News: Martinet Wanted To Voice Link

Posted by Aaron Clegg - Nov 16th 2009 16:13

The voice of Mario tells how he wanted to be the protagonist of the Legend of Zelda series, and also offers up some gushing praise for Mr Miyamoto...

Oddly, Charles Martinet has been in the news a fair bit lately. Maybe it's because he's been busy with the imminent release of a mildly large title, but whatever the reason, we're always pleased to hear from the real voice of the voice of Mario.

In a recent interview with That Gaming Site, Martinet divulged how he tried to convince Shigeru Miyamoto to let him provide for voice of Zelda hero Link.

"I spoke to Mr. Miyamoto and said: “I wanna be Link, I wanna be Link”, and Miyamoto told me that Link isn’t going to have a voice; he is going to stay the way he is. Of course Mr. Miyamoto is always right! The way it works right now is the way it is supposed to be. It’s the genius of Miyamoto and he knows just the right formula for making his games more fun and more exciting. For example in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, If things slowed down for Mario to express his inner feelings it just wouldn’t work and this way it keeps our hearts pounding with enthusiasm.”

As much as we admire the talented Mr Martinet, we'd have to agree that the idea of a talking Link may not sit well with the feel of the Zelda series. But what do you think? Is it time for Nintendo to give the protagonist a voice?

For the full interview with Charles, click here


Source: That Gaming Site

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Comments

Hamish Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 12:06 || Total Comments: 248
I think they should do what a lot of modern games do and just simply have OTHER characters speak but not Link. Link is purely meant as the "link" between the gamer and the game, he's not designed to have any real personality.

But in Twilight Princess it was difficult to find some of those final scenes particularly dramatic without any voices.
D_prOdigy Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 12:12 || Total Comments: 1596
I agree. I'd kind of like to see what they did with Metroid Prime 3 - giving everyone else a voice, but keeping Samus mute.

Only better.
Hellfire Says: 
November 16th, 2009 at 13:05 || Total Comments: 735
I honestly prefer things the way they are. The groans and gibberish have A LOT of charm and ressonate a lot with me, while 9/10 times in games I end up just reading the subtitles and don't hear the whole voice acting. It depends on the situation of course, but I don't think voice acting is always necessary to complete a scene. Of course that doesn't mean that if done extremely well, I would disilke it, but very few games do it well.
LordVader Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 15:21 || Total Comments: 53
It's a me. Link!
Sariachan Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 16:36 || Total Comments: 326
I would prefer if nobody in a Zelda game will ever really talk (something like what Midna does is ok, though), since I hate it when you talk to characters in videogames, and while you skip some dialogue, the audio just interrupt.

I wouldn't particularly like to have a dubbing only for the cut scenes, either, since it would disrupts the way I image characters' voices... for me, Zelda games are more like books than movies, narrative-wise. ;)
Darkflame Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 18:46 || Total Comments: 960
The idea of Link having a voice makes me shudder inside.
To a lessor extent other characters.

You see, I also read at a much faster rate then most people speak. So to have characters speaking actually takes away from the immersion for me, not adding it.

What's more important is to make a living, breathing world.
Something TP did pretty darn well animation wise...everyone looked/acted really alive.
But it could have done with more NCP text. Even just random bits for the townsfolk. (Tales of Symphonia, though a different genre, demos this the other way around....everyone has good dialogue, but robotic-animation)

For me good animation and (text) dialogue is infinitely more important then spoken dialogue.

That said, I wouldnt be fully turned of Zelda if other people spoke. It just wouldn't be more preference for what they should pay attention too.
Ld560 Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 21:38 || Total Comments: 81
Why not use the Wii speak perhierpal in the game, not to project your voice but to answer commands, like when you're asked if you understand about how to use the map..You can say YES or somet like that, that might be one way to interact as LINK by being his voice but only hearing yourself as you say it..
Kav82 Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 23:22 || Total Comments: 47
I firmly believe that Link should remain silent.
I wouldn't mind everyone else having a dialogue though. However, I'd like the dialogue to be a made up language; I'd like them to actually be speaking Hylian!
Of course we'd still have the text to read as the translation.
Guardiandevil Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 03:42 || Total Comments: 353
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON'TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT give link a voice! i love the fact that he's doesnt have a voice cause its just like hamish said! Also, after so many games, any voice would sound weird and uncomfortable to veteran gamers... at least at first...
RawkingRawlings Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 06:26 || Total Comments: 343
"Oh no Zelda! You've been-a-kidnapped again, Mamma-Mia!"
Regal_Black Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 08:32 || Total Comments: 127
@LordVader & RawkingRawlings

LOOOOOOOOOL!!!
Solitanze Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 09:36 || Total Comments: 1655
Most will not care that Link has no voice. For the perception of the character to remain strong, he must remain silent. BUT in saying that, in a bid to to move the series forward (Along with other critical inclusions such as Harder Difficulty, Contemporary setting thrown in the mix, 100% PUSH SYSTEM GRAPHICS - should be released for Wii HD really, but I guess it could suffice in this instance given TP was a 11th hour GC port to capitalise on Wiis launch and blood while retaining innovative elements of Wii Motion Plus) and curb the decline the series has suffered recently on home consoles, there needs to be voice acting for EVERY character link interacts with, including the main antagonist. Voice for Link? No, voice for every other character? Yes.
Pod Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 12:01 || Total Comments: 1037
Eh, I dunno, Sol, I don't think Voice acting is what would sell more copies. Zelda is outselling many series with beautifully done voices.

But a harder difficulty setting, just one, might help the games live longer, just like how returning to Ocarina of Time through Master Quest made it feel fresh again.
Evilslayer Says:
November 17th, 2009 at 13:47 || Total Comments: 193
"I think they should do what a lot of modern games do and just simply have OTHER characters speak but not Link."

Zelda: You're name is [MUTE]? Sounds familiar...

Nope, I don't think that'd work either.

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 The Legend of Zelda Wii (Tentative) - Click to see game details
The Legend of Zelda Wii (Tentative)

System:
Wii

Genre:
Adventure/RPG

Developer:
Nintendo

Publisher:
Nintendo

Release Dates:
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA

Memorycard:
N/A

Multiplayer:
Unknown

Last updated on:
Jun 4th 2009