Nintendo speaks out about their tongue-tied protagonists
A tradition that dates way back to the N64 (technical reasons mainly), Nintendos protagonists often feel disinclined to speak at even the best of times
Nintendo have explained this as them not wanting to spoil the imaginations of the players, or rather the imagined voices of the characters. But with more and more Nintendo games seeing voice-acting, how long will it be before one of our beloved heroes speaks out?
Even Punch-Out on the Wii has it, though Little Mac is still the strong, silent type (Okay, enough bad jokes). Kensuke Tanabe, the producer of Punch-Out said that "We recorded speech to express each character’s origins and characteristics, and to make Doc Louis have a larger personality and greater impact on gameplay," and that he believes "having fighters’ voices during matches is very effective in making the experience more immersive."
For some games voice-acting works, and is even required. For others, the silence is all part of the charm. After all, actions speak louder than words. (Alright, that was the last bad joke. Sorry.)
Source: NintendoLife
