Open Question: New Zelda for Wii? Release in 2009?

I am really intrigued. ... Is THIS information real? I found it online. It seems pretty detailed to be fake... but really. Would a prominent Nintendo figure interview a kid named simply, Kyle? Kyle: I would first like to thank you for allowing us to visit you here. I understand your team has been very preoccupied with preparing for your trip next month. We feel pretty honored to speak with you about this so early before E3. Eiji Aonuma: [laughs] I admit it is rare that share information this early, but I convinced Iwata-san that your writers were trustworthy enough to keep our conversation here confidential until Project Deluge is announced at the expo. Kyle: In that case, I can assure you the interview here will remain secret until July. Aonuma: Good. Should we discuss the game then? Kyle: Actually, I would appreciate if you could clarify the nature of the game. As in, what specifically do you have planned to reveal soon? Aonuma: That’s a good start. Well Project Deluge is obviously not going to be the retail title. We have been speculating as to whether we should even call this a “Legend of Zelda” game at all. As for subtitles, Valley of the Deluge seems the most favored so far. Or Valley of the Flood as it will probably translate. It is a Wii title and is currently estimated to release around late 2009 at the earliest. Kyle: That’s a long time. Aonuma: [laughs] We spend at least two years on each console installment of the franchise and usually much more than that. There was a huge gap between Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past as well as a sizable gap between Majora’s Mask and The Wind Waker. We intend to refine the game a great deal before 2009 though, so visuals won’t do it much justice. Kyle: Is A Link to the Past still your favorite game? Aonuma: I think it is. I have always strived to replicate its charm on some level. I think I did this best with The Wind Waker. The artists and musicians made something there that was more tangible than anything I’ve seen yet. More charming and immersive in a sense. I want to replicate that. Kyle: Now before we begin discussing the game mechanics and art style of Project Deluge, I am interested in hearing about what you want to illicit from this game. What aspects do you want to focus on? Aonuma: That’s a very good question. There are a few critical aspects of Deluge that I want to address. The first is a greater sense of psychological peril. Miyamoto and I have disagreed a great deal on the importance of storytelling in games. He argues for simplicity and straightforwardness and I have long believed that stories in games can be as powerful as in books if done well. So I want to assert that the game will have a much more complicated story in the sense that our hero is no longer mute. Kyle: Because he isn’t Link, right? Aonuma: I see you’ve already heard. Kyle: Rumors mostly. Aonuma: Mario will have to fix that leaky pipe one of these days. [laughs] Kyle: [laughs] I hope not. Nintendo is secret enough as it is. Go on though, I’m interested in what else you intend to emphasize with Deluge. Aonuma: I can’t divulge too much without compromising my agreement with Iwata-san, but I can tell you that because the hero is not Link this time, there is much more flexibility in terms of storytelling. I want to stress the craziness of the hero. Because this hero is not Link, but he thinks he is Link. You remember the opening of Wind Waker, correct? Where it spoke of how Link never came to slay Ganon? Kyle: One of the best openings I’ve ever seen actually. Aonuma: I’m glad. I think it was one of the best parts of the game. Well you’ll recall that Link never came and the gods essentially flooded Hyrule to destroy Ganon. So in this Hyrule. In this Hyrule I’m creating, no Hero of Time has surfaced yet and the entire land is crumbling as Ganon reaps more and more power. The races are hopeless at this point. Basically, all of Hyrule is in chaos. But this boy deludes himself into thinking that he is the Hero of Time. And of course, as the story progresses he will begin looking more and more like Link. Physically he’s different though, with black hair and more defined musculature and such. He’s obsessed of course, and wears a green tunic as Link did, forges a sword and shield similar in appearance to Link’s, and actually begins confronting Ganon’s followers. This works well considering Ganon is much more of a lunatic this time around. He’s basically gone mad and the game’s cinematics will sometimes jump to him and show this madness overpower him over the course of the game. Kyle: So the main character is insane? I like this idea. Aonuma: That’s a good way of putting it I suppose. He is insane, yes. But he’s good. He’s altruistic and a kind-spirited warrior. He has more layers of emotion than Link because he speaks in the game. He also has a pretty disturbing backstory. It’s not as dark as it