See, now we want to know more
1080° Snowboarding is one of the most commercially successful and critically-acclaimed N64 titles, bringing gorgeous visuals, realistic gameplay, and some kick-ass music to the console, making it one of the coolest titles around at the time.
In an interview with Hyrule Interviews, however, veteran Nintendo producer and graphic designer Jim Wornell states that the game actually had “a ton of questionable stuff” removed in order to clear certification.
Wornell was asked about games being updated post-release, with Ocarina of Time brought up for its changes regarding Ganondorf coughing up blood and the chanting in the Fire Temple music. Wornell states that most questionable material is removed prior to a game’s initial release, citing 1080° Snowboarding as one such example:
“You might have to re-approve a game if it was a player’s choice title or… um, maybe not, not if it was player’s choice… Usually by the time the game came out, all of the questionable material was addressed or taken out.
“I remember, yeah, 1080° Snowboarding. There was a ton of questionable stuff that got removed from that game.”
Frankly, we want to know what kind of content was removed now.
This is just one small snippet from Wornell’s extensive interview, so it’s well worth reading the whole thing if you get the chance. He also delves into how his inability to climb the seniority ladder at the company led to his eventual exit – Nintendo is well known for keeping its staff around, so this is a clear indication that Wornell’s seniors just weren’t going anywhere.
Furthermore, despite being an associate producer for most of Ocarina of Time’s development, he switched roles and entered the graphic design department at the end. Thanks to this, the game credits only refer to him as a ‘Manual Editor’.
As for credits in general, Nintendo had limiting budget regarding how many developers could be credited, so the associate producer would be forced to nominate a list of names to be included. Those not nominated would simply be excluded.
