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"Where are you going? Wait. Stop." Oh to eliminate monotonous dubbing from the world of gaming forever! Harry Mason (Silent Hill protagonist) speaks the latter phrase with all the conviction and enthusiasm as a speak-your-weight machine. It may give us a giggle, but should laughably corny dubbing be altogether replaced with the arguably more mature approach of subtitles in games?
Some argue that giving characters audible voices heightens the realism of the game, giving the character more depth, more personality and allowing the player to identify with the artificial character a little deeper. There are many good examples of the formula working. Let's looks at Onimusha Warlords for the PS2 for instance. Samanosuke's voice has conviction and realism which can only add to the playability of the game. This coupled with handy subtitles allows the player to get the most out of the game and the in-depth characters that go along with it, subtitles being invaluable for the deaf also. However, small differences in the original Japanese dialogue and the English translation, slightly detract from human realism. (Such as Kaede nodding "Understand!" instead of "Understood.") Aside from that, the dubbing only adds to the game as a whole, giving it on the whole, a more motion picture aspect, making the player feel they are controlling a movie rather than an unrealistic, emotionless beat 'em up, which is so often the case.
Dubbing doesn't always endow a game with gritty realism and heart-stopping emotion. Take the dark, surreal and disturbing town of Silent Hill for example. Most of the dubbing has the opposite effect on the player, inducing sniggers and giggles rather than a feeling of fear for the character you're playing as. When Dr Michael Kauffman fires his handgun at Harry, it's fully 2 or 3 seconds before the plank reacts, cowering in the corner way after the bullet missed him. It seems that the actors for Silent Hill were slightly overly-keen, forcing laughably corny enthusiasm into their lines, an effect which may have worked had the subtitles not appeared on the bottom of the screen ages before the actor began speaking. Perhaps leaving the dubbing out of Silent Hill would have added to the game's aura of disturbing silence and twisted mystery. Not hearing the drawn-out, irritating whinging of mad old biddy, Dhalia Gillespie, would have been a blessing in disguise. The way she drawled the emphasis on pronounciation had players around the world gritting their teeth in irritation.
The first two Resident Evil games raise a smile or two in hindsight. Resident Evil 1 caused quite a few laughs in the intro sequence as Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield hammed their way through a potentially realistic looking movie scene. (Granted, many of the laughs were due to Albert Wesker looking like a character from Top Gun.) In this case they were real actors, but one can't help but think that more of an impact would have been made if they'd kept their traps shut.
Subtitles tend to leave a lot more to the imagination. You can imagine what the character sounds like without having it forced upon you. Parasite Eve 2 relies on subtitles for the entire game, which to most people, gives it a more mature aspect. If Aya had a voice, maybe we wouldn't still look upon her as such a quiet, strong-willed, intelligent individual and more of a whining blonde bimbo! The WAY characters say things often paint more of a picture of his/her personality than what they actually say, so in a lot of cases, it's a good job we're only reading it.
Subtitles have had more success in games than dubbing, mainly due to the fact that they don't leave themselves open to ridicule. Dubbing has a history of ruining a good game by attempting to give it a movie-feel without giving the way lines are said, much thought. The Developers seem to assume that just because the characters have voice, it's made a better game. Nothing could be further from the truth. But, as has already been said, there are signs of this changing as we look at games like Onimusha and see that this sophisticated dubbing could be the torch that lights the way to movie-perfect games.
Some argue that giving characters audible voices heightens the realism of the game, giving the character more depth, more personality and allowing the player to identify with the artificial character a little deeper. There are many good examples of the formula working. Let's looks at Onimusha Warlords for the PS2 for instance. Samanosuke's voice has conviction and realism which can only add to the playability of the game. This coupled with handy subtitles allows the player to get the most out of the game and the in-depth characters that go along with it, subtitles being invaluable for the deaf also. However, small differences in the original Japanese dialogue and the English translation, slightly detract from human realism. (Such as Kaede nodding "Understand!" instead of "Understood.") Aside from that, the dubbing only adds to the game as a whole, giving it on the whole, a more motion picture aspect, making the player feel they are controlling a movie rather than an unrealistic, emotionless beat 'em up, which is so often the case.
Dubbing doesn't always endow a game with gritty realism and heart-stopping emotion. Take the dark, surreal and disturbing town of Silent Hill for example. Most of the dubbing has the opposite effect on the player, inducing sniggers and giggles rather than a feeling of fear for the character you're playing as. When Dr Michael Kauffman fires his handgun at Harry, it's fully 2 or 3 seconds before the plank reacts, cowering in the corner way after the bullet missed him. It seems that the actors for Silent Hill were slightly overly-keen, forcing laughably corny enthusiasm into their lines, an effect which may have worked had the subtitles not appeared on the bottom of the screen ages before the actor began speaking. Perhaps leaving the dubbing out of Silent Hill would have added to the game's aura of disturbing silence and twisted mystery. Not hearing the drawn-out, irritating whinging of mad old biddy, Dhalia Gillespie, would have been a blessing in disguise. The way she drawled the emphasis on pronounciation had players around the world gritting their teeth in irritation.
