English voices in fighting games

[SuperMillionaire]

These days, pretty much all Japanese-created fighting games have dual English/Japanese voice options. However, back in the day, the only two fighting game franchises to have this feature were Tekken and Soul Calibur, both created by Namco. While the very first Street Fighter game had an English dub, which let the characters call their attacks by their English names, the western localizations of all subsequent games left the voices in Japanese, up until Street Fighter IV, when Capcom finally decided to implement this feature into its game, taking a page out of Namco's book, though certain characters, particularly those from Asia, still use Japanese names for certain special moves amidst otherwise English dialogue. Also, while the original Dead or Alive 2 did not feature English voices, the Ultimate edition did, but Tecmo would not implement this feature into the series again (excluding the Xtreme side series) until Dead or Alive: Dimensions, and the upcoming Dead or Alive 5 will also have English voices. Since then, all other fighting games by all other companies have began implementing English voices into their games full time, along with subtitles for introduction and victory quotes, but also allow the player to switch back and forth between English and Japanese voices, as well.

Whenever I played all those earlier fighting games with Japanese voices (excluding Tekken and Soul Calibur, since they already had full-time English voices for a while), I always wondered exactly what they were saying, since I don't understand Japanese (and I'm pretty sure that a lot of you on this forum don't, either). When I started playing Street Fighter IV with the new English voice option, at first, it sounded a little strange, since apparently we've gotten so used to the Japanese voices for so long, but I understood it better, and over time, I actually began to like it. Nowadays, whenever I get a new fighting game that allows me to decide between English and Japanese voices (which pretty much all recent fighting games feature), I always set the voices to English. Of course, some of you will stick to Japanese voices, because the addition of subtitles has eliminated the problem of not understanding what the characters are saying, at least in their introductions and victory quotes. However, battle quotes during actual gameplay matches are not subtitled, so you still wouldn't understand what they are saying during gameplay (a lot of you will tell me that it doesn't matter, since the action itself is most important, but still, you should get my point).

With all of that said, whenever you play a fighting game, if it has the option of allowing you to decide between English and Japanese voices, which one do you prefer? And if you had to play with English voices, which voices from which games do you like, and which do you dislike? Also, what are your favorite quotes from certain characters from certain games? Let's talk about it here.

[Laddy]

Depends, if the acting and translation is good, absolutely. If not, no. If it's a game in which everyone speaks their proper language, absolutely.

[DK]

Yeah I wouldn't mind a game where everyone speaks their own language. That being said, if I had to make the choice, I'd pick Japanese mostly because the whole SHOUTING OUT THE NAME OF MY MOVE WHEN I DO IT thing has always seemed daft to me, and seeing as I can't understand most of what they're saying in Japanese I can just ignore it.

[black orb]

>>> English for me, Japanese voices get old quickly..:luca:

[sharkythesharkdogg]

I like the characters using the language from the area they're supposed to be from.

I like how Abel uses some French for example. I wish Dhalsim spoke Hindi. I suppose speaking English works for a man from Calcutta, but if there were someone from India who only spoke Hindi, I'd bet it was the creepy looking yoga master. /ramble

[SuperMillionaire]

I know, you're right; everyone should speak their native language, wherever they're from. For that reason, they should add a third voice language option called "Native."

[Wolf Kanno]

I usually prefer Japanese, simply because most fighting games have ridiculous dialogue and the English VA talent isn't always the best for them. My usual stance whenever I play a Soul Calibur game is to always start the game by going to options, switching the voices to Japanese, and then muting the awful soundtrack. Though SCV caused some problems with this set-up because I love Ezio's English VA...

[Shattered Dreamer]

In Tekken 6 I'm pretty sure the characters all speak their native languages. On the topic of English voices in beat em ups, in Street Fighter IV the voice for Ken is the same voice actor as Dante from DMC & it just doesn't suit the character :/

[Mirage]

Ideally, fighting game characters should speak their actual language, but this requires voice actors who can speak a multitude of different languages, and is not always a realistic option for the developers. An all right compromise would be to let you mix and match language settings on a per-character basis. That way, you would be able to give for example english voices to european characters, and japanese voices to asian characters. Of course, most of europe does not speak english, and most of asia does not speak japanese, but it's still an improvement!

Also, it would be cool if, in the case of a dual language game, characters had perhaps one or two lines in their native languages.

[Lionx]

Depends! I like Taokaka's English voice because of her funny sayings. Guile and Cammy in English makes much more sense to me than their Japanese engrish counterparts. Ryu however sounds much more natural in his Japanese voice than English. So it depends on the character.

I also do Ken's voice in American because i met and spent an afternoon with the VA in an AnimeCon...i know its not the best they could have done for Ken but I love that guy X3

[Shattered Dreamer]

I also do Ken's voice in American because i met and spent an afternoon with the VA in an AnimeCon...i know its not the best they could have done for Ken but I love that guy X3

You met the voice of Dante from DMC? Cool!

