really have to pay attention to such tiny details?" or "Surely we don't have to worry that much about something like that?" However, when everything starts fitting together into its final form, they understand what he was doing and they'll say: "Ah, I get it! It turns out this way, so we really did need to do that from the start!" When they were working on making the game, they couldn't see this...

Miyamoto: ...In the past I would often gather my comments in one document and hand them to the people in charge. I also used to make a point of avoiding going directly to the development area and to only deal with team leaders. That's because the management of the development team had been entrusted to them. This time round however, there were of course a huge number of people involved as well as a lot of young developers. That's why I thought that rather than all these instructions appearing out of nowhere, it was better if the developers could actually see the process behind these decisions… An ulterior motive I had when I chose that way of doing things was that all the staff, not just the people in charge, would understand the criteria we use when assessing a problem. This meant that the criteria the developers applied to situations became standardised. Subsequent problems that came up were then dealt with much more swiftly. Naturally, as the number of people on a project increases, it becomes more difficult to have clear discussions of these issues… That's why I was adamant that people be made aware of the entire background and decision-making process, not simply the final conclusion or instructions that come out of it… Well, I've been involved in developing several prototypes throughout the course of the project, so there weren't any serious problems, but... Firstly, the leaders hadn't been checking the progress of the staff. Many staff members weren't able to properly execute the most fundamental parts of their assignments. They weren't able to play catch yet; in fact, they hadn't even got the gist, such as catching the ball in the middle of the glove... Sloppy work, you might say. That's why I've mostly been helping by explaining to them clearly so they could better understand what they are supposed to do in order to correctly execute their assignments. There's one thing I've been grateful for, and that is the level of motivation these people have. The cause of the sloppiness wasn't due to people's lack of motivation, but more that they were stuck in a rut due to the huge amount of work they had… Because they were already highly motivated, simply by pointing out what task they should be doing, they were able to make significant progress. And so we've managed to finish in around four months what would have taken around half a year. I was a little concerned at first, but the level of motivation within the development team has really helped…

Aonuma: ...There are so many people working on the various designs that there is inevitably a degree of inconsistency. This is where the senior directorial staff, beginning with Takizawa-san, have to step in, and as we were saying just now, decide the points that are essential, focus on retaining them and thereby maintain the game's coherence. But this time round, this was especially challenging due to the sheer amount of these tasks. But thanks to a lot of trial and error they conducted right down to the lighting and the very atmosphere of the game so that you can feel the air around you, the whole world really came together well. And the result of all these elements coming together is that Link now moves exceptionally well. The atmosphere in this game reminds me a lot of Ocarina of Time. That game's atmosphere really was in a class of its own and I'm sure fans of the series will agree. The staff here held that as one of their aims and believe that, by using Ocarina as a basis, they've been able to revive that atmosphere in a new form...

Miyamoto: ...There were a huge amount of decisions which they said had "been made by all of them" and that therefore shouldn't be changed. My answer to this was: "You couldn't all have decided, somebody must've made the decision! Who was it?" ...One other thing that I've noticed is that the younger members of staff, who've yet to work on that many projects, don't have a very clear idea of what it takes to bring a project to completion. With video games, the people who truly bring a project to completion are the senior staff such as the director, not the entire team. Those people involved in the project just seem to rush towards the end and cross the finish line without having a clear idea of what's happening. With time, those people develop a clearer idea of what is required to finish off a game properly. I think the company has gained a significant amount through the development of Zelda, as the number of staff we have with these skills has grown…

There was another interesting bit from these Twilight Princess interviews:

Man, I can't imagine what it'd be like to create something and then have someone like Miyamoto play it for the first time. Elation and terror all at once. LOL So glad it went well. It could have gone really badly, like that Hayao Miyazaki clip where he comments on AI animation... that look on the team's face. So brutal.

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/twilight_princess/0/9

Aonuma: In this sense, we haven't made any compromises in bringing this world to life, and it's clear to see that the staff haven't cut any corners either.

Iwata: It certainly gives that impression.

Miyamoto: I once had a discussion with Hayao Miyazaki when he was making Porco Rosso and he asked me if I knew the way to make a landscape look authentic from a bird's-eye view. I wasn't sure and when I asked him what it was, he said: "Just keep drawing!" (laughs) It seems it's all about putting your nose to the grindstone and adding more and more detail. With this Zelda there were times when that was just what we did, and it was precisely because we put so much into the graphic detail that the game looks really good when the camera pulls away to take in the surrounding view...

