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"The wolf's control perspective, for instance, strongly shapes our direction. In a typical 3-D Zelda game, the third-person perspective has the player watching the back of the character as he controls it. But Mr. Miyamoto has helped us to fully think through what this would mean for wolf control: If we used the same track, the player would constantly look at the wolf's tail. Boring. And it will be hard for the player to know which direction the wolf was running, with so much wolf tail and its rear haunches blocking the view! So; having Midna riding on the wolf's back helps us solve some of those problems. [...] Another thing, because we've never had a player directly extensively control a character with four legs before, it's hard to find precedents to know whether our solutions are authentically Zelda in spirit. Not to mention, how can I use a wolf to do Zelda-like things? A wolf can't push a block! A wolf can't climb ladders! On the other hand (and here's where things get interesting), a wolf can do some things that only a wolf can do, and we've never had this dynamic in a Zelda game before. While a wolf can't use items; another Zelda hallmark; it does have the power of a wild creature. That is, a creature of the wilderness. I promise you that it'll be a unique experience. When I'm giving guidance to my team, keeping the wolf's wildness in mind lends certain wildness to our thinking. [...] We've used motion-capture technology with professional swordfighters to get the dynamics down perfectly, and then we've used the data to bring combat to life on the GCN. We're also thinking about using motion capture with real dogs and a horse; animals are such an essential part of the game."

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