Maybe you’re interested in how games are developed. Maybe you just like listening to Nintendo Executives interview one another and make references to American TV Shows. Perhaps you’re a Legend of Zelda fan, interested in how your little piece of gaming nostalgia was created. Either way, you might be at least a little interested in the latest Iwata Asks, where Nintendo President Satoru Iwata chats to Toshihiko Nakago, Takashi Tozuka and Eiji Aonuma about Link’s Awakening, the first hand-held Zelda game for the Nintendo Game Boy.

The entire thing is a fascinating look into the development history of a classic game and a classic series. To tell you what precisely is in it would be huge amounts of spoilers, so instead I will quote individual quotes and sections from the interview out of context in an attempt to get you to read the thing yourself.

Tezuka:We’d do our regular work during normal work hours, and then work on it sort of like an afterschool club activity.

Iwata:
Like an afterschool club?

Nakago:
That’s exactly what it was like! (laughs)

Iwata:
Now just wait a second! Chomps in Zelda?

Nakago:
Yeah. They just appeared like it was normal. And Piranha Plants and Goombas, too!

Tezuka:
I didn’t try to do that on purpose, though. Oh, right, about Twin Peaks…

Aonuma:
Whoa, here we go. (laughs) Iwata-san, do you know about Twin Peaks?

Iwata:
No. Bring me up to speed. (laughs)

Nakago:
It was alright. At least Miyamoto-san didn’t up-end any tea tables this time.

Iwata:
It’s for Zelda, but it says “Adventure Mario”?

Aonuma:
It says “Bull Demon King” here. Is that Ganon? And it says “octopus.” That must be the Octorok, right? Wow… And “Eyeball” must be Gohma.

Iwata:
Huh? Just wait a second. If Tezuka-san hadn’t messed up, there’d have been no Second Quest?

Fascinating stuff. Take a look, if you’re interested. You might also want to chase up all the other Iwata Asks, because they’re equally as cool. Recommended reading includes an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto about Link’s Crossbow Training and Western and Eastern gaming tastes, another interview with former employee Masahiro Sakurai about Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s surprising origins, and a chat with Shiggy Miyamoto (again) about the beginnings of Wii Fit.