Giving Nintendo a voice

Nintendo is one for the silent protagonist. With the exception of the Star Fox games, all of Nintendo’s main characters have never spoken. That has started to change, though. In Metroid: Other M, the developers gave Samus a voice. Most fans didn’t like what she had to say, or the fact that she was speaking at all. Others – such as myself – saw it as a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, we are few and far between.

Many reviewers criticized the dialogue Samus spoke in the game. While I’m inclined to agree somewhat, I still saw it as moving forward. If people liked this change, wouldn’t Nintendo move on to other games and give those main characters voices? The thought probably makes you shudder, doesn’t it? The fact that Mario or Link may open up their mouths and do something other than yell, it must be unbearable.

Change is necessary though and most Nintendo fans are afraid of change. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty who want the company to move forward. At the same time, the majority see it as safe haven while other consoles have crazy FPS games and their HD graphics. They also don’t want their personal visions of what the characters sound like shattered. Everyone has hung on to their own vision of these characters are afraid to let them go. There’s something to be said for that, because people don’t want to be wrong, or they’ve become attached to what they think the character is like. I understand that.

The thing is though, as gamers we’ve moved past the age of the text bubble. It’s cute here and there as a nice throwback or maybe in one or two games trying to be all retro, but in the grand scheme of things, I no longer want to read my story. That’s what I’ve got books for. I want to be able to experience the emotion of the characters and be immersed in the story. It’s tough to do that when I have to press “A” constantly to keep things moving along.

I’m ready to hear Link talk. I want Mario to speak up against Bowser and for Bowser to do more than laugh at him while I read a little cloud bubble with his taunt. Imagine, if you will, the scene where Midna and Link confront Ganondorf in Twilight Princess. How epic would that scene have been if you could hear what the characters were saying?

All I’m getting at is, let’s move forward shall we? There’s a time and place for nostalgia and retro games, but it’s not an entire console cycle. Nintendo is still playing catch up in quite a few area of gaming – excellent sales not included. Sure, Super Mario Galaxy is amazing; you won’t get any complaints from me. But what more is Donkey Kong Country Returns but a graphical update? Sure there may be little tweaks here and there but there isn’t much more than that. What I want is story. I live off of it and these characters deserve an emotional story. Characters like Mario and Donkey Kong may not need it as much, but Link and Samus most definitely do. There isn’t a better way to do than to let these characters speak. Or at the very least let the supporting characters talk. Gordon Freeman does plenty on his own without talking but everyone else fills in that empty space. I can compromise. I’m not completely unreasonable. But for the love of all that is good, get rid of the text blocks.