Voice acting in Zelda games is a fairly controversial topic. Some fans support the idea of including voices for all characters other than Link while others would prefer to leave them out entirely.

To date, we’ve never seen voice overs in any Zelda title. Nintendo has been dead-set on avoiding voice acting, and they maintained that stance once again in a new interview with Game Informer.

First, Koji Kondo offered his thoughts about voice acting in Zelda:

“The most important thing about the Zelda series is that the player becomes Link. One of the challenges with full voice is that if we’re trying to convey the player’s emotion through Link, but you hear Link talking in somebody else’s voice, that creates a disconnect between you and the role that you’re taking on.”

Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma also weighed in:

“…if you create a game where everybody else in the game speaks but Link doesn’t, it emphasizes the fact that he is silent and draws even more attention to it.

“Of course, this was the first time we went with fully orchestrated songs in the game, and we’ve seen what that can do to help bring the world alive and make the game that much more fun. We’re continually looking at ways that we can evolve the series. We’re not confident that we can find the right balance with full voice, so we’ll see. Everyone would be speaking Hylian, so even if you heard them speak, you wouldn’t understand them.”

Aonuma also talked about the future of Zelda. The main point here is that he’s been starting to “think a lot more about how I can take the series and really make it my own Zelda and evolve it further.”

“I started working on the series not at the beginning but part-way through its history. I think because of that, early on I was more looking objectively at the series and how we could change small, individual elements within it, rather than looking at how the series should evolve. As time has passed – particularly in the last few years – I’ve started to think a lot more about how I can take the series and really make it my own Zelda and evolve it further. As Mr. Miyamoto has allowed me to take the reins on the Zelda series, ultimately that’s what I need to do. Perhaps some people will think it’s a little bit late for me to start thinking about that, but as time goes by, that’s becoming more of a theme in how I’m approaching the series.”

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The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Celebration – Sara Paxton

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Nintendo of America’s General Counsel, Richard Flamm, Announces Retirement

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19-Year Tenure Spanned from Game Boy to Nintendo 3DS
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 1, 2011 – Nintendo of America Inc. announced that after 19 years of exemplary service, including more than 12 years as its general counsel, Senior Vice President Richard “Rick” Flamm will retire in the spring.
Initially hired to lead Nintendo’s Litigation team, Rick was soon tapped to also manage the Anti-Piracy team, and was promoted to general counsel in 1999. He grew Nintendo’s Legal department into a modern, dynamic and robust team. His tenure began in the days of the iconic Game Boy™ system and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System™, and carried through the Nintendo DS™, Wii™ and Nintendo 3DS™ eras.

Nintendo Week (12/1)

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On this week’s episode: Mario Kart 7, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Super Mario 3D Land.

Photos of the Club Nintendo Platinum Pin collection

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The Club Nintendo pin set is shipping now to Platinum members. 2012 calenders are being shipped out to Gold members as well.

Thanks to Raymond W for the tip!

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Nintendo’s Jump Festa 2012 lineup is pretty barren

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As far as I can tell, Nintendo is bringing just two games to Jump Festa 2012. The company’s Jump Festa page shows that consumers can get their hands on both Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 in a couple of weeks. Both of these titles will have already been released by the time the show kicks off.

There isn’t any mention about a Pokemon “surprise” that has been rumored for the show. However, that doesn’t mean a new video game reveal is out of the question. We may get a better idea about the Pokemon Company’s plans if they open up a special Jump Festa site of their own.

Jump Festa 2012 takes place on December 17 and 18 at the Makuhari Messe.

Nintendo to support EU initiative on making the Internet a safer place for kids

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1st December, 2011 – Nintendo is proud to announce that it is supporting a forward-looking initiative by the European Commission to help make the Internet a safer place for kids. Details of the proposals are being announced today by Neelie Kroes, vice-president of the European Commission.
Nintendo has agreed to be a founder member of a coalition of leading communications, technology, media and entertainment companies, which will help implement a series of measures that will promote safe access to the Internet for children.
For further information about the initiative, visit the European Commission website here.

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Nintendo Power December 2011 scans – Zelda, Resident Evil, Rhythm Heaven, Tekken

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Nintendo Power has released a public preview of this month’s magazine. Titles featured include Zelda: Skyward Sword, Resident Evil: Revelations, Rhythm Heaven Paradise, and Tekken 3D: Prime Edition. The issue arrives on newsstands on December 6 and is available now for subscribers.

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Reggie: 3DS beats out original DS sales, different Wii U pricing/games, DS still in the picture, more

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Reggie Fils-Aime commented on a wide array of topics in a new interview with Techland. The Nintendo of America president briefly talked about the Wii U, how the DS remains important to the company, and more.

Fils-Aime also mentioned that the 3DS has surpassed sales of the original DS, and in a shorter timespan. The DS hit 2.37 million units in its first year while the 3DS already beat out that number in just eight months.

For more news from Reggie, head past the break.

Hayashida: Kuribo’s Shoe proposal rejected for Super Mario Galaxy, Mario 3D Land talk, more

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IGN has published a series of interviews with Super Mario 3D Land director Koichi Hayashida. For the most part, Hayashida responses pertained to Mario’s latest outing.

However, he did share a noteworthy piece of information about Super Mario Galaxy. Hayashida mentioned that he came up with an idea of bringing back Kuribo’s Shoe for the project, but Yoshiaki Koizumi – the director of that title – rejected his proposal.

All of Hayashida’s comments can be found after the break.