Do You Enjoy Reading Your Video Game Dialog?

19 responses to “Do You Enjoy Reading Your Video Game Dialog?”

1. 

   Chris

   May 19, 2011 at 9:17 am

   I actually have to agree with you, I do the exact same thing too since I started watching anime. It’s just easier to have subtitles on and sometimes you pay more attention, in my opinion.

   Reply
2. 

   ndroste

   May 19, 2011 at 9:27 am

   Yep, always turn subtitles on, except if I’m playing through a second time on the hardest difficulty I usually turn them off so it’s not a distraction.

   Reply
3. 

   Twiryn

   May 19, 2011 at 9:38 am

   I always have subtitles on – even if I can hear what they’re saying fine, it prevents me from missing any dialogue that may be important later. One of the things that frustrated me hugely about Assassin’s Creed I was that there were no subtitles – some of the characters mumbled, others were just hard to hear, etc. – so I seriously missed some important plot stuff until my second playthrough.

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4. 

   v4next

   May 19, 2011 at 10:02 am

   Nah, not me. I only use subtitles when the game/film is in another language. Though Im a fast reader, subtitles become more of a distraction if I already understand the language – I’d rather be looking straight at the characters face, not looking at the bottom of the screen.

   Reply
5. 

   codework

   May 19, 2011 at 10:02 am

   Definitely on. Most games don’t have enough visual input from the face and lips to provide any additional comprehension – looking forward to LA Noire as a comparison.
   Also Red Dead was interesting in that the subtitles in Mexico were not in english (which I sort of liked and hated at the same time). I would have loved to see both – great way to learn another language??

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6. 

   Mad Danny

   May 19, 2011 at 10:54 am

   Subtitles whenever I can – damned frustrating when they aren’t available, especially when the audio isn’t balanced and you can’t separately adjust voice/music/SFX volume.

   Sure having kludgy white text popping up over the scene does little for the sense of immersion, but it’s a darned sight better than starting a mission with “Oh good you’re here sergeant! Here take this experimental googaw gun that you’ll need to use against specifi-*interrupted by explosion*-to be able to defeat them. Also you lose the mission if-*hail of gunfire*-so don’t forget to-*more gunfire*-alive by pressing-*Wilhelm scream*-button when you get-*jeep revs just behind you*-now get going and don’t-*loud orchestral rendition of theme music*-!

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7. 

   Jimu Kong Country

   May 19, 2011 at 11:13 am

   ALWAYS use subtitles. Am very dissapointed when a game doesn’t have them.

   I turn subtitles on when watching TV.

   Reply
8. 

   Jiff

   May 19, 2011 at 11:24 am

   Subtitles are such a visual distraction I leave them off where possible. I HAVE to look at them if they’re there. Also, in films and TV shows, it tends to spoil punchlines and mess with climactic moments, seeing as I read faster than the actors speak

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9. 

   James Mac

   May 19, 2011 at 11:39 am

   I put them on for repeated playthroughs.
   I read faster, which means I can skip to the next line of dialogue.

   Reply
   1. 

      Mark Serrels

      May 19, 2011 at 11:41 am

      I find that in Mass Effect it makes me skip dialog first time round…

      Reply
      1. 

         James Mac

         May 19, 2011 at 3:10 pm

         I found I was doing that to, which is why I now don’t do it on the first playthrough… 80 odd hours is a long time to put into a game a couple of times in a row.

         Reply
10. 

    Cody

    May 19, 2011 at 11:43 am

    I do, I keep subtitles on in games.

    I had to when EAX originally came out, because for the first time you could walk away from an NPC that was talking and have the sound fade away, or be overtaken by the echo of your own footsteps.

    Even in current games it’s the same thing, you’re in the middle of a scene but still slaying a monster and someone says something important (I’m reminded of a section of DA:O where a party member tells you it’s time to cast a spell a half dozen times in a massive brawl, and you can never actually hear it unless you look at subtitles… if you don’t do it though some NPCs die).

    Reply
11. 

    Bookbuster

    May 19, 2011 at 11:47 am

    On. Primarily because it usually allows me to plow through cutscenes more quickly and return to the game.

    Reply
12. 

    Mr Waffle

    May 19, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    I always have them on for games, because there is nothing I hate more than missing dialogue because of hectic gameplay (seriously, don’t they notice those problems during playtesting?). But I try to avoid reading them during cutscenes because it makes me want to skip to the next bit, yeah.

    Reply
13. 

    sqiggles

    May 19, 2011 at 1:42 pm

    Another for subtitles! mainly because I don’t like missing dialogue and if the voice acting is really poor I can kinda block it out. I tend to zone in on the action during gameplay, I got lost in rapture without any idea what to do the first time because I missed what Atlas was saying during splicer combat.

    Reply
14. 

    CJ

    May 19, 2011 at 2:28 pm

    I generally use subtitles in Video Games because I know I’m eventually going to get to the point where I cant hear the dialoge over the music/SFX.

    Reply
15. 

    DerangedStoat

    May 19, 2011 at 3:20 pm

    I always turn subtitles on, because it really annoys me to miss dialogue because of other in game sounds being louder (such as having someone make some comment just as you decide to start firing at enemies).

    Reply
16. 

    djmcbell

    May 19, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    Subtitles. I’m a fast reader and can normally read the sentence before the voice actor gets a few words in. Skip the rest, don’t have to listen to the voice acting which can still be awful.

    Reply
17. 

    Ad

    May 20, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    Subs. Accents, loud background noise, playing when everyone else is asleep…even the rare occasions when a game will glitch and not play the character dialogue.

    Reply