 

[FloweryMarston]

Actually, I felt the same way about about The Wind Waker: thought everyone loved it until I read the online reception (granted, one of the forums I used to frequent --the official Nintendo Nsider forums-- was batshit insane especially when it came to TWW, but still!).

Anyway, I recently did a 100% replay of Skyeard Sword and still didn't care for it. BOTW's take on "density" is far more in line with what I enjoy from Zelda, so, y'know, different strokes for different folks.

I really do wonder how divisive this game is going to be in the long run. Most of us are still in that post-launch catharsis, but with how much of this game there is to digest, I think this'll be the most interesting case yet. Personally, I think it falls juuuuuust short of MM/APT TO perfection but...man. Man, it's up there.

I think that in terms of being divisive, this game will probably be the RE4 for some fans of the series, but a little less than that. The problem with skyward sword is that it is a game that goes way too hard on linearity and feeling and certain things that take a long time (animation to get an item in a new play session, for example). This game though has already been established by many fans as an all time classic, it's fun to play, the world is incredible, the secrets are amazing, and the overall gameplay is brand new.

TP people had issues because the game could feel too "derivative" and the pacing was off in some areas. I think that we are now distanced enough to love wind waker and majora's more broadly, something that didn't happen to some fans at the time.


Breath of the wild basically answers every single issue people had with past titles in a very intelligent way. It's challenging in combat and puzzles, doesn't hold your hand, the pacing can literally be molded by you, hard to have a dull moment on the game.

The direction of the series hasn't been this promising in a while, the game feels relevant, a lot of people are talking about it and it even can cause an impact on the design of other open world games.

If nintendo delivers on super mario odyssey, releases a new animal crossing, and a new metroid that is absolutely phenomenal, the switch will be looked VERY fondly by me

 

[Tarextherex]

Oracle of Ages is the secret best portable Zelda game.

Definitely

The DS games were the worst mainline ones but they were restricted by their very concept, it wasn't his fault tbh. Spirit Tracks being a clear step up from Phantom Hourglass proves that this guy is a competent director even during the darker age. Before that he made all of the actual best portable Zeldas and after that he made two great console games. While they may be controversial in their general design philosophy for some fans they are still very well made games that actually add elements of value to the series.

 

[syncyes]

I don't understand how people can not like Minish Cap It's such a charming game!

 

[Neoxon]

Matt from YoVideogames disagrees, at least from a story perspective.

The Zelda franchise is in good hands from a gameplay perspective, if you ask me.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

The Zelda series is definitely in good hands at this point. It's time to let Aonuma loose to create something of his own.

Aonuma is a producer. Fujibayashi is a director. Aonuma is going to remain a producer managing 2-3 teams at time. His directing days are over.

 

[NewGame]

Liked the Oracle games.

Minish Cap felt too safe and typical, indifferent to it.

Skyward Sword is a pile of garbage and don't you try to argue otherwise you puzzle obsessed gronk.

Breath Of The Wild could be game of this generation, both a swan song of the WiiU and the flag ship of the Switch

So if my calculations are correct he is definitely changing things up, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.

 

[SuperAndroid17]

Who composed the music and whats his track history?

 

[Chronospherics]

Huh, I didn't know this. That makes sense. That's why my favourite Zelda games are Wind Waker, Oracle of Seasons/Ages, Minish Cap, and now Breath of the Wild.

Though BotW sits at the bottom of that list (I prefer Wind Waker and the others) I has a certain charm that I found some of the other games lack. There's a sense of discovery and exploration in all of those games that I didn't feel was quite there in Twilight Princess, Majoras Mask and Ocarina of Time.

 

[Cerium]

Who composed the music and whats his track history?

That would be Manaka Kataoka and she is a her.

Before this she was The Animal Crossing Composer™.

Definitely

The DS games were the worst mainline ones but they were restricted by their very concept, it wasn't his fault tbh. Spirit Tracks being a clear step up from Phantom Hourglass proves that this guy is a competent director even during the darker age. Before that he made all of the actual best portable Zeldas and after that he made two great console games. While they may be controversial in their general design philosophy for some fans they are still very well made games that actually add elements of value to the series.

Fujibayashi did not direct Phantom Hourglass and had nothing to do with Spirit Tracks.

 

[Ansatz]

“When we first presented this to Mr. Miyamoto, he spent about an hour just climbing trees,” Fujibayashi said. “We left little treats like rupees on the trees, but we also left other things in other places we thought he might go. But he just kept climbing trees. Up and down. And so we got to the point where we go, ‘Do you want to look at other stuff?’ But he just kept on going. Once [he] got out of the Shrine of Resurrection, he spent an hour just within a 25-50 meter radius outside of that cave just climbing trees.”

lool I did the same thing, it was more like half an hour but yeah I was literally just climbing all the trees there and collected branches/apples until I snapped out of it and thought what the heck am I doing.

