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I Think That Nintendo is Just Being Cheap Skates...

Twilit Archon

We Burn... Burn With Us.
Joined
Oct 30, 2011
...when it comes to voice acting. Really though, who can blame them? If they can get fantastic sales without it, why bother spending more money? Voice acting would mean that they would have to pay for both Japanese AND English voice actors, and those voice actors would likely get a piece of every game sale (if my understanding of royalties is correct).

There is obviously no reason NOT to have characters other then Link talk. Midna used the animal crossing gibberish talking for one thing. This was clearly to give her more personality and uniqueness without incurring costs and drama from hiring voice actos. Navi, to everyone's annoyance, constantly shouted out "Hey, Look, Listen!" as often as she could.

As for the whole taboo thing about Link talking, this is complete BS. Non canon excursions aside, Link has talked at least twice that I have noted. The first time was in AoL when he finds a mirror under a table and says "I found a mirror under the table". While I have heard debates from some people as this being a mistranslation, or its someone under the table talking or something like that, the second time is clearly unmistakable. In Wind Waker when he is trying to get something to follow him in an escort mission, he clearly shouts "Come On". Link has spoken. The gimmick is over. Nintendo is avoiding voice acting to avoid costs and drama, which is fine, as long as people understand that fact.

Something I just had to get off of my chest.

Update: Talk about under the radar. Anyone remember that announced game Tetra's Trackers wayyyyyy back when? Well It actually came out... In Japan... With Four Swords Adventures... With full Japanese voice acting that could synthesize names... and was called Navi trackers... and had English localization work going on it... but was never brought to America because Nintendo was too lazy to program vocal synthesization of the Latin alphabet. While this is probably very old news for many people, it proves my point nicely. Nintendo is avoiding voice work to avoid cost and hassle.
 
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onidarklink2

An Hero of our Time
Joined
Sep 19, 2011
Location
Right behind you in a camo suit ;)
I think they haven't put voice acting in any of the games b/c, really, Zelda doesn't need it. It hasn't ever had voice acting before and has has been just fine without it. Personally, I think voice acting would hurt the series more than it would help it, because Nintendo has a habit of having cheesy voice acting in their games. Also, having just text and no voicework makes it so that you can try to imagine what the characters' voices would sound like for yourself. I don't really think money would be a very big factor in Nintendo not having voicework- they had enough money for voicework in plenty of other games they've made. I think they just realize that it isn't necessary for a Zelda game to have voice acting.
 

JakeProtagonist

Defender of Peace
Joined
Oct 2, 2011
Location
Hyrule
Why Doesnt Anyone ever realize that, when it comes to Zelda anyway, since you can name yourself what ever you want, They would have to record every possible name in the dictionary... Which would also end up being restrictive with the names. So they dont do it, and I dont blame them. With Stuff like Mass Effect it worked but thats because no one ever calls you by your first name. It would ruin a, admittedly small part, but still a part of the creativity of the game.

Its also Like reading a book, You can let your imagination run wild to have the characters sound like how YOU want them to. Which is Awesome!
(Besides, Sunshine had voice acting, and it was... OK-ish.)
 
S

SS,OoT,WW,TP

Guest
I would actually like link to have some personality, voice acting or not. I'm tired of him being the "slave of time" who always gets reincarnated whenever the world is in danger and always does what everyone tells him to do.
 

Twilit Archon

We Burn... Burn With Us.
Joined
Oct 30, 2011
Jake:
This isn't entirely true. Mass Effect isn't the only game that has done things like this. Final Fantasy X let you name your hero and just skirted around using the name in voiced scenes, as well as the Zelda inspired Fable series having a completely nameless hero that just uses titles.

This could be accomplished very easily in Zelda games as well. In Twilight Princess for instance people could have called Link "That Ordon Boy" or Midna could have called him "Wolf Boy" or sarcastically "Hero" which both would have suited her character. Having some voice acting does not mean that everything has to be voice acted. I just think that as Zelda gets more and more elaborate with their cutscenes, with subtle emotional facial cues and even mouth movement, the text is becoming more of a distraction.

What's more, being able to name Link is really kind of a joke isn't it? In the early games it was cool to name a character what you wanted, but come on, he's Link. I'd be willing to bet that 99% of people are jarred after they are out in a dungeon or Hyrule field or whatever for an hour, then come back to town and talk to someone, and that person calls them "Bob". The character is plainly Link and naming the character should never factor into the decision for whether or not voice acting should be involved.
 
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SNOlink

I'm baack. Who missed me?
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Sep 7, 2011
Location
United States, Michigan
Metroid Other M had voice acting, so it's not all of Nintendo. It only has to do with the Zelda creators keeping the games the way they were before.
 

Ronin

There you are! You monsters!
Forum Volunteer
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Feb 8, 2011
Location
Alrest
Link's silence actually evokes more immersion out of the entire game for me. Introducing a voice to Link would break that independence we feel as him. And I love having multiple options over a linear answer that would likely lead to some predictable point.
 
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Well I'm not one who likes the cinematic direction modern games are taking I feel it detracts from the game-play.
With many voice acted games i feel that conversations and cut scenes really just become a movie and I'm not really involved.

Now I'm not saying i dislike games with voice acting but it is one of the many reasons Zelda is far above the rest.

