Like the ability to type in a name of something and have the game say it throughout the game.
My Macintosh computer from 1995 had a program with multiple voices that would read things you typed in.
Madden 2004 would say the name of your created player if it had a reasonable enough name.
I don't see how technology can't easily do this nowadays. I should be able to type in any name or even something like phyrtl and get some sort of attempt at reading it. Hell, there should be a set of names in every game that you can choose from to be that it would pronounce.
or maybe I just haven't played them.
-- Menji~ House Eltharion http://img.imgcake.com/AlecTrevylan006/MenjiShieldpngan.png
there's voice recognition in a couple games and they're working on voice commands in squad games, but the name just... probably never mattered a lot for many a game. doesn't help that we only recently hit a point where voiced games were a reality and it probably just hasn't had any reason to do it as there are easy workarounds ("Commander").
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"Maybe it's a tentacle, molesting the planet itself. - Aschen Brodel.
The problem is that audio fidelity in games has reached the point where such synthesized text-to-speech would stand out like a sore thumb next to the professionally produced voice clips heard throughout the rest of the game. In old games, even pre-recorded voices would have sounded pretty robotic for the most part, so you might not notice it as much. But now that they've eliminated most of the seams in the pre-recorded stuff, it would stand out much more to reintroduce them with this.
-- SuperNiceDog didn't have to reconcile his name... But Dauntless Hunter is now MrGreenonion
Also just to be pedantic, there ARE more mainstream games with voice recognition/response now than ever before. Voice recognition/response means when you speak and the game recognizes and responds to your voice (or at least your words), such as when you give your party members commands with the Mass Effect 3 Kinect stuff.
What you're asking for is voice synthesis.
-- SuperNiceDog didn't have to reconcile his name... But Dauntless Hunter is now MrGreenonion
while they can generate a voice to say your name they would need to get a voice exactly the same as everyone who will say it. no voiced name >> random computer saying my name midway through a character's speech.
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"Maybe it's a tentacle, molesting the planet itself. - Aschen Brodel.
Yeah but it still sounds unnatural, and it's a lot of work just to make people say your character's name. Plus you'd have to do it with EACH voice actor who says it, and you'd have to account for different tones in different scenes (for example, the difference between "Snake, proceed to the tank hangar" and "Snake? Snake! SNAAAAAAAKE!!!"). It would just be way too much work for too little payoff, and you'd probably just have people complaining that the game pronounced their name wrong.
Not to mention that it would all have to be done over again for each different language.
-- SuperNiceDog didn't have to reconcile his name... But Dauntless Hunter is now MrGreenonion
I think its the nature of the English language that is holding things back, personally. I know there are some Japanese games that do this. But its easier for them because their language only has like 46 main syllables or something.
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"One of these days, I'm gonna find a loophole my friend." - Man in Black
Yeah but it still sounds unnatural, and it's a lot of work just to make people say your character's name. Plus you'd have to do it with EACH voice actor who says it, and you'd have to account for different tones in different scenes (for example, the difference between "Snake, proceed to the tank hangar" and "Snake? Snake! SNAAAAAAAKE!!!"). It would just be way too much work for too little payoff, and you'd probably just have people complaining that the game pronounced their name wrong.
Not to mention that it would all have to be done over again for each different language.
"John, proceed to the tank hangar."
"John. John. John."
I can just feel the emotion.
-- SEP Nash, Smelling Like the Vault since 1996 Step FOUR! Get Paid! http://i33.tinypic.com/2v1sq51.jpg
Madden 2004 would say the name of your created player if it had a reasonable enough name.
Most sports games these days will have the announcers/commentators say names in their database (IE: If there's a guy named Jones in the game, they'll call your created guy Jones). Hell, NBA 2k12 and the MLB: The Show games have huge lists off choosable, announceable names, and they only get bigger every year.
But the fact of the matter is until voice synthesis gets a lot better, games are going to have to base names around pre-recordings, or just not say names at all. (Or do combinations of both, like how in Mass Effect you can change Shepard's first name but he/she is always addressed as "Commander Shepard").
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Will not remove this line of my signature until the Seahawks, Jazz or Rockies win a title (Started 5-16-09) SuperNiceDog: Guru winner