 

[Tarextherex]

Fujibayashi did not direct Phantom Hourglass and had nothing to do with Spirit Tracks.

Oh wow that's true, he was only sub-director/writer for PH, remember seeing his name on Wikipedia so I assumed he did both. Makes the guy's portfolio even more impressive then

 

[MisterGrey3000]

I don't know man... Skyward Sword felt amazing to me at the time. I didn't realize people hated it until I started reading NeoGAF.

One might never know that Skyward Sword was a "decisive" "divisive" game if they rarely visit enthusiast spaces and only looked over the game's initial critical reception.
It's actually kind of rare to run into SS's rabid hatedom outside of places like GAF in my experience.

 

[DecoReturns]

That would be Manaka Kataoka and she is a her.

Before this she was The Animal Crossing Composer™.


Fujibayashi did not direct Phantom Hourglass and had nothing to do with Spirit Tracks.

The music was co-composed. It also includes Yasuaki Iwata. If you got the select soundtrack from the SE half the tracks are in his name.

 

[Cerium]

The music was co-composed. It also includes Yasuaki Iwata. If you got the select soundtrack from the SE off the tracks are in his name.

Which one of them did the launch trailer music?

 

[duckroll]

One might never know that Skyward Sword was a "decisive" game if they rarely visit enthusiast spaces and only looked over the game's initial critical reception.
It's actually kind of rare to run into SS's rabid hatedom outside of places like GAF in my experience.

What did it decide exactly?

 

[MisterGrey3000]

What did it decide exactly?

???
I'm lost.

 

[MrSaturn99]

I think that in terms of being divisive, this game will probably be the RE4 for some fans of the series, but a little less than that. The problem with skyward sword is that it is a game that goes way too hard on linearity and feeling and certain things that take a long time (animation to get an item in a new play session, for example). This game though has already been established by many fans as an all time classic, it's fun to play, the world is incredible, the secrets are amazing, and the overall gameplay is brand new.

TP people had issues because the game could feel too "derivative" and the pacing was off in some areas. I think that we are now distanced enough to love wind waker and majora's more broadly, something that didn't happen to some fans at the time.


Breath of the wild basically answers every single issue people had with past titles in a very intelligent way. It's challenging in combat and puzzles, doesn't hold your hand, the pacing can literally be molded by you, hard to have a dull moment on the game.

The direction of the series hasn't been this promising in a while, the game feels relevant, a lot of people are talking about it and it even can cause an impact on the design of other open world games.

If nintendo delivers on super mario odyssey, releases a new animal crossing, and a new metroid that is absolutely phenomenal, the switch will be looked VERY fondly by me

Resident Evil 4 is actually a great comparison; I can totally see that happening.

What did it decide exactly?

lol

 

[MisterGrey3000]

lol

Was it the grammar or something?
Whatever duckroll is addressing or mocking is flying over my head.

 

[Davey Cakes]

Hmmm. Unfortunately it seems like Skyward Sword won't get its "Wind Waker moment" where people realize how great it is upon reflection.

I swear, if Nintendo didn't bother with motion controls (as much as I liked them, personally) and removed the handholding from Skyward Sword, it'd be MUCH more highly regarded.

 

[DecoReturns]

Which one of them did the launch trailer music?

Don't know, wasn't in the soundtrack unfortunately

 

[FearMyWrench]

Was it the grammar or something?
Whatever duckroll is addressing or mocking is flying over my head.

I think you meant to say divisive.

You goofed though

 

[Conkerkid11]

It's probably my favorite game of all-time, so in my opinion, definitely.

 

[Deleted member 465307]

Was it the grammar or something?
Whatever duckroll is addressing or mocking is flying over my head.

Your original post said the game was a "decisive" one. I assume duckroll was asking you to explain that. I don't know what you were trying to say with that either.

EDIT: FearMyWrench's explanation makes sense.

 

[Exodust]

To think this dude worked on Phantom Hourglass and directed Skyward Sword...

From two of the worst Zelda games to now one of the very best. Hats off to him.

 

[Illucio]

I'm not a fan of any of his previous work for Zelda games, but I thought Aonuma was still the main force behind a lot of the big changes in the series direction.

I can't really give credit to Fujibayashi since almost every interview has been with Aonuma and we don't really know what he contributed to the game since there has been little attention to him.

 

[OriginalPoe]

Oracle(s) and now Breath of the Wild?

Yeah he's earned it.

