[Official] Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

By DrunknMunky
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Grand Master

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Some games need voice acting more than others, Banjo is very text heavy.

The likes of Mario is not, there's not much conversation in Mario at all.

Half Life has voiced actors for all the characters so I don't understand the Gordon Freeman link.

I'd appreciate voice acting in Zelda.

Actually I'd say Mario and Banjo have pretty even amounts of text in them. Zelda has more than both of them. Samus doesn't have much story dialogue but it has a lot of text via scanning items etc.

HL2 link was because Gordon never talks (just like the other charatcers I listed).

None of those characters have had full voice acting and they never should imo. Partly because they'd use lame actors for the english dubs. If you're gonna say include the Japanese dubs on the disk, then I may as well read the text to begin with!

Keep it like it is and only add voice to their attacks/jumping etc. Even that though is enough to p*** off the die hard fans of the series (in particular Zelda fans).

Grand Master

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Not to mention if they used voice overs for the text that they do have, we'd be sitting on our asses for hours waiting for someone to finish saying all of that out loud. Things go much faster if they just let us read the information.

-Spenser

Voice for cut-scenes at least, we don't need it for everything, plus many games with voice let you skip text/voice.

I don't really think there's a good genuine reason to defend against voice acting. As game budgets have increased it's become more viable for nearly every genre. Platformers/Adventure games with stories no excuse.

Of course if it's done wrong it can be bad, but many animated characters (games & movies) get voice overs that relate well to their characters.

If games of this genre continue forward neglecting voice acting it's only going to affect scores because of what gamers have come to expect. I even expect the next Zelda MAY have voice acting of some sorts, although because the production values on a Wii game don't go much further than a Gamecube, 360 games are probably held to a higher regard in that value (for being far more "next gen" than the Xbox).

Actually I'd say Mario and Banjo have pretty even amounts of text in them. Zelda has more than both of them. Samus doesn't have much story dialogue but it has a lot of text via scanning items etc.

I dunno, I've definitely done more reading in the new Banjo than Mario.

Banjo still has more character/story than a mario game however, and you expect good jokes/worthwhile content to read and listen to. Where as in Mario story doesn't always take the key, as it's pretty much the same every time. The gameplay/level design being what's the most important for mario.

Grand Master

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You're talking about some of the best known characters in gaming history and finding a suitable voice that people would be happy with. Can you think of such a person who fits Cloud's character?

I can't (N) You know they'd hire some whiney lil p***y like every FF game since X. There would be a massive outcry from every damn FF fanboy who thinks Cloud is "bad ass".

Some things are best left alone and that's exactly what Nintendo / Rare / Valve etc etc are doing.

Grand Master

spenser.d

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I agree if it was done well, I probably wouldn't mind. But as it is right now, I definitely have my reservations about the idea, at least related to BK.

But idk about the cutscene thing - there's one cutscene in the demo and there's a ton of text in it. It'd still take forever if they voiced just the cutscenes.

-Spenser

Grand Master

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You're talking about some of the best known characters in gaming history and finding a suitable voice that people would be happy with. Can you think of such a person who fits Cloud's character?

I can't (N) You know they'd hire some whiney lil p***y like every FF game since X. There would be a massive outcry from every damn FF fanboy who thinks Cloud is "bad ass".

Some things are best left alone and that's exactly what Nintendo / Rare / Valve etc etc are doing.

Dude calm down :laugh:

And stop bringing Valve into this, HL as I pointed out has voice acting. Gordon Freeman never says anything, it's a design choice related to his character, not because Valve couldn't do voice acting.

Agree to disagree, I think Banjo would be improved considerably with voice acting, you don't.

Grand Master

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I'm well aware of the voice acting in HL/2, but my point is still valid about Gordon. They would never find a suitable voice actor for him that people would be happy with.

You do realise that Banjo is somewhat of a "hick" right? God help us if we had to listen to some redneck for 10 hours :no:

"look maw!, I found us one of those jiggies huh-huh"

No thanks ;)

Grand Master

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I'm well aware of the voice acting in HL/2, but my point is still valid about Gordon. They would never find a suitable voice actor for him that people would be happy with.

