Eiji Aonuma began his career at Nintendo after graduating in 1988. He has been a central figure in the Zelda series since Ocarina of Time.
Aonuma is also member of a wind orchestra called "The Wind Wakers", named after The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, composed of several Nintendo employees who perform concerts four times a year for other employees of the company. Aonuma plays percussion, including bongos, congas and timpani.
I’ve never actually finished it...I almost feel like there’s still no game more difficult than it. Every time I try to play it I end up getting 'Game Over' a few too many times and giving up partway through. Certainly after playing the original Zelda for the first time, I didn’t ever think that I wanted to make a game like that...that sense of exploration of the world itself [in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past] was really where I latched on to the series.
...it wouldn't be an utter impossibility... Thinking on it now, having a handheld Majora's Mask where you could kind of just set things down on your own time - close it, set it aside and come back to it later - might be a game play element some fans will actually take to and might really appreciate.
— Zelda series director Eiji Aonuma in a Nintendo Power interview.
We could put out a lot of titles that have online gameplay... but that wouldn't result in unique products.
Going on an adventure by yourself is lonely and dull. Navi may seem “annoying” at times, but it’s hard to imagine Ocarina of Time without communication with Navi, and communication partners like Navi have been employed in different forms in subsequent games in the Zelda series. I think that how you feel when you have to say goodbye to a partner who you sometimes thought was “annoying” is an important element of the experience of Ocarina of Time.