 

[SporeCrawler]

miyamoto hands down. nothing will ever top OoT AND Lttp

 

[Eusis]

Matt from YoVideogames disagrees, at least from a story perspective.

The Zelda franchise is in good hands from a gameplay perspective, if you ask me.

Not watching the video, but I kind of feel that it was a lost cause once they decided to just retreat back to Hyrule (even with Spirit Tracks naming a new kingdom [queendom?] Hyrule too, god damn) rather than run with Wind Waker's ending to explore a larger world more fully. I imagine not having Koizumi on the series anymore hampered things there, and frankly the stronger-ish story focus was worthless when it's retreading the same basic story again and again anyway.

But from a gameplay point it's definitely looking better than it has for a long time, and for fleshing out Hyrule as a gameplay field it's doing a damn good job anyway.

 

[Cerium]

miyamoto hands down. nothing will ever top OoT AND Lttp

Aonuma directed OOT.

 

[MisterGrey3000]

I think you meant to say divisive.

You goofed though

Your original post said the game was a "decisive" one. I assume duckroll was asking you to explain that. I don't know what you were trying to say with that either.

EDIT: FearMyWrench's explanation makes sense.

Lol!
Dang, I'm a dummy.

Hmmm. Unfortunately it seems like Skyward Sword won't get its "Wind Waker moment" where people realize how great it is upon reflection.

I swear, if Nintendo didn't bother with motion controls (as much as I liked them, personally) and removed the handholding from Skyward Sword, it'd be MUCH more highly regarded.

(Assuming that SSHD isn't announced relatively soon...) I'd wait until we're into the early 2020s to make this call because I have no doubt that people who grew up with that game will remember it fondly.

 

[sfried]

I prefer Seasons.

It depends if you're more combat oriented (Seasons) or like tough as nails puzzle solutions (Ages).

 

[duckroll]

The biggest take away here that really hits hard is that this anecdote from the staff is a reminder that Iwata wasn't just a boss, a business head, or the guy giving them good directions to work towards. He was a person who loved in games because he loved games and people were actually excited to share ideas with him and discuss stuff because they knew that he was someone who could not just give them good feedback but someone who would actually appreciate that sort of exchange.

:/



T_T

 

[takriel]

He is the director of SS and BotW. He's definitely earned it in my book.

 

[Oblivion]

Not going to comment on his abilities as a director for the console Zeldas as I haven't played BotW yet and I'm only two dungeons in SS. But I will say I always found it odd how this guy was chosen to lead a mainline Zelda even though 1) he was a former Capcom employee and 2) up until SS, he only directed spinoff Zeldas. You would think that after all these years of loyal service, Miyamoto would hand the reins to someone like Yoichi Yamada, who has worked on pretty much every major Zelda since LttP, but never got to direct any so far. Or hell, even if he didn't get the job, you'd think someone else with seniority at Nintendo would.

 

[Nickle]

I still don't like his "it's awful when the player gets lost" ethos. I think Breath of the Wild is a brilliantly designed game, but the lack of item progression really hurts what made exploration fun in past Zelda games (this was also a problem in ALBW).

Exploration in the original Legend of Zelda is great because the reward for exploring is amazing. There's absolutely nothing better then discovering a new item or a new dungeon, it's a feeling that you get from very few other games. While exploring and traversing the world is super fun in BotW, you'll rarely get a reward as good as a brand new item or a new dungeon. Most rewards are just stat boosts or scavenging materials, and you can find that type of stuff in most open world games.

I think having certain areas of the world be innacesible isn't a bad thing, it just makes you want to figure out how to get into the area, and that makes exploring meaningful.

 

[Schopenhauerian]

miyamoto hands down. nothing will ever top OoT AND Lttp

Aonuma directed OOT.

...Iwata wasn't just a boss, a business head, or the guy giving them good directions to work towards. He was a person who loved in games because he loved games and people were actually excited to share ideas with him and discuss stuff because they knew that he was someone who could not just give them good feedback but someone who would actually appreciate that sort of exchange...

...You would think that after all these years of loyal service, Miyamoto would hand the reins to someone like Yoichi Yamada, who has worked on pretty much every major Zelda since LttP, but never got to direct any so far. Or hell, even if he didn't get the job, you'd think someone else with seniority at Nintendo would.