[MJN SEIFER]

For me it depends on the game, and sometimes even depends on the character.

There is a character in Soul Calibur III (he's in all of the games, but this is the only time this was a problem) who is basically portrayed as a calm and collected samurai, and his English voice (very calm and unfazed) is perfect for this, but his actual Japanese voice (shouty and over excited) isn't.

[Mirage]

How do you know he's supposed to be calm and collected? His actions don't always reflect that,

[Lionx]

I also do Ken's voice in American because i met and spent an afternoon with the VA in an AnimeCon...i know its not the best they could have done for Ken but I love that guy X3

You met the voice of Dante from DMC? Cool!

Yeah! Reuben Langdon is really awesome, always upbeat and willing to talk to you about anything for the most part. Very insightful and cultural person, and tried to speak to me in Chinese too (i am Chinese). He also did the mo-cap for RE5's Chris Redfield and stuff...if you can you should follow him on Facebook and meet him someday at a con, he is really really awesome! Super nice guy!

[SuperMillionaire]

Ideally, fighting game characters should speak their actual language, but this requires voice actors who can speak a multitude of different languages, and is not always a realistic option for the developers. An all right compromise would be to let you mix and match language settings on a per-character basis. That way, you would be able to give for example english voices to european characters, and japanese voices to asian characters. Of course, most of europe does not speak english, and most of asia does not speak japanese, but it's still an improvement!

Also, it would be cool if, in the case of a dual language game, characters had perhaps one or two lines in their native languages.

To further tie into your statement, European characters should speak with British accents, and I think that the Soul Calibur games need to start adding British accents to their European characters.

It would certainly be cool for all characters to speak with their native languages, but also keep in mind that English has multiple different accents, depending on which region of the world a character hails from. American/Canadian characters should have American/Canadian accents, and British/Australian characters should have British/Australian accents.

[Jessweeee♪]

I like how in Tekken eveyone speaks their native language, even if it is a little silly that they can all understand each other. I think the wood noises Mokujin makes are adorable. Also Paul and Panda in Tekken 5 is the cutest thing ever.

[Roogle]

I play Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition at the tournament level. I hear the voices a lot. I think it works best if you put the fighters from English speaking countries in English and the fighters from Asia in Japanese. This is kind of like what Mirage is saying. Street Fighter IV has had that option since Day 1, luckily. It is unfortunate that they cannot recruit voice actors familiar with each character's background, but it is something that Capcom expressed interest in at some point.

Interestingly, the Tekken series has characters speak in their native language. The story clashes with this as characters will converse with each other in entirely different languages and still seem to be able to understand each other. This causes problems when an animal character is speaking to a human.

[SuperMillionaire]

Yes, the Street Fighter IV series allows each character to switch voices accordingly. The same goes in Street Fighter X Tekken. Also, remember that Ken is supposed to be American.

And in the Tekken series, the characters speak several different languages? I thought they only allowed English and Japanese voices.

[krissy]

sorta related

Tekken director speaks to gamers who are bitching about the voices used in the port of the 15 year old game:
Tekken Head Unleashes Twitter Tirade (http://kotaku.com/5921399/tekken-head-unleashes-twitter-tirade/)


I have something I want to say to the people who spam me with requests to "switch back(or Bring back) to the voice actors used previously".
I believe that, before whining and complaining about everything, you need practice at taking a step back and analyzing things objectively. And also at being an adult.

First, the voice you were listening to was 16 years ago, during the PlayStation period. The current generation of consoles are totally different in how they play back sound; both software-wise, and the internal circuitry
The playback program is different, as well as the sound effects added; reverb and 5.1 are examples of this. The comrpression rate, as well as the sound rate, is different today. Are you playing games on the same TV you used 16 years ago? What about your speakers? Headphones? They are all the same as 16 years ago? I wonder if it will sound like the same voice as 16 years ago, even with that data..

Also, you are assuming the voice actors themselves can reproduce the voice the recorded 16 years ago? Many voice actors decline work because their voice has changed since the original role, some have even retired. Sometimes they won't accept, even if we ask.
The recording studio and the equipment they use is also different. With all of this in mind, you still thing it is possible to recreate these voices?

Some might say "just pay them to reuse the voice data".
But, often the voice actors decline this, or their agency declines.

For example, Brian's laugh is the actual data from Tekken 3. As fans have requested, we've kept using the original, adapting the data recorded 16 years ago to be used on the PS2, and then PS3.
Even so, some people said it is a different voice in Tekken 6 than the original.
It can't be helped they might think that. As explained above, even though the master data is the same, all of the equipment used in adapting it has completely changed. That said, it isn't a good idea to try to reccreate the older recording environment because then the data sounds heavily compressed, with noise. More than that, it would sound out of place next to the voice data of the newer characters.
WHAT? You say some of the voices sound like they haven't changed at all?
I guess you didn't notice that the development team has re-recorded them, but made efforts for it to sound as close as possible to the original. And you probably didn't even notice.

