Why did Nintendo change the voice actors in Starfox 64?

When I think back to the original Starfox 64, I remember a fun arcade shooter that was defined by its absurd characters and tremendous voice acting. I can still hear the low growl of Star Wolf saying "I can't let you do that STARFOX", and slippy's incessant whining that annoyed falco as much as it annoyed me.





However, no line from a video game in has been as memorable or has had such longevity in social culture as Peppy's iconic "Do a Barrell Roll".



Of course, I was amazed and excited that an upgraded version of this classic title would be brought to the 3DS. I was more excited this morning when I opened my email to find an ad from Nintendo which read "Do a barrell roll" and contained a link to the trailer for starfox 3ds.


But I've discovered via this trailer that they've changed the very aspect of this game that made it a cult favourite in the first place: it's voice acting.


While many of the voices DO sound similar to the originals (thankfully not the SF:Assault voices), especially Slippy, Peppy's voice is noticeably different. And for many people, maybe they won't care, and maybe they won't notice.

But for most people who are casual gamers, such as myself, something simply won't "feel right" every time Peppy utters one of his classic lines and sounds like a charismatic, yet nasally Adam West.

And one would think that Nintendo, knowing that the original line and voice spawned a popular meme, would be careful about changing the voice of the most memorable character from this title.

And yet, this seems to be stemming from a troubling trend with Nintendo: launching old titles for resale while only changing aesthetic elements. You may say 'well it sells', and it may very well sell, and may sell very well, but the big N is running out of old titles to recreate, and it seems it's consumer's patience is running thin.

With few new IPs or even titles from the existing IPs, Nintendo is struggling to relive its glory days by slapping a new coat of paint on old products. But in the process, I feel they may be ruining their own classics and need to 'doooo a sooomersault' (in peppys new voice) of their own and build new glory days instead of trying to re-establish the old ones.

Let me know if you like Peppy's new voice or if another developer has ruined one of your favourite classics by recreating it. http://starfox643d.nintendo.com/



UPDATE: Ign videos of actual boss fights now show more on the voice changes in Starfox 64 3D.....they seem to lack the passion of the original. Any thoughts? http://ds.ign.com/articles/119/1192132p1.html