Japanese gaming appears to be in decline, according to Eiji Aonuma, Director of Zelda.

Eiji Aonuma, Director of Zelda, spoke at GDC yesterday about the decline in videogaming in Nintendo's homeland of Japan.

Aonuma described the situation as "gamer drift" and he went on to explain how he has tried to evolve the Zelda series to accomodate these trends.

Aonuma said that the demand for more complex and realistic games is increasing in America, according to 1Up, where realistic shooting a driving games are favourites.

He pointed out that Japanese gamers were put off by Wind Waker's complexity, while the US frowned at its cutesy graphics, which resulted in disappointing sales. Thus a more realistic approach was taken with Twilight Princess.

Hmm, Wind Waker was often criticised by gamer's for being "too easy", but each to their own. We can't wait to see what Aonuma has planned for the series next.