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[olimario]

In the IGN Paper Mario 2 Review, IGN docked points from the title because it lacked voice acting. Not only should titles not be docked points for the lack of voice acting, but I'd say excellent dialogue and top notch text effects should ADD to the overall score. With a game like Paper Mario 2, text seems much more fitting than voice acting because the entire game is in a storybook style.

It's like docking points against a book because it doesn't have a tape to go along with it.

I much prefer good dialogue and text in games because I'm able to give the characters in the game the personality I want them to have to an extent. It's like a good book... The author will give you the general mold of the character and you get to fill in the rest.

 

[fennec fox]

So how come you made a thread instead of just replying to that IGN pm2 review thread?

 

[IJoel]

Some people never disappoint.

 

[belgurdo]

THIS IS IMPORTANT

 

[Rhindle]

So how come you made a thread instead of just replying to that IGN pm2 review thread?

THIS GREVIOUS INJUSTICE MUST NOT STAND

 

[Joe]

the only people that dont care about voice acting are probably nintendo fans.

 

[john2kx]

an IGN review isn't worth the time spent complaining about it.

 

[Grubdog]

the only people that dont care about voice acting are probably nintendo fans.

huh? why, because they can read?

 

[john2kx]

the only people that dont care about voice acting are probably nintendo fans.

i can honestly say I hate all 3 systems equally, and in response to what you said, I say that voice acting is a minor, superficial element that may or may not slightly increase immersion in a game.. (chances are not, since most voice acting sucks anyway).

 

[explodet]

I think voice acting in games is an interesting subject, and there should be a thread discussing it.






But not like this.

NOT LIKE THIS!

 

[cvxfreak]

Well this is the sequel to Mario Story.

 

[Tim]

I like voice acting in a realistic game, featuring human beings. As with a cartoon game like pm2, it's so difficult to get it right, that I'd rather the developers spend their time on other parts of the game. Plus in this particular game I think it's even better to have text in stead of voice acting.

 

[Deku Tree]

Voice acting would be very hard to get right in a game like this if you want to appeal to both younger gamers and older gamers. I prefer top notch text with cool effects.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

Post some decent topics and I'll take you seriously.

Olimario to me through PM. Nice topic loser.

 

[belgurdo]

popcorn time

I got the hot sauce

 

[PanopticBlue]

Some people never disappoint.

.

 

[epmode]

So how come you made a thread instead of just replying to that IGN pm2 review thread?

seriously. it's like he's asking to get banned again.

 

[olimario]

Olimario to me through PM. Nice topic loser.

This is an actual topic with possible discussion. I believe your thread was something like...

TITLE
Where can I get the HMD tee?

BODY
Well?!?!?!

:lol
Wonderful

 

[olimario]

seriously. it's like he's asking to get banned again.

Because I thought it worthy of an actual topic. I thought I'd let the IGN thread deal specifically with Paper Mario 2, where Paper Mario 2 was simply an example of a larger 'voice acting' topic here.

I see it wasn't needed.

 

[Speevy]

I think this deserved a topic, and I agree. I take an example from my own personal experience. In KOTOR, EVERYONE has voice acting. After playing KOTOR, I went over to a friend's house and saw the game "Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits" for the first time. This game lacks voice acting, and it didn't seem to bother my friend at all.

In other words, lack of voice acting is not a flaw. It all has to do with which voice acting you were exposed to, and how much of an impression it made on you. For a game like Paper Mario, voices would make the game cheesy. (if it's not already a bit cheesy)

 

[Pedigree Chum]

This is an actual topic with possible discussion. I believe your thread was something like...




:lol
Wonderful

Yes, all of my posts have been like that :rolleyes

Plus your topics cause people to flame you, not intelligent discussion.

 

[Miburou]

IIt's like docking points against a book because it doesn't have a tape to go along with it.

YES, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT'S LIKE.

 

[Mr Nash]

Considering the often piss-poor state of voice acting in games, I'm inclined to give a game that foregoes voice acting a higher score.

 

[olimario]

I think this deserved a topic, and I agree. I take an example from my own personal experience. In KOTOR, EVERYONE has voice acting. After playing KOTOR, I went over to a friend's house and saw the game "Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits" for the first time. This game lacks voice acting, and it didn't seem to bother my friend at all.

