Majora’s Mask Development Could Have Had Delays but Eiji Aonuma Refused to Delay it

As it turns out, Miyamoto was willing to break his own time table for the betterment of the Zelda staff working under Eiji Aonuma while they developed Majora’s Mask. While Miyamoto was the person who gave them the one year restriction, towards the end of development he softened and told Eiji Aonuma he could delay the release of the game. This was mostly because the team was working insane hours to try and meet the release deadline that might have been a bit unhealthy. Eiji Aonuma seemed to act as if he was insulted at the notion, quickly turning it down and even acting mad at the suggestion:

“Aonuma: At the time when I was told I had to make it in a year, I was extremely focused on thinking how great it would be if we could make it happen, and how disappointed I would be if I couldn’t do it. I started working on the game with that kind of mindset, but towards the end of the game’s development, we had to work under severe time constraints. That’s when Miyamoto-san told me that we could delay the game’s release. That’s when I…

Iwata: Did you get angry?

Aonuma: I did! I got mad. I said to him, pretty loudly, “There’s no way we can do that now!”

Iwata: Oh wow! (laughs)

Aonuma: I also remember telling him “We’ll definitely make this in one year!” Looking back at it now, I said something unbelievable to my boss!

Iwata: You really were young! (laughs)

Aonuma: Yeah. Miyamoto-san did tell us to make it in a year but he must have been concerned towards the end.

Iwata: He must have been worried that you were all exhausted.

Aonuma: I suppose. And at that time, I did have a sense that I was being pushed on by something strange.

Iwata: You may have been wearing one of those masks! (laughs)”

Eiji Aonuma certainly was dedicated to the task at hand, thus failure was not an option. We’re certainly glad, as we ended up with what many consider to be one of the better and most unique entries in the series.

Source: Iwata Asks