The first two Resident Evil games raise a smile or two in hindsight. Resident Evil 1 caused quite a few laughs in the intro sequence as Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield hammed their way through a potentially realistic looking movie scene. (Granted, many of the laughs were due to Albert Wesker looking like a character from Top Gun.) In this case they were real actors, but one can't help but think that more of an impact would have been made if they'd kept their traps shut.
Subtitles tend to leave a lot more to the imagination. You can imagine what the character sounds like without having it forced upon you. Parasite Eve 2 relies on subtitles for the entire game, which to most people, gives it a more mature aspect. If Aya had a voice, maybe we wouldn't still look upon her as such a quiet, strong-willed, intelligent individual and more of a whining blonde bimbo! The WAY characters say things often paint more of a picture of his/her personality than what they actually say, so in a lot of cases, it's a good job we're only reading it.
Subtitles have had more success in games than dubbing, mainly due to the fact that they don't leave themselves open to ridicule. Dubbing has a history of ruining a good game by attempting to give it a movie-feel without giving the way lines are said, much thought. The Developers seem to assume that just because the characters have voice, it's made a better game. Nothing could be further from the truth. But, as has already been said, there are signs of this changing as we look at games like Onimusha and see that this sophisticated dubbing could be the torch that lights the way to movie-perfect games.
The dubbing and voice acting in CBFD is excellent, I've decided to say.
yes but the charecter's mouth didnt move with what they were saying
just their head to give you the impression they were talking
just their head to give you the impression they were talking
Only on the N64 your honour, The playstation and even the saturn have had speech from as way back as Tomb raider, maybe even further.
Subtitles are for the deaf and hard of hearing but aren't needed for everyone so i hope wth games on DVD, more subtitle options become availible.
Subtitles are for the deaf and hard of hearing but aren't needed for everyone so i hope wth games on DVD, more subtitle options become availible.
Remember that one of the reasosn games had subtitles was simply because there wasn't enough room on the storgae device (cart, cd etc) for the game and all the speech to go with it.
It has only been recently, when audio compression and larger storage (GD-ROM, DVD etc) has come along that having characters speak there words has actually been a realistic possibility.
Because of this, dubbing is effectivle in it's infancy, it will take a while before it "matures" and develops so the quality is the same as the rest of the game.
I would like to see realistic voices in games, as well as have the animations changed, so it looks like the person has said it. Rather than have the mouth move to the Japanese words, and then have some pathetic American sounding voice come over to the top, out of time with the animation.
Until that happens, I'll stick with subtitles...
It has only been recently, when audio compression and larger storage (GD-ROM, DVD etc) has come along that having characters speak there words has actually been a realistic possibility.
Because of this, dubbing is effectivle in it's infancy, it will take a while before it "matures" and develops so the quality is the same as the rest of the game.
I would like to see realistic voices in games, as well as have the animations changed, so it looks like the person has said it. Rather than have the mouth move to the Japanese words, and then have some pathetic American sounding voice come over to the top, out of time with the animation.
Until that happens, I'll stick with subtitles...
"Where are you going? Wait. Stop." Oh to eliminate monotonous dubbing from the world of gaming forever! Harry Mason (Silent Hill protagonist) speaks the latter phrase with all the conviction and enthusiasm as a speak-your-weight machine. It may give us a giggle, but should laughably corny dubbing be altogether replaced with the arguably more mature approach of subtitles in games?
Some argue that giving characters audible voices heightens the realism of the game, giving the character more depth, more personality and allowing the player to identify with the artificial character a little deeper. There are many good examples of the formula working. Let's looks at Onimusha Warlords for the PS2 for instance. Samanosuke's voice has conviction and realism which can only add to the playability of the game. This coupled with handy subtitles allows the player to get the most out of the game and the in-depth characters that go along with it, subtitles being invaluable for the deaf also. However, small differences in the original Japanese dialogue and the English translation, slightly detract from human realism. (Such as Kaede nodding "Understand!" instead of "Understood.") Aside from that, the dubbing only adds to the game as a whole, giving it on the whole, a more motion picture aspect, making the player feel they are controlling a movie rather than an unrealistic, emotionless beat 'em up, which is so often the case.