Do you know that all of the voice work for a character is not always done by just one voice actor? Using Brian as an example, the laugh you guys love so much uses the original data from Tekken 3, but the short kiai voice uses a different voice actor, and the "come on!" voice also uses a different voice actor. A lot of other characters also use different voice actors for the spoken lines and for the shouts.

I did the voice work for Marshal and Forest for 15 years.
However, I can no longer produce that voice after Tekken 5, so we had a different voice actor for Tekken 6.

The Tekken series has continued for 17 years. The development environment, as well as the environment in which you all play games, has changed.
There are so many characters, and we can't keep using he same voice actors every time, for a variety of reasons.
I have even complied to the requests of you all spamming me to "bring back characters" from previous installments. You often say, "let's show the dev team how sincere we are by buying 2 copies if they bring back character X", but did you really go through with it? Expecting you to at least pre-order the game, I was met with more spam, after you apparently didn't notice that Jun and Michelle actually return.

I still have some characters left to be revealed that comply with some of your requests, even "bringing back" several others. Even so, none of them are paid DLC. I will continue to sincerely comply with fan requests.
However, I can't continue to engage the negative ones that, without knowing what you are talking about, or even thinking about what you are saying, blindly repeat "bring back, bring back, bring back..."
After this lengthy explanation, I will be quite surprised if there are still people who still don't get it.

Thanks for understanding or not understanding. Whatever.

[ReloadPsi]

Having the English voices on is kind of funny because I imagine it's giving you some decent insight into how equally ridiculous the Japanese dialogue is.

[SuperMillionaire]

Having the English voices on is kind of funny because I imagine it's giving you some decent insight into how equally ridiculous the Japanese dialogue is.

What exactly do you mean by that?

[Kaspian69]

I generally go with Japanese not because I think it sounds better or anything, but because at least then I have no idea if the acting is bad, as opposed to in English where bad acting sticks out like a sore thumb. I guess for me it's more an "Ignorance is bliss" thing than anything else. =/

[ReloadPsi]

Having the English voices on is kind of funny because I imagine it's giving you some decent insight into how equally ridiculous the Japanese dialogue is.

What exactly do you mean by that?

Some games have characters say entire sentences for such mundane actions as taking a hit while blocking, and it gets even crazier when they interrupt said sentences with the exact same sentence while they're CALLING THEIR- CALLING THEIR- CALLING THEIR- CALLING THEIR ATTACKS. The one that really stuck out for me was Guilty Gear 2 (granted, not a fighting game) when Izuna kept yelling "Mind if- mind if- mind if- mind if- mind if I CUT in?!"

Call me crazy but if I parried a punch I don't think my first instinct would be to murmur to myself "Simon, I think you're going to lose."

[Jessweeee♪]

sorta related

Tekken director speaks to gamers who are bitching about the voices used in the port of the 15 year old game:
Tekken Head Unleashes Twitter Tirade (http://kotaku.com/5921399/tekken-head-unleashes-twitter-tirade/)

Holy shit.

[krissy]

Having the English voices on is kind of funny because I imagine it's giving you some decent insight into how equally ridiculous the Japanese dialogue is.

What exactly do you mean by that?

Some games have characters say entire sentences for such mundane actions as taking a hit while blocking, and it gets even crazier when they interrupt said sentences with the exact same sentence while they're CALLING THEIR- CALLING THEIR- CALLING THEIR- CALLING THEIR ATTACKS. The one that really stuck out for me was Guilty Gear 2 (granted, not a fighting game) when Izuna kept yelling "Mind if- mind if- mind if- mind if- mind if I CUT in?!"

Call me crazy but if I parried a punch I don't think my first instinct would be to murmur to myself "Simon, I think you're going to lose."

1) gg2 was totes a fighting game wasn't it?

2) your friggin sig ruined ff9 for me >:{

[SuperMillionaire]

Having the English voices on is kind of funny because I imagine it's giving you some decent insight into how equally ridiculous the Japanese dialogue is.

What exactly do you mean by that?

Some games have characters say entire sentences for such mundane actions as taking a hit while blocking, and it gets even crazier when they interrupt said sentences with the exact same sentence while they're CALLING THEIR- CALLING THEIR- CALLING THEIR- CALLING THEIR ATTACKS. The one that really stuck out for me was Guilty Gear 2 (granted, not a fighting game) when Izuna kept yelling "Mind if- mind if- mind if- mind if- mind if I CUT in?!"

Call me crazy but if I parried a punch I don't think my first instinct would be to murmur to myself "Simon, I think you're going to lose."

Really? I've never heard such a problem in any of the other fighting games I've played (at least in my experience). Sometimes, during certain rival fights in Street Fighter IV, the characters say special lines to each other during battle, but from what I've seen, it hasn't experienced that problem (probably because these special dialogue lines override what they would typically say).