Classic Videogame characters: Should they keep their trap shut?

[Simon]

From the little I've played of more recent Sonic, I find the voices obnoxious. Even the tiny bits of Tails moving between levels in Sonic Rush were horrible.

With Mario I hadn't really thought about the fact that they gave him a voice in the mid-90s until I read this. I suppose that's a sign that it fits well, at least the way it's been used so far.

In any case, I think the stakes were a lot higher with something like Monkey Island because the nature of those games is that the characters do lots of talking. Whatever voices they picked, we'd be stuck with them through vast tracts of dialogue and these are characters we've already spent two games with. So getting it right was an especially big deal, and they did it well.

I wonder if anyone hated the voices and just played CoMI with just the text on...

[elmuerte]

A keyboard can handle a bit of beer... it might be a bit sticky, but then you'll simply clean it with some soap and hot water.

It's the potato chips that are tricky.

[Ben X]

I wonder if anyone hated the voices and just played CoMI with just the text on...

I loved the voices in CoMI. Especially Earl Boen as LeChuck, and Denny Delk as MURRAY! I really liked Dominic Armato as Guybrush as well, he was perfect. I pissed myself when I read some idiot claim they messed it up by making him a "whiny American idiot". Guybrush is a whiny idiot! In an American game!

The best Mario voice, obviously, was Bob Hoskins.

[miffy495]

In any case, I think the stakes were a lot higher with something like Monkey Island because the nature of those games is that the characters do lots of talking.

The problem is that you get things like the recent Sonics. Now, he DOES do lots of talking, simply because he can. Guybrush was always talkative, so they had to find him a good voice just to keep the series working. Sonic never needed to speak, and yet now he won't shut the fuck up and get back to running. Giving a voice to a character like Sonic, Mario, or Link is raising the stakes for the sake of raising the stakes. Unneccessary and generally ill-fated risk taking.

[Aussie Ben]

Yeah, I think they really nailed the voices in Curse. And yeah, I always expected that when Mario and Luigi talked, they would have their Brooklyn accents from the Mario Bros. Super Show. I've gotten used to Charles Martinet though - I love his Luigi. And of course, his Wario.

"Shoulda been called WARIO Golf!"

[miffy495]

Yeah, I think they really nailed the voices in Curse.

On a somewhat related note, I miss vaguely british-sounding Elaine.

And of course, his Wario.

Half the reason I played Wario World was for his acting. I loves the Wario voice.

[nsps]

I'd just like to join the people wondering how the hell Sonic became the example of a great vocal transition. Sonic is supposed to get down to business and run fast, not stand around chit-chatting and spreading catch phrases.

Like the transition from silent film to talkies, some characters/personas lost their charm (it was more difficult since they were stuck with the actors' voices, which didn't always match their looks. Chaplin chose to remain mostly silent in most of his films, others had the chance to show off vocal talent and more still faded into obscurity. I think that video games can get away with non-talking characters, as long as the game is fun, but I don't think most developers do.

And speaking of great voices:

Gotta love that cackle.

[vimes]

Chaplin chose to remain mostly silent in most of his films

Yes ... and when colors came he never used them

Come on, Chaplin made fun of speaking-movies in one of his short but he is awesome enough as a speaking actor in Limelights and even in the Dictator to acknowledge the fact that he had a huge voice talent.

However ...

I kind of agree with the rest of your post , some characters seems to be built to speak while other aren't... but I guess that the biggest problem comes from poor writing, poor acting and the fact that , in the example of Sonic, we always experienced the character as mute and that it is difficult to cope with the change. I'm not sure it is intrinsic to the character itself.

Let's say that Valve decides to give Gordon Freeman a voice and some dialog treen in HL-Episode 3 , that would answer some criticisms mad about HL2 ... but I think that no matter how good the writing and the acting might be, it will always sound weird and WRONG.

[nsps]

Yes ... and when colors came he never used them

Come on, Chaplin made fun of speaking-movies in one of his short but he is awesome enough as a speaking actor in Limelights and even in the Dictator to acknowledge the fact that he had a huge voice talent.

However ...

Time for a history lesson...

You're putting words in my mouth. I didn't say that he didn't have voice talent, I said that he chose not to speak in several films, mainly because he didn't think that the Tramp should have one. The Circus, City Lights and Modern Times were all made after the invention of sound—"The Great Dictator" was made in 1940, more than a decade after sound became the standard. In what short did he make fun of speaking movies? Are you referring to the end of "Modern Times?" There's a big moment that was hyped at the time in which we finally hear the Tramp's voice, but he sings in complete gibberish. It's a great vocal performance, but also keeps the tramp silent. Four years later, he did another gibberish sequence in The Great Dictator.

It's Limelight, not Limelights.

You make a good point about quality of writing. Buster Keaton was excited about the transition to sound, since he had experience performing in Vaudeville, but he lost creative control at MGM and was inexplicably paired with Jimmy Durante. I think some game characters have suffered a similar fate that can't only be credited to the entrance of a voice, but what the developers have done with it.

[vimes]

Thanks for the lesson : I didn't realize that The Dictator came so long after sound was integrated in movies.

In what short did he make fun of speaking movies?

I don't remember the title of the it but the dhort is one in which the Tramp makes a mess during a ceremony in which a statue (or a monument) is revealed. The mayor is giving a speech but the sound of his voice is replaced by kazoos sound.

I think some game characters have suffered a similar fate that can't only be credited to the entrance of a voice, but what the developers have done with it.

Amen.