And besides i always felt Zelda talked through the music. It's like an instrumental piece sure you could through some vocals on it but if it's good enough the only way to go is down.
 

Adam

Undefeated
Joined
Oct 10, 2011
I would actually like link to have some personality, voice acting or not. I'm tired of him being the "slave of time" who always gets reincarnated whenever the world is in danger and always does what everyone tells him to do.

if you have been watching trailers for SS, Link has the most emotion he ever has before.
 
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Location
Kalamazoo, MI
Brilliant.

Any other revelations you want to share with us? Like "fire is hot" or "water is wet"?

At this point, calling Nintendo cheap skates is like calling a midget short. It's become an obvious fact, so no one bothers caring.
 

Adam

Undefeated
Joined
Oct 10, 2011
after re-reading the original post, there is no act. it has nothing to do with costs, they may be cheap skates sure but that's not the point. Zelda i believe is designed to NOT have voice acting. period. in many peoples' opinions it would ruin what the series has become. Its musical focus in order to convey the emotions is profound and certainly well executed. was it on ZD that i read an article about voice acting back in the summer? its absolutely absurd to call Nintendo cheap because of a lack of voice acting. Instead call them cheap for charging $20 for a 3ds peripheral that should have been on the original design!!!!! grrr
 
Joined
Sep 25, 2011
There are plenty of instances where voice acting has been done with a nameable character. FFX, Dragon Age, Fable's done it well with all their games, Mass Effect. It's not hard to do apparently. As far as having multiple choices? come on... the only choice we're really ever presented with is "Did you understand all that?" other than that the game gives us a smart aleck answer that if we do choose it will lead to the character asking going for a loop until your answer is yes or they'll have you answer no and have you do it anyway. Many games such as Zelda work that way. Whether we want to say it or not Zelda has become a story game and it will continue to go that direction. I love it! The story of Zelda is always amazing. If they added voice acting to it, if they took their time with it and did it right, could make Zelda even more amazing then it already is. It's a matter of making sure the voices work with their character and if you hire someone who can't voice act of course it's gonna be horrible. I wouldn't mind it one bit if Link actually talked, if they gave him the right voice. We already hear him swing his sword, groan or scream in pain or surprise and grunt in acknowledgement. He does already have a voice template if we think about that. Also, he does talk in the game. He doesn't just stare at the person he's talking to, they just don't incorporate his words or voice into the scene.
 

JakeProtagonist

Defender of Peace
Joined
Oct 2, 2011
Location
Hyrule
Jake:
This isn't entirely true. Mass Effect isn't the only game that has done things like this. Final Fantasy X let you name your hero and just skirted around using the name in voiced scenes, as well as the Zelda inspired Fable series having a completely nameless hero that just uses titles.

This could be accomplished very easily in Zelda games as well. In Twilight Princess for instance people could have called Link "That Ordon Boy" or Midna could have called him "Wolf Boy" or sarcastically "Hero" which both would have suited her character. Having some voice acting does not mean that everything has to be voice acted. I just think that as Zelda gets more and more elaborate with their cutscenes, with subtle emotional facial cues and even mouth movement, the text is becoming more of a distraction.

What's more, being able to name Link is really kind of a joke isn't it? In the early games it was cool to name a character what you wanted, but come on, he's Link. I'd be willing to bet that 99% of people are jarred after they are out in a dungeon or Hyrule field or whatever for an hour, then come back to town and talk to someone, and that person calls them "Bob". The character is plainly Link and naming the character should never factor into the decision for whether or not voice acting should be involved.
Well I personally Like to make myself Think Im the Hero with My own Name. I like how they call you by your name instead of the stock recorded titles in Fable. This is my opinion of Course but still, I like people calling me by My own Name, Voice acting or not.
 

Twilit Archon

We Burn... Burn With Us.
Joined
Oct 30, 2011
People tend to focus on the bad voice acting over the good voice acting. I'm not saying that the Zelda series needs to be voiced at all costs. I'm just saying that as the cut scenes get more and more in depth, it is just as increasingly irksome to me that no one is speaking aloud. I find the concept of characters mouths moving to just text and no audio weird at the best of times, and sometimes even down right unnerving. The Zelda series is great without VA work, but with good VA work, I think that it would be as close to perfect as a video game series possibly can be. Keep in mind that this is Nintendo, this is ZELDA, not some little third party dev starting up a new IP. They could get REAL Hollywood actors to voice characters if they really wanted, not just anime VAs.
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2011
Location
Ohio
The only voice acted game that I have played is star wars Knights of the old republic (favorite non nintendo game). The sonic games with it make me sad. It would not work for zelda. imo at least. I feel that having text makes zelda more intellectual. It worked for KotOR2 is that you still had to chose how to reply. In zelda you normaly if at all have to say yes or no so all you would be doing is listening to people rambling on when you dont even care what they have to say.

What's more, being able to name Link is really kind of a joke isn't it? In the early games it was cool to name a character what you wanted, but come on, he's Link. I'd be willing to bet that 99% of people are jarred after they are out in a dungeon or Hyrule field or whatever for an hour, then come back to town and talk to someone, and that person calls them "Bob". The character is plainly Link and naming the character should never factor into the decision for whether or not voice acting should be involved.
I onec started a new game to see the Deku tree say Navi go to Navi; my name was navi:lol::)
 
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