Earlier this year Charles Martinet, who voiced Mario for decades, retired. After weeks of speculation about his replacement, Nintendo revealed the new voice actor with little fanfare. What gives?
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“We want people to enjoy the gameplay experience, and if they enjoyed the voice behind the gameplay experience, that’s what’s most important to us, not necessarily highlighting [Mario’s actor],” Bowser told WIRED last week.
Call me a cynic, but this also greatly reduces the bargaining power of the voice actor. If he’s not THE voice or Mario, it’s far easier to replace him than it was with Martinet.
I think it feels like a more fair approach to the new actor tbh. “Hey everyone here is the new guy replacing the legend you all know and love!” is probably not a better approach than letting the professional’s work speak for itself.
Nintendo remembers how the internet collectively lost its shit over Charles not voicing Mario in the movie. Nintendo knew better than to announce it before the game’s release.
Potentially, but Kevin Afghani is no slouch. Certainly not the nobody that Martinet was when he was originally hired. I wonder if it’s partially so that Martinet’s new job as “Mario Ambassador” or whatever isn’t overshadowed.
I think this was most likely it. If the new actor sticks around then it’s possible he’ll be as well known as Martinet, but I’m sure Nintendo would prefer the voice be someone who’s more easily replaceable.
All this concern over the guy who says “wahoo” and “it’s-a-me, Mario” is fascinating. Seriously it’s never been more than a few lines. Why is any of this such a big deal?
I think less about the changes to the sound itself but more people jsut got attached to Charles himself because he had been around for so long.
It’s not concern, more like interest, escapism. Life is shit, let us enjoy things 😆
Honestly, I think the situation was handled excellently. Feels like a miracle that I’ve not heard any stories about the new guy getting death threats, after the reaction to Charles not voicing Mario in the movie, and the love for him in general.
Mario fans are either kids experiencing the magic for the first time, or 30 year olds holding back a tear because after all those years, Mario still hits that little spark left inside that makes you feel alive with nostalgia. We are too busy smiling to make death threats.
Sonic fans though, get the hex value for the color of his shoes wrong and you’ll wake up with the sounds of 3 and a half people throwing feces at your window.
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I feel like a weirdo for a) not being able to tell it’s not martinet, b) not caring that it’s not martinet, and c) never really liking Mario sounding like Italian Mickey Mouse in the first place
Captain Lou Albano had the best take on mario imo, 2nd place being Bob Hoskins
That Bowser is a foe. He giving interviews to distract from placing the princess in another castle.
I reckon they wanted to put the work out there first before then saying who the new talent is. If. You announce the talent then present the work people will pick at it to death. Now we play the game first and it’s great. The voice is different and that’s cool too.
Am I the only one who knew about this? “Little fanfare” maybe but Nintendo announced it a while ago, with Charles saying goodbye in a video? This has been known. Just another reason to post a wired article I guess
