Xbox - Past, Present, And Future

Thanks to EGM for their interview with Microsoft's Ed Fries, discussing the state of the Xbox. He talks about the specialization of Microsoft's first-party Xbox publishing efforts, saying: "When we were starting, not only were we learning about how to be a console publisher, but we were also trying to make sure we had games in every genre because we really didn't know what kind of third-party support we were gonna get." Fries also quibbles with Nintendo's lack of voice acting in their games, mentioning: "someone asked [Miyamoto and Iwata] why none of their games had voices. And they talked about cost and the time and trouble to localize it... and I just felt like I was listening to silent-movie directors talking [about how films work fine without sound]", and arguing: "I feel like that's just part of the price of doing business nowadays, and it's something everyone should be doing."

it's just about look and feel

[Althazzar]

Games without voice acting can be cool too ofcourse, it's just that in some games it adds up to the action. When you're making millions on a game, i'm sure you can fit in a few people to say something...

On the other hand, my game experience is not dependent on voices, it's dependent on the look and feel of a game...

Re:it's just about look and feel

[Anonymous Coward]

There are pros and cons to voice acting. Yes, it can add to the experience. But it also takes up more room on the disc. There is also risk that the voice acting may not be very good and actually detract from the game. With text only, the player uses their own understanding of the speech to make it sound appropriate (in their heads).

Voice acting!

[Anonymous Coward]

Voice acting is great! - *IF* you can skip it ;-)

Re:Speech Stuff

[Snowspinner]

OK, this is a new one. I mean, I've read more anti-Nintendo stuff than anyone sane should have to read, but I've never heard Nintendo criticized for their lack of voice acting before.

On top of that, I have trouble thinking of a game that anyone ever said "Yeah, the voice acting on that game was great! Buy the game for the voice acting!" Kingdom Hearts is the closest to that I can come up with.

And why is Microsoft doing the criticism? DO they really think they have more to gain by attacking Nintendo than by going after Sony? Sony is at least pursuing the same market they are - Nintendo is not. If they manage to get Nintendo out of the business, it will probably not substantively increase their sales.

Some days, I think small niche products offend Microsoft more than actual large competition. I wonder why that is.

No voice is better than bad voice

[edwdig]

Play a Sega game that has voice acting. Say a Sonic Adventure game. You're going to cringe every time someone talks.

Sega's hires two types of voice actors: those who do not know what inflection is, and those who use it in all the wrong places.

I will say though, the House of the Dead games wouldn't be as fun without the really bad voice acting.

As to voice acting and Nintendo games, I think a large part of the problem is if Nintendo did give Link a voice, if it came out any less than perfect, the bitching they'd hear would make the cell-shading complaints look like nothing.

The reviews that said Samus needed a voice are just plain stupid. There isn't anyone she could possibly talk to.

I think whenever Nintendo finally gets around to making some new characters, that's when they should go with voices - if it fits the game.

Not blatantly commercial

[Snowmit]

The part of the article that grabbed my attention was when he was talking about Psychonauts. Here is what he said: "...it's great to have something in our portfolio that's just really unique and artistically challenging and not so blatantly commercial.".

This is an attitude I would like to see expressed more often by the people holding the purse strings. One of the ways that Hollywood maintains legitimacy and dodges censors is by having some portion of its annual output be more 'artistic' films. It gives the medium legitimacym and you never know when one of the art films will become a blockbuster.

It would be nice if the majoy games studios took a similar attitude and funded a certain number of art games a year. It would help in the arguments about whether or not gaming is a legitimate artistic medium, for sure.

Re:VO

[Anonymous Coward]

I've just played Halo (the PC port), and have to agree that the voice acting was great. Cortana was especially good - at one point she goes from 'sinister AI' to 'chirpy and smug' in the space of a single sentence in a way which was just perfect at defining her character. The stuff that other characters like the marines and alien grunts come up with is also great, especially as the PC version has everything done with beautifully clear Ogg Vorbis. :-)

Another game with impressive voice acting is System Shock 2, where characters are also defined by the way they speak, not just what they say.

Text bubbles over characters can't convey a lot of the potential depth...

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MS is in a unique position

[xenocide2]

Among game manufacturers, MS has the unique position that several of their top tier developers and titles were envisioned in English. They can begin development of the game in English, and not have to worry about alienating a significant number of game players who they could otherwise easily reach, nor do they need to worry about staffing people proficient in english. This comes at the cost of ignoring markets like Japan, which are smaller and have protective tarrifs in place.

Contrast this with Sony and Nintendo. They have a solid market in Japan, which they cannot simply ignore. There's less taxes, less headaches, and they have far more public access. But they cannot ignore the world market as much as the American film industry does. So they can either make the voice acting in all Japanese and leave it up to their foreign subsideraries to localize, they can alienate their home market and start out in English and do english only, or they can design to reduce the amount of localization needed.

This isn't just about voice, its about affordable universal appeal. One of the best movies ever was made in Japan, but the language in which it was filmed has certainly harmed its marketablity and audience appeal.