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

[Draymorath]

OMG, Really?

They don't use voice-acting for a reason.

They want YOU (the player) to feel as if you ARE Link. If Link went around with his own characterization then that would ruin the effect. Those two instances you mentioned don't matter because they don't create a character for Link. :tektite:

 

[Crash]

They don't use voice-acting for a reason.

They want YOU (the player) to feel as if you ARE Link. If Link went around with his own characterization then that would ruin the effect. Those two instances you mentioned don't matter because they don't create a character for Link. :tektite:

You say that and yet Skyward Sword shows to have more emotion and give Link more personality than any other in the series... So yes, it does matter and they are giving him a personality. They've been giving him one slowly but surely as he progresses. He's no longer "the nameless hero" or the "left handed hero" He's Link... and He's been known as Link for quite some time now. The game coming out in a very short period of time is actually working against what you said about him not having character. And it's not ruining the effect at all. It really looks to be improving upon it actually if this game is indeed going to be the best one in the series so far.

 

[Zorth]

...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).


Not to mention it would ruin the Zelda franchise by breaking tradition..


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 you said, The jibberish those characters said gave them deeper personality..


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.


Those are MISTAKES.. Link doesn't talk, He isn't suppsoed to. Why?
It's tradition to have text bubbles, Including voice acting would take away the one thing that makes "Zelda".. well "Zelda"


Something I just had to get off of my chest.

I don't see where you are trying to get, Do you want voice acting or not?.. Or are you just mad at Nintendo for not breaking tradition?

 

[Musicfan]

Why don't they try it and see the fan reaction. What if they got good actors. I'm not one for voice acting but has the nintendo zelda team what ever it is ever tried voice acting. I'm tired of people trying to resist the river of change they are just going to get swept away.

 

[Zorth]

Why don't they try it and see the fan reaction. What if they got good actors. I'm not one for voice acting but has the nintendo zelda team what ever it is ever tried voice acting. I'm tired of people trying to resist the river of change they are just going to get swept away.

The only way I can see this happening is if text bubbles still exist but NPC's have voices and talk to you. Then after a few games they can take away the bubbles and have full voice acting. I don't think it's the worst thing that can happen to Zelda, The worst being if Link gets replaced by somebody else or just changes looks.. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try out voice acting in a beta to see reactions.

 

[Crash]

I don't see any reason why they wouldn't keep the text boxes. I always set the subtitles on that way I can absorb the story better, and in the case of Assassin's Creed, understand what they're saying in Italian. I'm positive they would keep the text and actually never get rid of them if they indeed do voice acting.

 

[Twilit Archon]

Sorry for the blatant bump, but I have made an update to my first post with a discovery.

 

[Minrin]

If it's not broken, don't fix it.

I think that voice acting would be quite out of place in the Zelda series.

 

[MW7]

I would prefer it if Link never spoke in a Zelda game. However, I feel like at this point the biggest reason why they haven't added it is just tradition. IMO tradition is never a really good rationale for anything. Maybe make it optional in future Zelda games because there will always be people preferring Link to stay silent as it adds to the experience of the game for them (just as him speaking would add to the experience of other people who would prefer him to speak).

 

[Linkfan112]

I don't recall any instance of Nintendo being cheap. They actually go out of their way time and again to make games that are different and interesting rather than repackaging a game and calling it new. As far as I can tell: any decision they make about voice acting will be based on their artistic vision rather than cost. Metroid Prime 3 was fully voice-acted after all.

As to weather or not their should be voice acting: I think it would be a good idea but they would have to be careful how they go about it.

It should be able to be turned off if the player so chooses.

Link should not talk. Regardless of the fact that Link's personality is conveyed through facial expressions and actions; adding a voice to a character changes a lot about that character. A voice isn't a simple thing. Voices have tones, inflections, accents etc. which can very easily change how a character is perceived. Giving Link a unique voice would most likely change Link in the minds of gamers as it would be impossible to find a voice actor who could portray a legendary character in a way that suits everyone, which isn't a problem when people are able to image what Link would sound like for themselves.

My two rupees.

 

[8skar]

They're not cheap skates, well they might be... but not for these reasons. Voice acting is an artistic choice to include or not.

 

[guapo2003]

They don't want to put voice acting in it for a couple of reasons:

1) They don't want to ruin the fact there's NEVER been voice acting in Zelda game and
2) They want you to use your own voice and imagination to picture what Link and all the others characters would sound like to you.

 

[Jesse]

Link Having a Voice. Would It Ruin the Game?

Nintendo always says that it doesn't want voice acting because it will upset the fans and ruin the connection between Link and the player. Honestly that isn't true. I played Final Fantasy a lot and feel just as connected with it as I do Link and in those games I play as like 6 - 10 different characters who all have different voices. Also being connected to Link really wasn't that much aof a priority for Nintendo since Zelda 3 was supposed to have 3 characters. I can barely think of 1 game Nintendo has had voice acting in. Maybe they are just lazy or want to just save money. If they really wanted to reach as many people as possible and make the best game possible than they would at least consider it! I know a lot of people including myself that think voice acting would actually make it easier to connect with the character, but for those of you who think differently here are some easy solutions.

1. Have everyone except Link talk.
2. Have Link talk, but let the player have a choice between what he says.
3. Have a feature to turn voice acting on & off.
4. Actually have a poll or a vote to see if more fans would prefer it.
5. Have (us) talk for him.
6. Let us vote on a voice actor! get 10 -20 voice actors and let us vote on our favorite.

I think Nintendo is missing out on a LOT of people because they don't add voices. I actually know a few people that REFUSE to play Zelda, because it they hate reading a billion words just to play a game. It would also help if people follow along with the story if they could hear the words. I know for a fact i can remember stuff better if I hear it instead of read it. I mean come on Link already has a voice. He yells, grunts, screams, say tiny words. He HAS A VOICE. So for Nintendo to say "we don't want to ruin a fans idea of how he sounds" is completely stupid. When I'm reading a lot of the text in a Zelda game I'm reading it in the voice of Link's grunts. So they already ruined that for me... So why not just make him talk or {A T L E A S T} have everyone else talk and give him a choice of what to say. If Nintendo really wants to they can have US "the player" talk for him. I mean almost every console has a microphone some how attached. So we can give him our voice. Its not that hard, but what do you think. Should he have a voice? Why or why not?

 

[Ventus]

They would have to do a lot of synthesizing and coding for us to voice for Link, so at that point I'm thinking...why not just give us a Live Trigger event where we can select which phrase to use. It won't be all too different from regular Zelda, it's just instead of two options (confirm and deny), we get four options (yes, yes, yes and moar yes, but with varying effects on the storyline). Really, giving Link some actual dialogue whether it's voiced or not won't kill the game.

Final Fantasy is actually a great series to compare Zelda to. Many things that work in FF I believe could work just as well in Zelda. Look at the newest release, Final Fantasy XIII-2. Cinematic actions (reaction commands/quicktime events) and great voice acting, along with dialogue choices could do very well in Zelda. However, since most Zelda fans are so 'omg nu voicer actins', I would say to just limit the entire game to text boxes but give us dialogue choices for Link beyond three word everyday phrases. What Link says needs to have an impact on the game, whether we perceive him as mute or not.

If Link had a voice, it wouldn't automatically ruin the game. You just need a decent VA, then we have a good Link. However, I do like my hero in green just shouting with his amazing Japanese grunts, yells and shouts

 

[Jesse]

Well said! =O This may be the best response i have seen to any of my posts.