Ubisoft has announced (in text format on
gamesindustry.biz, appropriately enough) that it plans to begin supporting subtitles to its internally developed games, beginning with
Far Cry 2,
Prince of Persia, and
Shaun White Snowboarding. The addition is being made in order to make the company's games more accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing. According to Ubisoft, this will require modifications to game engines already in use and also "inclusion of subtitles in the conception phase of game development."
Frankly, we can't live without subtitles (some people have to sleep at night, after all) and we're surprised that Ubisoft iis only now catching on to their necessity for many gamers. Still, it's a good move and we're sure many gamers will be happier as a result.
[Via
Joystiq]
{ Sep 10th 2008 at 6:05PM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ball3rAvery33 @ Sep 10th 2008 6:29PM
OOOOHHHHH AHHHHHH
Kamal @ Sep 10th 2008 6:33PM
You know what would be really cool?
Add Pause, Rewind features to non-interactive cut-scenes.
I like sub-titles too.
Levon @ Sep 10th 2008 6:33PM
personally, i hate subtitles, they ruin the scenery
Desolation @ Sep 10th 2008 6:43PM
Being deaf, it makes me very happy to see they are finally doing this.
Momer @ Sep 10th 2008 6:43PM
Because of my dad, I know turn on subtitles whenever I can. It's a thing he always does in movies and it's become a habit, so this is nice to hear. Let's hope they implement them well. Some games have HORRIBLE subtitles (read: GUN).
Ample Salty @ Sep 10th 2008 7:07PM
I like subtitles. If someone in the game has an accent that's hard to understand (looking at you GTAIV) or it's late at night and I have the sound down, then it's a useful thing to have.
Fire Fawkes @ Sep 10th 2008 7:23PM
I ALWAYS have the subtitles on when available. Games such as the aforementioned GTA IV and friends have characters that speak gibberish (Little Jacob, looking at you rasta) or a game has certain characters speak so softly you can't hear them. It's just easier with subtitles.
AoE @ Sep 10th 2008 8:07PM
Agreed, plus I can usually read the subs quite a bit faster than the dialogue is delivered. It makes rpgs like Oblivion much more enjoyable when you can just skip through all the spoken dialogue.
DJcube @ Sep 10th 2008 7:32PM
I always use subtitles in games. I just find it much easier to quickly scan a subtitle as opposed to listening to a voice while I'm playing.
AnthonyGalindoX @ Sep 10th 2008 8:32PM
I thought this post was about the games getting a subtitle like Modern Warfare or something, not subtitles for the hearing impaired.
blank964 @ Sep 10th 2008 9:45PM
There are times where I can't understand what character's on Assassin's Creed are saying so this is a welcome addition.
antilucid @ Sep 10th 2008 10:00PM
Being hard of hearing, I gave up on that game within 5 minutes without subtitles. A waste of 60 bucks when it was brand new.
Tony @ Sep 10th 2008 9:42PM
Finally. I'm not deaf, but I can't say how often I've played a game where some character is hard to understand or the music is way too loud or something else.
I don't understand why this isn't standard by now.
rainking187 @ Sep 11th 2008 12:28AM
I like. I'm not hard of hearing yet, but people love to yell shit at me while I'm playing so this will be nice.
WarmachineXsX @ Sep 11th 2008 2:08AM
It's About Time, When I Bought Sands Of Time I Always Played At Night So I Could Never Hear The Prince. I Had No Idea What Was Going On
RedSonRising @ Sep 11th 2008 2:04AM
nice addition, but if devs need to remember everyone doesnt have an HDTV.. usually i wouldnt worry about that but i moved my xbox around a while back and now i can sympathize with the HD-less xboxers out there..
bVork @ Sep 11th 2008 2:23AM
Hopefully they go as far as Valve does, and include directional captioning of important sound effects.
Anticrawl @ Sep 11th 2008 3:29AM
Agreed, this is my favorite feature of Half-life 2 and episode 1 & 2.
Boff @ Sep 11th 2008 6:22AM
I always put the subtitles on. I can hear ok but there are always some parts that sound like muffled gibberish and it really annoys me when I miss something. I find it a lot easier to follow the plot and remember the story using subtitles too.
Oh god I sound old don't I.
Silverlotus @ Sep 11th 2008 7:26AM
This is great! We use subtitles around here for games and TV, mostly because of the baby. That way, when he is crying, "talking" (very loudly), or asleep, we still know what's happening.
iclubseals @ Sep 11th 2008 9:24AM
I hope this catches on among developers... I hate to play games while my kids are running around yelling and/or crying and/or beating on things and I can't hear what's going on. Subtitles FTW!
CJtheJuice @ Sep 11th 2008 10:21AM
I like the idea of subtitles, but honestly, there should be an option to opt out on getting them in-game. They take away from the experience many of us look forward to sometimes, but I do respect the idea of why they should include them.