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Eiji Aonuma is The Legend of Zelda. His first game as director, Marvelous on the Super Famicom, was unashamedly influenced by Shigeru Miyamoto's early classics. Under Miyamoto's wing, he was a lead designer on Ocarina of Time, co-directed Majora's Mask, and directed The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. He's been the series' leading light since Miyamoto handed him the producer baton in the late 2000s - although it wasn't the first time the great Nintendo designer had tried to pass overall control of the series to his protégé.That was when I first met him, in 2004. I'd flown to Nintendo's HQ in Kyoto to preview an untitled new entry in the series for GameCube. It was the game that eventually became Twilight Princess. Its visual style and adolescent Link were a sharp backpedal from the childlike verve of Wind Waker's animated, toon-shaded look. In interview, Aonuma took pains to apologise for Wind Waker's slow sales and its slightly rough, rushed conclusion. He seemed low-key, reserved and humble. This week, meeting him for the second time at E3, I found out why.
It was a different Aonuma: relaxed and animated, and quietly confident, if far from boastful. The 50-year-old wore a red polo shirt with a Pikmin design, a salt-and-pepper goatee and boyishly centre-parted hair. He has a face attractively creased with deep laughter lines and an infectious chuckle.
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