You do realise that Banjo is somewhat of a "hick" right? God help us if we had to listen to some redneck for 10 hours :no:

"look maw!, I found us one of those jiggies huh-huh"

No thanks ;)

They would never need to find a voice actor for him though, they choose not to make him speak! That's my point :p

And I dunno about never finding something people would be happy with if he did speak, all the voice acting in HL is pretty damn good for each character.

You could always just turn voice acting off if you didn't want to listen ;)

I just think if Rare want to make the next Banjo a true AAA platformer again they need to go back to platforming basics (ditch heavy vehicle gameplay), focus on a good story and improve production values through voice acting for noteworthy scenes!

The vehicles in the game are cool, but far too much of the game is dedicated to them and the racing around.

IMO anyway, I just wanted more of the same, but in HD.

Grand Master

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Can't believe we are talking about giving Banjo a voice, such blasphemy! Seriously though, not sure why the argument was even brought up in the first place. They are getting credit in my book for doing something right this time and keeping tradition with the series.

Grand Master

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Can't believe we are talking about giving Banjo a voice, such blasphemy! Seriously though, not sure why the argument was even brought up in the first place. They are getting credit in my book for doing something right this time and keeping tradition with the series.

Rare know what they are doing :yes: I bet the next BK doesn't have voice acting for Banjo or Kazooie. Same goes for Zelda etc

Just won't happen imo. They could have done it years ago and haven't, why would they change it now.

Grand Master

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Giant Bomb: 5/5 stars

Funny, inventive, gorgeous--and cheap. Microsoft decided to charge a mere $40 for Nuts & Bolts, but I got more laughs and more satisfying gameplay out of this one than most of the $60 games I've played this year. And even after spending nearly 20 hours amassing enough jiggies to take down the final boss, I'm compelled to get back in there and keep playing new missions, unlocking new vehicle parts, and exploring more of the game's beautiful world. I had no affection whatsoever for the Banjo-Kazooie franchise or characters going into Nuts & Bolts, but its list of great qualities quietly won me over to make it one of my favorite Xbox 360 games of the year.

Full review

:)

Grand Master

Smigit

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Rare know what they are doing :yes: I bet the next BK doesn't have voice acting for Banjo or Kazooie. Same goes for Zelda etc

Just won't happen imo. They could have done it years ago and haven't, why would they change it now.

Not really, the last banjo game was on the N64/Gameboy where technically they wouldn't have had the memory for all the audio they'd need. Whether they should add it now I guess is up to debate, I don't think it matters either way but I'm sure they could do it if they wanted.

I haven't played this title yet, but I'd say for a platformer of this nature if it's going to be text heavy use voice otherwise just cut back on the amount of text. I don't think you usually want to hit people with too much text besides maybe in RPG's.

Grand Master

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Not really, the last banjo game was on the N64/Gameboy where technically they wouldn't have had the memory for all the audio they'd need. Whether they should add it now I guess is up to debate, I don't think it matters either way but I'm sure they could do it if they wanted.

I haven't played this title yet, but I'd say for a platformer of this nature if it's going to be text heavy use voice otherwise just cut back on the amount of text. I don't think you usually want to hit people with too much text besides maybe in RPG's.

Ok well what about Zelda and Mario on the Gamecube? They could have easily added voice acting for the games back then but they didn't. Some characters are just better without it :yes:

Grand Master

Smigit

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Well mario does have a voice, he says the odd word here or there. I guess Nintendo just doesn't think theres any point adding speech to the whole game.

Still, doesn't mean Banjo couldn't do it, just that it probably doesn't need it either. Again I'd say it's only needed as soon as the game becomes text heavy.

Grand Master

DrunknMunky Veteran

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Well mario does have a voice, he says the odd word here or there. I guess Nintendo just doesn't think theres any point adding speech to the whole game.

Still, doesn't mean Banjo couldn't do it, just that it probably doesn't need it either. Again I'd say it's only needed as soon as the game becomes text heavy.

Well in that case Banjo already has a voice, as he makes a sound when jumping etc, as does Kazooie ;)

Problem solved :p

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