In relation to the posts above, as well as the earlier post about how difficult it often is (especially without the intervention of someone like Iwata) to get a deep understanding of the development process, it's interesting to look at the rather complicated credits for Ocarina of Time (on which Yamada was apparently given the same title as Aonuma):

Producer/Supervisor: Shigeru Miyamoto
Game System Directors: Yoichi Yamada & Eiji Aonuma
3D System Director/Character Design: Yoshiaki Koizumi
Script Director: Toru Osawa
Program Director: Toshio Iwawaki

The new Miyamoto was actually supposed to be Yoichi Yamada. Who Dylan Cuthbert also said was one of the most brilliant designers he ever worked with. Moby Games search Yoichi Yamada and you will find one of the most impressive and varied resumes of any designer. He just has not got the press or notoriety.

Unfortunate that, at least according to the Wikipedia listing (which looks pretty comprehensive), Yamada was never part of an Iwata Asks interview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Iwata_Asks_interviews

http://uk.cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/the-legend-of-zelda-the-wind-waker-2/520166p2.html
GameSpy: What are some of your past projects?
Aonuma: I started working on my first Zelda franchise about eight years ago. Before that, I was not working under Mr. Miyamoto. I was in another group doing design work and doing drawings, but nothing major. The title of one game was Marvelous. (Marvelous, or Mouhitotsu no Takarajim, was an RPG for the Super Famicom.) The game was never localized and sold in the Unite States. I also did all of the character design on Mario Open Golf. Those are the only ones I can think of at the moment.
GameSpy: Was Ocarina of Time an apprenticeship for making Zelda games?
Aonuma: Actually, the game that I mentioned, Marvelous, was heavily influenced by A Link to the Past. Mr. Miyamoto saw the game and asked me to join him on Ocarina of Time, and I got to incorporate the same types of things in that game -- dungeon layouts, enemy placement, and things like that. I do not believe it was some kind of apprenticeship for me to become the go-to Zelda guy, it was just a job that I was given.
GameSpy: What was your title on Ocarina of Time?
Aonuma: Game system director.
GameSpy: My understanding is that during the last days of the creation of Ocarina of Time, Mr. Miyamoto was taken off the project.
Aonuma: It was the opposite. At the beginning of the project, his attitude was "Okay, guys, I will let you go ahead and make this game." At some point, he said, "No, no. I've got to get in here." He jumped in and took control of the direction. It was not him beginning then leaving, it was him watching and then taking over the reins. I think maybe we were moving a bit slow for him. Obviously, Mr. Miyamoto had a large passion for Ocarina of Time. He could not hold back anymore. He jumped in and started giving direction.
GameSpy: Any idea what percentage of the game was complete when he took over?
Aonuma: Tough question. Maybe 50 percent, I guess.

http://www.ign.com/articles/1997/06/19/e3-through-the-eyes-of-miyamoto-pt-2
IGN: How much of your job is now hands-on, and how are you involved in current games?
Miyamoto: It's very hard for me to say now. Three years ago I was director and producer of Super Mario 64. Then I only worked on Mario. Now I'm a producer on almost every game except Zelda 64. On Zelda 64 I'm half director and half producer.

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/ds/zelda/0/0/
Aonuma: All right. Our first 3D The Legend of Zelda game for the N64 turned out to be The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I did some direction on that one, although it was only partial: I was in charge of dungeon design.
Iwata: Somehow, I had the impression that you'd been overseeing everything since Ocarina of Time, Aonuma-san. Now that I think about it, I guess that wasn't the case.
Aonuma: Absolutely not. I managed to stay out of the line of fire most of the time back then. (laughs)

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/zelda-ocarina-of-time/1/0
Osawa: I'm [Toru] Osawa from the Special-Planning & Development Department. When development of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time began, they called me in to the Entertainment Analysis & Development Division (EAD) and put me to work. This project had a lot of directors, but I was the oldest, so I was a sort of general director.
Iwata: About how many directors were there?
Osawa: Five altogether. I listened to each director's opinion and coordinated them, saying, "All right, all right, I get it. This is what we'll do." I also worked on the story and script.

 

[Oblivion]

In relation to the posts above, as well as the earlier post about how difficult it often is (especially without the intervention of someone like Iwata) to get a deep understanding of the development process, it's interesting to look at the rather complicated credits for Ocarina of Time (on which Yamada was apparently given the same title as Aonuma):

Producer/Supervisor: Shigeru Miyamoto
Game System Directors: Yoichi Yamada & Eiji Aonuma
3D System Director/Character Design: Yoshiaki Koizumi
Script Director: Toru Osawa
Program Director: Toshio Iwawaki


Unfortunate that, at least according to the Wikipedia listing (which looks pretty comprehensive), Yamada was never part of an Iwata Asks interview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Iwata_Asks_interviews

It's incredibly bizarre how Yamada has never participated in an Iwata Asks. He didn't even get mentioned in the OoT interview even though he was third in the credits!