Dubbing doesn't always endow a game with gritty realism and heart-stopping emotion. Take the dark, surreal and disturbing town of Silent Hill for example. Most of the dubbing has the opposite effect on the player, inducing sniggers and giggles rather than a feeling of fear for the character you're playing as. When Dr Michael Kauffman fires his handgun at Harry, it's fully 2 or 3 seconds before the plank reacts, cowering in the corner way after the bullet missed him. It seems that the actors for Silent Hill were slightly overly-keen, forcing laughably corny enthusiasm into their lines, an effect which may have worked had the subtitles not appeared on the bottom of the screen ages before the actor began speaking. Perhaps leaving the dubbing out of Silent Hill would have added to the game's aura of disturbing silence and twisted mystery. Not hearing the drawn-out, irritating whinging of mad old biddy, Dhalia Gillespie, would have been a blessing in disguise. The way she drawled the emphasis on pronounciation had players around the world gritting their teeth in irritation.
The first two Resident Evil games raise a smile or two in hindsight. Resident Evil 1 caused quite a few laughs in the intro sequence as Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield hammed their way through a potentially realistic looking movie scene. (Granted, many of the laughs were due to Albert Wesker looking like a character from Top Gun.) In this case they were real actors, but one can't help but think that more of an impact would have been made if they'd kept their traps shut.
Subtitles tend to leave a lot more to the imagination. You can imagine what the character sounds like without having it forced upon you. Parasite Eve 2 relies on subtitles for the entire game, which to most people, gives it a more mature aspect. If Aya had a voice, maybe we wouldn't still look upon her as such a quiet, strong-willed, intelligent individual and more of a whining blonde bimbo! The WAY characters say things often paint more of a picture of his/her personality than what they actually say, so in a lot of cases, it's a good job we're only reading it.
Subtitles have had more success in games than dubbing, mainly due to the fact that they don't leave themselves open to ridicule. Dubbing has a history of ruining a good game by attempting to give it a movie-feel without giving the way lines are said, much thought. The Developers seem to assume that just because the characters have voice, it's made a better game. Nothing could be further from the truth. But, as has already been said, there are signs of this changing as we look at games like Onimusha and see that this sophisticated dubbing could be the torch that lights the way to movie-perfect games.
Some argue that giving characters audible voices heightens the realism of the game, giving the character more depth, more personality and allowing the player to identify with the artificial character a little deeper. There are many good examples of the formula working. Let's looks at Onimusha Warlords for the PS2 for instance. Samanosuke's voice has conviction and realism which can only add to the playability of the game. This coupled with handy subtitles allows the player to get the most out of the game and the in-depth characters that go along with it, subtitles being invaluable for the deaf also. However, small differences in the original Japanese dialogue and the English translation, slightly detract from human realism. (Such as Kaede nodding "Understand!" instead of "Understood.") Aside from that, the dubbing only adds to the game as a whole, giving it on the whole, a more motion picture aspect, making the player feel they are controlling a movie rather than an unrealistic, emotionless beat 'em up, which is so often the case.
Dubbing doesn't always endow a game with gritty realism and heart-stopping emotion. Take the dark, surreal and disturbing town of Silent Hill for example. Most of the dubbing has the opposite effect on the player, inducing sniggers and giggles rather than a feeling of fear for the character you're playing as. When Dr Michael Kauffman fires his handgun at Harry, it's fully 2 or 3 seconds before the plank reacts, cowering in the corner way after the bullet missed him. It seems that the actors for Silent Hill were slightly overly-keen, forcing laughably corny enthusiasm into their lines, an effect which may have worked had the subtitles not appeared on the bottom of the screen ages before the actor began speaking. Perhaps leaving the dubbing out of Silent Hill would have added to the game's aura of disturbing silence and twisted mystery. Not hearing the drawn-out, irritating whinging of mad old biddy, Dhalia Gillespie, would have been a blessing in disguise. The way she drawled the emphasis on pronounciation had players around the world gritting their teeth in irritation.
The first two Resident Evil games raise a smile or two in hindsight. Resident Evil 1 caused quite a few laughs in the intro sequence as Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield hammed their way through a potentially realistic looking movie scene. (Granted, many of the laughs were due to Albert Wesker looking like a character from Top Gun.) In this case they were real actors, but one can't help but think that more of an impact would have been made if they'd kept their traps shut.
Subtitles tend to leave a lot more to the imagination. You can imagine what the character sounds like without having it forced upon you. Parasite Eve 2 relies on subtitles for the entire game, which to most people, gives it a more mature aspect. If Aya had a voice, maybe we wouldn't still look upon her as such a quiet, strong-willed, intelligent individual and more of a whining blonde bimbo! The WAY characters say things often paint more of a picture of his/her personality than what they actually say, so in a lot of cases, it's a good job we're only reading it.
Subtitles have had more success in games than dubbing, mainly due to the fact that they don't leave themselves open to ridicule. Dubbing has a history of ruining a good game by attempting to give it a movie-feel without giving the way lines are said, much thought. The Developers seem to assume that just because the characters have voice, it's made a better game. Nothing could be further from the truth. But, as has already been said, there are signs of this changing as we look at games like Onimusha and see that this sophisticated dubbing could be the torch that lights the way to movie-perfect games.