In other words, lack of voice acting is not a flaw. It all has to do with which voice acting you were exposed to, and how much of an impression it made on you. For a game like Paper Mario, voices would make the game cheesy. (if it's not already a bit cheesy)

Voice acting is such a risky thing. If it's poor it can turn charm to cheese and make a good game less enjoyable.
And even if it is good, it may not suit the game it is in and, in turn, make the game less enjoyable.

I say games have both voice acting, text, and the ability to turn off the voice acting.
Build dialogue... Create woderful text... and have the in game voice acting as an afterthought.

 

[Gantz]

Mario should be able to talk by now.. :lol

 

[Speevy]

Plus your topics cause people to flame you, not intelligent discussion.

That's the mark of an intelligent, thought-provoking forumer when the thread topic itself isn't garbage. With all the newswire topics, olimario dares to start an opinion-driven discussion that people may actually disagree with.

 

[radios shipping overview]

In other words, lack of voice acting is not a flaw.

This is true. Text without voice acting can be used to create a deeper sense of immersion than cinematic cutscenes when a literary approach is used. I really like the potential games have to function as interactive fiction that draws on the player's imagination as much as it provides its own representation of an environment or world. There are so many means of conveying a story within a game - there's so much freedom available - that it shouldn't be a requirement for them to adhere to cinematic principles just because it's possible.

 

[Vlad]

I personally think that the voice acting requirement really depends on the game. Unfortunately, I can't quite put my finger on exactly what qualities a game could have that would make it feel weird without the voice acting.

For example, when I played Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, it immediately felt like there should be voice acting in the game. While there's a lot of chatting, especially in the beginning, I've seen just as much in your average Zelda game. For some reason Sphinx's lack of voice acting just struck me as a bit jarring, but I can't figure out just why. Maybe it's because the developers went to the trouble of animating the characters' mouths, and seeing them speak without actually hearing them seems strange?

On the other side of the fence, I've been playing through Skies of Arcadia: Legends recently, and even though there's a ton of dialog in there, the lack of voice acting hasn't gotten to me in my 20 hours of playing SoA as much as it did in my first five minutes of playing Sphinx.

The really strange thing is is that if there were voice acting in Sphinx, I'd most likely just skip it if they still showed the usual dialog boxes.

 

[TheGreenGiant]

YES> Voice acting should not be a requirement.

because if Jennfier what's her name did Princess Peach all day / night. I would hate the Mario franchise. They're only good in small does. And thats the way it is in SOME games.

VA also didn't help make POP any more fun. WHy don't the arabs sound middle eastern
?? Or carry bombs in their pockets?! DOCK THEIR SCORE!

 

[Miburou]

Persians != Arabs (although there was one Arabian guy featured briefly in the intro, the Sultan)

 

[AeroGod]

It depends on the game. I mean..good voice acting is ALWAYS better then no voice acting IMO. Especially when it is just generally weaven into the game and not restricted to cutscenes or text dialog, like in X-Men Legends and even Demon Stone how your characters talk to each other while fighitng or using attacks, or like in GTA the random comments you get from pedestrians and such.

I dont particularly enjoy reading while im trying to play a game, but if its not alot then generally I dont really care and wont mind the ocassional lines of dialog to read. But RPGS that have pages and pages of dialog...you gotta have voice acting. I play games to have fun and interact, not spend a good deal of time reading. Its boring for me, and voice acting makes the game feel more alive. I dont need to create any image in my head for what I think the character might sound of be like. Ill let the developers do that for me, I just want to enjoy the game and the story.

Im pretty tolerable for voice acting too. Alot of games with "bad" voice acting I can get into and in general im not bothered by it, and even in some cases enjoy it for what it is. The only game recently I can think of that annoyed me was Sudeki. What the hell happened with that?

 

[belgurdo]

Im pretty tolerable for voice acting too. Alot of games with "bad" voice acting I can get into and in general im not bothered by it, and even in some cases enjoy it for what it is. The only game recently I can think of that annoyed me was Sudeki. What the hell happened with that?

MAH NAIM IZ SAHSAAAAN MEEKO

 

[JavyOO7]

I agree with Peer's reasoning about voice acting, he told it nicely on the thread over at IGN.

I just can't imagine how the game would go by with voice acting. I can say this though, if the game had awesome voice acting, it would make the game seem like more of a cartoon, which is bonus points to me IMO.

