The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Alot of games nowadays feature subtitled text, mainly for the cut scenes and conversations between the characters but do we really need them? I find subtitled movies are like reading a book, your eyes concentrate directly at the text missing everything the film has to offer. It's the same with games, developers spend hours making these cinematic cut scenes and with today’s technology their lips move and everything. What I'm getting at is subtitles have to be there for people with hearing disabilities but why are they such a permanent issue? Most of these sequences involve speech anyway so it's like a TV permanently stuck on Ceefax page 888.
I was recently playing the Silent Hill 2 demo and it had the option of Japanese text, English Text or subtitles off, I found the game was so much more realistic with no subtitles and showed the cut scene in a completely different way, I found myself looking directly at the characters and seeing it how it’s meant to be and not reading the "script". It's not hard to throw in an on/off switch so do you agree that subtitles should remain for the people who need them but for everyone else should be nothing more than a common option in the game's menu?
Views/comments??
I was recently playing the Silent Hill 2 demo and it had the option of Japanese text, English Text or subtitles off, I found the game was so much more realistic with no subtitles and showed the cut scene in a completely different way, I found myself looking directly at the characters and seeing it how it’s meant to be and not reading the "script". It's not hard to throw in an on/off switch so do you agree that subtitles should remain for the people who need them but for everyone else should be nothing more than a common option in the game's menu?
Views/comments??
Yes. I could see why subtitles should be an option and shouldn't.
As you say, the eyes Concentrate more on the text. Displaced in front of you. Correct right? This is all very well. But if you have a disability like not being able to hear then subtitles are not so good whatsoever. Well, you see. If you are deaf and many games are sound dependant like on Perfect Dark if the first bullet misses at least you can try and turn and fight back. But a deaf person would just carry on. Thus, getting killed. Excitebike, when you want to do a like a turbo boost then you hear the engine go like different, giving you an audible notice.
You could however just have it come up on the screen like “Turbo Boost” or “Shots from behind”
I will say that a game without hearing is like an unfinished game. The music goes all scary and you just know something is going to happen so you keep your eyes peeled. You couldn’t have “Scary music” come up on the screen could you? Its just not. Right.
But still, I think if this option had been tweaked then yes you should be able to have the right to see subtitles or not. It would still need a lot of tweaking mind you..
As you say, the eyes Concentrate more on the text. Displaced in front of you. Correct right? This is all very well. But if you have a disability like not being able to hear then subtitles are not so good whatsoever. Well, you see. If you are deaf and many games are sound dependant like on Perfect Dark if the first bullet misses at least you can try and turn and fight back. But a deaf person would just carry on. Thus, getting killed. Excitebike, when you want to do a like a turbo boost then you hear the engine go like different, giving you an audible notice.
You could however just have it come up on the screen like “Turbo Boost” or “Shots from behind”
I will say that a game without hearing is like an unfinished game. The music goes all scary and you just know something is going to happen so you keep your eyes peeled. You couldn’t have “Scary music” come up on the screen could you? Its just not. Right.
But still, I think if this option had been tweaked then yes you should be able to have the right to see subtitles or not. It would still need a lot of tweaking mind you..
Well this is a tough one.
Subtitles can be good or bad. If we are talking about films here, then subtitles are pretty much essential for people with hearing problems. They can see the action and read the subtitles to get a full picture of whats going on. Unfortunately in most cases subtitles only slightly resemble what the characters are saying on screen and are really simplified. Of course the subtitles do take a part of the screen and can make viewing a film or a programme more difficult. Now, I totally agree with the fact that subtitles should be supplied withing a video/dvd package and should be available for all TV viewers who need them, but surely they should be made an OPTION only. If the viewer feels the need to follow the subtitles, he/she can switch them on. Now, in films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon subtitles are pretty much essential if you want to know whats going on. You can always put the dodgy english voiceover on but that makes you laugh rather than get something out of watching the movie. Unfortunately I found myself looking at the botom of the screen too much to know what the characters were saying. That annoyed me to say the least
Now we can talk about games. Subtitles are important for disabled people because just like Ali said, they improve the experience and make the game more playable. Playing games like Final Fantasy isnt a problem because everything is on the screen and the only thing a deaf person would be missing out on would be the magnificent music.