 

[MarkRyan]

At least 95% of the time, voice acting is done poorly, and so I definitely don't see its absence as a detriment to a game.

 

[callous]

Yeah. There really is only one problem with voice acting, and that's that it's being put in games. Someone should stop that shit. No, I'm not being sarcastic. I fucking hate voice acting. It's so rarely done right, I would rather do without it. Completely ruined many RPGs for me.

Actually, thinking about it, just keep it out of RPGs. Other genres handle it better.

 

[ferricide]

It's like docking points against a book because it doesn't have a tape to go along with it.

that is a very, very silly statement.

 

[SuperPac]

I always wondered how much longer Nintendo could go without putting voice in their games before someone started complaining. It's sad that someone would see it as a strike against the game, but then again...I know people who think that having to watch a movie subtitled detracts from the experience. To each his own.

I'd like to see Nintendo do a full dub at some point though. Just because it's a pretty standard thing for a big publisher these days.

 

[Any1]

I'm glad you prefer written dialogue and i'm happy Nintendo made PM2 like that.

Now you and the 8 other people that actually prefer to read your RPG's can all be happy together.

I love how Nintendo doesn't latch on to every little fad once they come out. You know like disc based format, online gaming, recorded dialogue, etc.

Why should Nintendo go to all the effort of hiring voice talent, studio time, etc. when they can just put their fans to work and read the dialogue. Besides, all that money that their saving will make it so Nintendo can pass those savings on to us, their loyal customers. That's why the game is being sold for $19.99. Right?

 

[callous]

Why should Nintendo go to all the effort of hiring voice talent, studio time, etc.

When it comes to games, and RPGs in particular, I find it of utmost importance to point out that the word "talent" should be taken as loosely as humanly possible.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

If the game has any sort of cutscene that is supposed to be dramatic or action packed then it needs VA. Period. FFIX is so repulsive to me because of this.

 

[Drinky Crow]

I would prefer NO VOICE ACTING, or the option to turn it off.

 

[Spiritreaver]

People sure get really bothered over video game reviews. Am I the only person who doesn't read them?

 

[Mega Man's Electric Sheep]

My problem with voice acting in games is that I read faster than I listen. Meaning, the people talk way too slow for me, and if there's text to go along with the voices, I end up skipping the voices anyhow. I can't see how anyone who has played the great RPG's of the last 15 years could think that voice acting is required. And until video game voice acting reaches the quality level of animated features, I don't mind reading text.

I think a bigger problem in RPG's is superflous and rambling exchanges. I'm looking at you, KOTOR, with your dialog trees with NPC's that go on and on. Kotor had voice acting, but as I said above, it was easier to just press the button to skip it.

 

[MattCoz]

It got a freakin 9.1, let it go.

 

[olimario]

that is a very, very silly statement.

It really isn't. I like my games like I like my novels.
I want the author/developer to create a general mold for the characters and I want to, through my imagination, fill in that mold.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

It really isn't. I like my games like I like my novels.
I want the author/developer to create a general mold for the characters and I want to, through my imagination, fill in that mold.

Yes, and I want my movies to all have subtitles in them and ONLY subtitles. I want to be able to fill in that mold too.

 

[olimario]

Yes, and I want my movies to all have subtitles in them. I want to be able to fill in that mold too.

I see video games as more of interactive graphic novels than interactive movies.
But now that you mention it, subbed movies are great!

 

[LakeEarth]

I just could imagine how stupid it'd look to have two frames of mario opening and closing his mouth while talking like Mario.

 

[Hellraizah]

Halo 2 got voice acting.
Paper Mario 2 does not.

Halo 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Paper Mario 2

 

[Ristamar]

It really isn't. I like my games like I like my novels.
I want the author/developer to create a general mold for the characters and I want to, through my imagination, fill in that mold.

It is a bit of ridiculous statement. Why stop the analogy at audio cassettes/CDs, why even have books? There are movies after all, correct? We don't need bland paper and dull fonts, just film everything, make movies, and burn all the books.

You're comparing a largely ancient, static medium which relies almost soley on imagination and comprehension for entertainment and knowledge versus one that leans on imagination but has always relied heavily on progressive, diverse visual and aural stimulation.

EDIT: Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment. I don't really want full blown voice acting in Mario, Zelda, etc, either...