Again, in my opinion subtitles should be optional for disabled people. There just arnt thousands and thousands of deaf people who suddenly decide to take up gaming. SO I think that subtitles are useful in games but not essential
Subtitles can be good or bad. If we are talking about films here, then subtitles are pretty much essential for people with hearing problems. They can see the action and read the subtitles to get a full picture of whats going on. Unfortunately in most cases subtitles only slightly resemble what the characters are saying on screen and are really simplified. Of course the subtitles do take a part of the screen and can make viewing a film or a programme more difficult. Now, I totally agree with the fact that subtitles should be supplied withing a video/dvd package and should be available for all TV viewers who need them, but surely they should be made an OPTION only. If the viewer feels the need to follow the subtitles, he/she can switch them on. Now, in films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon subtitles are pretty much essential if you want to know whats going on. You can always put the dodgy english voiceover on but that makes you laugh rather than get something out of watching the movie. Unfortunately I found myself looking at the botom of the screen too much to know what the characters were saying. That annoyed me to say the least
Now we can talk about games. Subtitles are important for disabled people because just like Ali said, they improve the experience and make the game more playable. Playing games like Final Fantasy isnt a problem because everything is on the screen and the only thing a deaf person would be missing out on would be the magnificent music.
Again, in my opinion subtitles should be optional for disabled people. There just arnt thousands and thousands of deaf people who suddenly decide to take up gaming. SO I think that subtitles are useful in games but not essential
I thought they were an option for all games...
Anyway, i agree the optionn for subtitles should be there for all cut-scenes. I usually always have them on, just incase I misunderstand a word or somthin.
Anyway, i agree the optionn for subtitles should be there for all cut-scenes. I usually always have them on, just incase I misunderstand a word or somthin.
I can see many good and bad reasons for subtitles within games.
Lets start with the good then
Subtitles could be quite useful in games where the actors have strong accents, a lot of Japenese games are nearly impossible to understand and by having subtitles you can follow the story closer and hopefully enjoy the game more.
Subtitles also crop up in the area of gaming for disabled people. The majority of us will have no disability and most of us probably take the whole gaming experience for granted. We come on here and discuss how great one game is or how poor a game and how it could be improved. Now imagine that you were deaf, would this spoil the game for you? Would the whole experience have changed and would you still play games in the same way that you normally do? I know there are many disabilities out there but for the purpose of this topic I guess the main one is being deaf, not having the ability to hear is a terrible thing if you are born with the ability to hear, those who are born deaf don't know any different. Subtitles could improve the whole experience for some as they could still follow the story and enjoy it.
But there is a downside.
Subtitles require storage space and someone has to go through and add them in, this space used could have been used for extras in the game, longer game, better graphics etc.
Also when a game is converted to other languages the subtitles also need to be converted and this could take even longer so games will take longer to appear in some countries.
I think it depends on who the game is aimed at and how much conversation takes place within a game.
Lets start with the good then
Subtitles could be quite useful in games where the actors have strong accents, a lot of Japenese games are nearly impossible to understand and by having subtitles you can follow the story closer and hopefully enjoy the game more.
Subtitles also crop up in the area of gaming for disabled people. The majority of us will have no disability and most of us probably take the whole gaming experience for granted. We come on here and discuss how great one game is or how poor a game and how it could be improved. Now imagine that you were deaf, would this spoil the game for you? Would the whole experience have changed and would you still play games in the same way that you normally do? I know there are many disabilities out there but for the purpose of this topic I guess the main one is being deaf, not having the ability to hear is a terrible thing if you are born with the ability to hear, those who are born deaf don't know any different. Subtitles could improve the whole experience for some as they could still follow the story and enjoy it.
But there is a downside.
Subtitles require storage space and someone has to go through and add them in, this space used could have been used for extras in the game, longer game, better graphics etc.
Also when a game is converted to other languages the subtitles also need to be converted and this could take even longer so games will take longer to appear in some countries.
I think it depends on who the game is aimed at and how much conversation takes place within a game.
Alot of games nowadays feature subtitled text, mainly for the cut scenes and conversations between the characters but do we really need them? I find subtitled movies are like reading a book, your eyes concentrate directly at the text missing everything the film has to offer. It's the same with games, developers spend hours making these cinematic cut scenes and with today’s technology their lips move and everything. What I'm getting at is subtitles have to be there for people with hearing disabilities but why are they such a permanent issue? Most of these sequences involve speech anyway so it's like a TV permanently stuck on Ceefax page 888.
I was recently playing the Silent Hill 2 demo and it had the option of Japanese text, English Text or subtitles off, I found the game was so much more realistic with no subtitles and showed the cut scene in a completely different way, I found myself looking directly at the characters and seeing it how it’s meant to be and not reading the "script". It's not hard to throw in an on/off switch so do you agree that subtitles should remain for the people who need them but for everyone else should be nothing more than a common option in the game's menu?
Views/comments??
I was recently playing the Silent Hill 2 demo and it had the option of Japanese text, English Text or subtitles off, I found the game was so much more realistic with no subtitles and showed the cut scene in a completely different way, I found myself looking directly at the characters and seeing it how it’s meant to be and not reading the "script". It's not hard to throw in an on/off switch so do you agree that subtitles should remain for the people who need them but for everyone else should be nothing more than a common option in the game's menu?
Views/comments??